WO2024078979A1 - Configuration rach connectée spécifique à un groupe de tranches - Google Patents

Configuration rach connectée spécifique à un groupe de tranches Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2024078979A1
WO2024078979A1 PCT/EP2023/077678 EP2023077678W WO2024078979A1 WO 2024078979 A1 WO2024078979 A1 WO 2024078979A1 EP 2023077678 W EP2023077678 W EP 2023077678W WO 2024078979 A1 WO2024078979 A1 WO 2024078979A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
network slice
cell
access stratum
central unit
distributed
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PCT/EP2023/077678
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English (en)
Inventor
Halit Murat Gürsu
Philippe Godin
Ugur Baran ELMALI
Ömer BULAKCI
Muhammad NASEER-UL-ISLAM
Ahmad AWADA
Malgorzata Tomala
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Nokia Technologies Oy
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Publication of WO2024078979A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024078979A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/08—Reselecting an access point
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
    • H04W36/0055—Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
    • H04W36/0077—Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link of access information of target access point
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/13—Cell handover without a predetermined boundary, e.g. virtual cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W74/00—Wireless channel access
    • H04W74/08—Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA
    • H04W74/0833—Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access

Definitions

  • Various example embodiments relate to wireless communications.
  • Network slicing is a key 5G feature for supporting different services using the same underlying mobile network infrastructure.
  • Network slices can differ either in their service requirements like Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) or the tenant that provides those services.
  • a network slice maybe uniquely identified via its S-NSSAI (Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information).
  • a given distributed unit (DU) of a distributed access node may have a set of network slice access stratum (AS) group -specific radio access channel (RACH) resources configured through operations, administration and management (0AM).
  • the mapping between network slice(s) and network slice AS group(s) may be tracking area (TA) -specific.
  • each neighbor cell with a different TA may be configured with a different network slice to network slice AS group mapping.
  • the terminal device should be aware and take into account the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the neighbor cell to ensure correct RACH resource use in the terminal device and to avoid service level agreement (SLA) violations. However, no such information is available to the terminal device.
  • SLA service level agreement
  • a method comprising: determining that a handover of a terminal device from a first cell provided by a first access node to a second cell provided by a second access node is to be carried out; and transmitting a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell to the first access node.
  • a computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising program instructions, that when run is adapted to perform: determining that a handover of a terminal device from a first cell provided by a first access node to a second cell provided by a second access node is to be carried out; and transmitting a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell to the first access node.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate exemplified wireless communication systems
  • Figures 3 to 8 illustrate exemplary processes according to embodiments; and Figures 9 to 11 illustrate apparatuses according to embodiments.
  • UMTS universal mobile telecommunications system
  • E-UTRAN long term evolution
  • LTE long term evolution
  • WiMAX wireless local area network
  • Bluetooth® personal communications services
  • PCS personal communications services
  • WCDMA wideband code division multiple access
  • UWB ultra -wideband
  • IMS Internet Protocol multimedia subsystems
  • Figure 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whose implementation may differ from what is shown.
  • the connections shown in Figure 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the system typically comprises also other functions and structures than those shown in Figure 1.
  • Figure 1 shows a partofan exemplifying radio access network.
  • Figure 1 shows user devices 100 and 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a cell with an access node (such as (e/g)NodeB) 104 providing the cell.
  • the physical link from a user device to a (e/g)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the physical link from the (e/g)NodeB to the user device is called downlink or forward link.
  • (e/g)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage.
  • a communications system typically comprises more than one (e/g)NodeB in which case the (e/g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used for signaling purposes.
  • the (e/g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to.
  • the NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point or any other type of interfacing device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment.
  • the (e/g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the (e/g)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit that establishes bi-directional radio links to user devices.
  • the antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements.
  • the (e/g)NodeB is further connected to core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC).
  • core network 110 CN or next generation core NGC.
  • the counterpart on the CN side can be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), packet data network gateway (P-GW), for providing connectivity of user devices (UEs) to external packet data networks, or mobile management entity (MME), etc.
  • S-GW serving gateway
  • P-GW packet data network gateway
  • MME mobile management entity
  • the user device also called UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, etc.
  • UE user equipment
  • user terminal terminal device
  • any feature described herein with a user device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node.
  • a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay) towards the base station.
  • the user device typically refers to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device.
  • SIM subscriber identification module
  • a user device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network.
  • a user device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (loT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
  • the user device (or in some embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities.
  • the user device may also be called a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal or user equipment (UE) just to mention but a few names or apparatuses.
  • CPS cyber-physical system
  • ICT devices sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.
  • Mobile cyber physical systems in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.
  • 5G enables using multiple input - multiple output (M1M0) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and/or spectrum available.
  • 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications, including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control.
  • 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being integratable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE.
  • Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE.
  • 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-Rl operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave).
  • inter-RAT operability such as LTE-5G
  • inter-Rl operability inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave.
  • One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the substantially same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.
  • the current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network.
  • the low latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local break out and multi-access edge computing (MEC).
  • MEC multi-access edge computing
  • 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors.
  • MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time.
  • Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).
  • the communication system is also able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, or utilize services provided by them.
  • the communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in Figure 1 by “cloud” 114).
  • the communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.
  • Edge cloud may be brought into radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NVF) and software defined networking (SDN).
  • RAN radio access network
  • NVF network function virtualization
  • SDN software defined networking
  • Using edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts.
  • Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at the RAN side (in a distributed unit, DU 104) and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in a central or centralized unit, CU 108).
  • 5G may also utilize satellite communication to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling.
  • Possible use cases are providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway/maritime/aeronautical communications.
  • Satellite communication may utilize geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites are deployed).
  • GEO geostationary earth orbit
  • LEO low earth orbit
  • At least one satellite 106 in the mega-constel- lation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create on-ground cells.
  • the on-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node 104 or by a gNB located on-ground or in a satellite.
  • the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice, the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the user device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e/g)NodeBs or may be a Home(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided.
  • Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells.
  • the (e/g)NodeBs of Figure 1 may provide any kind of these cells.
  • a cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs are needed to provide such a network structure.
  • a network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (e/g)Node Bs includes, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs (H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in Figure 1).
  • HNB-GW HNB Gateway
  • a HNB Gateway (HNB-GW) which is typically installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.
  • 6G networks are expected to adopt flexible decentralized and/or distributed computing systems and architecture and ubiquitous computing, with local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing, and intelligent automated management underpinned by mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short-packet communication and blockchain technologies. Key features of 6G will include intelligent connected management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduction of energy footprint, trustworthy infrastructure, scalability and affordability. In addition to these, 6G is also targeting new use cases covering the integration of localization and sensing capabilities into system definition to unifying user experience across physical and digital worlds.
  • FIG 2 illustrates another example of a communications system 200 to which some embodiments may be applied.
  • the illustrated communications system employs a disaggregated RAN architecture, where the RAN functionalities are distributed between different distinct units forming the RAN.
  • the RAN protocol stack is effectively split into multiple RAN protocol stacks so that the individual components can be realized independently.
  • the communications system 200 may correspond the communication system as discussed in relation to Figure 1 or a part thereof. Therefore, any of the terminal devices 221, 222, 223 may correspond to either of elements 100, 102 of Figure 1.
  • the access node 104 of Figure 1 may correspond to a combination of the elements 201, 202, 220 forming a distributed access node.
  • the illustrated communications system may be based on New Radio (NR) access technology.
  • NR New Radio
  • the communication system 200 comprises two (remote) radio units or radio heads 201, 202 providing respective (neighboring) cells 211, 212, a distributed unit 220 connected to at least one of the remote radio units 201, 202 via wired and/or wireless communications links and a central unit 230 connected to the distributed unit 220 via a wired or wireless communications link.
  • the central unit 230 may be further connected via wired and/or wireless communications link at least to a session management function (SMF) 240.
  • SMF session management function
  • This connection may be provided via one or more other functions or network entities not shown in Figure 2 (e.g., via a user plane function, UPF, and / or an access management function, AMF).
  • At least one of the elements 201, 202, 220, 230 may be associated with the substantially same access node (e.g., the substantially same gNB).
  • At least one remote radio unit 201, 202 may be MIMO-capable (i.e., comprise a M1M0 antenna array and associated signal processing means for performing beamforming using said M1M0 antenna array).
  • the communication system 200 comprises a plurality of terminal devices 221, 222, 223 located within said cells 211, 212.
  • the number of the remote radio units may be different compared to the illustrated example though to fully benefit from the distributed architecture, the access node should comprise at least two remote radio units. While Figure 2 illustrates a single distributed unit 220 for simplicity, in other embodiments two or more distributed units 220 connected to the substantially same central unit 230 may be provided.
  • the CU 230 may comprise two separate units (or subunits, logical nodes or entities): a control plane entity of the central unit (central unit - control plane, CU-CP) and a user plane entity of the central unit (central unit - user plane, CU-UP).
  • the CU-CP may, for example, host the radio resource control (RRC) and the control plane part of the packet data convergence (PDCP) protocol of the CU 230 while the CU-UP may host the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol of the CU 230.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • PDCP packet data convergence
  • the interface between the distributed unit 220 and the central unit 230 may be called an Fl interface.
  • the interface between the DU 220 and the CP-CU may be called Fl-C interface and the interface between the DU 220 and the UP-CU may be called a Fl-U interface.
  • the interface between the CU-CP and the CU-UP may be called an El interface.
  • Figure 2 illustrates specifically a disaggregated RAN architecture and some of the embodiments to be discussed below pertain specifically to the disaggregated RAN architecture, other embodiments may apply specifically to a non-disaggregated RAN architecture (i.e., a RAN architecture without CU-DU split).
  • Network slicing is a 5G feature for supporting different services using the same underlying mobile network infrastructure.
  • Network slices may differ either in their service requirements like URLLC and eMBB or the tenant that provides those services.
  • a network slice (or equally just a slice) may be uniquely identified via its S- NSSA1 (single-network slice selection assistance information).
  • a given terminal device may be able to be simultaneously connected and served by at most eight network slices corresponding to eight S-NSSAls, respectively.
  • each cell provided by an access node or a distributed unit of a distributed access node may support tens or even hundreds of network slices.
  • a tracking area (TA) comprising a set of (adjacent) cells provided by one or more access nodes may have support for up to 1024 network slices.
  • the S-NSSA1 may comprise or consist of a slice/service type (SST) field (having a length of 8 bits) and a slice differentiator (SD) field (having a length of 24 bits) with a total length of 32 bits.
  • SST slice/service type
  • SD slice differentiator
  • the S-NSSA1 may consist of the SST field only in which case the length of S-NSSA1 is 8 bits only.
  • the SST field may have a standardized or non-standardized value. Values 0 to 127 belong to the standardized SST range. For instance, the SST value of 1 may indicate that the slice is suitable for handling of 5G eMBB, 2 for handling of URLLC and so on.
  • the SD field may be operator-defined.
  • NSSA1 (defining one or more individual S-NSSAls) may comprise information of one or more of the following types:
  • NSSA1 provided by the serving public land mobile network (PLMN) during, e.g., a registration procedure, indicating the S-NSSA1 values the terminal device could use in the serving PLMN for the current registration area (RA).
  • PLMN public land mobile network
  • NSSA1 provisioned in the terminal device applicable to one or more PLMNs.
  • NSSA1 provided by the serving PLMN during a registration procedure, indicating the S-NSSAl(s) for which the network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure is pending.
  • NSSA1 NSSA1 provided by the terminal device to the serving PLMN during registration.
  • NSSA1 indicating S-NSSAl(s) which have been rejected for current PLMN or stand-alone non-public network (SNPN), for the current RA, for the failed or revoked network slice -specific authentication and authorization (NSSAA) and/or for the maximum number of terminal devices reached.
  • SNPN stand-alone non-public network
  • NSSAA network slice -specific authentication and authorization
  • Subscribed S-NSSA1 S-NSSA1 based on subscriber information, which a terminal device is subscribed to use in a PLMN.
  • a given distributed unit (DU) of a distributed access node may have a set of network slice access stratum (AS) group (NSAG) specific radio access channel (RACH) resources configured through operations, administration and management (0AM).
  • the mapping of a network slice to a network slice AS group may be tracking area (TA) -specific.
  • each neighbor cell with a different TA may be configured with a different network slice to network slice AS group mapping.
  • the terminal device should preferably be aware and take into account the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the neighbor cell(s).
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping is unknown to the target DU. This may cause issues with the configuration of the terminal device and the use of the RACH resources.
  • the terminal device may not have the right slice group specific RACH resources during the time of handover which may lead to a service level agreement (SLA) violation or wrong RACH resource use.
  • SLA service level agreement
  • T o further clarify the technical problem at hand, a simple non-limiting example is provided in the following.
  • a source cell is associated with the following network slice to network slice AS group mapping: ⁇ SGI, URLLC, TAI ⁇ & ⁇ SG2, eMBB, TAI ⁇ , where SGI & SG2 are, respectively, service groups 1 & 2 and TAI is a tracking area 1.
  • the target cell of the handover is associated with the following network slice to network slice AS group mapping: ⁇ SG2, URLLC, TA2 ⁇ & ⁇ SG3, eMBB, TA2 ⁇ , where SG3 is a service group 3 and TA2 is a tracking area 2.
  • the terminal device in the source cell has currently (i.e., before handover) the mapping in TAI and has allowed network slices relating to URLLC and eMBB while target DU has the mapping in TA2 and is not in random access (RA).
  • the terminal device is assumed initially to have a protocol data unit (PDU) session on URLLC in the source cell. Then, the target DU allocates RACH resources for SG2 for the terminal device. On the other hand, the terminal device non-access stratum (NAS) indicates SGI as RACH resource(s) to use for the terminal device. The terminal device determines that no RACH resources for the SGI network slice AS group exist at the target cell. In such a case, the terminal device may, in some cases, still use the SG2 or alternatively throw an error.
  • PDU protocol data unit
  • NAS non-access stratum
  • the terminal device is assumed initially to have a PDU session on URLLC and eMBB in the source cell. Then, the target DU allocates RACH resources for SG2 and SG3 for the terminal device.
  • the terminal device non-access stratum (NAS) prioritizes eMBB and indicates SG2 as RACH resource(s) to use for the terminal device.
  • the terminal device uses the SG2 RACH resource which it thinks is for eMBB in the target cell even though this configuration is, in actuality, for URLLC.
  • the embodiments to be discussed below in detail overcome, fully or at least in part, said deficiencies by enabling communication of the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device during a handover procedure.
  • the embodiments may enable network slice/network slice AS group -specific RACH configuration within NG-RAN protocols over intra-RAN and cross-RAN interfaces.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a process according to embodiments for communicating network slice to network slice AS group mapping of a terminal device in a serving or source cell to a target access node or a target distributed unit as a part of a handover pro- cedure.
  • the handover procedure in question may be an inter- or intra-CU handover procedure for a distributed RAN architecture (or in some cases, an inter- access node handover procedure for a non-distributed RAN architecture, as will be described below after discussing Figure 3 assuming a non-distributed RAN architecture).
  • the illustrated process may be performed by a central unit of a distributed access node or specifically by a CU-CP entity of said central unit.
  • the illustrated process may be performed by an apparatus for the central unit of the distributed access node or specifically for the CU-CP entity of said central unit.
  • the apparatus in question may form a part of or be (communicatively) connected to the central unit or specifically of the CU-CP entity thereof.
  • the central unit may be assumed to be specifically a target central unit of the handover procedure.
  • the central unit may correspond to a central unit 108 of Figure 1 and/or the central unit 230 of Figure 2.
  • the actor of the process is called simply an apparatus for brevity.
  • the apparatus determines, in block 301, that an inter - central unit or intra -central unit handover of the terminal device from a first cell provided by the first distributed unit to a second cell provided by a second distributed unit is to be carried out.
  • the determination that the inter -central unit or intra -central unit handover is to be carried out in block 301 may be seen to imply that network slice -specific RACH configuration (or specifically beam failure recovery, BFR, network slice -specific RACH configuration) is needed by the terminal device.
  • the first and second distributed units and the first and second cells may be equally called source and target distributed units and source and target cells, respectively.
  • the handover in block 301 is an inter-CU handover
  • the first and second distributed units are assumed to be connected to first and second central units (the second central unit comprising the apparatus carrying out the process of Figure 3 and being connected to the second distributed unit).
  • the inter-CU handover involves a handover between first and second distributed access nodes.
  • the first and second central units and the first and second distributed access node may be equally called source and target central units and source and target distributed access nodes, respectively.
  • the handover in block 301 is an intra-CU handover
  • the first and second distributed units are assumed to be connected to the same central unit (being the central unit comprising the apparatus carrying out the process of Figure 3).
  • the intra-CU handover involves a handover between two distributed units of a single distributed access node.
  • the determination in block 301 may be based on a measurement report received from the terminal device via the first distributed unit (assuming that the process of Figure 3 pertains to an intra-CU handover) or on a handover request received from the terminal device via the first distributed unit and the first central unit (assuming that the process of Figure 3 pertains to an inter-CU handover).
  • the apparatus transmits, in block 302, a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell to the first distributed unit.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping may correspond, here and in the following, to mapping of one or more S-NSSAls of one or more (respective) network slices to one or more network slice AS groups.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping may also provide or comprise or be transmitted along with information on (relative) priority between the network slice AS group(s).
  • the transmission to the first distributed unit in block 302 may be carried out directly (i.e., not via any further central units), in the case of the intra-CU handover, or via the first central unit of the first distributed access node, in the case of the inter-CU unit handover.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping may be transmitted to the first distributed unit as a part of or along with a context modification request of the terminal device.
  • the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping may be transmitted to the first central unit as a part of or along with a handover request acknowledgment.
  • the first central unit of the first distributed access node may, subsequently, transmit the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell further to the first distributed unit, for example, comprised in a context medication request of the terminal device. In either case, the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell may eventually be communicated to the terminal device.
  • the apparatus may further determine, after block 301 and before moving on to block 302, whether or not the first and second cells are configured with different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings or at least with potentially different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings, as will be described below in detail.
  • the transmission of block 302 may be carried out only in response to the first and second cells being configured with different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings or at least with potentially different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings. This provides the benefit that redundant transmissions are avoided or at least minimized.
  • the process of Figure 3 maybe applied to a non-distrib- uted RAN architecture.
  • the process may be carried out by an access node or an apparatus for said access node, where the access node corresponds to a target (or second) access node of the handover procedure and provides the second cell.
  • the access node may transmit, in block 302, the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell to the source or serving (or first) access node (which transmits the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell further to the terminal device).
  • an apparatus determines, in block 301, that a handover of a terminal device from a first cell provided by a first access node to a second cell provided by the second access node is to be carried out and transmits, in block 302, a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell to the first access node.
  • Figure 4 illustrates a process according to embodiments for receiving and taking into account network slice to network slice AS group mapping of a target cell in RACH resource allocation of a handover procedure.
  • the illustrated process may be carried out following the execution of the process of Figure 3.
  • the illustrated process may be performed by a terminal device or a part thereof or connected thereto (i.e., an apparatus for the terminal device).
  • the terminal device may correspond to any terminal device 100, 102 of Figure 1 and/or any terminal device 221, 222, 223 of Figure 2.
  • the actor of the process is called simply an apparatus for brevity.
  • the apparatus receives, in block 401, from a first radio access network (RAN) node, a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of a second cell being a target cell of a handover.
  • the second cell is assumed to be provided by a second RAN node.
  • the handover may be an intra-CU or inter-CU handover from a first cell to a second cell.
  • the handover may be a handover between non-distributed access nodes (or between one distributed access node and one non-distributed access node).
  • the first and second RAN nodes as discussed in the previous paragraph may be defined as follows.
  • the first RAN node may be a first (non-distributed) access node or a first distributed unit of a first distributed access node.
  • the second RAN node may be a second (non-distributed) access node, a second distributed unit of the first distributed access node or of a second distributed access node.
  • the apparatus may receive, in block 401, the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell as a part of or along with an RRC reconfiguration message.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message may (further) comprise a handover command for carrying out the handover from the first cell to the second cell.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message may also comprise one or more reserved or allocated RACH resources for the terminal device (defined using a context step procedure carried out between a central unit and a target distributed unit).
  • the apparatus determines, in block 402, a network slice AS group for accessing the second cell based on the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the apparatus selects (or allocates), in block 403, a (network slice AS group - specific) RACH resource for accessing the second cell based at least on the network slice AS group.
  • a plurality of RACH resources may be selected in block 403.
  • the apparatus accesses, in block 404, the second cell using said RACH resource(s).
  • Figure 5 illustrates another process according to embodiments for receiving and taking into account a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of a target cell in RACH resource selection of a handover procedure.
  • the illustrated process may be carried out following the execution of the process of Figure 3.
  • the illustrated process maybe performed by a terminal device or a part thereof or connected thereto (i.e., an apparatus for a terminal device).
  • the terminal device may correspond to any terminal device 100, 102 of Figure 1 and/or any terminal device 221, 222, 223 of Figure 2.
  • the actor of the process is called simply an apparatus for brevity.
  • the apparatus maintains, in block 501, in at least one memory, an initial network slice to network slice AS group mapping for initial access or re-establishment to the second cell (e.g., an RA procedure during initial access).
  • Said initial network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping may have been received, e.g., as a part of an RRC reconfiguration message, during a previous handover involving the second cell.
  • the initial network slice to network slice AS group mapping may have been received via the NAS.
  • the apparatus performs, in block 503, one of two possible actions.
  • the apparatus overwrites, in block 503, the initial network slice to network slice AS group mapping with the network slice to network slice AS group mapping in the at least one memory.
  • the apparatus deletes (or discards or removes), in block 503, the initial network slice to network slice AS group mapping (and optionally stores the received network slice to network slice AS group mapping to the at least one memory).
  • the apparatus determines, in block 504, a network slice AS group for accessing the second cell based on the (newly received) network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell, selects, in block 505, RACH resource(s) for accessing the second cell based on the network slice AS group and accesses, in block 506, the second cell using the RACH resource(s).
  • Figure 6 illustrates processes according to embodiments for, as a part of an intra-CU handover procedure, communicating, when deemed necessary or at least beneficial, network slice to network slice AS group mapping of a target cell (called here a second cell) to a terminal device via a source distributed unit (called here a first distributed unit) and selection of RACH resource(s) based on said network slice to network slice AS group mapping.
  • Figure 6 illustrates signaling between a terminal device, a first distributed unit of a distributed access node, a second distributed unit of the distributed access node and a central unit of the distributed access node (or specifically the CU- CP entity thereof).
  • the first distributed unit may be called a source (or serving) distributed unit and the second distributed unit may be called a target distributed unit.
  • the terminal device may correspond to any of the terminal devices 100, 102 of Figure 1 and/or any of the terminal devices 221, 222, 223 of Figure 2.
  • the first and second distributed units may correspond to the distributed unit 104 of Figure 1 and/or the distributed unit 220 of Figure 2.
  • the central unit may correspond to the central unit 108 of Figure 1 and/or the central unit 230 of Figure 2.
  • the central unit (or the CU-CP) is aware of a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in a first cell (i.e., the serving cell) provided by the first distributed unit.
  • the central unit may maintain, in block 601, in at least one memory, the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in the first cell.
  • the first distributed unit may have previously transmitted the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in the first cell to the central unit.
  • the handover procedure may be initiated by the terminal device transmitting, in message 602, a measurement report to the first distributed unit.
  • the first distributed unit Upon receiving the measurement report in block 603, the first distributed unit further transmits, in message 604, the measurement report to the central unit.
  • the central unit receives, in block 605, the measurement report.
  • the central unit determines, in block 606, that a handover from the first cell to a second cell provided by the second distributed unit should be carried out for the terminal device and thus a network slice -specific RACH configuration (i.e., selection of a network slice or network slice AS group -specific RACH resource) for the terminal device is needed.
  • the firstand second cells maybe neighboring cells.
  • the central unit transmits, in message 607, a context setup request associated with a terminal device context of the terminal device to the second distributed unit.
  • the context setup request comprises information on one or more network slice -specific data radio bearers (DRBs) to be provided for the terminal device (e.g., DRB1 for network slice 1 and DRB2 for network slice 2).
  • DRBs network slice -specific data radio bearers
  • the context setup request may be a UE Context Setup Request.
  • the second distributed unit Upon receiving the context setup request in block 608, the second distributed unit transmits, in message 609, a context setup response to the central unit.
  • the context setup response comprises information on one or more network slice AS group -specific RACH configurations for one or more network slices associated with the terminal device (e.g., RACH configuration of network slice AS group 1 for network slice 1 and RACH configuration of network slice AS group 2 for network slice 2).
  • the context setup response may be a UE Context Setup Response.
  • the second distributed unit may configure or reserve or allocate one or more RACH resources (e.g., a preamble and/or time/frequency information) for the handover based on the context setup request and transmit, in message 609, this information comprised in the context setup response back to the central unit.
  • RACH resources e.g., a preamble and/or time/frequency information
  • the central unit determines, in block 611, that the first and second cells are configured with different network slice to network slice AS group mappings or, in some cases, at least with potentially different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings. Potentially different network slice to network slice AS group mapping may mean here that there is an increased likelihood (but it is not certain) that the first and second cells employ different network slice to network slice AS group mappings.
  • the determination in block 611 may be based, for example, on tracking areas of the first and second distributed units. Four alternative detailed implementations of block 611 are discussed in detail below in connection with Figure 7.
  • the intra-CU handover procedure may be carried out to completion in a conventional manner (without communicating the network slice to network slice AS group of the second cell to the terminal device).
  • the central unit transmits, in message 612, a context modification request (or a terminal device context modification request) associated with a terminal device context of the terminal device to the first distributed unit.
  • the (terminal device) context modification request comprises an RRC message comprising a handover command.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell is comprised in the context modification request as a part of the RRC message or as a separate information element.
  • the context modification request may be a UE Context Modification Request message.
  • the first distributed unit Upon receiving the context modification request in block 613, the first distributed unit transmits, in message 614, a context modification response to the central unit.
  • the context modification response serves to acknowledge the successful reception of the context modification request.
  • the context modification response may be a UE Context Modification Complete message.
  • the central unit receives, in block 615, the context modification response.
  • the first distributed unit further transmits, in message 616, an RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal device.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the handover command and the network slice to network slice AS mapping of the second cell.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message may comprise also the one or more reserved or allocated RACH resources.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message may be an “RRCReconfigura- tion” message.
  • message 616 may be transmitted before message 614.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message 616 may comprise the handover command but not the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell may be transmitted from the first distributed unit to the terminal device separately from the RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., as a separate RRC message).
  • Figure 7 illustrates processes according to embodiments for determining whether there exists a discrepancy between the network slice to network slice AS group mappings of first and second cells (i.e., source and target cells) involved in a handover procedure. Specifically, Figure 7 illustrates four alternative procedures for carrying out block 611 of Figure 6.
  • Figure 7 illustrates signaling between a central unit of a distributed access node (or specifically the CU-CP entity thereof) and an AMF entity of a core network.
  • the central unit may correspond to the central unit 108 of Figure 1 and/or the central unit 230 of Figure 2.
  • the AMF may form a part of the core network 110 of Figure 1.
  • the central unit is assumed to initially maintain, in block 711, in at least one memory, configuration information at least on the first and second cells (i.e., the cells involved in the handover).
  • the configuration information comprises at least information on tracking areas of the first and second cells.
  • the central unit determines, in block 712, that the first and second cells are under different tracking areas based on the configuration information. Based on this determination, the central unit may determine that the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell should be communicated to the terminal device (as described above in connection with elements 612 to 617 of Figure 6).
  • first and second cells are under different tracking areas does not necessarily imply that the network slice to network slice AS group mappings associated with the first and second cells are different.
  • the mapping of network slice(s) to network slice AS group(s) may be tracking area -specific, it is possible or even likely that that the network slice to network slice AS group mappings associated with the first and second cells are different.
  • the central unit is assumed to initially maintain, in block 721, in at least one memory, configuration information at least on the second cell (i.e., the target cell).
  • the configuration information comprises at least information on a tracking area of the second cell.
  • configuration information on the first cell may also be maintained in the at least one memory.
  • the AMF transmits, in message 722, information on a registration area of the terminal device to the central unit.
  • the central unit receives, in block 723, the information on the registration area of the terminal device.
  • the central unit determines, in block 724, that the tracking area of the second cell does not belong to the registration area of the terminal device. Based on this determination, the central unit may determine that the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell should be communicated to the terminal device (as described above in connection with elements 612 to 617 of Figure 6).
  • the central unit is assumed to initially maintain, in block 731, in at least one memory, configuration information on the second cell.
  • the configuration information comprises at least information on a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the AMF transmits, in message 732, one or more network slice to network slice AS group mappings for one or more tracking areas within a registration area of the terminal device, respectively.
  • the one or more network slice to network slice AS group mappings relate to the one or more tracking areas within the registration area of the terminal device, they may be assumed to be configured to the terminal device.
  • the central unit receives, in block 733, the one or more network slice to network slice AS group mappings.
  • the central unit determines, in block 734, based on the configuration information and the one or more network slice to network slice AS group mappings (or at least one of them) that a current network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device differs from a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the current network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device is assumed to be comprised in the one or more network slice to network slice AS group mappings received in block 733.
  • the central unit may determine that the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell should be communicated to the terminal device (as described above in connection with elements 612 to 617 of Figure 6).
  • the central unit is assumed to initially maintain, in block 741, in at least one memory, configuration information on the first and second cells.
  • the configuration information comprises at least information on a network slice to network slice AS group mappings of the first and second cells.
  • the central unit determines, in block 742, that the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the first cell differs from the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • At least some of the messages 722, 732 may be transmitted by a core network node or entity other than the AMF.
  • Figure 8 illustrates processes according to embodiments for, as a part of an inter-CU handover procedure, communicating, when needed necessary or at least beneficial, network slice to network slice AS group mapping of a target cell (called here a second cell) to a terminal device via a source distributed unit (called here a first distributed unit) and selecting a RACH resource based on said network slice to network slice AS group mapping.
  • Figure 8 illustrates signaling between a terminal device, a first distributed unit of a first distributed access node, a second distributed unit of a second distributed access node, a first central unit of the first distributed access node (or specifically the CU-CP entity thereof) and a second central unit of the second distributed access node (or specifically the CU-CP entity thereof).
  • the first distributed unit may be called a source (or serving) distributed unit and the second distributed unit may be called a target distributed unit.
  • the terminal device may correspond to any of the terminal devices 100, 102 of Figure 1 and/or any of the terminal devices 221, 222, 223 of Figure 2.
  • the first and second distributed units may correspond to the distributed unit 104 of Figure 1 and/or the distributed unit 220 of Figure 2.
  • the first and second central units may correspond to the central unit 108 of Figure 1 and/or the central unit 230 of Figure 2.
  • the second central unit (or the CU-CP) is aware of a network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in a first cell (i.e., the serving cell) provided by the first distributed unit.
  • the second central unit may maintain, in block 801, in at least one memory, the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in the first cell (i.e., the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the first cell).
  • the first central unit may have previously transmitted the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the terminal device in the first cell to the second central unit.
  • the handover procedure may be initiated by the terminal device transmitting, in message 802, a measurement report to the first distributed unit.
  • the distributed unit Upon receiving the measurement report in block 803, the distributed unit further transmits, in message 804, the measurement report to the first central unit.
  • the transmission of message 804 may correspond to uplink RRC message transfer.
  • the first central unit Upon receiving the measurement report in block 805, the first central unit determines, in block 806, that an inter-CU handover from the first cell provided by the first distributed unit of the first distributed access node to the second cell provided by the second distributed unit of the second distributed access node should be carried out for the terminal device, where the first and second cells may be neighboring cells. Consequently, the first central unit transmits, in message 807, a handover request to the second central unit of the second distributed access node.
  • the second central unit receives, in block 808, the handover request from the first central unit. Based on the handover request, the second central unit determines, in block 809, that the inter-CU handover from the first cell to the second cell is to be carried out for the terminal device and thus a network slice -specific RACH configuration for the terminal device is needed.
  • the second central unit and the second distributed unit carry out the (terminal device) context setup process in elements 810 to 813 in a similar (or same) manner as described previously in connection with elements 607 to 610 of Figure 6 for the central unit and the second distributed unit.
  • the second central unit determines, in block 814, that the firstand second cells are configured with different network slice to network slice AS group mappings or, in some cases, at least with potentially different network slice to network slice access stratum group mappings.
  • This determination maybe carried out similar to as described above for the intra-CU handover scenario in connection with Figures 6 and/or 7.
  • the options 1, 2 and 3 of Figure 7 are applicable, mutatis mutandis, also to this inter-CU handover scenario.
  • the information on the registration area of the terminal device may be transmitted to the second central unit, in this case, by the first central unit, for example, in the handover request or a separate or dedicated message, as opposed to it being transmitted by the AMF directly to the second central unit.
  • the first central unit may have received the information on the registration area of the terminal device previously from the AMF, similar as described in connection with message 722 of Figure 7.
  • the inter-CU handover procedure may be carried out to completion in a conventional manner (without communicating the network slice to network slice AS group of the second cell to the terminal device).
  • the second central unit transmits, in message 815, a handover request acknowledgment to the first central unit.
  • the handover request acknowledgment comprises at least the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell or an RRC message comprising the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the first central unit receives, in block 816, the handover request acknowledgment.
  • the first central unit and the first distributed unit carry out the (terminal device) context modification process in elements 817 to 820 in a similar (or same) manner as described previously in connection with elements 612 to 615 of Figure 6 for the central unit and the first distributed unit.
  • the first distributed unit further transmits, in message 821, an RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal device.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the handover command and the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message may comprise also one or more reserved or allocated RACH resources for the terminal device determined using the context setup procedure.
  • message 821 may be transmitted before message 819.
  • the RRC reconfiguration message 821 may comprise the handover command but not the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell.
  • the network slice to network slice AS group mapping of the second cell may be transmitted from the first distributed unit to the terminal device separately from the RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., as a separate RRC message).
  • Figure 8 illustrates an inter-CU handover-based embodiment where the first and second access nodes are distributed access nodes
  • the first and/or second access nodes may be non-distributed access nodes.
  • elements 804, 805, 810 to 813, 817 to 820 (relatingto DU-CU communication) may be omitted and thus only actions relating to elements 803, 806, 807, 816, 821 maybe carried out by the first non-distributed access node and only actions relating to elements 801, 808, 809, 814, 815 may be carried out by the second non-distributed access node.
  • Network is enabled to configure the terminal device with network slice -specific RACH resources in the non-disaggregated or disaggregated architecture.
  • the RACH configuration may be taken into account for handover decisions at RAN nodes for guaranteeing user SLAs through network slice -specific RACH configuration awareness.
  • Figure 9 provides an apparatus 901 for a central unit (CU) of a distributed access node (e.g., a distributed gNB) according to some embodiments.
  • Figure 9 may illustrate an apparatus for a central unit configured to carry out at least the functions described above in connection with communication of a network slice to network slice AS group mapping during an intra-CU or inter-CU handover.
  • the apparatus 901 may be a central unit or a CU-CP entity of the central unit or form a part of a central unit or of a CU- CP entity thereof.
  • the central unit in question may be the central unit 108 of Figure 1, the central unit 230 of Figure 2 and/or any central unit (including first and/or second CUs) of any of Figures 3 to 5.
  • the central unit may comprise a control plane entity (CU-CP) and a user plane entity (CU-UP).
  • CU-CP control plane entity
  • CU-UP user plane entity
  • the apparatus 901 may comprise one or more control circuitry 920, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 930, including one or more algorithms 931, such as a computer program code (software) wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 901 to carry out any one of the exemplified functionalities of the central unit (or the CU-CP or an apparatus for a central unit) described above.
  • Said at least one memory 930 may also comprise at least one database 932.
  • the one or more communication control circuitry 920 of the apparatus 901 comprise at least CU handover circuitry 921 which is configured to perform a handover related functionalities comprising communication of a network slice to network slice AS group mapping (of a target cell) .
  • the CU handover circuitry 921 of the apparatus 901 is configured to carry out at least some of the functionalities of the central unit (or the CU-CP or an apparatus for a central unit) described above, e.g., by means of any of elements 301, 302 of Figure 3, elements 601, 605 to 607, 610 to 612, 615 of Figure 6, elements 711, 712, 721, 723, 724, 731, 733, 734, 741, 742 of Figure 7 and/or elements 801, 805 to 810, 813 to 817, 820 of Figure 8 using one or more individual circuitries.
  • the apparatus 901 may further comprise different interfaces 910 such as one or more communication interfaces (TX/RX) comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols.
  • the one or more communication interfaces 910 may comprise, for example, interfaces providing a connection to the Internet and a core network of a wireless communications network (e.g., to the AMF therein).
  • the one or more communication interface 910 may provide the apparatus 901 (and thus the central unit) with communication capabilities to communicate in a cellular communication system and enable communication with user devices (terminal devices) and different network nodes or elements and/or a communication interface to enable communication between different network nodes or elements (e.g., one or more distributed units), for example.
  • the one or more communication interfaces 910 may comprise, for example, one or more Fl interfaces (e.g., one or more Fl-U and/or Fl-C interfaces), one or more Xn interfaces and one or more NG interfaces.
  • Figure 10 provides an apparatus 1001 for a terminal device according to some embodiments.
  • Figure 10 may illustrate an apparatus 1001 for a terminal device configured to carry out at least the functions described above in connection with tak- ing a network slice or network slice AS group mapping of a target cell into account in selection of RACH resources in connection with a handover.
  • the apparatus 1001 may be a terminal device or form a part of a terminal device.
  • the terminal device in question may be any of the terminal devices 100, 102 of Figure 1 and/or any of the terminal devices 221 to 223 of Figure 2.
  • the apparatus 1001 may comprise one or more control circuitry 1020, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 1030, including one or more algorithms 1031, such as a computer program code (software) wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 1001 to carry out any one of the exemplified functionalities of the terminal device (and apparatus for the terminal device) described above.
  • Said at least one memory 1030 may also comprise at least one database 1032.
  • the one or more communication control circuitry 1020 of the apparatus 1001 comprise at least RACH resource selection circuitry 1021 for selection of RACH resources in connection with a handover.
  • the RACH resource selection circuitry 1021 of the apparatus 1001 is configured to carry out at least some of the functionalities of the terminal device (or the apparatus for the terminal device) described above, e.g., by means of any of elements 401 to 404 of Figure 4, elements 501 to 506, elements 602, 617 to 620 of Figure 6 and/or elements 802, 822 of Figure 8, using one or more individual circuitries.
  • the apparatus 1001 may further comprise different interfaces 1010 such as one or more communication interfaces (TX/RX) comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols.
  • the one or more communication interfaces 1010 may comprise, for example, interfaces providing a connection to the Internet and a core network of a wireless communications network (via one or more distributed and/or nondistributed access nodes).
  • the one or more communication interface 1010 may provide the apparatus 1001 (and thus the terminal device) with communication capabilities to communicate in a cellular communication system and enable communication between user devices (terminal devices) and with different network nodes or elements (e.g., one or more distributed and/or non-distributed access nodes).
  • Figure 11 provides an apparatus 1101 for a (non-distributed or monolithic) access node (e.g., a non-distributed or monolithic gNB) according to some embodiments.
  • Figure 11 may illustrate an apparatus for an access node configured to carry out at least the functions described above in connection with communication of a network slice to network slice AS group mapping during a handover.
  • the apparatus 1101 may be an access node or form a part of an access node.
  • the access node unit in question may be the access node 104 of Figure 1.
  • the apparatus 1101 may comprise one or more control circuitry 1120, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 1130, including one or more algorithms 1131, such as a computer program code (software) wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 1101 to carry out any one of the exemplified functionalities of the (non-distributed) access node described above.
  • control circuitry 1120 such as at least one processor
  • at least one memory 1130 including one or more algorithms 1131, such as a computer program code (software) wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 1101 to carry out any one of the exemplified functionalities of the (non-distributed) access node described above.
  • Said at least one memory 1130 may also comprise at least one database 1132.
  • the one or more communication control circuitry 1120 of the apparatus 1101 comprise at least handover circuitry 1121 which is configured to carry out at least some of the functionalities described above, e.g., by means of any of element 301 to 302 of Figure 3, blocks 711, 712, 721, 723, 724, 731, 733, 734, 741, 742 of Figure 7 and/or elements 801, 803, 806, 807, 808, 809, 814, 815, 816, 821, using one or more individual circuitries.
  • the apparatus 1101 may further comprise different interfaces 1110 such as one or more communication interfaces (TX/RX) comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols.
  • the one or more communication interfaces 1110 may comprise, for example, interfaces providing a connection to the Internet and a core network of a wireless communications network.
  • the one or more communication interface 1110 may provide the apparatus (and thus the access node) with communication capabilities to communicate in a cellular communication system and enable communication between user devices (terminal devices) and different network nodes or elements (e.g., other access nodes) and/or a communication interface to enable communication between different network nodes or elements, for example.
  • the memories 930, 1030, 1130 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more communication interfaces 910, 1030, 1130 of any of Figures 9 to 11 may comprise standard well-known components such as an amplifier, filter, frequency-converter, (de)modulator, and encoder/decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units, and one or more antennas.
  • any suitable data storage technology such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.
  • the one or more communication interfaces 910, 1030, 1130 of any of Figures 9 to 11 may comprise standard well-known components such as an amplifier, filter, frequency-converter, (de)modulator, and encoder/decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units, and one or more antennas.
  • circuitry may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software/firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processors) with software, including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or an access node, to perform various functions, and (c) hardware circuit(s) and processor(s), such as a microprocessors) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g.
  • circuitry for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.
  • circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including any claims.
  • the term ‘circuitry’ also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.
  • circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit for an access node or a terminal device or other computing or network device.
  • At least some of the processes described in connection with Figures 3 to 8 may be carried out by an apparatus comprising corresponding means for carrying out at least some of the described processes.
  • Some example means for carrying out the processes may include at least one of the following: detector, processor (including dual-core and multiple-core processors), digital signal processor, controller, receiver, transmitter, encoder, decoder, memory, RAM, ROM, software, firmware, display, user interface, display circuitry, user interface circuitry, user interface software, display software, circuit, antenna, antenna circuitry, or circuitry.
  • the at least one processor, the memory, and the computer program code form processing means or comprises one or more computer program code portions for carrying out one or more operations according to any one of the embodiments of Figures 3 to 8 or operations thereof.
  • an apparatus e.g., a terminal device or a part thereof comprising means for performing: receiving from a first radio access network node, a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of a second cell being a target cell of a handover, wherein the second cell is provided by a second radio access network node; determining a network slice access stratum group for accessing the second cell based on the network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell; selecting a random access channel resource for accessing the second cell based on the network slice access stratum group; and accessing the second cell using the random access channel resource.
  • an apparatus e.g., a central unit of a distributed access node or a part thereof comprising means for performing: determining that an inter -central unit or intra -central unit handover of a terminal device from a first cell provided by a first distributed unit to a second cell provided by a second distributed unit is to be carried out; and transmitting a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell to the first distributed unit directly, in a case of the intra -central unit handover, or to the first distributed unit via a first central unit, in a case of the inter -central unit handover.
  • an apparatus e.g., an access node or a part thereof comprising means for performing: determining that a handover of a terminal device from a first cell provided by a first access node to a second cell provided by a second access node is to be carried out; and transmitting a network slice to network slice access stratum group mapping of the second cell to the first access node.
  • Embodiments as described may also be carried out in the form of a computer process defined by a computer program or portions thereof. Embodiments of the methods described in connection with Figures 3 to 8 may be carried out by executing at least one portion of a computer program comprising corresponding instructions.
  • the computer program may be provided as a computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon or as a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon.
  • the computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program.
  • the computer program may be stored on a computer program distribution medium readable by a computer or a processor.
  • the computer program medium may be, for example but not limited to, a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example.
  • the computer program medium may be a non-transitory medium. Coding of software for carrying out the embodiments as shown and described is well within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Selon un aspect, l'invention concerne un appareil pour effectuer les étapes suivantes. L'appareil reçoit, en provenance d'un premier nœud de réseau d'accès radio, une tranche de réseau vers un mappage de groupe de strate d'accès à une tranche de réseau d'une seconde cellule qui est une cellule cible d'un transfert intercellulaire. La seconde cellule est fournie par un second nœud de réseau d'accès radio. L'appareil détermine un groupe de strate d'accès à une tranche de réseau pour accéder à la seconde cellule sur la base de la tranche de réseau à un mappage de groupe de strate d'accès à une tranche de réseau de la seconde cellule. L'appareil sélectionne une ressource de canal d'accès aléatoire pour accéder à la seconde cellule sur la base du groupe de strate d'accès à une tranche de réseau et accède à la seconde cellule à l'aide de la ressource de canal d'accès aléatoire.
PCT/EP2023/077678 2022-10-10 2023-10-06 Configuration rach connectée spécifique à un groupe de tranches WO2024078979A1 (fr)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20200022061A1 (en) * 2017-03-24 2020-01-16 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Handover Method in Mobile Network and Communications Apparatus
WO2021239899A1 (fr) * 2020-05-29 2021-12-02 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. Fonction de sélection de configuration de ressource de canal d'accès aléatoire d'équipement utilisateur et hiérarchisation des ressources pour prendre en charge le découpage

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20200022061A1 (en) * 2017-03-24 2020-01-16 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Handover Method in Mobile Network and Communications Apparatus
WO2021239899A1 (fr) * 2020-05-29 2021-12-02 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. Fonction de sélection de configuration de ressource de canal d'accès aléatoire d'équipement utilisateur et hiérarchisation des ressources pour prendre en charge le découpage

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
CMCC: "Discussion on slice grouping and slice priority", vol. RAN WG3, no. Electronic Meeting; 20220509 - 20220520, 26 April 2022 (2022-04-26), XP052143413, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:https://ftp.3gpp.org/tsg_ran/WG3_Iu/TSGR3_116-e/Docs/R3-223646.zip R3-223646 Discussion on slice grouping and slice priority.docx> [retrieved on 20220426] *

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