WO2024095456A1 - Wireless base station - Google Patents

Abstract

This wireless base station includes: a first device; and one or more second devices that are connected to the first device. The second device transmits to the first device a message which includes a report or a proposal for holding or activating a candidate cell in the second device regarding a terminal that holds, without releasing, the setting of an addition/modification procedure of a secondary cell each time the addition/modification procedure is executed. The first device receives the message, and on the basis of the report or the proposal included in the message, executes processing according to the addition/modification procedure.

Description

Wireless base station

This disclosure relates to a radio base station that supports procedures for adding and changing secondary cells (secondary nodes).

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP: registered trademark) is defining specifications for the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G, also known as New Radio (NR) or Next Generation (NG)) and is also developing specifications for the next generation, known as Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution or 6G.

For example, 3GPP Release 17 specifies a simplified conditional PSCell addition/change procedure (CPAC) for the addition or change of a secondary cell (secondary node) to enable more efficient addition or change of a Primary SCell (PSCell).

In addition, 3GPP Release 18 is considering a method for extending the mobility of terminals (User Equipment, UE) in NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) that retains CPAC settings as needed without releasing them each time CPAC is executed (this may be called selective activation) (Non-Patent Document 1).

When selective activation is applied, the UE will be able to retain the settings of candidate secondary cells to which it will transition after performing CPAC, enabling quick cell transitions and potentially improving the mobility of the UE.

However, for example, if a UE repeatedly moves between specific cells, in order for the UE to continuously and efficiently execute the conditional PSCell change procedure (CPC), more precise coordination of information regarding the UE is required between the radio base station, specifically the central unit (gNB-CU: Central Unit) and the distributed unit (gNB-DU: Distributed Unit).

The following disclosure has been made in light of this situation, and is intended to provide a wireless base station that contributes to the realization of more efficient CPAC when selective activation is applied.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device, the second device including a transmitter (F1 processing unit 170) that transmits to the first device a message including a report or proposal to retain or activate in the second device a candidate cell related to a terminal that retains the setting of a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing it each time the addition/change procedure is performed, and the first device is a radio base station including a receiver that receives the message and a control unit (control unit 140) that executes processing according to the addition/change procedure based on the report or proposal included in the message.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device, the first device having a transmission unit (F1 processing unit 130) that transmits to the second device a message including an instruction to hold or activate a candidate cell for a terminal that holds the setting of a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing it each time the addition/change procedure is performed, and the second device is a radio base station including a reception unit that receives the message and a control unit (control unit 180) that holds or activates the candidate cell based on the instruction included in the message.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device, the second device including a transmitter (F1 processing unit 170) that transmits to the first device a message including a report of the second device's retention of terminal information related to a terminal that retains settings for a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing them each time the addition/change procedure is performed, and the first device is a radio base station including a receiver that receives the message and a control unit (control unit 140) that executes processing according to the addition/change procedure based on the report included in the message.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device, the first device having a transmission unit (F1 processing unit 130) that transmits to the second device a message including an instruction to retain or discard terminal information related to a terminal that retains the setting of a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing it each time the addition/change procedure is performed, and the second device is a radio base station having a reception unit that receives the message and a control unit (control unit 180) that retains or discards the terminal information based on the instruction included in the message.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) that includes a receiver (RRC/Xn processor 120) that receives a message from another radio base station that includes an instruction to retain or activate a candidate cell for a terminal that retains the setting of a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing it each time the addition/change procedure is performed, and a controller (controller 140) that executes processing according to the addition/change procedure based on the instruction included in the message.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (gNB100) that includes a receiver (RRC/Xn processor 120) that receives from another radio base station a message including an instruction to retain or discard terminal information related to a terminal that retains settings for a secondary cell addition/change procedure without releasing the settings for each execution of the addition/change procedure, and a controller (controller 140) that executes processing according to the addition/change procedure based on the instruction included in the message.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a wireless communication system 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a candidate cell list applied to a CHO/CPAC. Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of gNB100 (CU). Figure 4 is a functional block diagram of gNB100 (DU). Figure 5 shows an example sequence following the MN initiated CPC based procedure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example (part 1) of an F1AP message. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a second example of the structure of an F1AP message. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example (part 3) of the F1AP message. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fourth example of the structure of an F1AP message. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example (part 1) of an XnAP message. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second example of the structure of an XnAP message. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example (part 3) of an XnAP message. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the gNB100. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001.

The following describes the embodiments with reference to the drawings. Note that identical or similar symbols are used for identical functions and configurations, and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

(1) Overall Schematic Configuration of Wireless Communication System Fig. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a wireless communication system 10 according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless communication system conforming to 5G New Radio (NR) and includes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network 20 (hereinafter, NG-RAN 20) and a terminal 200 (User Equipment 200, hereinafter, UE 200).

The wireless communication system 10 may be a wireless communication system conforming to a method called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G, or may include a wireless communication system conforming to a method called Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G. The wireless communication system 10 may support functions related to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications).

NG-RAN 20 includes a radio base station 100 (hereinafter, gNB 100). Note that the specific configuration of the radio communication system 10, including the number of gNBs (or eNBs) and UEs, is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1.

The gNB100 may also adopt a fronthaul (FH) interface defined by the Open Radio Access Network Alliance (O-RAN). The gNB100 may include an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU). The gNB100 may function as a type of NG-RAN node.

NG-RAN20 actually includes multiple NG-RAN Nodes, specifically gNBs (or ng-eNBs), and is connected to a 5G-compliant core network (5GC, not shown). In 5GC, the concept of CUPS (Control and User Plane Separation), in which the functions of the user plane and the control plane are clearly separated, may be introduced.

NG-RAN20 is connected to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which is included in the 5G system architecture and provides access and mobility management functions for UE200, and the Session Management Function (SMF), which provides session management functions. In addition, UDM/UDR (Unified Data Management/User Data Repository) may be connected to the AMF and/or SMF. NG-RAN20 and 5GC may simply be referred to as "networks".

The gNB100 is a radio base station conforming to NR, and performs wireless communication conforming to NR with the UE200. The gNB100 may be configured with a CU (Central Unit, first device) and a DU (Distributed Unit, second device), and the DU may be separated from the CU and installed in a different geographical location. One or more DUs may be connected to the CU. Furthermore, the gNB100 (gNB-CU) may be connected to each other via an Xn interface, and the CU and DU may be connected to each other via an F1 interface.

The gNB100 and UE200 are capable of supporting Massive MIMO, which generates more directional beams by controlling the radio signals transmitted from multiple antenna elements, Carrier Aggregation (CA), which bundles together multiple component carriers (CCs), and Dual Connectivity (DC), which enables simultaneous communication between the UE and multiple NG-RAN nodes.

In this embodiment, Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) may be implemented in which one of the multiple gNBs 100 constitutes a master node (MN) and the other gNBs 100 constitute secondary nodes (SNs), specifically, NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) in which the gNBs constitute an MN (MgNB) and an SN (SgNB). Alternatively, E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) or NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) may be implemented.

In this way, the UE200 supports dual connectivity, connecting to multiple gNB100s.

Any of the gNBs 100 may be included in a master cell group (MCG), and the other gNBs 100 may be included in a secondary cell group (SCG). The other gNBs 100 may be interpreted as SNs included in the SCG. The gNBs 100 may be referred to as radio base stations or network devices.

The wireless communication system 10 may support a conditional handover (CHO). The CHO can execute a handover initiated by the UE 200 when a certain execution condition is met. If the CHO is not applicable, a normal handover may be executed (which may be called a CHO recovery).
Furthermore, the wireless communication system 10 may support conditional addition or change (CPAC) of a Primary SCell (PSCell). A PSCell is a type of secondary cell. A PSCell means a Primary SCell (secondary cell), and may be interpreted as corresponding to any one of a plurality of SCells.

Note that secondary cell may also be interpreted as secondary node (SN) or secondary cell group (SCG). Conditional PSCell addition/change can enable efficient and rapid addition or change of secondary cells.

The conditional PSCell addition/change may be interpreted as a simplified procedure for adding or changing a conditional secondary cell. In addition, the conditional PSCell addition/change may mean at least one of the addition or change of a SCell.

In CHO/CPAC, the time that the SN (SgNB) retains the context information of UE200 (including UE Context, dedicated RACH resource, and C-RNTI (Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier), which may also be referred to as terminal information) may be managed by a timer. The SN (SgNB) may discard the UE Context based on an explicit instruction from the MN (MgNB) or timer expiration (specified by 3GPP TS). The gNB-DU may also discard the UE Context based on an explicit instruction from the gNB-CU or timer expiration (depending on implementation).

In the wireless communication system 10, a method (hereinafter referred to as selective activation) of retaining the CPAC settings as needed, rather than releasing them each time CPAC is executed, may be applied. Selective activation may be interpreted as a method of avoiding or reducing signaling for reconfiguring the CHO/CPAC-related settings (config) by retaining the settings as needed, rather than releasing them each time CHO/CPAC is executed.

The contents of the settings related to CHO/CPAC are not particularly limited, but are typically UE200 context information related to CHO/CPAC (information necessary for establishing a connection, such as resource blocks to be used, security-related information, etc.). Note that information on candidate cells to transition to may also be included.

Figure 2 shows an example of a candidate cell list applied to CHO/CPAC. As shown in Figure 2, the candidate cell list applied to CHO/CPAC is composed of multiple cells (e.g., up to eight cells) and may include activated cells and deactivated cells. In particular, as shown in Figure 1, when UE 200 repeatedly moves between cells A to C, it may be preferable to retain information about a specific cell (e.g., cell B) rather than releasing (discarding) it.

In the wireless communication system 10, when selective activation is applied, messages including special instructions, reports, or proposals may be transmitted and received between gNBs 100, specifically, between CU and DU or between MN (MgNB) and SN (SgNB), in order to efficiently retain context information of UE 200 and retain and activate/deactivate candidate cells.

(2) Functional Block Configuration of Wireless Communication System Next, the functional block configuration of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, the functional block configuration of the CU and DU of the gNB100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block configuration diagram of the gNB100 (CU). FIG. 4 is a functional block configuration diagram of the gNB100 (DU). Note that FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are examples of main functional blocks related to the description of the embodiment, and the gNB100 may have other functional blocks. Also, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show functional block configurations of the gNB100 and UE200, and for the hardware configuration, please refer to FIG. 12.

(2.1) CU
The gNB 100 (CU) includes a NW connection unit 110, an RRC/Xn processing unit 120, an F1 processing unit 130, and a control unit 140.

The NW connection unit 110 provides interfaces necessary for connection to other RAN nodes and core network nodes that constitute the network. In particular, in this embodiment, the NW connection unit 110 can provide a connection interface (Xn) with other gNBs 100 via the NG-RAN 20 and a connection interface (F1) with a DU.

The RRC/Xn processing unit 120 executes various processes (XnAP) related to the radio resource control layer (RRC) and the Xn interface. For example, the RRC/Xn processing unit 120 can transmit an RRC Reconfiguration to the UE 200. The RRC/Xn processing unit 120 can also receive an RRC Reconfiguration Complete from the UE 200, which is a response to the RRC Reconfiguration.

The RRC/Xn processing unit 120 can transmit and receive inter-node messages via the Xn interface. For example, when the gNB100 constitutes an MN, the RRC/Xn processing unit 120 may transmit and receive messages regarding SN changes with the SN. Also, when the gNB100 constitutes an SN, the RRC/Xn processing unit 120 may similarly transmit and receive messages regarding SN changes with the MN.

In this embodiment, the RRC/Xn processing unit 120 may configure a UE200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a receiving unit that receives a message from another radio base station (gNB100) including an instruction to retain or activate a candidate cell related to Selective activation. The RRC/Xn processing unit 120 may also configure a UE200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a receiving unit that receives a message from another radio base station (gNB100) including an instruction to retain or discard UE Context (terminal information) related to Selective activation.

More specifically, the RRC/Xn processing unit 120 can process the following inter-node messages defined in 3GPP TS38.423. The inter-node messages may include the indications described above.

(MN initiated Configuration: Configuration initiated by MN)
・SN Addition/Modification/Release Request (MN to SN)
・SN Addition/Modification/Release Request Acknowledge (SN to MN)
(SN-DU initiated Config Modification: Configuration initiated by the DU of the SN)
・SN Modification/Release Required (SN to MN)
・SN Modification/Release Confirm (MN to SN)
(SN-CU initiated Config Modification: Configuration initiated by the SN CU)
・SN Modification/Release Required (SN to MN)
・SN Modification/Release Confirm (MN to SN)
The F1 processing unit 130 executes various processes (F1AP) related to the F1 interface used for connection between the CU and DU. Specifically, the F1 processing unit 130 can transmit and receive messages between the CU and DU via the F1 interface.

In this embodiment, the F1 processing unit 130 may constitute a receiving unit that receives a message from a DU including a report or proposal of retention or activation in the DU (second device) of a candidate cell related to the UE 200. The F1 processing unit 130 may constitute a receiving unit that receives a message from a DU including a report of retention in the DU (second device) of a UE Context (terminal information) related to the UE 200.

Furthermore, the F1 processing unit 130 may configure a UE 200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a transmission unit that transmits a message including an instruction to retain or activate a candidate cell related to Selective activation to the DU (second device). F1 processing unit 130 may configure a UE 200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a transmission unit that transmits a message including an instruction to retain or discard a UE Context (terminal information) related to Selective activation to the DU (second device).

More specifically, the F1 processing unit 130 can process the following messages defined in 3GPP TS38.473. These messages may include the indications described above.

(MN initiated Configuration: Configuration initiated by MN)
・UE Context Setup/Modification/Release Request (CU to DU)
・UE Context Setup/Modification/Release Response (DU to CU)
(SN-DU initiated Config Modification: Configuration initiated by the DU of the SN)
・UE Context Modification/Release Required (DU to CU)
・UE Context Modification/Release Request/Command (CU to DU)
(SN-CU initiated Config Modification: Configuration initiated by the SN CU)
・UE Context Modification/Release Request (CU to DU)
・UE Context Modification/Release Response (DU to CU)
The control unit 140 controls each functional block constituting the gNB 100 (CU). In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 140 can execute processing according to CPAC based on a report or proposal included in an F1AP message defined in 3GPP TS38.473. The control unit 140 can also execute processing according to CPAC based on a report included in an F1AP message.

The control unit 140 can execute processing according to CPAC based on instructions contained in an XnAP message (message between nodes) specified in 3GPP TS38.423.

Processing according to CPAC may include adding or changing a cell (SCell) and processing related to selective activation. As mentioned above, F1AP messages and XnAP messages may include UE Context (terminal information) and indications for retaining and discarding candidate cells.

In this embodiment, the channels may include a control channel and a data channel. The control channels include PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel), etc.

Data channels also include PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) and PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel).

Note that reference signals include Demodulation reference signal (DMRS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), and Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and signals include channels and reference signals. Furthermore, data may refer to data transmitted via a data channel.

(2.2) DU
The gNB100 (DU) comprises a wireless communication unit 150, a NW connection unit 160, an F1 processing unit 170 and a control unit 180.

The wireless communication unit 150 transmits and receives wireless signals conforming to NR. Specifically, the wireless communication unit 150 receives an uplink signal (UL signal) conforming to NR from the UE 200, and transmits a downlink signal (DL signal) conforming to NR to the UE 200.

The NW connection unit 160 can provide a connection interface (F1) with other RAN nodes that make up the network, in this embodiment, the gNB100 (CU).

The F1 processing unit 170, like the F1 processing unit 130 of the CU, executes various processes (F1AP) related to the F1 interface used for the connection between the CU and DU. Specifically, the F1 processing unit 130 can send and receive messages between the CU and DU via the F1 interface.

In this embodiment, the F1 processing unit 170 may constitute a UE 200 that retains the CPAC setting without releasing it each time CPAC is executed, that is, a transmitting unit that transmits a message including a report or proposal to retain or activate a candidate cell for Selective activation in a DU (second device) to a CU (first device). The F1 processing unit 170 may constitute a UE 200 that retains the CPAC setting without releasing it each time CPAC is executed, that is, a receiving unit that receives a message including an instruction to retain or activate a candidate cell for Selective activation from a CU.

The F1 processing unit 170 may constitute a UE 200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a transmitting unit that transmits a message including a report of the retention of the UE Context (terminal information) related to Selective activation in the DU (second device) to a CU (first device). The F1 processing unit 170 may constitute a UE 200 that retains the CPAC settings without releasing them each time CPAC is executed, that is, a receiving unit that receives a message including an instruction to retain or discard the UE Context (terminal information) related to Selective activation from a CU.

As described above, the F1 processing unit 170 can process messages specified in 3GPP TS38.473. The messages may include the indications described above.

The control unit 180 controls each functional block that constitutes the gNB100 (DU). In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 180 can retain or activate a candidate cell based on an instruction included in an F1AP message defined in 3GPP TS38.473.

The control unit 180 can also retain or discard UE Context (terminal information) based on instructions contained in the F1AP message specified in 3GPP TS38.473.

Processing according to CPAC may include adding or changing a cell (SCell) and processing related to selective activation. As mentioned above, the F1AP message may include UE Context (terminal information) and indications for retaining and discarding candidate cells.

(3) Operation of Wireless Communication System Next, a description will be given of the operation of the wireless communication system 10. Specifically, a description will be given of an example of operation related to retention of UE Context (terminal information) and candidate cells between CU-DU and MN-SN regarding selective activation of CPAC.

(3.1) Issues with Selective Activation As shown in FIG. 1, when UE200 repeatedly moves between cells A to C, the following CPC function extensions can be considered to enable UE200 to continuously perform CPC (conditional PSCell change).

　　- In Candidate T (Target)-SN and S (Source)-SN, instruct, propose or report between CU-DU the retention/discarding of UE Context (or dedicated RACH resource/C-RNTI or candidate cell).

　　-When setting the activation/deactivation of a Candidate Cell, instructs, proposes or reports the status of the Candidate Cell between the CU and DU.

- Instruct, propose or report the retention/discarding of UE Context (or dedicated RACH resource/C-RNTI) and Candidate Cell between MN and SN.

(3.2) Operation Example In selective activation, in order to retain the configuration information on the network side after CPAC is executed, the following indication may be added to XnAP/F1AP. Alternatively, a new F1AP message may be added. In addition, the existing F1AP and XnAP messages to which the indication is added may be called by different names.

(Existing message)
・F1AP: UE Context Setup/Modification/Release message
・XnAP: SN Addition/Modification/Released message
(Indication functions of each part)
・Indication to set whether to keep or discard the candidate cell
・DU: Reports whether it is possible to hold or not, proposes discarding ・CU: Instructs to hold or discard ・MN/SN: Instructs or reports to each other to hold or discard ・Indication of active/deactive status of candidate cell
・DU: Reports or proposes activate/deactivate ・CU: Instructs activate/deactivate ・MN/SN: Instructs or reports activate/deactivate to each other ・Indication to set retention/discard of UE Context
DU: Reports whether or not it is possible to hold, proposes discarding CU: Instructs to hold/discard MN/SN: Instructs or reports to hold/discard each other Figure 5 shows an example of a sequence according to the MN initiated CPC based procedure. As shown in Figure 5, the procedure may include a Preparation Phase, a Config Modification, and an Execution Phase.

In the Preparation Phase, the MN may instruct or report to the SN the UEs to be held. In Config Modification, updates to Candidate cells may be performed between Preparation and Execution (Figure 5 shows an example of SN-DU initiated).

Alternatively, the candidate cell update may be performed after Execution (in Figure 5, an example is MN initiated or SN-DU initiated).

In selective activation, in order to hold information about the UE on the network side, the following indication may be added to the F1AP message (hereinafter, all of UE Context Setup/Modification/Release may be targeted):
(1-1) Add indication regarding retention or discard of Candidate Cell after the next CPC between CU and DU. CU: Instruction, DU: Report, Proposal Setup Request ←→ Setup Response (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Response (report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Release Command ←→ Release Request (proposal)
(1-2) Added indication regarding Activate/Deactivate of Candidate Cell between CU and DU. CU: Instruction, DU: Report, Proposal Setup Request ←→ Setup Response (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Response (report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Release Command ←→ Release Request (proposal)
(1-3) Add indication regarding UE Context retention/discard after the next CPC between CU and DU. CU: Instruction, DU: Report, Proposal Setup Request ←→ Setup Response (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Response (report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Release Command ←→ Release Request (no additional indication, operation in accordance with existing 3GPP specifications)
In addition, in selective activation, in order to hold information about the UE on the network side, the following indication may be added to the XnAP message (hereinafter, all of SN Addition/Modification/Reconfiguration may be targeted):
(2-1) Between MN and SN, add indication regarding retention or discard of Candidate Cell after the next CPC ・MN: Instruction, SN: Report, Proposal ・Addition Request ←→ Addition Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Reconfiguration Complete, Release Request/Acknowledge
(2-2) Addition of indication regarding Activate/Deactivate of Candidate Cell between MN and SN ・MN: Instruction, SN: Report, Proposal ・Addition Request ←→ Addition Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Reconfiguration Complete, Release Request/Acknowledge
(2-3) Between MN and SN, add indication regarding retention or discard of UE Context after the next CPC ・MN: Instruction, SN: Report, Proposal ・Addition Request ←→ Addition Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Request ←→ Modification Request Acknowledge (Report)
・Modification Confirm ←→ Modification Required (proposal)
・Reconfiguration Complete, Release Request/Acknowledge
(3.3) Example of Message Structure Next, an example of the structure of the above-mentioned F1AP message and XnAP message will be described.

(3.3.1) Example 1
Fig. 6 shows a configuration example (part 1) of an F1AP message. As shown in Fig. 6, a new F1AP message may be defined. Specifically, a message regarding Activate/Deactivate of a Candidate Cell between a CU and a DU may be added.

・CU: Instruction, DU: Report ・Candidate Cell Activation Request ←→ Candidate Cell Activation Response
The Candidate Cell Activation Request and the Candidate Cell Activation Response are tentative names and may be named differently. As shown in FIG. 6, the IE of Candidate SpCell Activation may be included.

Candidate Cell Activation Request and Candidate Cell Activation Response may be sent in parallel with existing F1AP messages (if existing F1AP messages are required) or may be sent alone, which may reduce message overhead.

(3.3.2) Example 2
Fig. 7 shows a configuration example (part 2) of an F1AP message. As shown in Fig. 7, an indication (Candidate SpCell Maintenance) regarding the retention or discard of a Candidate Cell after the next CPC may be added to the existing F1AP message (corresponding to (1-1) above).

From the CU to the DU, an indication may be added to instruct retention for each Candidate Cell. From the DU to the CU, an indication may be added to report (or suggest) retention for each Candidate Cell.

(3.3.3) Example 3
Fig. 8 shows a configuration example (part 3) of the F1AP message. As shown in Fig. 8, an indication regarding activation/deactivation of a Candidate Cell (Candidate SpCell Activation) may be added to the existing F1AP message (corresponding to (1-2) above).

From the CU to the DU, an indication may be added to command activation/deactivation for each Candidate Cell. From the DU to the CU, an indication may be added to report (suggest) activation/deactivation for each Candidate Cell.

(3.3.4) Example 4
Fig. 9 shows a configuration example (part 4) of the F1AP message. As shown in Fig. 9, an indication regarding the maintenance of the UE Context (Maintain UE config indication/UE config is maintained or not indication) may be added to the existing F1AP message (corresponding to (1-3) above).

From the CU to the DU, an indication may be added to instruct the UE to retain its configuration. From the DU to the CU, an indication may be added to report (or suggest) the UE to retain its configuration.

(3.3.5) Example 5
Fig. 10 shows a configuration example (part 1) of an XnAP message. As shown in Fig. 10, an indication (Candidate SpCell Maintenance) regarding the retention or discard of a Candidate Cell after the next CPC may be added to the existing XnAP message (corresponding to (2-1) above).

From the MN to the SN, an indication may be added to instruct retention for each Candidate Cell. From the SN to the MN, an indication may be added to report (or propose) retention for each Candidate Cell.

(3.3.6) Example 6
Fig. 11 shows a configuration example (part 2) of an XnAP message. As shown in Fig. 11, an indication regarding activation/deactivation of a Candidate Cell (Candidate SpCell Activation) may be added to an existing XnAP message (corresponding to (2-2) above).

From the MN to the SN, an indication may be added to instruct activation/deactivation for each Candidate Cell. From the SN to the MN, an indication may be added to report (or propose) activation/deactivation for each Candidate Cell.

(3.3.7) Example 7
Fig. 12 shows a configuration example (part 3) of the XnAP message. As shown in Fig. 12, an indication regarding the maintenance of the UE Context (Maintain UE config indication/UE config is maintained or not indication) may be added to the existing XnAP message (corresponding to the above-mentioned (2-3)).

An indication may be added to the UE to instruct it to retain its configuration. From the DU to the CU, an indication may be added to report (or suggest) that it retain the configuration for the UE.

(4) Actions and Effects According to the above-described embodiment, the following actions and effects can be obtained. Specifically, according to the gNB 100, since it is possible to transmit and receive F1AP messages and XnAP messages including the above-described indications, it is possible to realize handover (HO), cell change, and addition successively without reconfiguration/re-initiation in CHO/CPAC, and it is possible to reduce signaling overhead with the UE.

In addition, even when selective activation is applied, the settings are appropriately changed according to the cell load, etc., so information about the UE that the SN's DU or CU should hold can be appropriately managed.

In this way, with the gNB100 according to this embodiment, selective activation is applied, and even if the UE repeatedly moves between specific cells, information about the UE can be appropriately retained, making it possible to achieve even more efficient CPAC (and CHO).

(5) Other Embodiments Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiments, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, CPAC has been mainly used as an example, but similar operations may also be applied to CHO.

Furthermore, in the above description, configure, activate, update, indicate, enable, specify, and select may be read as interchangeable. Similarly, link, associate, correspond, and map may be read as interchangeable, and allocate, assign, monitor, and map may also be read as interchangeable.

Furthermore, specific, dedicated, UE-specific, and UE-individual may be read as interchangeable. Similarly, common, shared, group-common, UE-common, and UE-shared may be read as interchangeable.

In this disclosure, terms such as "precoding", "precoder", "weight (precoding weight)", "Quasi-Co-Location (QCL)", "Transmission Configuration Indication state (TCI state)", "spatial relation", "spatial domain filter", "transmit power", "phase rotation", "antenna port", "antenna port group", "layer", "number of layers", "rank", "resource", "resource set", "resource group", "beam", "beam width", "beam angle", "antenna", "antenna element", "panel", etc. may be used interchangeably.

The block diagrams (FIGS. 3 and 4) used to explain the above-mentioned embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and connected directly or indirectly (e.g., using wires, wirelessly, etc.) and these multiple devices. The functional blocks may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

Functions include, but are not limited to, judgement, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, election, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, regard, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the transmission function is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on the method of realization for any of these.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned gNB100 (CU, DU) may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the gNB100. As shown in FIG. 13, the gNB100 may be configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, and a bus 1007.

In the following explanation, the term "apparatus" can be interpreted as a circuit, device, unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the apparatus may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the figure, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

Each functional block of gNB100 (see Figures 3 and 4) is realized by any hardware element of the computer device, or a combination of such hardware elements.

Furthermore, each function of gNB100 is realized by loading a specific software (program) onto hardware such as processor 1001 and memory 1002, causing processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communications by communication device 1004, and control at least one of reading and writing data in memory 1002 and storage 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, runs an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) that includes an interface with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, registers, etc.

The processor 1001 also reads out programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiments. Furthermore, the various processes described above may be executed by one processor 1001, or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be composed of, for example, at least one of Read Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. Memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory, etc. Memory 1002 can store a program (program code), software module, etc. capable of executing a method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned recording medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc.

The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc., to realize, for example, at least one of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one structure (e.g., a touch panel).

Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

Furthermore, the device may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects/embodiments described in the present disclosure and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), other signals, or a combination of these. Furthermore, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, etc.

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be applied to at least one of systems utilizing Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (where x is, for example, an integer or decimal), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other suitable systems and next generation systems enhanced therewith. Additionally, multiple systems may be combined (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

The processing steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be reordered unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

In this disclosure, certain operations that are described as being performed by a base station may in some cases also be performed by its upper node. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal may be performed by at least one of the base station and other network nodes other than the base station (such as, but not limited to, an MME or S-GW). Although the above example shows a case where there is one other network node other than the base station, it may also be a combination of multiple other network nodes (such as an MME and an S-GW).

Information, signals (information, etc.) can be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer). They may be input and output via multiple network nodes.

The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or appended. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be sent to another device.

The determination may be based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., with a predetermined value).

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

In addition, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted and received over a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and/or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave, etc.), then at least one of these wired and/or wireless technologies is included within the definition of a transmission medium.

The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

Note that the terms explained in this disclosure and the terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and the symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, the signal may be a message. Also, the component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using absolute values, may be represented using relative values from a predetermined value, or may be represented using other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

The names used for the above-mentioned parameters are not limiting in any respect. Furthermore, the formulas etc. using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting in any respect.

In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)", "wireless base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission/reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). If a base station accommodates multiple cells, the overall coverage area of the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can also provide communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

The term "cell" or "sector" refers to part or all of the coverage area of a base station and/or a base station subsystem that provides communication services within that coverage.

In this disclosure, a base station transmitting information to a terminal may be interpreted as the base station instructing the terminal to control or operate based on the information.

In this disclosure, the terms "Mobile Station (MS)", "user terminal", "User Equipment (UE)", "terminal", etc. may be used interchangeably.

A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving object, or the moving object itself, etc. The moving object may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned moving object (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also include devices that do not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.

Furthermore, the base station in the present disclosure may be interpreted as a mobile station (user terminal, the same applies below). For example, each aspect/embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between multiple mobile stations (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the mobile station may be configured to have the functions of a base station. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be interpreted as terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, the uplink channel, downlink channel, etc. may be interpreted as a side channel (or side link).

Similarly, the mobile station in this disclosure may be interpreted as a base station. In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions of the mobile station.

A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

Numerology may be a communication parameter that applies to at least one of the transmission and reception of a signal or channel. Numerology may indicate, for example, at least one of the following: Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, Transmission Time Interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame structure, a particular filtering operation performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, a particular windowing operation performed by the transceiver in the time domain, etc.

A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (e.g., Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols, etc.). A slot may be a numerology-based unit of time.

A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or multiple symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals. Radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol may each be referred to by a different name that corresponds to the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol.

For example, one subframe may be called a transmission time interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. In other words, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit expressing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station schedules each user terminal by allocating radio resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each user terminal) in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-coded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) in which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

Note that when one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. In addition, the number of slots (minislots) that constitute the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be referred to as a normal TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, normal subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may be referred to as a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

Note that a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length of more than 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length of 1 ms or more but less than the TTI length of a long TTI.

A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of numerology, and may be, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on the numerology.

Furthermore, the time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may be one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI in length. One TTI, one subframe, etc. may each be composed of one or more resource blocks.

In addition, one or more RBs may also be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, etc.

Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (RE). For example, one RE may be a radio resource area of one subcarrier and one symbol.

A Bandwidth Part (BWP), which may also be referred to as a partial bandwidth, may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by the index of the RBs relative to a common reference point of the carriers. PRBs may be defined in a BWP and numbered within that BWP.

The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL (DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured for a UE within one carrier.

At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not expect to transmit or receive a given signal/channel outside the active BWP. Note that "cell," "carrier," etc. in this disclosure may be read as "BWP."

The above-mentioned structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, and symbols are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, as well as the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, and the cyclic prefix (CP) length can be changed in various ways.

The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

The reference signal may also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS) or referred to as a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

Any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc., used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

When the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Additionally, the term "or," as used in this disclosure, is not intended to be an exclusive or.

In this disclosure, where articles have been added through translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include that the noun following these articles is in the plural form.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, search, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining something as "judging" or "determining", and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like as "judging" or "determining". Additionally, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to have been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to have been "judged" or "decided." Additionally, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combined" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

FIG. 14 shows an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001. As shown in FIG. 14, the vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021-2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013.

The drive unit 2002 is composed of, for example, an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor.
The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle), and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user.
The electronic control unit 2010 is composed of a microprocessor 2031, a memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and a communication port (IO port) 2033. Signals are input to the electronic control unit 2010 from various sensors 2021 to 2027 provided in the vehicle. The electronic control unit 2010 may be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

Signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2028 include a current signal from a current sensor 2021 that senses the current of the motor, a rotation speed signal of the front and rear wheels acquired by a rotation speed sensor 2022, an air pressure signal of the front and rear wheels acquired by an air pressure sensor 2023, a vehicle speed signal acquired by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, an acceleration signal acquired by an acceleration sensor 2025, an accelerator pedal depression amount signal acquired by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, a brake pedal depression amount signal acquired by a brake pedal sensor 2026, a shift lever operation signal acquired by a shift lever sensor 2027, and a detection signal for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. acquired by an object detection sensor 2028.

The information service unit 2012 is composed of various devices, such as a car navigation system, an audio system, speakers, a television, and a radio, for providing (outputting) various information such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, and one or more ECUs for controlling these devices. The information service unit 2012 uses information acquired from external devices via the communication module 2013, etc., to provide various multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 1.

The information service unit 2012 may include input devices (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, a touch panel, etc.) that accept input from the outside, and may also include output devices (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, a touch panel, etc.) that perform output to the outside.

The driving assistance system unit 2030 is composed of various devices that provide functions for preventing accidents and reducing the driving burden on the driver, such as a millimeter wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a camera, a positioning locator (e.g., GNSS, etc.), map information (e.g., high definition (HD) map, autonomous vehicle (AV) map, etc.), a gyro system (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chip, and an AI processor, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driving assistance system unit 2030 also transmits and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driving assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 1 via the communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 transmits and receives data via the communication port 2033 between the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, axle 2009, microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 2028, which are provided on the vehicle 2001.

The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with an external device. For example, it transmits and receives various information to and from the external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station, a mobile station, etc.

The communications module 2013 may transmit at least one of the signals from the various sensors 2021-2028 described above input to the electronic control unit 2010, information obtained based on the signals, and information based on input from the outside (user) obtained via the information service unit 2012 to an external device via wireless communication. The electronic control unit 2010, the various sensors 2021-2028, the information service unit 2012, etc. may be referred to as input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communications module 2013 may include information based on the above input.

The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, signal information, vehicle distance information, etc.) transmitted from an external device, and displays it on the information service unit 2012 provided in the vehicle. The information service unit 2012 may be called an output unit that outputs information (for example, outputs information to a device such as a display or speaker based on the PDSCH (or data/information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 2013). The communication module 2013 also stores various information received from an external device in a memory 2032 that can be used by the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in the memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, axles 2009, sensors 2021 to 2028, etc. provided in the vehicle 2001.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

10 Wireless Communication Systems 20 NG-RAN
100 gNB
110 NW connection unit 120 RRC/Xn processing unit 130 F1 processing unit 140 Control unit 150 Wireless communication unit 160 NW connection unit 170 F1 processing unit 180 Control unit 200 UE
1001 processor 1002 memory 1003 storage 1004 communication device 1005 input device 1006 output device 1007 bus 2001 vehicle 2002 drive unit 2003 steering unit 2004 accelerator pedal 2005 brake pedal 2006 shift lever 2007 left and right front wheels 2008 left and right rear wheels 2009 axle 2010 electronic control unit 2012 information service unit 2013 communication module 2021 current sensor 2022 rotation speed sensor 2023 air pressure sensor 2024 vehicle speed sensor 2025 acceleration sensor 2026 brake pedal sensor 2027 shift lever sensor 2028 object detection sensor 2029 accelerator pedal sensor 2030 driving support system unit 2031 microprocessor 2032 memory (ROM, RAM)
2033 communication port

Claims (6)

1. A radio base station including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device,
   The second device includes a transmission unit that transmits to the first device a message including a report or proposal of holding or activating a candidate cell in the second device for a terminal that holds a setting of an addition / change procedure of a secondary cell without releasing it each time the addition / change procedure is executed,
   The first device is
   A receiving unit for receiving the message;
   a control unit that executes processing in accordance with the addition/change procedure based on the report or proposal included in the message.
2. A radio base station including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device,
   The first device includes a transmission unit that transmits to the second device a message including an instruction to hold or activate a candidate cell for a terminal that holds a setting of an addition / change procedure of a secondary cell without releasing the setting for each execution of the addition / change procedure,
   The second device is
   A receiving unit for receiving the message;
   A control unit that holds or activates the candidate cell based on the instruction included in the message.
3. A radio base station including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device,
   The second device includes a transmission unit that transmits to the first device a message including a report of the holding in the second device of terminal information regarding a terminal that holds a setting of a secondary cell addition / change procedure without releasing it every time the addition / change procedure is executed,
   The first device is
   A receiving unit for receiving the message;
   a control unit that executes processing in accordance with the addition/change procedure based on the report included in the message.
4. A radio base station including a first device and one or more second devices connected to the first device,
   The first device includes a transmission unit that transmits to the second device a message including an instruction to hold or discard terminal information regarding a terminal that holds a setting of a secondary cell addition / change procedure without releasing the setting for each execution of the addition / change procedure,
   The second device is
   A receiving unit for receiving the message;
   a control unit that holds or discards the terminal information based on the instruction included in the message.
5. A receiving unit that receives a message including an instruction to hold or activate a candidate cell for a terminal that holds a setting of an addition/change procedure of a secondary cell without releasing the setting for each execution of the addition/change procedure from another radio base station;
   a control unit that executes processing in accordance with the addition/change procedure based on the instruction included in the message.
6. A receiving unit that receives a message including an instruction to hold or discard terminal information related to a terminal that holds a setting of an addition/change procedure of a secondary cell without releasing the setting every time the addition/change procedure is executed from another radio base station;
   a control unit that executes processing in accordance with the addition/change procedure based on the instruction included in the message.

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