WO2018031135A1

WO2018031135A1 - Systems, methods and devices for reporting and selecting medium access control and physical layer capabilities

Info

Publication number: WO2018031135A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/039736
Authority: WO
Inventors: Umesh PHUYAL; Bharat Shrestha; Joonyoung Cho; Youn Hyoung Heo; Sudeep Palat
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2016-08-12
Filing date: 2017-06-28
Publication date: 2018-02-15

Abstract

Reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer capabilities can be performed between a user equipment (UE) and the network (such as a radio access network (RAN) node). For example, UE capability information or RRC dedicated signaling is used to transfer the information of the capability of UEs regarding the support of media access control (MAC), physical layer (PHY) or a combination of MAC and PHY configurations and/or minimum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) to the network. The network can indicate which configurations will be allowed and/or enabled for use by this UE or for a group of UEs. The network can also switch the UEs between the different supported configurations.

Description

SYSTEMS, METHODS AND DEVICES FOR REPORTING AND SELECTING MEDR7M ACCESS CONTROL AND PHYSICAL LAYER CAPABILITIES

Related Application

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/374,624 filed August 12, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to cellular communications and more specifically to reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer capabilities.

Background

[0003] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), which is commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi. In 3GPP radio access networks (RANs) in LTE systems, the base station can include a RAN Node such as a Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and/or Radio Network Controller (RNC) in an E-UTRAN, which communicate with a wireless communication device, known as user equipment (UE). In fifth generation (5G) wireless RANs, RAN Nodes can include a 5G Node.

[0004] RANs use a radio access technology (RAT) to communicate between the RAN Node and UE. RANs can include global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and/or E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services through a core network. Each of the RANs operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, the GERAN 104 implements GSM and/or EDGE RAT, the UTRAN 106 implements universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, and the E-UTRAN 108 implements LTE RAT.

[0005] A core network can be connected to the UE through the RAN Node. The core network can include a serving gateway (SGW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW), an access network detection and selection function (ANDSF) server, an enhanced packet data gateway (ePDG) and/or a mobility management entity (MME).

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating UE capability signaling for the supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message indicating the supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by a UE and indicated to a RAN Node consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an Attach Request indicating the supported

MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE to an eNB and consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message from an eNB 404 indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE and consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0010] FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating in-band signaling indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE as requested by the network and consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0011] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating control channel indications of a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 602 by the network and consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0012] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating a broadcast indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by a UE and consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0013] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for reporting and selecting medium access control and physical layer capabilities consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0014] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of a system 900 of a network consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0015] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating example components of a device consistent with embodiments disclosed herein. [0016] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating example interfaces of baseband circuitry consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0017] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a control plane protocol stack in accordance with some embodiments consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0018] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a user plane protocol stack consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0019] FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0020] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a long term evolution (LTE) communication frame consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Detailed Description

[0021] A detailed description of systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure is provided below. While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to any one embodiment, but instead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure.

[0022] Techniques, apparatus and methods are disclosed that enable reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer capabilities, such as between a user equipment (UE) and a radio access network (RAN) node. For example, UE capability information or RRC dedicated signaling is used to transfer the information of the capability of UEs regarding the support of media access control (MAC), physical layer (PHY) or combination of MAC and PHY configurations and/or minimum hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) to the network. The network can indicate which configurations will be allowed and/or enabled for use by this UE. The network can also switch the UEs between the different supported configurations.

[0023] The UE can be enabled to report the capability information which can be used as a component of fifth generation (5G) cellular networks or new radio technology. Additionally, a dynamic method of signaling such information, for example using RRC dedicated signaling, can also be used. [0024] In 5G New Radio access technology (NR), major use cases, referred to as "verticals," for the system design have been identified and include enhanced Mobile Broad Band

(eMBB), Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). It is possible that a UE in 5G could support one or multiple of these verticals.

[0025] In LTE, a UE supports OFDM sub-carrier spacing of 15 KHz which generally corresponds to a TTI length of 1 ms. However, future systems can target to have at least two TTI values coexisting in the same NR network.

[0026] In some embodiments, a 5G UE supports multiple PHY configurations, where a PHY configuration can include one or more values corresponding to sub-carrier spacing, numerology, TTI intervals, number of OFDM symbols per subframe, etc. A UE in 5G can be configured to support variable TTI length (e.g., 0.25ms, 0.5ms, 1ms) by changing the subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30KHz, 15 KHz) while keeping a same number of OFDM symbols in each TTI. Alternatively, the subcarrier spacing can be kept unchanged while changing the number of symbols per TTI to realize different TTI durations. Also, both of the approaches can be applied in combination. Each vertical can be configured to support the same or a different TTI configuration, for example URLLC supporting 0.25 TTI and eMBB supporting 1 ms TTI; or both eMBB and URLLC supporting 0.5 ms TTI. In some embodiments, some PHY configurations can be suitable for one vertical compared to another.

[0027] In some embodiments, a 5G UE also supports multiple MAC configurations, where a MAC configuration can include one or more values corresponding to a maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, buffer status report (BSR) timers, discontinuous reception (DRX) and/or extended DRX (eDRX) configurations, time alignment timers, power headroom report (PHR) configurations, scheduling request (SR) prohibit timer, dual connectivity (DC) related parameters such as a secondary cell (SCell) deactivation timer, extended BSR, extended PHR, SCell timing advance group (TAG) configurations, etc. In an embodiment, MAC configurations can be suitable for one vertical compared to another.

[0028] In some embodiments, multiple scenarios involving multiple PHY configurations can be supported. In a first example, multiple PHY configurations can be simultaneously supported. Both a network and a UE can support multiple PHY configurations (e.g., TTI configurations). For this case, in one example MAC can generate multiple protocol data units (PDUs) and transmit using different physical channels corresponding to different PHY configurations at the same time. [0029] In a second example, multiple PHY configurations can be supported in time division multiplexing (TDM) fashion. A UE can be configured with multiple PHY configurations (e.g., TTI durations) but is able to use one at a time. In one example, a MAC scheduler can generate PDUs corresponding to the applicable PHY configuration in TDM fashion. For this option, MAC uses up-to-date information on which configuration is applicable at the corresponding time instants.

[0030] In a third example, one PHY configuration at a time can be supported. It is also possible that the network configures only one type of TTI during a UE's connection. A UE can request its preference of using the TTI configuration to the network using dedicated signaling, e.g., RRC signaling. Alternatively, UE can include and send its preference about PHY configuration in the UE capability information during connection establishment.

[0031] In a fourth example, a UE category supports one type of PHY configuration. In this option, from a UE perspective, a category of UEs supports a single particular type of PHY configuration. From a network perspective, the network can support multiple PHY configurations to simultaneously accommodate UEs belonging to different categories.

[0032] In some embodiments, a UE can also support multiple MAC configurations. In a first example, a UE may support multiple MAC configurations simultaneously if it can support multiple MAC entities. In a second example, a UE may support multiple MAC

configurations using a single MAC entity in TDM fashion. In a third example, a UE may support only one MAC configuration during a UE's connection. In a fourth example, a UE belongs to a category which only supports a certain MAC configuration, e.g., an mMTC UE supporting an mMTC-specific MAC configuration.

[0033] The examples described above are some examples of possible ways to configure a UE. When there are multiple possibilities for a UE in terms of supporting MAC/PHY configurations, the UE can report its capability to support the particular type(s) of configuration(s) to the network. Alternatively or additionally, the network can signal the UEs which configuration(s) is/are to be used. Also, the processing capability of a UE can be different from other UEs. This implies that some UEs can support variable HARQ RTT while others can support specified minimum HARQ RTT. Additionally, even for the UEs supporting variable HARQ RTT, a minimum HARQ RTT can be different. The network can use this capability of the UEs it is serving.

[0034] In the past, when a UE starts the initial connection, the e B is not aware of the UE's capabilities such as UE category and MFMO capability until it is indicated in the UE capability information during an attach procedure which may not change until the UE is detached from the network and attached again. In the systems proposed herein, such as in 5G, the network can determine whether a UE is capable of supporting the different available PHY configurations, and HARQ round trip time (RTT). Based on the capabilities, the network can configure the UEs with the MAC/PHY configurations to be used, e.g., HARQ RTT, subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, etc.

[0035] In some embodiments described herein, solutions are described for the UE to indicate the capabilities related to supporting multiple MAC/PHY configurations and minimum HARQ RTT. The embodiments can also use methods for the eNB to dynamically obtain the UE capabilities and switching between the supported configurations.

[0036] Note that, although in the following embodiments, the explanations and examples may be provided using LTE terminology, channel names, etc. for better understanding, that should not be construed as a limiting factor for the inventions; the inventions disclosed may be application to other technologies as well including but not limited to LTE, LTE-advanced, LTE-advanced Pro or other evolutions, Next Generation radio (NR) or 5G, etc. In addition, it should be recognized that while 5G or NR may be called out as an embodiment, there can be other uses and the embodiments should not be limited to 5G or NR unless specifically disclaimed.

[0037] In embodiments described in FIGs. 1-3, the UE indicates the supported MAC/PHY configurations to the network. The information of UE capability for supporting multiple MAC/PHY configurations in 5G can be transferred in different ways such as using UE capability information and dedicated RRC signaling as described in the following options.

[0038] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating UE capability signaling for the supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 102. When the UE 102 tries to make a connection setup, the network (e.g., eNB 104, gNB, 5G Node B, RAN Node, etc.) may send a UE capability inquiry request to the UE 102. The UE 102 then can respond to the network with a UE capability information message including some or all of the following (but not limited to the following) via either higher layer or LI signaling, or through random access procedure (e.g., RACH): (1) the supported MAC configurations information, (2) the supported PHY configurations information, (3) the supported MAC -PHY combined configuration

information, and/or (4) the minimum HARQ round trip time (RTT) supported based on the processing capability of the UE 102.

[0039] In some embodiments, the UE capability signaling can include (1) the supported MAC configurations information. In one option, the information can include a set of one or more values corresponding to or indicating, but not limited to, the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, BSR timers, DRX and eDRX configurations, time alignment timers, PHR configurations, SR prohibit timer, DC related parameters such as SCell deactivation timer, extended BSR, extended PHR, SCell TAG configurations, etc.

[0040] Alternatively, the sets of/combination of some or all of the MAC parameter values may be predefined in the specification and identified by/mapped to a MAC configuration index. The UE 102 reports the index or indices of the supported MAC configurations. These indices may be separately defined depending on UE types based on target verticals and/or informed in combination with the UE types. Some sets of MAC configurations may be more suitable to one vertical (e.g., URLLC) compared to other verticals (e.g., eMBB). For example, a MAC configuration suitable for URLLC can have the HARQ retransmissions limit set to a lower value or disabled altogether, whereas a MAC configuration suitable for eMBB can have a higher number of HARQ retransmissions limit.

[0041] In some embodiments, the UE capability signaling can include (2) the supported PHY configurations information. In one option, the information can include a set of one or more values indicating subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, number of OFDM symbols in a subframe, numerology, etc. Alternatively, the sets of/combination of some or all the PHY parameter values can be predefined in the specification and identified by/mapped to a PHY

configuration index. The UE reports the index or indices of the supported PHY

configurations. These indices may be separately defined depending on UE types based on target verticals and/or informed in combination with the UE types. Some sets of PHY configurations may be more suitable to one vertical (e.g., URLLC) compared to other verticals (e.g., eMBB). For example, a PHY configuration suitable for URLLC may have a shorter TTI duration, whereas a PHY configuration suitable for eMBB may have a longer TTI duration.

[0042] In some embodiments, the UE capability signaling can include (3) the supported MAC-PHY combined configuration information, and/or minimum HARQ round trip time (RTT) supported based on the processing capability of the UE. In one option, the

information may include a combined set of MAC and PHY parameters such as one or more values corresponding to but not limited to, e.g., subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, number of OFDM symbols in a subframe, numerology, maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, BSR timers, DRX and eDRX configurations, time alignment timers, PHR configurations, SR prohibit timer, DC related parameters such as SCell deactivation timer, extended BSR, extended PHR, SCell TAG configurations, etc. Alternatively, the sets of/combination of some or all of the MAC parameters may be combined with some or all of the PHY parameters into suitable combinations targeted to certain target verticals and/or UE types and may be predefined in the specification and identified by/mapped to a MAC-PHY

configuration index. Certain sets of MAC-PHY configurations may be more suitable to one vertical (e.g., URLLC) compared to other verticals (e.g., eMBB). For example, a MAC-PHY configuration suitable for URLLC may have a shorter TTI duration and a lower number of HARQ retransmissions limit, whereas a MAC-PHY configuration suitable for eMBB may have a longer TTI duration and a higher number of HARQ retransmissions limit. The UE reports the index or indices of the supported MAC-PHY combined configurations.

[0043] In some embodiments, the UE capability signaling can include an indication of (4) a minimum HARQ round trip time (RTT) supported based on the processing capability of the UE. The minimum HARQ RTT can be explicitly provided in a configuration. The minimum HARQ RTT can also be inferred, such as by a category of a UE.

[0044] Note that a maximum number of MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configurations to be supported by the NR system and/or network can be predefined/specified. However, some systems can select to support a lower number of such configurations. Similarly, the maximum or minimum HARQ RTT to be supported by the NR system/network can be predefined and/or specified. Some systems may choose to support different maximum or minimum HARQ RTT durations. In such case, even if the UE has capabilities to operate at different MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configurations or to support smaller HARQ RTT, the UE can limit uses of its capability according to the system configurations. Therefore, after the network is made aware of the capabilities of the UE, the network can optionally send dedicated signaling to the UE to confirm and/or indicate which configuration parameters are applicable to or allowed for the UE. For example, out of 3 PHY configurations supported by the UE, the network may decide to enable and/or allow only 2 PHY configurations for the UE. In that case, the network may indicate the information about the allowed (or not allowed) configurations to the UE via UE specific signaling.

[0045] FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message indicating the supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by a UE 202 and indicated to a RAN Node (such as an eNB 204). In the embodiment shown, when applicable, a network can send an indication to the UE 202 requesting information on one or more of the supported MAC configurations, supported PHY configurations, supported MAC-PHY configurations, minimum HARQ RTT, etc. (such as by using an RRC reconfiguration message). Then the UE 202 responds to the network along with the requested information, for example using an RRC reconfiguration complete message. Note that if the request message, e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message, is lost for some reason, the network has to detect it and retransmit the request.

[0046] FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating an Attach Request indicating the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 302 to an e B 304. A pre-defined class or the category of UEs can be mapped to a set of indices or values of pre-defined MAC configurations, PHY configurations, MAC -PHY configurations (as described above), the minimum HARQ RTT, etc. When a UE 302 indicates its class or category to the network during the attach procedure, the network can implicitly know or infer the supported MAC, PHY or MAC -PHY

configurations, and minimum HARQ RTT. In one embodiment, the eNB can use a mapping function to map the UE class or UE category to supported MAC and/or PHY configurations.

[0047] In case a UE class or category supports multiple configurations and the network wants the UE to use a particular configuration or set of configurations, the network can do so by indicating it in several ways. In a first embodiment, the network uses dedicated signaling to a particular UE 302 (e.g., using a RRC reconfiguration message). In a second embodiment, the network uses broadcast signaling to the class or category of UEs (e.g., using a system information broadcast message).

[0048] In FIGs. 4-7, switching between different configurations is shown. Once a UE is configured by the network to use multiple MAC, PHY or MAC -PHY configurations, and/or HARQ RTT values, the network can indicate the UE dynamically about when to use which particular MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration and apply a particular HARQ RTT. This can be done in multiple ways.

[0049] FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message from an eNB 404 indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 402. When the network wants to switch a UE 402 from one MAC or PHY or MAC- PHY configuration to another configuration that is supported by the UE 402, the network can (re)configure the UE 402 with a new MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration using dedicated messaging such as RRC reconfiguration. In some embodiments and at the same time, the network can also set the HARQ RTT to the UE 402 based on the minimum HARQ RTT supported by it.

[0050] In response to the (re)configuration attempt by the network and based on the outcome, a UE 402 can send the indication of whether or not the (re)configuration is successfully applied, for example using a RRC reconfiguration complete message. If the new

configuration is successfully applied, the UE 402 may apply the new configurations starting at a predefined time. Alternatively, a (re)configuration message from the network can also include indication of a time after which the new configuration applies.

[0051] In the case of negative feedback, the network can attempt (re)configuration again or apply a method, such as described in embodiment 1 above, to inquire/update the UE capability information.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating in-band signaling indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 502 as requested by the network, such as an e B 504. The network can indicate to the UEs to use particular MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration(s) and apply a particular HARQ RTT using in-band signaling. For example, this information may be indicated to the UE 502 by using a MAC control element (CE) in MAC PDU or using a PDCP control PDU. New MAC CE(s) or a PDCP control PDU format(s) can be defined for this purpose. However, for the successful transmission of this in- band signaling CE or PDU, a default or the current MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configurations should continue to be applied and a predefined rule as to when the new configurations apply need to be defined.

[0053] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating control channel indications of a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE 602 by the network such as an eNB 604. It is also possible to define a new downlink control information (DCI) format in PDCCH to dynamically indicate MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration(s) to be used for the downlink or uplink transmissions. The DCI could include the index of MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration(s) to be used. In this case HARQ RTT could be implicitly known (i.e., pre-defined for a given MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration). In another option, the index or value of the HARQ RTT could be included in the DCI to be applied at the same TTI or upcoming TTI, after a certain number of TTIs, or at a predefined switching instant. Also, the DCI can include an index to inform a subcarrier spacing to be used for the corresponding data, and the set of subcarrier spacing to be indicated can be pre-configured via higher layer signaling during capability negotiation between the network and the UE 602.

[0054] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating a broadcast indicating a dynamic change between MAC/PHY configurations supported by a UE 702 as requested by the network, such as an eNB 704. The network can indicate the index or value of the MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY configuration(s) and/or HARQ RTT to be used for a particular type of UE class or category in the system information broadcast message. A UE 702 of a particular class or category reads the broadcast information with a default or pre-defined MAC, PHY or MAC-PHY

configuration and knows the MAC, PHY, or MAC-PHY configuration and/or HARQ RTT, if applicable, to be used for the subsequent transmission/reception of signal/data. A predefined rule as to when the new configurations apply needs to be defined, e.g., at the upcoming TTI, after a certain number of TTIs, or at a predefined switching instant.

[0055] FIG. 8 is a method 800 for reporting and selecting medium access control and physical layer capabilities. The method 800 can be performed by systems such as those described in FIG. 9, including UEs 901 and 902 and RAN nodes 911 and 912. In block 802 a UE attaches to a radio access network (RAN) node. In block 804, a UE processes a request for a set of MAC/PHY configurations from the RAN node. In block 806, a UE, in response to the request, generates a message for the RAN node including an indicator of the set of the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE. In block 808, a UE processes a message from the RAN node selecting a MAC/PHY configuration of the UE. In block 810, a UE decodes a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

[0056] FIG. 9 illustrates an architecture of a system 900 of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system 900 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 901 and a UE 902. The UEs 901 and 902 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

[0057] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 901 and 902 can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity -Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived

connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

[0058] The UEs 901 and 902 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 910. The RAN 910 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 901 and 902 utilize connections 903 and 904, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 903 and 904 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

[0059] In this embodiment, the UEs 901 and 902 may further directly exchange

communication data via a ProSe interface 905. The ProSe interface 905 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PS SCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink

Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0060] The UE 902 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 906 via connection 907. The connection 907 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 906 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 906 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0061] The RAN 910 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 903 and 904. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 910 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 911, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 912.

[0062] Any of the RAN nodes 911 and 912 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 901 and 902. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 911 and 912 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 910 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0063] In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 901 and 902 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 911 and 912 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0064] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink

transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 911 and 912 to the UEs 901 and 902, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

[0065] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 901 and 902. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs 901 and 902 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 902 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 911 and 912 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 901 and 902. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 901 and 902.

[0066] The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub- block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=l, 2, 4, or 8).

[0067] Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

[0068] The RAN 910 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 920 — via an SI interface 913. In embodiments, the CN 920 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the SI interface 913 is split into two parts: the Sl-U interface 914, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 911 and 912 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 922, and an SI -mobility management entity (MME) interface 915, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 911 and 912 and MMEs 921.

[0069] In this embodiment, the CN 920 comprises the MMEs 921, the S-GW 922, a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 923, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 924. The MMEs 921 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 921 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 924 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 920 may comprise one or several HSSs 924, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 924 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,

naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0070] The S-GW 922 may terminate the SI interface 913 towards the RAN 910, and routes data packets between the RAN 910 and the CN 920. In addition, the S-GW 922 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0071] The P-GW 923 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 923 may route data packets between the CN 920 (e.g., an EPC network) and external networks such as a network including the application server 930 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 925. Generally, an application server 930 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 923 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 930 via an IP communications interface 925. The application server 930 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 901 and 902 via the CN 920.

[0072] The P-GW 923 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. A Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 926 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 920. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 926 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 930 via the P-GW 923. The application server 930 may signal the PCRF 926 to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 926 may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server 930. [0073] FIG. 10 illustrates example components of a device 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 1000 may include application circuitry 1002, baseband circuitry 1004, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1006, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1008, one or more antennas 1010, and power management circuitry (PMC) 1012 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 1000 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 1000 may include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 1002, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some

embodiments, the device 1000 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other

embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C- RAN) implementations).

[0074] The application circuitry 1002 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 1002 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 1000. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 1002 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

[0075] The baseband circuitry 1004 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1004 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1006 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1006. Baseband processing circuity 1004 may interface with the application circuitry 1002 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1006. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1004 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 1004 A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1004B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1004C, or other baseband processor(s) 1004D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 1004 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 1004A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1006. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1004A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 1004G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1004E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation,

encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments,

modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1004 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1004 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and

encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0076] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1004 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 1004F. The audio DSP(s) 1004F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1004 and the application circuitry 1002 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0077] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1004 may provide for

communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1004 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1004 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0078] RF circuitry 1006 may enable communication with wireless networks

using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1006 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. The RF circuitry 1006 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1008 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1004. RF circuitry 1006 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1004 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1008 for transmission.

[0079] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1006 may include mixer circuitry 1006A, amplifier circuitry 1006B and filter circuitry 1006C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1006 may include filter circuitry 1006C and mixer circuitry 1006A. RF circuitry 1006 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1006D for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1008 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1006D. The amplifier circuitry 1006B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1006C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 1004 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006A of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0080] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1006D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1008. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1004 and may be filtered by the filter circuitry 1006C.

[0081] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1006 A may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0082] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 1006 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 1004 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1006.

[0083] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0084] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1006D may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1006D may be a delta-si gma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0085] The synthesizer circuitry 1006D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1006 A of the RF circuitry 1006 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1006D may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0086] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1004 or the application circuitry 1002 (such as an

applications processor) depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the application circuitry 1002.

[0087] Synthesizer circuitry 1006D of the RF circuitry 1006 may include a divider, a delay- locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0088] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1006D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1006 may include an IQ/polar converter.

[0089] FEM circuitry 1008 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1010, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1006 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1008 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 1006 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1010. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 1006, solely in the FEM circuitry 1008, or in both the RF circuitry 1006 and the FEM circuitry 1008.

[0090] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1008 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 1008 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1008 may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1006). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1008 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry 1006), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1010).

[0091] In some embodiments, the PMC 1012 may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 1004. In particular, the PMC 1012 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 1012 may often be included when the device 1000 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device 1000 is included in a UE. The PMC 1012 may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics. [0092] FIG. 10 shows the PMC 1012 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 1004.

However, in other embodiments, the PMC 1012 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, the application circuitry 1002, the RF circuitry 1006, or the FEM circuitry 1008.

[0093] In some embodiments, the PMC 1012 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 1000. For example, if the device 1000 is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 1000 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

[0094] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 1000 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1000 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 1000 may not receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, it transitions back to an RRC Connected state.

[0095] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

[0096] Processors of the application circuitry 1002 and processors of the baseband circuitry 1004 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 1004, alone or in combination, may be used to execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 1002 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below. [0097] FIG. 11 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 1004 of FIG. 10 may comprise processors 1004A-1004E and a memory 1004G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 1004A-1004E may include a memory interface, 1104A-1104E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 1004G.

[0098] The baseband circuitry 1004 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 1112 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 1004), an application circuitry interface 1114 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 1002 of FIG. 10), an RF circuitry interface 1116 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 1006 of FIG. 10), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 1 118 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 1120 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 1012.

[0099] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a control plane protocol stack in accordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a control plane 1200 is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE 901 (or alternatively, the UE 902), the RAN node 911 (or alternatively, the RAN node 912), and the MME 921.

[0100] A PHY layer 1201 may transmit or receive information used by the MAC layer 1202 over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layer 1201 may further perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, such as an RRC layer 1205. The PHY layer 1201 may still further perform error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MFMO) antenna processing.

[0101] The MAC layer 1202 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) from one or more logical channels onto transport blocks (TB) to be delivered to PHY via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs to one or more logical channels from transport blocks (TB) delivered from the PHY via transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), and logical channel prioritization.

[0102] An RLC layer 1203 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation, including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC layer 1203 may execute transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers. The RLC layer 1203 may also execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0103] A PDCP layer 1204 may execute header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs at re-establishment of lower layers, eliminate duplicates of lower layer SDUs at re- establishment of lower layers for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-based discard of data, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0104] The main services and functions of the RRC layer 1205 may include broadcast of system information (e.g., included in Master Information Blocks (MIBs) or System

Information Blocks (SIBs) related to the non-access stratum (NAS)), broadcast of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and E-UTRAN (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. Said MIBs and SIBs may comprise one or more information elements (IEs), which may each comprise individual data fields or data structures.

[0105] The UE 901 and the RAN node 911 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the PHY layer 1201, the MAC layer 1202, the RLC layer 1203, the PDCP layer 1204, and the RRC layer 1205.

[0106] In the embodiment shown, the non-access stratum (NAS) protocols 1206 form the highest stratum of the control plane between the UE 901 and the MME 921. The NAS protocols 1206 support the mobility of the UE 901 and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE 901 and the P-GW 923.

[0107] The SI Application Protocol (Sl-AP) layer 1215 may support the functions of the SI interface and comprise Elementary Procedures (EPs). An EP is a unit of interaction between the RAN node 911 and the CN 920. The Sl-AP layer services may comprise two groups: UE-associated services and non UE-associated services. These services perform functions including, but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB)

management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

[0108] The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer (alternatively referred to as the stream control transmission protocol/internet protocol (SCTP/IP) layer) 1214 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 911 and the MME 921 based, in part, on the IP protocol, supported by an IP layer 1213. An L2 layer 1212 and an LI layer 1211 may refer to communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) used by the RAN node and the MME to exchange information.

[0109] The RAN node 911 and the MME 921 may utilize an S 1 -MME interface to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack comprising the LI layer 1211, the L2 layer 1212, the IP layer 1213, the SCTP layer 1214, and the Sl-AP layer 1215.

[0110] FIG. 13 is an illustration of a user plane protocol stack in accordance with some embodiments. In this embodiment, a user plane 1300 is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE 901 (or alternatively, the UE 902), the RAN node 911 (or alternatively, the RAN node 912), the S-GW 922, and the P-GW 923. The user plane 1300 may utilize at least some of the same protocol layers as the control plane 1200. For example, the UE 901 and the RAN node 911 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the PHY layer 1201, the MAC layer 1202, the RLC layer 1203, the PDCP layer 1204.

[0111] The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) layer 1304 may be used for carrying user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. The user data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example. The UDP and IP security

(UDP/IP) layer 1303 may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication on the selected data flows. The RAN node 911 and the S-GW 922 may utilize an Sl-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the LI layer 1211, the L2 layer 1212, the UDP/IP layer 1303, and the GTP-U layer 1304. The S-GW 922 and the P-GW 923 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack comprising the LI layer 1211, the L2 layer 1212, the UDP/IP layer 1303, and the GTP-U layer 1304. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 12, NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE 901 and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE 901 and the P-GW 923.

[0112] FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 14 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1400 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1410, one or more memory/storage devices 1420, and one or more communication resources 1430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1440. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1400.

[0113] The processors 1410 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1412 and a processor 1414.

[0114] The memory/storage devices 1420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1420 may include, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0115] The communication resources 1430 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1404 or one or more databases 1406 via a network 1408. For example, the communication resources 1430 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

[0116] Instructions 1450 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1410 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1450 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1410 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1420, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1450 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1400 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1404 or the databases 1406. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1410, the memory/storage devices 1420, the peripheral devices 1404, and the databases 1406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0117] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram 1500 illustrating the structure of a long term evolution (LTE) communication frame 1505. A frame 1505 has a duration of 10

milliseconds (ms). The frame 1505 includes ten subframes 1510, each having a duration of 1 ms, which is also one TTI. Each subframe 1510 includes two slots 1515, each having a duration of 0.5 ms. Therefore, the frame 1505 includes 20 slots 1515.

[0118] Each slot 1515 includes six or seven orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 1520. The number of OFDM symbols 1520 in each slot 1515 is based on the size of the cyclic prefixes (CP) 1525. For example, the number of OFDM symbols 1520 in the slot 1515 is seven while in normal mode CP and six in extended mode CP.

[0119] The smallest allocable unit for transmission is a resource block 1530 (i.e., physical resource block (PRB) 1530). Transmissions are scheduled by PRB 1530. A PRB 1530 consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers 1535, or 180 kHz, for the duration of one slot 1515 (0.5 ms). A resource element 1540, which is the smallest defined unit, consists of one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval. In the case of normal mode CP, each PRB 1530 consists of 12 x 7 = 84 resource elements 1540. Each PRB 1530 consists of 72 resource elements 1540 in the case of extended mode CP.

Examples

[0120] The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

[0121] Example 1 is an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) capabilities. The apparatus includes a memory interface to access a set of MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE. The apparatus includes a processing unit designed to perform an attachment procedure to a radio access network (RAN) node, process a request for the set of MAC/PHY configurations from the RAN node, and in response to the request, generate a message for the RAN node including an indicator of the set of the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE. The processing unit is also designed to process a message from the RAN node selecting a MAC/PHY configuration of the UE from the set of the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE, and decode a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

[0122] Example 2 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the MAC/PHY configuration is a downlink configuration.

[0123] Example 3 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the MAC/PHY configuration supports ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC) or enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB).

[0124] Example 4 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the set of MAC/PHY

configurations include 0.25 millisecond (ms) transmission time interval (TTI), 0.5 ms TTI and 1 ms TTI.

[0125] Example 5 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the message from the RAN node is an RRC reconfiguration request that indicates the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

[0126] Example 6 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the message from the RAN node is a MAC control element (CE) or a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) control protocol data unit (PDU) that indicates the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

[0127] Example 7 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the message from the RAN node uses a downlink control information (DCI) format in a physical downlink control channel message to indicate the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

[0128] Example 8 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the message from the RAN node is a system information broadcast (SIB) that indicates a MAC/PHY configuration for a set of UEs.

[0129] Example 9 is the apparatus of Example 8, where the set of UEs is a class of UEs or category of UEs.

[0130] Example 10 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the request for the set of

MAC/PHY configurations is a UE capability inquiry request message.

[0131] Example 11 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the request for the set of

MAC/PHY configurations is an RRConnectionReconfiguration message with a request indicator. [0132] Example 12 is the apparatus of Example 1, where the request for the set of MAC/PHY configurations forms part of an attach procedure by the UE.

[0133] Example 13 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-12, where the processing unit is a baseband processor.

[0134] Example 14 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-12, where the set of MAC/PHY configurations includes values for maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions, minimum HARQ round trip time (RTT), buffer status report (BSR) timer, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, extended DRX (eDRX) configuration, time alignment timer, power headroom report (PHR) configuration, scheduling request (SR) prohibit timer or secondary cell (SCell) deactivation timer.

[0135] Example 15 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-12, where the set of MAC/PHY configurations includes values for subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, number of OFDM symbols in a subframe, or numerology.

[0136] Example 16 is an apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node for processing and selection of medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) capabilities. The apparatus includes a memory interface to access and store a set of MAC/PHY configurations supported by a set of user equipments (UEs). The apparatus includes a processing unit designed to generate a request for a set of supported MAC/PHY configurations from a UE of the set of UEs, in response to the request, process a message from the UE including an indicator of the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE, and select a MAC/PHY configuration from the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE for use in communicating with the UE. The processing unit is also designed to generate a message to the UE identifying the selected MAC/PHY configuration for use with the UE in a subsequent communication and encode the subsequent transmission to the UE based at least in part on the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

[0137] Example 17 is the apparatus of Example 16, where the indicator is a UE category from which the network infers the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE.

[0138] Example 18 is the apparatus of Example 16, where the indicator is a value that maps to a pre-determined set of configurations.

[0139] Example 19 is the apparatus of Example 16, where the message to the UE identifying the selected MAC/PHY configuration is a system information broadcast (SIB) that indicates a common MAC/PHY configuration for the set of UEs. [0140] Example 20 is the apparatus of Example 16, where the set of UEs is a class of UEs or category of UEs.

[0141] Example 21 is a method of reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer capabilities. The method includes processing, by a user equipment (UE) using a first medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) downlink (DL) configuration including a first set of MAC/PHY DL parameters, a request for the set of MAC/PHY DL capabilities from a RAN node, and in response to the request, generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE. The method includes decoding, by the UE using the first MAC/PHY DL configuration, a message from the RAN node selecting a second MAC/PHY DL configuration including a second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters of the UE, configuring a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY) of a cellular radio protocol stack with the second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters, and decoding, by the UE using the second MAC/PHY DL configuration, a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the second MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

[0142] Example 22 is the method of Example 21, where generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE further includes indicating the combinations as a set of indices identifying pre-defined sets of parameters.

[0143] Example 23 is the method of Example 21, further including implicitly inferring a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) value based on the second MAC/PHY DL configuration.

[0144] Example 24 is the method of Example 21, where generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE further includes generating an RRC reconfiguration complete message including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE.

[0145] Example 25 is the method of Example 21, where the combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters are medium access control (MAC) parameters without physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0146] Example 26 is the method of Example 21, where the combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters are physical layer (PHY) parameters without medium access control (MAC) parameters.

[0147] Example 27 is an apparatus including the manner to perform a method as exemplified in any of Examples 22-26. [0148] Example 28 is a machine readable medium including code, when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of any one of Examples 22-26.

[0149] Example 29 is a computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by a processor to perform operations of a user equipment (UE), the operations, when executed by the processor, to perform a method. The method includes attaching, by the UE, to a radio access network (RAN) node, processing, by the UE using a first medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) downlink (DL) configuration including a first set of MAC/PHY DL parameters, a request for the set of MAC/PHY DL capabilities from a RAN node, and in response to the request, generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE. The method further includes decoding, by the UE using the first MAC/PHY DL configuration, a message from the RAN node selecting a second MAC/PHY DL

configuration including a second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters of the UE, configuring a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY) of a cellular radio protocol stack with the second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters, and decoding, by the UE using the second MAC/PHY DL configuration, a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the second MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

Additional Examples

[0150] Additional Example 1 is a method for a UE to indicate to the network about its capabilities pertaining to support for different MAC configurations, PHY configurations or combination of MAC -PHY combinations.

[0151] Additional Example 2 is the method of additional example 1 where the MAC configurations may include various MAC parameters such as one or more values

corresponding to but not limited to maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, BSR timers, DRX and eDRX configurations, time alignment timers, PHR configurations, SR prohibit timer, DC related parameters such as SCell deactivation timer, extended BSR, extended PHR, SCell TAG configurations, etc.

[0152] Additional Example 3 is the method of additional example 1 where the PHY configurations may include a set of one or more values corresponding to but not limited to, e.g., subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, number of OFDM symbols in a subframe, numerology, etc.

[0153] Additional Example 4 is the method of additional example 1 where the MAC- PHY configuration may include a combination of said MAC and PHY parameters of claims [0154] Additional Example 5 is a method of defining the indices to identify a set of said

MAC, PHY or MAC -PHY combination parameters of additional examples 1-4.

[0155] Additional Example 6 is the method of additional example 1 where the configurations are indicated using one or more indices of additional example 5.

[0156] Additional Example 7 is a method for a UE to indicate to the network about its capabilities pertaining to support for a minimum HARQ RTT in UE capability information message.

[0157] Additional Example 8 is the method of additional examples 1 and/or 7 where the said UE capability is informed to the network using a UE capability signaling method upon capability enquiry from the network at the time of attaching to the network.

[0158] Additional Example 9 is a method of defining the UE capability inquiry procedure using the RRC reconfiguration message.

[0159] Additional Example 10 is a method by which the UE reports the capability information of additional examples 1 and/or 7, e.g., using the RRC reconfiguration complete message, at any time upon request from the network.

[0160] Additional Example 11 is a method where a class or category of UEs is mapped to or pre-configured to one or more than one set(s) of indices or values of the PHY

configurations, MAC configurations, PHY-MAC configurations, or minimum HARQ RTT.

[0161] Additional Example 12 is a method by which the network infers the

configurations applicable to the UE of additional example 11 based on the UE category.

[0162] Additional Example 13 is a method for the network to indicate to the UE which configurations are allowed or not allowed to be used by the UE in response to the capability information provided to the network using the method in additional examples 10 or 12.

[0163] Additional Example 14 is a method for the network to send an indication to the UE to use a particular PHY configuration, MAC configuration, MAC -PHY configuration and/or HARQ RTT value.

[0164] Additional Example 15 is a method of additional examples 13 or 14 where the said configuration(s) are indicated to the UE using a dedicated signaling such as an RRC message.

[0165] Additional Example 16 is a method of additional examples 13 or 14 where the said configuration(s) are indicated to the UE using a broadcast signaling such as a SIB message. [0166] Additional Example 17 is the method of additional examples 13 or 14 where the said configuration(s) are indicated to the UE using in-band signaling using MAC CE or PDCP control PDU.

[0167] Additional Example 18 is the method of additional examples 13 or 14 where the said configuration(s) are indicated to the UE using DCI information in PDCCH.

[0168] Additional Example 19 is the method of any of additional examples 13-17 where the said configuration(s) are indicated as set of values of different parameters.

[0169] Additional Example 20 is the method of any of additional examples 13-17 where the said configuration(s) are indicated as a set of indices identifying the pre-defined sets of different parameters.

[0170] Additional Example 21 is the method of any of additional examples 13-18 wherein the UE implicitly calculates or infers the HARQ RTT value based on the

configuration indicated to it.

[0171] Additional Example 22 is the method of additional examples 13 or 14 where the acknowledgement of configuration is sent through an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0172] Additional Example 23 is a method for a UE to apply the new configuration parameters at the same TTI, next TTI, after k TTI, or at a specific pre-defined time instant.

[0173] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general- purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic for performing the operations or may include a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

[0174] Computer systems and the computers in a computer system may be connected via a network. Suitable networks for configuration and/or use as described herein include one or more local area networks, wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, and/or Internet or IP networks, such as the World Wide Web, a private Internet, a secure Internet, a value-added network, a virtual private network, an extranet, an intranet, or even stand-alone machines which communicate with other machines by physical transport of media. In particular, a suitable network may be formed from parts or entireties of two or more other networks, including networks using disparate hardware and network communication technologies.

[0175] One suitable network includes a server and one or more clients; other suitable networks may contain other combinations of servers, clients, and/or peer-to-peer nodes, and a given computer system may function both as a client and as a server. Each network includes at least two computers or computer systems, such as the server and/or clients. A computer system may include a workstation, laptop computer, disconnectable mobile computer, server, mainframe, cluster, so-called "network computer" or "thin client," tablet, smart phone, personal digital assistant or other hand-held computing device, "smart" consumer electronics device or appliance, medical device, or a combination thereof.

[0176] Suitable networks may include communications or networking software, such as the software available from Novell®, Microsoft®, and other vendors, and may operate using TCP/IP, SPX, IPX, and other protocols over twisted pair, coaxial, or optical fiber cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, microwave relays, modulated AC power lines, physical media transfer, and/or other data transmission "wires" known to those of skill in the art. The network may encompass smaller networks and/or be connectable to other networks through a gateway or similar mechanism.

[0177] Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD- ROMs, hard drives, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, a nontransitory computer-readable storage medium, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements may be a RAM, an EPROM, a flash drive, an optical drive, a magnetic hard drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. The eNB (or other base station) and UE (or other mobile station) may also include a transceiver component, a counter component, a processing component, and/or a clock component or timer component. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high-level procedural or an object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations. [0178] Each computer system includes one or more processors and/or memory; computer systems may also include various input devices and/or output devices. The processor may include a general purpose device, such as an Intel®, AMD®, or other "off-the-shelf microprocessor. The processor may include a special purpose processing device, such as ASIC, SoC, SiP, FPGA, PAL, PLA, FPLA, PLD, or other customized or programmable device. The memory may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flash memory, one or more flip-flops, ROM, CD-ROM, DVD, disk, tape, or magnetic, optical, or other computer storage medium. The input device(s) may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, light pen, tablet, microphone, sensor, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software. The output device(s) may include a monitor or other display, printer, speech or text synthesizer, switch, signal line, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software.

[0179] It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification may be implemented as one or more components, which is a term used to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a component may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, or off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A component may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, or the like.

[0180] Components may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified component of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, a procedure, or a function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified component need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations that, when joined logically together, comprise the component and achieve the stated purpose for the component.

[0181] Indeed, a component of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within components, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The components may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

[0182] Several aspects of the embodiments described will be illustrated as software modules or components. As used herein, a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer-executable code located within a memory device. A software module may, for instance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may be organized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure, etc., that perform one or more tasks or implement particular data types. It is appreciated that a software module may be implemented in hardware and/or firmware instead of or in addition to software. One or more of the functional modules described herein may be separated into sub-modules and/or combined into a single or smaller number of modules.

[0183] In certain embodiments, a particular software module may include disparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, different memory devices, or different computers, which together implement the described functionality of the module. Indeed, a module may include a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environment where tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. In addition, data being tied or rendered together in a database record may be resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices, and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across a network.

[0184] Reference throughout this specification to "an example" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrase "in an example" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0185] As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on its presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and examples may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de facto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations.

[0186] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of materials, frequencies, sizes, lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments.

[0187] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into single systems, partially combined into other systems, split into multiple systems or divided or combined in other ways. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. The parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. are merely described in one or more embodiments for clarity, and it is recognized that the parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. can be combined with or substituted for

parameters/attributes/etc. of another embodiment unless specifically disclaimed herein.

[0188] Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles thereof. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the description is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

[0189] Those having skill in the art will appreciate that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles. The scope of the present embodiments should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) capabilities:

a memory interface to access a set of MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE; a processing unit configured to:

perform an attachment procedure to a radio access network (RAN) node; process a request for the set of MAC/PHY configurations from the RAN node; in response to the request, generate a message for the RAN node including an indicator of the set of the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE;

process a message from the RAN node selecting a MAC/PHY configuration of the UE from the set of the MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE; and

decode a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the MAC/PHY configuration is a downlink configuration.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of MAC/PHY configurations include 0.25 millisecond (ms) transmission time interval (TTI), 0.5 ms TTI and 1 ms TTI.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message from the RAN node is an RRC reconfiguration request that indicates the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message from the RAN node is a MAC control element (CE) or a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) control protocol data unit (PDU) that indicates the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message from the RAN node uses a downlink control information (DCI) format in a physical downlink control channel message to indicate the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message from the RAN node is a system information broadcast (SIB) that indicates a MAC/PHY configuration for a set of UEs.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request for the set of MAC/PHY

configurations is a UE capability inquiry request message.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request for the set of MAC/PHY

configurations is an RRConnectionReconfiguration message with a request indicator.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request for the set of MAC/PHY

configurations forms part of an attach procedure by the UE.

11. The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the processing unit is a baseband processor.

12. The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the set of MAC/PHY

configurations includes values for maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions, minimum HARQ round trip time (RTT), buffer status report (BSR) timer, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, extended DRX (eDRX) configuration, time alignment timer, power headroom report (PHR) configuration, scheduling request (SR) prohibit timer or secondary cell (SCell) deactivation timer.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the set of MAC/PHY

configurations includes values for subcarrier spacing, TTI duration, number of OFDM symbols in a subframe, or numerology.

14. An apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node for processing and selection of medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) capabilities:

a memory interface to access and store a set of MAC/PHY configurations supported by a set of user equipments (UEs);

a processing unit configured to:

generate a request for a set of supported MAC/PHY configurations from a UE of the set of UEs;

in response to the request, process a message from the UE including an indicator of the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE; select a MAC/PHY configuration from the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE for use in communicating with the UE;

generate a message to the UE identifying the selected MAC/PHY configuration for use with the UE in a subsequent communication; and

encode the subsequent transmission to the UE based at least in part on the selected MAC/PHY configuration.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the indicator is a UE category from which the network infers the set of supported MAC/PHY configurations supported by the UE.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the indicator is a value that maps to a predetermined set of configurations.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the message to the UE identifying the selected MAC/PHY configuration is a system information broadcast (SIB) that indicates a common MAC/PHY configuration for the set of UEs.

18. A method of reporting to network and network selection of medium access control and physical layer capabilities, the method comprising:

processing, by a user equipment (UE) using a first medium access control and physical layer (MAC/PHY) downlink (DL) configuration comprising a first set of MAC/PHY DL parameters, a request for the set of MAC/PHY DL capabilities from a RAN node;

in response to the request, generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE;

decoding, by the UE using the first MAC/PHY DL configuration, a message from the RAN node selecting a second MAC/PHY DL configuration comprising a second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters of the UE;

configuring a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY) of a cellular radio protocol stack with the second set of MAC/PHY DL parameters; and

decoding, by the UE using the second MAC/PHY DL configuration, a subsequent transmission from the RAN node using the second MAC/PHY configuration selected by the RAN node.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE further comprises indicating the combinations as a set of indices identifying pre-defined sets of parameters.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising implicitly inferring a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) value based on the second

MAC/PHY DL configuration.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein generating a message for the RAN node including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE further comprises generating an RRC reconfiguration complete message including combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters supported by the UE.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters are medium access control (MAC) parameters without physical layer (PHY) parameters.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the combinations of MAC/PHY DL parameters are physical layer (PHY) parameters without medium access control (MAC) parameters.

24. An apparatus comprising the means to perform a method as claimed in any of claims 19-23.

25. A machine readable medium including code, when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of any one of claims 19-23.