EP4691005A1 - Attribution adaptative de ressources radio pour une efficacité énergétique - Google Patents

Attribution adaptative de ressources radio pour une efficacité énergétique

Info

Publication number
EP4691005A1
EP4691005A1 EP23931225.9A EP23931225A EP4691005A1 EP 4691005 A1 EP4691005 A1 EP 4691005A1 EP 23931225 A EP23931225 A EP 23931225A EP 4691005 A1 EP4691005 A1 EP 4691005A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
radio resources
signal quality
determining
threshold
allocated
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP23931225.9A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Huaisong Zhu
Yaqiong ZHU
Kunpeng Qi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Original Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB filed Critical Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Publication of EP4691005A1 publication Critical patent/EP4691005A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/50—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources
    • H04W72/54—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on quality criteria
    • H04W72/542—Allocation or scheduling criteria for wireless resources based on quality criteria using measured or perceived quality

Definitions

  • the present disclosure is related to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to a network node, a User Equipment (UE) , and methods for adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency.
  • UE User Equipment
  • RAN Radio Access Network
  • 5G fifth generation
  • NR New Radio
  • Carriers have been looking at energy efficiency for a few years now, but 5G will bring this to top of mind because it is going to use more energy than 4G. Some carriers spend on average 5%to 6%of their operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, on energy costs, and this is expected to rise with the shift from 4G to 5G.
  • a typical 5G base station consumes up to twice or more the power of a 4G base station, and energy costs can grow even more at higher frequencies, due to a need for more antennas and a denser layer of small cells.
  • Edge computing facilities needed to support local processing and new internet of things (IoT) services will also add to overall network power usage.
  • RRU Remote Radio Unit
  • BBU Baseband Unit
  • 5G macro base stations may require several new, power-hungry components, including microwave or millimeter wave transceivers, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , faster data converters, high-power/low-noise amplifiers and integrated MIMO antennas.
  • FPGAs field-programmable gate arrays
  • the increased power demands of a 5G base station can create several problems:
  • Spectrum is a precious resource, and therefore spectrum efficiency shall always be considered.
  • TTI Transmission Time Interval
  • the radio may be overheated.
  • the radio may inform the baseband to reduce the PSD.
  • the PSD of all downlink PRBs may always be reduced and both the cell coverage and cell throughput are impacted. For example, some UEs at the cell edge cannot attach to the cell anymore. Further, sometimes radio of base station cannot meet Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) requirement of the high scheme mode well.
  • EVM Error Vector Magnitude
  • a method at a network node for allocating radio resources comprises: determining a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE; determining whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not; determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated; and allocating a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • the step of determining a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE comprises at least one of: calculating a first number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with the first UE; and estimating a third number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method further comprises: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than or equal to the first threshold and/or in response to determining that all radio resources are to be allocated.
  • the method further comprises: estimating one or more third numbers of radio resources to be allocated for transmissions associated with one or more UEs comprising the first UE, wherein the one or more UEs are served by a same cell associated with the network node; and calculating a sum of the one or more third numbers, wherein the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated comprises: determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers comprises at least one of: determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated in response to determining that a difference, which is calculated by subtracting the sum from a total number of radio resources of the cell, is greater than zero; and determining that all radio resources are to be allocated in response to determining that the difference is equal to or less than zero.
  • the method when the determined number is the first number, the method further comprises: calculating a first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the second number; determining a first signal quality based on at least the first spectral efficiency; and calculating a first power spectral density (PSD) for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality.
  • the first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE is calculated by: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second number and a number of symbols per radio resource.
  • TTI Transmission Time Interval
  • the step of determining a first signal quality comprises: determining the first signal quality by searching for an entry corresponding to the first spectral efficiency in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality comprises: calculating a difference by subtracting the first signal quality from a second signal quality; and calculating the first PSD by subtracting the difference from a second PSD, wherein the second signal quality is a signal quality calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, wherein the second PSD is a PSD calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method before the step of calculating the first PSD, further comprises: determining whether the difference is greater than a maximum allowable difference; and adjusting the difference to be equal to the maximum allowable difference in response to determining that the difference is greater than the maximum allowable difference. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: adjusting transmission power for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first PSD and/or the second number.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources comprises: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE; and allocating a fourth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the second number is equal to the sum of the first number and the fourth number.
  • the method further comprises: determining whether a ratio of the second number to the first number is greater than or equal to a second threshold; and allocating no more radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the ratio of the second number to the first number is greater than or equal to the second threshold.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources comprises: allocating, at a time, the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold.
  • the second number is equal to a multiplication product of the first number and a configured or preconfigured ratio.
  • the method when the determined number is the first number, the method further comprises: determining whether the signal quality of the first UE is lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being lower than the first threshold; wherein the method further comprises at least one of: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold; and allocating a fifth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than the third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number.
  • the third threshold is configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold is equal to -4 dB.
  • the fifth number is determined by: determining a maximum increased PSD; calculating a third signal quality based on at least the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality; determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index based on at least the third signal quality; and calculating the fifth number based on at least the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index.
  • the maximum increased PSD is predetermined and/or configured for the first UE.
  • the third signal quality is determined as a sum of the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality.
  • the step of determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index comprises: determining the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the third signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the fifth number comprises: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the third spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the fifth number.
  • the method further comprises: allocating a first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than or equal to the first threshold and/or in response to determining that all radio resources are to be allocated, the first number being less than the second number.
  • the method further comprises: estimating one or more third numbers of radio resources to be allocated for transmissions associated with one or more UEs comprising the first UE, wherein the one or more UEs are served by a same cell associated with the network node; and calculating a sum of the one or more third numbers, wherein the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated comprises: determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers comprises at least one of: determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated in response to determining that a difference, which is calculated by subtracting the sum from a total number of radio resources of the cell, is greater than zero; and determining that all radio resources are to be allocated in response to determining that the difference is equal to or less than zero.
  • the method further comprises: determining a first target signal quality based on at least the signal quality of the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the step of allocating the second number of radio resources comprises: allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first target signal quality.
  • the first target signal quality is determined by subtracting a first offset signal quality from the signal quality of the first UE.
  • the first offset signal quality is lower than or equal to a maximum allowable offset signal quality.
  • one or more offset signal qualities are independently configured or preconfigured for one or more signal qualities of the first UE, respectively.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first target signal quality comprises: determining a second spectral efficiency and/or a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) index based on at least the first target signal quality; calculating the second number based on at least the second spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index; and allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme
  • the step of determining a second spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index comprises: determining the second spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the first target signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or maps spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the second number comprises: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the second number.
  • the method further comprises: calculating a first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the second number; determining a first signal quality based on at least the first spectral efficiency; and calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality.
  • the first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE is calculated by: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second number and a number of symbols per radio resource.
  • the step of determining a first signal quality comprises: determining the first signal quality by searching for an entry corresponding to the first spectral efficiency in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality comprises: calculating a difference by subtracting the first signal quality from a second signal quality; and calculating the first PSD by subtracting the difference from a second PSD, wherein the second signal quality is a signal quality calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, wherein the second PSD is a PSD calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method before the step of calculating the first PSD, the method further comprises: determining whether the difference is greater than a maximum allowable difference; and adjusting the difference to be equal to the maximum allowable difference in response to determining that the difference is greater than the maximum allowable difference.
  • the method further comprises: adjusting transmission power for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first PSD and/or the second number.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources comprises: allocating the third number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE; and allocating a fourth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the second number is equal to the sum of the third number and the fourth number.
  • the method further comprises: determining whether a ratio of the second number to the third number is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; and allocating no more radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the ratio of the second number to the third number is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources comprises: allocating, at a time, the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold.
  • the second number is equal to a multiplication product of the third number and a configured or preconfigured ratio.
  • the method further comprises: determining whether the signal quality of the first UE is lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being lower than the first threshold; wherein the method further comprises at least one of: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold; and allocating a fifth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than the third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number.
  • the third threshold is configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold is equal to -4 dB.
  • the fifth number is determined by: determining a maximum increased PSD; calculating a third signal quality based on at least the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality; determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index based on at least the third signal quality; and calculating the fifth number based on at least the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index.
  • the maximum increased PSD is predetermined and/or configured for the first UE.
  • the third signal quality is determined as a sum of the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality.
  • the step of determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index comprises: determining the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the third signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the fifth number comprises: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the third spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the fifth number.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated is performed in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold.
  • the second number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, such that the transmission associated with the first UE is able to be modulated with a lower order modulation scheme than that will be used for modulation when the determined number of radio resources are allocated.
  • the first UE is a UE having a signal quality higher than or equal to those of any other UEs for which radio resources are to be allocated by the network node.
  • the first threshold is configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the first threshold is equal to 1 dB.
  • the signal quality comprises at least one of: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) ; Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) ; Signal to Noise and Interference Ratio (SINR) ; Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) ; and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) .
  • the radio resources are Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) or Resource Block Groups (RBGs) .
  • the transmission associated with the first UE comprises at least one of: transmission of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) ; and transmission of a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) associated with a PDSCH.
  • PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
  • DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal
  • a network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform any of the methods of the first aspect.
  • a network node for allocating radio resources comprises: a first determining module configured to determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE; a second determining module configured to determine whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not; a third determining module configured to determine whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated; and an allocating module configured to allocate a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • the network node may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of any of the methods of the first aspect.
  • a method at a UE for communicating with a network node comprises: receiving, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources over which the network node is to communicate with the UE; and communicating with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources, wherein the number is less than or equal to a first number or a third number when a signal quality of the UE is lower than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the number is a second number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than the first threshold, the second number being greater than the first number or the third number.
  • the first threshold is configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the first threshold is equal to 1 dB. In some embodiments, a ratio of the second number to the first number is less than or equal to a threshold. In some embodiments, the number is a fifth number when the signal quality of the UE is lower than a third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number; and wherein the number is the first number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold. In some embodiments, the third threshold is configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold is equal to -4 dB.
  • the signal quality comprises at least one of: RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SNR, and CQI.
  • the radio resources are PRBs or RBGs.
  • the transmission associated with the UE comprises at least one of: transmission of a PDSCH; and transmission of a DMRS associated with a PDSCH.
  • a UE comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform any of the methods of the fourth aspect.
  • a UE for communicating with a network node comprises: a receiving module configured to receive, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources over which the network node is to communicate with the UE; and a communicating module configured to communicate with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources, wherein the number is less than or equal to a first number or a third number when a signal quality of the UE is lower than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the number is a second number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than the first threshold, the second number being greater than the first number or the third number.
  • the UE may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of any of the methods of the fourth aspect.
  • a computer program comprising instructions.
  • the instructions when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods of the first and/or fourth aspects.
  • a carrier containing the computer program of the seventh aspect is provided.
  • the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.
  • a telecommunication system comprises at least one network node and a first UE.
  • each of the at least one network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE; determine whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not; determine whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated; and allocate a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • the first UE comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources over which the network node is to communicate with the first UE; and communicate with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources, wherein the number is less than or equal to the first number when the signal quality of the first UE is lower than or equal to the first threshold, wherein the number is the second number when the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold.
  • the instructions stored in the memory of the network node when executed by the processor of the network node, cause the processor of the network node further to perform any of the methods of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the instructions stored in the memory of the first UE, when executed by the processor of the first UE, cause the processor of the first UE further to perform any of the methods of the fourth aspect.
  • cell transmission power may be decreased in some TTIs, and Power Amplifier (PA) Power consumption in base station radio may be decreased. Further, less transmission power means less interference to neighboring cell, and therefore peak throughput of neighboring cell may be increased. Further, transmission power may be distributed to more PRBs/spectrum, and the interference impact is less than the legacy solution. Further, the power amplifier may be prevented from overheating and the cell coverage, throughput, and latency are not impacted.
  • PA Power Amplifier
  • Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary telecommunication network in which UEs and gNB may be operated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary architecture of a general base station to which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for radio resource management in which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating radio output power versus radio power consumption for an exemplary base station to which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a ratio of saved radio output power versus PRB allocation factor for a base station to which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for radio resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method for radio resource allocation according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method for radio resource allocation according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a network node for allocating radio resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a UE for communicating with a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 11 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement which may be used in a UE or a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 13 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 14 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 15 shows an exemplary UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 16 shows an exemplary network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Fig. 17 is a block diagram of an exemplary host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Fig. 14, in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • Fig. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.
  • Fig. 19 shows a communication diagram of an exemplary host communicating via an exemplary network node with an exemplary UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the term "or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.
  • the term “each, " as used herein, in addition to having its ordinary meaning, can mean any subset of a set of elements to which the term “each” is applied.
  • processing circuits may in some embodiments be embodied in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) .
  • these processing circuits may comprise one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, and/or digital signal processors programmed with appropriate software and/or firmware to carry out one or more of the operations described above, or variants thereof.
  • these processing circuits may comprise customized hardware to carry out one or more of the functions described above. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
  • the inventive concept of the present disclosure may be applicable to any appropriate communication architecture, for example, to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) /General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) , Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) , Time Division -Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) , CDMA2000, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) , Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) , 4th Generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advance (LTE-A) , or 5G NR, etc.
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • GPRS General Packet Radio Service
  • EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
  • CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
  • WCDMA Wideband CDMA
  • TD-SCDMA Time Division -Synchronous CDMA
  • CDMA2000 Code Division -Synchronous CDMA
  • the terms used herein may also refer to their equivalents in any other infrastructure.
  • the term "UE” used herein may refer to a terminal device, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, a user device, a user terminal, a wireless device, a wireless terminal, or any other equivalents.
  • the term "network node” used herein may refer to a transmission reception point (TRP) , a base station, a base transceiver station, an access point, a hot spot, a NodeB, an Evolved NodeB (eNB) , a gNB, a network element, or any other equivalents.
  • TRP transmission reception point
  • eNB Evolved NodeB
  • gNB gNodeB
  • 3GPP TS 38.141-1 V18.0.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Base Station (BS) conformance testing, Part 1: Conducted conformance testing (Release 18) ;
  • 3GPP TS 38.141-2 V18.0.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Base Station (BS) conformance testing, Part 2: Radiated conformance testing (Release 18) ;
  • 3GPP TS 38.212 V17.4.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 17) ;
  • 3GPP TS 38.213 V17.4.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control (Release 17) ;
  • 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.3.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17) ; and
  • 3GPP TS 38.331 V17.3.0 (2022-12) , Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17) .
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary telecommunication network 10 in which a UE #1 100-1, a UE #2 100-2, and a RAN node (e.g., gNB) 105 may be operated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • a UE #1 100-1 a UE #1 100-1
  • a UE #2 100-2 a UE #2 100-2
  • a RAN node e.g., gNB
  • the telecommunication network 10 is a network defined in the context of 5G NR, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
  • the network 10 may comprise one or more UEs 100-1 and 100-2 (collectively, UE (s) 100) and a RAN node 105, which could be a base station, a Node B, an evolved NodeB (eNB) , a gNB, or an AN node which provides the UEs 100 with access to the network. Further, the network 10 may comprise its core network portion that is not shown in Fig. 1.
  • the network 10 may comprise additional nodes, less nodes, or some variants of the existing nodes shown in Fig. 1.
  • the entities e.g., an eNB
  • the gNB 105 e.g., the gNB 105
  • some of the entities may be same as those shown in Fig. 1, and others may be different.
  • UEs 100 and one gNB 105 are shown in Fig. 1, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, any number of UEs and/or any number of gNBs may be comprised in the network 10.
  • the UEs 100 may be communicatively connected to the gNB 105 which in turn may be communicatively connected to a corresponding Core Network (CN) and then the Internet, such that the UEs 100 may finally communicate its user plane data with other devices outside the network 10, for example, via the gNB 105.
  • CN Core Network
  • Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary architecture of a general base station 105 to which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the base station 105 usually includes two parts, one is baseband 210 (e.g., a Baseband Unit (BBU) ) and the other is radio 220 (e.g., a Radio Unit (RU) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a Remote Radio Head (RRH) ) . Most of the power is consumed by the radio 220.
  • BBU Baseband Unit
  • radio 220 e.g., a Radio Unit (RU) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a Remote Radio Head (RRH)
  • the baseband 210 may include a Radio Resource Manager (RRM) 221, a physical layer transmitter 213, and a physical layer receiver 215, etc.
  • RRM Radio Resource Manager
  • the physical layer in some gNB products may be divided into physical higher layer and physical lower layer.
  • the physical high layer is located in the baseband 210, and the physical lower layer is located in the radio 220.
  • the baseband 210 and the radio 220 may communicate with each via Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) , which defines the publicly available specification for the key internal interface of radio base stations between a Radio Equipment Control (REC) (e.g. the baseband 210 shown in Fig. 2) and a Radio Equipment (RE) (e.g., the radio 220 shown in Fig. 2) .
  • CPRI Common Public Radio Interface
  • REC Radio Equipment Control
  • RE Radio Equipment
  • Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for radio resource management in which adaptive radio resource allocation for energy efficiency is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • one or more Scheduling entities may be scheduled in each Transmission Time Interval (TTI) or slot.
  • a Scheduling Entity may be a UE or a service associated with a UE.
  • the data to be transmitted may be stored in the buffer, and each data has a related SE.
  • the related SE is the single UE itself.
  • the related SE is an SE associated with all the UEs for broadcast.
  • an SE may usually include at least one of following information:
  • a UE may measure the Channel State Information -Reference Signal (CSI-RS) and estimates CQI, and then report the CQI to gNB.
  • the gNB may store CQI for each SE. This is shown as step S301a/S301b in Fig. 3.
  • Base Station may estimate the downlink SINR.
  • UE scheduling priority it may be related to service quality, service type, etc.
  • the exemplary RRM general procedure may begin at step S310 where the SEs may be selected according to priority, e.g., service Quality, waiting time, etc.
  • priority e.g., service Quality, waiting time, etc.
  • the required PRBs for the selected SEs may be estimated according to the buffer status and channel information. Then the total estimated PRBs in the TTI or slot may be obtained or otherwise determined.
  • An exemplary implementation of the estimation may be provided as follows:
  • MCS may be estimated in the link adaption module, and then PRB may be allocated to the selected SE.
  • the term “link adaption” may refer to calculating the encoding rate and modulation scheme.
  • the link adaption module may estimate the SINR according to CQI and ACK/NACK, and then the number of bits per symbol and scheme mode (e.g., Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) , 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16QAM) , 64QAM, 256QAM, etc. ) may be decided according to following SINRToSpectralEfficiency table 1. After that, the MCS may be decided.
  • QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
  • 16QAM 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
  • 64QAM 64QAM
  • 256QAM 256QAM
  • PRBs may be allocated to all the SEs in this cell, and MCS of each SE may be estimated or otherwise determined. Further, the total output power and total PRB utilization in the cell may be obtained or otherwise determined.
  • the data in the buffer and its PRB allocation and MCS may be sent to the physical layer for further implementation.
  • the physical layer procedures is provided in 3GPP TS 38.211 v17.4.0 and 38.212 v17.4.0 for 5G NR, and it is omitted here for simplicity.
  • the downlink part of radio (e.g., the radio 220 shown in Fig. 2) may consist of:
  • CFR Crest Factor Reduction
  • TRX Integrated Circuit
  • IC for example, Digital to Analog (DAC) , Analog To Digital (ADC) ;
  • PA Power amplifier
  • PAs may consume most of power of Radio.
  • Fig. 4 shows PA power consumption (vertical axis) versus radio output power (horizontal axis) .
  • the cell max average transmission power is configured by operator and works during cell setup.
  • the cell max average transmission power may be 160 Watts as shown in Fig. 4.
  • the radio output power is increasing, the radio power consumption is increasing as one cell is setup.
  • the following table 2 is Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) requirement to base station radio according to 3GPP TS 38.141-1 V18.0.0 or 38.141-2 V18.0, 0, high scheme mode (or a modulation scheme with a higher modulation order) has higher EVM requirement than low scheme mode (or a modulation scheme with a lower modulation order) .
  • EVM requirement of 256 QAM is 4.5%, which is higher than the 64QAM EVM requirement (i.e., 9%) .
  • the PA has to work in the high PA size, e.g., high voltage and high bias current, for high EVM requirement. This takes more power than the low EVM requirement when the cell average max transmission power is same.
  • the radio cannot satisfy the high scheme mode EVM requirement well due to temperature and aging.
  • the radio may be overheated. To avoid damage to the radio, the radio may inform the baseband to reduce the PSD. In such a case, the PSD of all downlink PRBs may always be reduce and both the cell coverage and cell throughput are impacted. For example, some UEs at the cell edge cannot attach to the cell anymore. Further, sometimes radio of base station cannot meet EVM requirement of the high scheme mode well.
  • the UE′s SINR is higher than a threshold
  • more PRBs may be allocated to the UE and PSD of PRBs may be decreased. Then it takes less transmission power than legacy.
  • the same PRBs may be kept or PRBs may be decreased, and PSD may be unchanged or increased.
  • the UE with a high SINR may have a high priority to be allocated with more PRBs.
  • the UE with a high SINR may be allocated with more additional PRBs than the UE with a low SINR.
  • a PRB allocation factor (e.g., maxTimesPRBForEachSINR) may be defined for each SINR.
  • cell transmission power may be decreased in each TTI, and PA Power consumption in base station radio may be decreased. Further, less transmission power means less interference to neighboring cell, and therefore peak throughput of neighboring cell may be increased. Further, transmission power may be distributed to more PRBs/spectrum, and the interference impact is less than the legacy solution. Further, the power amplifier may be prevented from overheating and the cell coverage, throughput, and latency are not impacted.
  • SINR of a UE is 30 dB
  • Fig. 5 is the ratio of saved radio output power versus X times PRB allocation, in which the horizontal axis refers to the PRB allocation factor (the higher the factor is, the more PRBs are allocated) , the vertical axis refers to the ratio of saved radio transmission power.
  • Rule 4 the PRB allocation factor, maxTimesPRBForEachSINR, is defined for each SINR.
  • the PRB allocation factor may be defined for each SINR. For example, maxTimesPRBForEachSINR may be 1.5 for SINR 30.
  • Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 600 for radio resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This proposal is based on the conventional method and can be incorporated into the procedure shown in Fig. 3.
  • the proposal may include two phases, the 1 st phase, which is not shown in Fig. 6, is provided for the UEs with lower SINRs, and the 2 nd phase, which is shown in Fig. 6, is provided for the UEs with higher SINRs. Please note that none of the two phases are inevitable, and therefore the procedure may comprise the 1 st phase only, the 2 nd phase only, or both.
  • SINR threshold1 (sometimes also known as "the third threshold” herein) .
  • SINR threshold1 may be pre-configured or hard-coded in the base station.
  • SINR threshold1 may be dynamically changed, for example, based on the traffic load, base station load, etc. It is possible to save power if PSD is increased and PRB allocation is reduced. An exemplary method is provided as follows.
  • PSD for each UE cannot be increased a lot. It is restricted by other channels/signals. If UE cannot receive the common channel/signals correctly or the base station cannot detect UE′s channel/signal correctly, only increasing the PSD for each UE does not work.
  • the max increased PSD may usually be constant and configured according to experience or simulation.
  • new spectral efficiency per symbol can be obtained or otherwise determined. Further, the new MCS can also be obtained or otherwise determined.
  • N 5 the new number of PRBs
  • N 1 the original number of PRBs
  • the saved PRBs can be used for the UEs with a higher SINR in the 2 nd Phase.
  • the 1 st phase (if there is the 1 st phase) , it is possible to get more free PRBs. However, as mentioned above, the 1 st Phase is optional, and sometimes it can be skipped and the procedure may go to the 2 nd phase directly.
  • the procedure may begin with step S610 where the base station may check whether there is free PRB or not. If there is no free PRB available for allocation, then the procedure may end.
  • the base station may check whether there are scheduled UEs with SINR higher than a threshold: SINR threshold (sometimes also known as “the first threshold” herein) .
  • SINR threshold sometimes also known as “the first threshold” herein
  • the base station may find out UE with the highest SINR at step S630.
  • more PRB for example, 1 more RBG
  • RBG old free PRB -16 PRBs.
  • a new coding rate may be recalculated according to the newly added PRB.
  • PSD for PRB may be recalculated, and this UE′s SINR may be updated.
  • new SINR newSINR
  • newSINR newSINR
  • UE′s SINR may be updated from originalSINR to newSINR.
  • new PSD original PSD-delPSD
  • step S670 it may be checked if the PRB allocation factor for this UE is greater than or equal to maxTimesPRBForEachSINR (sometimes also known as "the second threshold” herein) . If yes, this UE final scheduling result is obtained or otherwise determined, and this UE can be removed from the scheduling result or list. After that, the procedure may loop back to step S610. If no, then the procedure may loop back to step S610 directly without removing the UE from the scheduling list. In such a case, if the recalculated SINR or newSINR for this UE is still higher than the threshold, SINR threshold , then this UE can still be allocated with even more PRBs in the next round of scheduling to further reduce its PSD.
  • maxTimesPRBForEachSINR sometimes also known as "the second threshold” herein
  • the procedure may still remove this UE from the scheduling list even the PRB allocation factor is still lower than maxTimesPRBForEachSINR.
  • the allocated PRBs and the corresponding new PSD may be sent to the physical transmitter, for example, in a similar manner shown at step S350 in Fig. 3.
  • the physical transmitter may adjust PDSCH and/or PDSCH DMRS according to the new PSD.
  • the PSD of common channels may be kept same as that in the conventional RRM. In other words, for common channels like SSB, no additional PRB will be allocated to reduce its PSD.
  • the base station may allocate additional PRBs (N 4 ) to a UE with a higher SINR based on the number of PRBs that is already allocated (N 1 ) in step S330 shown in Fig. 3.
  • the number of PRBs that is originally allocated (N 1 ) at step S330 may be 10, and the base station may additionally allocate 1 PRB (N 4 ) to the UE at step S640 shown in Fig. 6, resulting a total 11 PRBs allocated to the UE (sometimes also known as "N 2 " herein) .
  • the reference number for additional PRB allocation may be the number of PRBs determined at step S330 shown in Fig. 3.
  • the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
  • the number of PRBs that is estimated (sometimes also known as "N 3 " herein) at step S320 shown in Fig. 3 may be used as a faster but less accurate determination of the original (or reference) number of PRBs to be allocated.
  • the number of PRBs that is originally estimated (N 3 ) at step S320 may be 12, and the base station may additionally estimate 1 more PRB (N 4 ) for the UE at step S640 shown in Fig. 6, resulting a total 13 PRBs (N 2 ) to be allocated to the UE.
  • the first column indicates different PSD ratios, in which the PSD decrease becomes greater as the PSD ratio becomes lower.
  • the PSD ratio of "1" means no PSD decrease.
  • the second column indicates an average EVM for 94.44%PRBs that has their PSDs unchanged, while the third column indicates an average EVM for the rest of 5.56%PRBs that have their PSDs changed by a PSD decrease indicated by the corresponding entry in the first column. For example, when the PSD decrease is "0.64" , then the average EVM for 94.44%PRBs that have their PSD unchanged is 3.835503508 while the average EVM for the rest of 5.56%PRBs that have their PSD changed to 64%of their original PSDs is 4.60065955.
  • a threshold may be provided to prevent the PSD from being lowered to a certain extent.
  • step S660 after the delPSD is calculated, it may be compared with a maximum allowable difference. If it is greater than the maximum allowable difference, then it may be adjusted to be equal to the maximum allowable difference, such that the PSD will not be lowered to an unacceptable level.
  • the PSD per se may have its own lower bound, such that no matter what the delPSD is, the new PSD calculated will not be lower than this lower bound.
  • Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method 700 for radio resource allocation according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. This proposal is also based on the conventional method and can be incorporated into the procedure shown in Fig. 3.
  • this proposal may also include two phases, the 1 st phase, which is not shown in Fig. 7, is provided for the UEs with lower SINRs, and the 2 nd phase, which is shown in Fig. 7, is provided for the UEs with higher SINRs. Please note that none of the two phases are inevitable, and therefore the procedure may comprise the 1 st phase only, the 2 nd phase only, or both. Further, since the 1 st phase of the proposal 2 is substantially similar to that of the proposal 1 described above, the description of the 1 st phase of the proposal 2 is omitted for simplicity.
  • the proposal 1 is triggered after step S340 shown in Fig. 3, and it takes a longer lead time.
  • the proposal 2 is triggered after step S320, which does not take a longer lead time.
  • the RRM may estimate the required PRBs (N 3 ) approximately according to the buffer data volume and/or channel information (e.g., CSI report) , and then the total estimated PRBs in the TTI or slot may be obtained or otherwise determined.
  • the buffer data volume and/or channel information e.g., CSI report
  • the procedure may begin with step S710 where the base station may check whether there are scheduled UEs with SINRs higher than a threshold: SINR threshold (or the first threshold) , and whether there is free PRB, for example, freePRBForAdditionAllocation. In some embodiments, if at least one of the determinations has a negative answer, then the procedure may continue with a legacy solution, such as steps S330 through S350 shown in Fig. 3. If both of the answers are "yes" , then the procedure proceed to step S720.
  • SINR threshold or the first threshold
  • free PRB for example, freePRBForAdditionAllocation.
  • the UEs with SINRs higher than SINR threshold may be re-sorted from high SINR to low SINR.
  • the resorted UEs may be handled according to the following steps S730 through step S770 one by one. In some other embodiments, some or all of the resorted UEs may be handled in parallel.
  • a number of PRBs (N 2 ) (which is determined by multiplying the PRB allocation factor, maxTimesPRBForEachSINR, with the estimated number of PRBs (N 3 ) ) may be allocated to a UE of interest (e.g., the UE with the highest SINR) .
  • a UE of interest e.g., the UE with the highest SINR.
  • the number of PRBs allocated to the UE (N 2 ) may be maxTimesPRBForEachSINR *M.
  • maxTimesPRBForEachSINR is used in the proposal 1 as a threshold, while it is used in the proposal 2 in a different way.
  • the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, after it is pre-configured or configured at the base station, it may be used in different ways under different conditions, depending on the specific implementation of the base station.
  • a corresponding coding rate may be calculated according to the number of the allocated PRBs (N 2 ) .
  • N 2 the number of the allocated PRBs
  • the PSD of PRB may be calculated, and this UE′s SINR may be updated.
  • the new SINR newSINR
  • freePRBForAdditionAllocation freePRBForAdditionAllocation - (maxTimesPRBForEachSINR -1) *M
  • the base station may check if freePRBForAdditionAllocation is 0. If yes, then the procedure may continue with the legacy solution. If not, then the procedure may proceed to step S730 and repeat the steps S730 through S770 for another UE (e.g., the UE with the second highest SINR) or for the same UE, for example, depending on whether the UE still has the highest SINR or not.
  • another UE e.g., the UE with the second highest SINR
  • the same UE for example, depending on whether the UE still has the highest SINR or not.
  • the allocated PRBs and the corresponding new PSD may be sent to the physical transmitter, for example, in a similar manner shown at step S350 in Fig. 3.
  • the physical transmitter may adjust PDSCH and/or PDSCH DMRS according to the new PSD.
  • the PSD of common channels may be kept same as that in the conventional RRM. In other words, for common channels like SSB, no additional PRB will be allocated to reduce its PSD.
  • the base station may allocate additional PRBs (N 4 ) to a UE with a higher SINR based on the number of PRBs that is estimated (N 3 ) in step S320 shown in Fig. 3.
  • the number of PRBs that is originally estimated (N 3 ) at step S320 may be 12, and the base station may allocate 18 PRBs (e.g., when the PRB allocation factor is 1.5) (N 2 ) to the UE at step S730 shown in Fig. 7.
  • the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
  • the number of PRBs that is originally determined (N 1 ) at step S330 may be 10 (which is less than the originally estimated number 12 (N 3 ) due to a noisy channel condition) , and the base station may actually allocate 15 PRB (e.g., when the PRB allocation factor is 1.5) (N 2 ) to the UE at step S730 shown in Fig. 7.
  • the reference number for PRB allocation may be the number of PRBs determined (N 1 ) at step S330 shown in Fig. 3, instead of the number of PRBs estimated at step S320 shown in Fig. 3.
  • a threshold may be provided to prevent the PSD from being lowered to a certain extent.
  • step S750 after the delPSD is calculated, it may be compared with a maximum allowable difference. If it is greater than the maximum allowable difference, then it may be adjusted to be equal to the maximum allowable difference, such that the PSD will not be lowered to an unacceptable level.
  • the PSD per se may have its own lower bound, such that no matter what the delPSD is, the new PSD calculated will not be lower than this lower bound.
  • Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method 800 for radio resource allocation according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. This proposal is also based on the conventional method and can be incorporated into the procedure shown in Fig. 3.
  • this proposal may also include two phases, the 1 st phase, which is not shown in Fig. 8, is provided for the UEs with lower SINRs, and the 2 nd phase, which is shown in Fig. 8, is provided for the UEs with higher SINRs.
  • the procedure may comprise the 1 st phase only, the 2 nd phase only, or both.
  • the 1 st phase of the proposal 3 is substantially similar to those of the proposals 1 and 2 described above, the description of the 1 st phase of the proposal 3 is omitted for simplicity.
  • the proposal 3 may also be triggered after step S320.
  • the RRM may estimate the required PRBs approximately according to the buffer data volume and/or channel information (e.g., CSI report) , and then the total estimated PRBs in the TTI or slot may be obtained or otherwise determined.
  • SINR may be decreased firstly.
  • PSD may be decreased firstly, and then the number of allocated PRBs for this UE may be increased.
  • the proposal 3 may be triggered in the link adaptation module, and each UE may be selected for link adaption one by one at step S810, and steps S820 through S850 may be performed for the selected UE.
  • link adaption may be performed for some of the UEs in parallel.
  • the base station may check if the UE′s SINR is higher than a threshold, SINR threshold , and if there is free PRB. If no, then the legacy link adaption may be used for this UE. If yes, the procedure may proceed to step S830.
  • SINR of this UE may be updated to target SINR and the corresponding PSD may be calculated.
  • the SINR may be updated to targetSINR. Further, the decreased PSD may be determined as follows:
  • the decreased PSD SINR-targetSINR
  • the legacy link adaption module may be called according to the target SINR.
  • the MCS and the newly allocated PRB (N 2 ) may be calculated according to the target SINR.
  • the freePRBForAdditionAllocation may be recalculated. In some embodiments, it may be recalculated as follows:
  • freePRBForAdditionAllocation freePRBForAdditionAllocation-additional allocated PRB for this UE
  • the procedure may proceed to step S810 to select another UE.
  • the allocated PRBs and the corresponding new PSD may be sent to the physical transmitter, for example, in a similar manner shown at step S350 in Fig. 3.
  • the physical transmitter may adjust PDSCH and/or PDSCH DMRS according to the new PSD.
  • the PSD of common channels may be kept same as that in the conventional RRM. In other words, for common channels like SSB, no additional PRB will be allocated to reduce its PSD.
  • a threshold may be provided to prevent the PSD from being lowered to a certain extent.
  • the decreased PSD may be compared with a maximum allowable offset signal quality. If it is greater than the maximum allowable offset signal quality, then it may be adjusted to be equal to the maximum allowable offset signal quality, such that the PSD will not be lowered to an unacceptable level.
  • the targetSINR per se may have its own lower bound, such that no matter what the decreased PSD is, the new PSD calculated will not be lower than this lower bound.
  • cell transmission power may be decreased in each TTI, and PA Power consumption in base station radio may be decreased. Further, less transmission power means less interference to neighboring cell, and therefore peak throughput of neighboring cell may be increased. Further, transmission power may be distributed to more PRBs/spectrum, and the interference impact is less than the legacy solution. Further, the power amplifier may be prevented from overheating and the cell coverage, throughput, and latency are not impacted.
  • Fig. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 900 at a network node for allocating radio resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the method 900 may be performed at a network node (e.g., the gNB 105) .
  • the method 900 may comprise steps S910, S920, S930, and S940.
  • the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
  • the method 900 may comprise more steps, less steps, different steps, or any combination thereof.
  • the steps of the method 900 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved.
  • a step in the method 900 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and/or multiple steps in the method 900 may be combined into a single step.
  • the method 900 may begin at step S910 where the network node may determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE.
  • the network node may determine whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not.
  • the network node may determine whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated.
  • the network node may allocate a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • the step of determining a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE may comprise at least one of: calculating a first number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with the first UE; and estimating a third number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than or equal to the first threshold and/or in response to determining that all radio resources are to be allocated.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: estimating one or more third numbers of radio resources to be allocated for transmissions associated with one or more UEs comprising the first UE, wherein the one or more UEs may be served by a same cell associated with the network node; and calculating a sum of the one or more third numbers, wherein the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated may comprise: determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers may comprise at least one of: determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated in response to determining that a difference, which is calculated by subtracting the sum from a total number of radio resources of the cell, is greater than zero; and determining that all radio resources are to be allocated in response to determining that the difference is equal to or less than zero.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: calculating a first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the second number; determining a first signal quality based on at least the first spectral efficiency; and calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality.
  • the first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE may be calculated by: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second number and a number of symbols per radio resource.
  • the step of determining a first signal quality may comprise: determining the first signal quality by searching for an entry corresponding to the first spectral efficiency in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality may comprise: calculating a difference by subtracting the first signal quality from a second signal quality; and calculating the first PSD by subtracting the difference from a second PSD, wherein the second signal quality may be a signal quality calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, wherein the second PSD may be a PSD calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether the difference is greater than a maximum allowable difference; and adjusting the difference to be equal to the maximum allowable difference in response to determining that the difference is greater than the maximum allowable difference. In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise: adjusting transmission power for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first PSD and/or the second number.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources may comprise: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE; and allocating a fourth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the second number may be equal to the sum of the first number and the fourth number.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether a ratio of the second number to the first number is greater than or equal to a second threshold; and allocating no more radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the ratio of the second number to the first number is greater than or equal to the second threshold.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources may comprise: allocating, at a time, the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold.
  • the second number may be equal to a multiplication product of the first number and a configured or preconfigured ratio.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether the signal quality of the first UE is lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being lower than the first threshold; wherein the method 900 may further comprise at least one of: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold; and allocating a fifth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than the third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number.
  • the third threshold may be configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be equal to -4 dB.
  • the fifth number may be determined by: determining a maximum increased PSD; calculating a third signal quality based on at least the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality; determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index based on at least the third signal quality; and calculating the fifth number based on at least the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index.
  • the maximum increased PSD may be predetermined and/or configured for the first UE.
  • the third signal quality may be determined as a sum of the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality.
  • the step of determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index may comprise: determining the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the third signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the fifth number may comprise: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the third spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the fifth number.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: allocating a first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than or equal to the first threshold and/or in response to determining that all radio resources are to be allocated, the first number being less than the second number.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: estimating one or more third numbers of radio resources to be allocated for transmissions associated with one or more UEs comprising the first UE, wherein the one or more UEs may be served by a same cell associated with the network node; and calculating a sum of the one or more third numbers, wherein the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated may comprise: determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated based on at least the sum of the one or more third numbers may comprise at least one of: determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated in response to determining that a difference, which is calculated by subtracting the sum from a total number of radio resources of the cell, is greater than zero; and determining that all radio resources are to be allocated in response to determining that the difference is equal to or less than zero.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining a first target signal quality based on at least the signal quality of the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the step of allocating the second number of radio resources may comprise: allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first target signal quality.
  • the first target signal quality may be determined by subtracting a first offset signal quality from the signal quality of the first UE.
  • the first offset signal quality may be lower than or equal to a maximum allowable offset signal quality.
  • one or more offset signal qualities may be independently configured or preconfigured for one or more signal qualities of the first UE, respectively.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first target signal quality may comprise: determining a second spectral efficiency and/or a MCS index based on at least the first target signal quality; calculating the second number based on at least the second spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index; and allocating the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the step of determining a second spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index may comprise: determining the second spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the first target signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or maps spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the second number may comprise: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the second number.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: calculating a first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the second number; determining a first signal quality based on at least the first spectral efficiency; and calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality.
  • the first spectral efficiency for the transmission associated with the first UE may be calculated by: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the second number and a number of symbols per radio resource.
  • the step of determining a first signal quality may comprise: determining the first signal quality by searching for an entry corresponding to the first spectral efficiency in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating a first PSD for the transmission over the second number of radio resources based on at least the first signal quality may comprise: calculating a difference by subtracting the first signal quality from a second signal quality; and calculating the first PSD by subtracting the difference from a second PSD, wherein the second signal quality may be a signal quality calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, wherein the second PSD may be a PSD calculated when the first number of radio resources are allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether the difference is greater than a maximum allowable difference; and adjusting the difference to be equal to the maximum allowable difference in response to determining that the difference is greater than the maximum allowable difference.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: adjusting transmission power for the transmission associated with the first UE based on at least the first PSD and/or the second number.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources may comprise: allocating the third number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE; and allocating a fourth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold, wherein the second number may be equal to the sum of the third number and the fourth number.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether a ratio of the second number to the third number is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; and allocating no more radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the ratio of the second number to the third number is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold.
  • the step of allocating the second number of radio resources may comprise: allocating, at a time, the second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold.
  • the second number may be equal to a multiplication product of the third number and a configured or preconfigured ratio.
  • the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether the signal quality of the first UE is lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being lower than the first threshold; wherein the method 900 may further comprise at least one of: allocating the first number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold; and allocating a fifth number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is lower than the third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number.
  • the third threshold may be configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be equal to -4 dB.
  • the fifth number may be determined by: determining a maximum increased PSD; calculating a third signal quality based on at least the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality; determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index based on at least the third signal quality; and calculating the fifth number based on at least the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index.
  • the maximum increased PSD may be predetermined and/or configured for the first UE.
  • the third signal quality may be determined as a sum of the maximum increased PSD and the second signal quality.
  • the step of determining a third spectral efficiency and/or an MCS index may comprise: determining the third spectral efficiency and/or the MCS index by searching for an entry corresponding to the third signal quality in a table, which maps signal qualities to spectral efficiencies and/or spectral efficiencies to signal qualities.
  • the step of calculating the fifth number may comprise: dividing a total number of bits to be transmitted in a TTI for the first UE by a multiplication product of the third spectral efficiency and a number of symbols per radio resource; and rounding up the quotient of the division as the fifth number.
  • the step of determining whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated is performed in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold.
  • the second number of radio resources may be allocated for the transmission associated with the first UE, such that the transmission associated with the first UE may be able to be modulated with a lower order modulation scheme than that will be used for modulation when the determined number of radio resources are allocated.
  • the first UE may be a UE having a signal quality higher than or equal to those of any other UEs for which radio resources are to be allocated by the network node.
  • the first threshold may be configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the first threshold may be equal to 1dB.
  • the signal quality may comprise at least one of: RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SNR, and CQI.
  • the radio resources may be PRBs or RBGs.
  • the transmission associated with the first UE may comprise at least one of: transmission of a PDSCH and transmission of a DMRS associated with a PDSCH.
  • Fig. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 1000 at a UE for communicating with a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the method 1000 may be performed at a UE (e.g., the UE 100) .
  • the method 1000 may comprise steps S1010 and S1020.
  • the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
  • the method 1000 may comprise more steps, less steps, different steps, or any combination thereof.
  • the steps of the method 1000 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved.
  • a step in the method 1000 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and/or multiple steps in the method 1000 may be combined into a single step.
  • the method 1000 may begin at step S1010 where the UE may receive, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources, over which the network node is to communicate with the UE.
  • the UE may communicate with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources, wherein the number may be less than or equal to a first number or a third number when a signal quality of the UE is lower than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the number may be a second number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than the first threshold, the second number being greater than the first number or the third number.
  • the first threshold may be configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the first threshold may be equal to 1 dB. In some embodiments, a ratio of the second number to the first number may be less than or equal to a threshold. In some embodiments, the number may be a fifth number when the signal quality of the UE is lower than a third threshold, the fifth number being less than the first number; and wherein the number may be the first number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than or equal to the third threshold but lower than or equal to the first threshold. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be configured or preconfigured. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be equal to -4 dB.
  • the signal quality may comprise at least one of: RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SNR, and CQI.
  • the radio resources may be PRBs or RBGs.
  • the transmission associated with the UE may comprise at least one of: transmission of a PDSCH and transmission of a DMRS associated with a PDSCH.
  • Fig. 11 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement 1100 which may be used in a UE (e.g., the UE 100) or a network node (e.g., the gNB 105) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • a processing unit 1106 e.g., with a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or a Central Processing Unit (CPU) .
  • the processing unit 1106 may be a single unit or a plurality of units to perform different actions of procedures described herein.
  • the arrangement 1100 may also comprise an input unit 1102 for receiving signals from other entities, and an output unit 1104 for providing signal (s) to other entities.
  • the input unit 1102 and the output unit 1104 may be arranged as an integrated entity or as separate entities.
  • the arrangement 1100 may comprise at least one computer program product 1108 in the form of a non-volatile or volatile memory, e.g., an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) , a flash memory and/or a hard drive.
  • the computer program product 1108 comprises a computer program 1110, which comprises code/computer readable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit 1106 in the arrangement 1100 causes the arrangement 1100 and/or the UE/network node in which it is comprised to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with Fig. 3 and Fig. 6 through Fig. 10 or any other variant.
  • EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
  • the computer program 1110 may be configured as a computer program code structured in computer program modules 1110A, 1110B, 1110C, and 1110D.
  • the code in the computer program of the arrangement 1100 includes: a module 1110A configured to determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE; a module 1110B configured to determine whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not; a module 1110C configured to determine whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated; and a module 1110D configured to allocate a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • the computer program 1110 may be configured as a computer program code structured in computer program modules 1110E and 1110F.
  • the code in the computer program of the arrangement 1100 includes: a module 1110E configured to receive, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources over which the network node is to communicate with the UE; and a module 1110F configured to communicate with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources, wherein the number may be less than or equal to a first number or a third number when a signal quality of the UE is lower than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the number may be a second number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than the first threshold, the second number being greater than the first number or the third number.
  • the computer program modules could essentially perform the actions of the flow illustrated in Fig. 3 and Fig. 6 through Fig. 10, to emulate the UE or the network node.
  • the different computer program modules when executed in the processing unit 1106, they may correspond to different modules in the UE or the network node.
  • code means in the embodiments disclosed above in conjunction with Fig. 11 are implemented as computer program modules which when executed in the processing unit causes the arrangement to perform the actions described above in conjunction with the figures mentioned above, at least one of the code means may in alternative embodiments be implemented at least partly as hardware circuits.
  • the processor may be a single CPU (Central processing unit) , but could also comprise two or more processing units.
  • the processor may include general purpose microprocessors; instruction set processors and/or related chips sets and/or special purpose microprocessors such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs) .
  • the processor may also comprise board memory for caching purposes.
  • the computer program may be carried by a computer program product connected to the processor.
  • the computer program product may comprise a computer readable medium on which the computer program is stored.
  • the computer program product may be a flash memory, a Random-access memory (RAM) , a Read-Only Memory (ROM) , or an EEPROM, and the computer program modules described above could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories within the UE and/or the network node.
  • RAM Random-access memory
  • ROM Read-Only Memory
  • EEPROM Electrically Erasable programmable read-only memory
  • FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a network node 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the network node 1200 may be, e.g., the gNB 105 in some embodiments.
  • the network node 1200 may be configured to perform the method 900 as described above in connection with Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 12, the network node 1200 may comprise: a first determining module 1210 configured to determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE; a second determining module 1220 configured to determine whether a signal quality of the first UE is higher than a first threshold or not; a third determining module 1230 configured to determine whether there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated; and an allocating module 1240 configured to allocate a second number of radio resources for the transmission associated with the first UE in response to determining that the signal quality of the first UE is higher than the first threshold and in response to determining that there are one or more radio resources that are not to be allocated, the second number being greater than the determined number.
  • a first determining module 1210 configured to determine a number of radio resources to be allocated for transmission associated with a first UE
  • a second determining module 1220 configured to determine whether a signal quality
  • the above modules 1210, 1220, 1230, and/or 1240 may be implemented as a pure hardware solution or as a combination of software and hardware, e.g., by one or more of: a processor or a micro-processor and adequate software and memory for storing of the software, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or other electronic component (s) or processing circuitry configured to perform the actions described above, and illustrated, e.g., in Fig. 9.
  • the network node 1200 may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of the method 900 described with reference to Fig. 9.
  • FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a UE 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
  • the UE 1300 may be, e.g., the UE 100 in some embodiments.
  • the UE 1300 may be configured to perform the method 1000 as described above in connection with Fig. 10. As shown in Fig. 13, the UE 1300 may comprise: a receiving module 1310 configured to receive, from the network node, a message indicating a number of radio resources over which the network node is to communicate with the UE; and a communicating module 1320 configured to communicate with the network node over the allocated number of radio resources.
  • the number may be less than or equal to a first number or a third number when a signal quality of the UE is lower than or equal to a first threshold.
  • the number may be a second number when the signal quality of the UE is higher than the first threshold, the second number being greater than the first number or the third number.
  • the above modules 1310 and/or 1320 may be implemented as a pure hardware solution or as a combination of software and hardware, e.g., by one or more of: a processor or a micro-processor and adequate software and memory for storing of the software, a PLD or other electronic component (s) or processing circuitry configured to perform the actions described above, and illustrated, e.g., in Fig. 10. Further, the UE 1300 may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of the method 1000 described with reference to Fig. 10.
  • Fig. 14 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.
  • the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN) , and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108.
  • the access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110) , or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point.
  • 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
  • the network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE) , such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.
  • UE user equipment
  • Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors.
  • the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
  • the communication system QQ100 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.
  • the UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices.
  • the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.
  • the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts.
  • the core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108.
  • Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (vSC) , Mobility Management Entity (MME) , Home Subscriber Server (HSS) , Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) , Session Management Function (SMF) , Authentication Server Function (AUSF) , Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF) , Unified Data Management (UDM) , Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) , Network Exposure Function (NEF) , and/or a User Plane Function (UPF) .
  • vSC Mobile Switching Center
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • HSS Home Subscriber Server
  • AMF Access and Mobility Management Function
  • SMF Session Management Function
  • AUSF Authentication Server Function
  • SIDF Subscription Identifier De-concealing function
  • UDM Unified Data Management
  • SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy
  • NEF Network Exposure Function
  • UPF User Plane Function
  • the host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and/or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.
  • the host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.
  • the communication system QQ100 of Fig. 14 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts.
  • the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) ; Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) ; Long Term Evolution (LTE) , and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G) ; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi) ; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) , Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • UMTS
  • the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mvTC) /Massive IoT services to yet further UEs.
  • URLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication
  • eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband
  • mvTC Massive Machine Type Communication
  • the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction.
  • a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104.
  • a UE may be configured for operating in single-or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode.
  • a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) , such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio -Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) .
  • MR-DC multi-radio dual connectivity
  • the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b) .
  • the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content.
  • the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.
  • the hub QQ114 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b.
  • the hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) , and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106.
  • the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection.
  • the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2v service provider over the access network QQ104 and/or to another UE over a direct connection.
  • UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub -that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node QQ110b.
  • the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub -that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.
  • a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs.
  • Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA) , wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) , vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc.
  • VoIP voice over IP
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • LME laptop-embedded equipment
  • CPE wireless customer-premise equipment
  • UEs identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) , including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (evTC) UE.
  • 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
  • NB-IoT narrow band internet of things
  • MTC machine type communication
  • evTC enhanced MTC
  • a UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) , vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) , vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) , or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) .
  • D2D device-to-device
  • DSRC Dedicated Short-Range Communication
  • V2V vehicle-to-vehicle
  • V2I vehicle-to-infrastructure
  • V2X vehicle-to-everything
  • a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device.
  • a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller) .
  • a UE may
  • the UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input/output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof.
  • Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 15. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.
  • the processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210.
  • the processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) , etc. ) ; programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) , together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above.
  • the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs) .
  • the input/output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices.
  • Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof.
  • An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200.
  • Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.
  • the presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user.
  • a sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof.
  • An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.
  • USB Universal Serial Bus
  • the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack.
  • Other types of power sources such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) , photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used.
  • the power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208.
  • Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.
  • the memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , programmable read-only memory (PROM) , erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) , magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth.
  • the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216.
  • the memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
  • the memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) , flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM) , synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) , external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) , such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof.
  • RAID redundant array of independent disks
  • HD-DVD high-density digital versatile disc
  • HDDS holographic digital data storage
  • DIMM external mini-dual in-line memory module
  • SDRAM synchronous dynamic random access memory
  • the UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC) , integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ′SIr card.
  • eUICC embedded UICC
  • iUICC integrated UICC
  • ′SIr card removable UICC commonly known as ′SIr card.
  • the memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data.
  • An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.
  • the processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212.
  • the communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222.
  • the communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network) .
  • Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and/or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth) .
  • the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.
  • communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.
  • GPS global positioning system
  • Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR) , UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) , synchronous optical networking (SONET) , Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) , QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) , and so forth.
  • CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access
  • WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
  • WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
  • GSM Global System for Mobile communications
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • NR New Radio
  • UMTS Universal Mobile communications
  • WiMax Ethernet
  • TCP/IP transmission control protocol/internet protocol
  • SONET synchronous optical networking
  • ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
  • QUIC Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  • HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  • a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node.
  • Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE.
  • the output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature) , random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors) , in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent) , in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request) , or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient) .
  • a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection.
  • the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change.
  • the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.
  • a UE when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare.
  • IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) , a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal-or
  • AR Augmented
  • a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node.
  • the UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device.
  • the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard.
  • a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.
  • a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone′s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone.
  • the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone′s speed.
  • the first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above.
  • a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.
  • Fig. 16 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments.
  • network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network.
  • network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points) , base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs) ) .
  • APs access points
  • BSs base stations
  • eNBs evolved Node Bs
  • gNBs NR NodeBs
  • Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations.
  • a base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay.
  • a network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs) , sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) .
  • RRUs remote radio units
  • RRHs Remote Radio Heads
  • Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
  • Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS) .
  • DAS distributed antenna system
  • network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs) , base transceiver stations (BTSs) , transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs) , Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs) ) , and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs) .
  • MSR multi-standard radio
  • RNCs radio network controllers
  • BSCs base station controllers
  • BTSs base transceiver stations
  • OFDM Operation and Maintenance
  • OSS Operations Support System
  • SON Self-Organizing Network
  • positioning nodes e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location
  • the network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308.
  • the network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc. ) , which may each have their own respective components.
  • the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components)
  • one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs.
  • each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node.
  • the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs) .
  • some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs) .
  • the network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.
  • RFID Radio Frequency Identification
  • the processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.
  • the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC) .
  • the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314.
  • the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips) , boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.
  • the memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , mass storage media (for example, a hard disk) , removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD) ) , and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302.
  • volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , mass storage media (for example, a hard disk) , removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a
  • the memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300.
  • the memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and/or any data received via the communication interface QQ306.
  • the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.
  • the communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port (s) /terminal (s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection.
  • the communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302.
  • the radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302.
  • the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection.
  • the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and/or amplifiers QQ322.
  • the radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310.
  • the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318.
  • the digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302.
  • the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown) , and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown) .
  • the antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals.
  • the antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly.
  • the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.
  • the antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.
  • the power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component) .
  • the power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein.
  • the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308.
  • the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.
  • Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 16 for providing certain aspects of the network node′s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein.
  • the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.
  • Fig. 17 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Fig. 14, in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • the host QQ400 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm.
  • the host QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.
  • the host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input/output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412.
  • processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input/output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412.
  • Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Fig. 15 and Fig. 16, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.
  • the memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE.
  • Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown.
  • the host application programs QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (WC) , High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) , Advanced Video Coding (AVC) , MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) , MPEG, G.711) , including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems) .
  • video codecs e.g., Versatile Video Coding (WC) , High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) , Advanced Video Coding (AVC) , MPEG, VP9
  • audio codecs e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) , MPEG, G.711
  • UEs e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display
  • the host application programs QQ414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host QQ400 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE.
  • the host application programs QQ414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMp) , Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) , Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) , etc.
  • Fig. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.
  • virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources.
  • virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components.
  • Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host.
  • VMs virtual machines
  • hardware nodes such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host.
  • the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host)
  • the node may be entirely virtualized.
  • Applications QQ502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc. ) are run in the virtualization environment QQ500 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.
  • Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth.
  • Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs) ) , provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508) , and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.
  • the virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.
  • the VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506.
  • Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways.
  • Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) .
  • NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.
  • a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine.
  • Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements.
  • a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.
  • Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas.
  • Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.
  • some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.
  • Fig. 19 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.
  • Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE such as a UE QQ112a of Fig. 14 and/or UE QQ200 of Fig. 15
  • network node such as network node QQ110a of Fig. 14 and/or network node QQ300 of Fig. 16
  • host such as host QQ116 of Fig. 14 and/or host QQ400 of Fig. 17
  • host QQ602 Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory.
  • the host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 and executable by the processing circuitry.
  • the software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602.
  • OTT over-the-top
  • a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.
  • the network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606.
  • the connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Fig. 14) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks.
  • a core network like core network QQ106 of Fig. 14
  • one or more other intermediate networks such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks.
  • an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.
  • the UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 and executable by the UE′s processing circuitry.
  • the software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific "app" that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602.
  • a client application such as a web browser or operator-specific "app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602.
  • an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602.
  • the UE′s client application may receive request data from the host′s host application and provide user data in response to the request data.
  • the OTT connection QQ650 may transfer both the request data and the user data.
  • the UE′s client application may interact with
  • the oTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606.
  • the connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.
  • the host QQ602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application.
  • the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE QQ606.
  • the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction.
  • the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606.
  • the host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606.
  • the request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606.
  • the transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.
  • the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602.
  • the user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602.
  • the UE QQ606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application.
  • the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604.
  • step QQ620 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.
  • One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime.
  • factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602.
  • the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps.
  • the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights) .
  • the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE.
  • the host QQ602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs.
  • the host QQ602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices) , or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.
  • a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.
  • the measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host QQ602 and/or UE QQ606.
  • sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities.
  • the reconfiguring of the OTT connection QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art.
  • measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host QQ602.
  • the measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or 'dummy' messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.
  • computing devices described herein may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • processing circuitry may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components.
  • a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface.
  • non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
  • processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
  • some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
  • the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.

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

Abstract

La présente divulgation concerne un nœud de réseau, un UE et des procédés d'attribution adaptative de ressources radio pour une efficacité énergétique. Un procédé exécuté sur nœud de réseau pour attribuer des ressources radio consiste à : déterminer un nombre de ressources radio à attribuer pour une transmission associée à un premier UE ; déterminer si une qualité de signal du premier UE est supérieure ou non à un premier seuil ; déterminer s'il existe une ou plusieurs ressources radio qui ne doivent pas être attribuées ; et attribuer un second nombre de ressources radio pour la transmission associée au premier UE en réponse à la détermination du fait que la qualité de signal du premier UE est supérieure au premier seuil et en réponse à la détermination du fait qu'il existe une ou plusieurs ressources radio qui ne doivent pas être attribuées, le second nombre étant supérieur au nombre déterminé.
EP23931225.9A 2023-04-03 2023-04-03 Attribution adaptative de ressources radio pour une efficacité énergétique Pending EP4691005A1 (fr)

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CN102196495B (zh) * 2010-03-03 2013-11-20 电信科学技术研究院 下行数据传输方法、系统和设备
CN103428862A (zh) * 2012-05-23 2013-12-04 华为技术有限公司 一种资源分配的方法及装置
CN115226106B (zh) * 2021-04-21 2025-07-18 大唐移动通信设备有限公司 资源分配方法、装置、网络设备及计算机可读存储介质
US12471124B2 (en) * 2021-06-30 2025-11-11 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method and system for resource selection and contention resolution in shared resource mechanism
CN115884418B (zh) * 2021-09-27 2025-08-26 中国移动通信集团山西有限公司 一种通信资源分配方法及装置

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