WO2022234540A1 - Impacts d'interface et d'architecture de mobilité centrée l1/l2 - Google Patents

Impacts d'interface et d'architecture de mobilité centrée l1/l2 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2022234540A1
WO2022234540A1 PCT/IB2022/054236 IB2022054236W WO2022234540A1 WO 2022234540 A1 WO2022234540 A1 WO 2022234540A1 IB 2022054236 W IB2022054236 W IB 2022054236W WO 2022234540 A1 WO2022234540 A1 WO 2022234540A1
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Prior art keywords
cell
inter
network node
cells
information
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PCT/IB2022/054236
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English (en)
Inventor
Angelo Centonza
Pradeepa Ramachandra
Helka-Liina MÄÄTTÄNEN
Icaro Leonardo DA SILVA
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Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/08—Reselecting an access point
    • H04W36/087—Reselecting an access point between radio units of access points
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
    • H04W24/02—Arrangements for optimising operational condition
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
    • H04W36/0083—Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
    • H04W36/00835—Determination of neighbour cell lists

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods relating to interface and architecture impacts of L1/L2 centric mobility.
  • the network can then signal to the user equipment (UE) that two antenna ports are QCL so that the UE interprets that signals from these will have some similar properties. If the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g. Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on a reference signal transmitted one of the antenna ports and use that estimate when receiving another reference signal or physical channel the other antenna port.
  • the first antenna port is represented by a measurement reference signal such as a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) (also known as source Reference Signal (RS)) and the second antenna port is a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (known as target RS) for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) reception.
  • CSI-RS Channel State Information-Reference Signal
  • DMRS demodulation reference signal
  • QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management procedures with analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL.
  • spatial QCL There is currently no strict definition of spatial QCL, but the understanding is that if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the UE can use the same receiver (RX) beam to receive signals associated to them. This is helpful for a UE that uses analog beamforming to receive signals since the UE needs to adjust its RX beam in some direction prior to receiving a certain signal. If the UE knows that the signal is spatially QCL with some other signal it has received earlier, then the UE can safely use the same RX beam to also receive this signal.
  • RX receiver
  • the network may give this relation between a channel to be decoded (e.g., PDCCH/PDSCH) and a signal that is known to be transmitted in a given direction that may be used as reference by the UE, like a CSI-RS, Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), etc.
  • a channel to be decoded e.g., PDCCH/PDSCH
  • a signal that is known to be transmitted in a given direction may be used as reference by the UE, like a CSI-RS, Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), etc.
  • SSB Synchronization Signal Block
  • TCI Transmission Configuration Index
  • M states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of M possible beams transmitted in the downlink from the network and/or a list ofM possible_Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) used by the network to communicate with the UE.
  • TRPs Transmission Reception Points
  • the M TCI states can also be interpreted as a combination of one or multiple beams transmitted from one or multiple TRPs.
  • the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling withMTCI states (e.g., during connection setup, resume, reconfiguration, handovers, etc.), where M is up to 128 in frequency range 2 (FR2) for the purpose of PDSCH reception and up to 8 in FR1, depending on UE capability.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • TCI states are currently configured as part of the so-called CellGroupConfig, which is a Distributed Unit (DU) configuration (i.e., decided by the baseband unit) in a Central Unit-Distributed Unit (CU-DU) split architecture, and conveyed to the UE via for example an RRCResume (i.e. during transition from Inactive to Connected) or RRCReconfiguration (e.g. during handovers, intra-cell reconfigurations or transitions from Idle to Connected).
  • DU Distributed Unit
  • CU-DU Central Unit-Distributed Unit
  • the TCI states configurations are signaled as part of the PDSCH configuration, which is configured per each Downlink (DL) Bandwidth Part (BWP) of an SpCell (i.e. a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell)), where an SpCell can be comprised of one or multiple DL BWPs, or an SCell.
  • BWP Bandwidth Part
  • FIGURE 1 illustrates an example structure for signaling for the initial DL BWP case.
  • Each TCI state configuration contains a pointer, known as TCI State ID ( TCI-Stateld ), which points to the TCI state. That pointer may be used, for example, to refer to a TCI configuration in a CORESET configuration.
  • TCI-Stateld TCI State ID
  • the TCI configurations are provided in the PDSCH configuration in a given DL BWP.
  • the CORESET configuration contains a TCI state pointer to a configured TCI state in PDSCH.
  • Each TCI state contains the previously described QCL information, i.e. one or two source downlink RSs, where each source RS is associated with a QCL type.
  • a TCI state contains a pair of reference signals, and each is associated with a QCL type.
  • a TCI state is represented by an IE called TCI-State as discussed in 3GPP TS 38.331.
  • the field called cell in the QCL configuration is the UE’s serving cell in which the Reference Signal that is QCL source is being configured. If the field is absent, it applies to the serving cell in which the TCI-State is configured (i.e., the spCell of the cell group, not an indexed SCell).
  • the RS can be located on a serving cell other than the serving cell in which the TCI-State is configured only if the qcl- Type is configured as type D. See, 3GPP TS 38.214, Section 5.1.5.
  • the RS for a given TCI state is associated to a serving cell in that cell group, which may be the PCell/PScell or an associated SCell(s). That is indicated by the field cell in the TCI state configuration. If the field is absent, that refers to the cell where the TCI state is configured.
  • Radio Access Network RAN
  • Core Network CN
  • the RAN is expected to report the user location to the core network as part of the data usage reports.
  • This information is conveyed from the gNodeB (more specifically the Central Unit- Control Plane (CU-CP)) to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) in each of the following messages: - PDU SESSION RESOURCE RELEASE RESPONSE, PDU SESSION RESOURCE MODIFY RESPONSE, PDU SESSION RESOURCE NOTIFY, PDU SESSION RESOURCE MODIFY INDICATION, UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE, UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE, RRCINACTIVE TRANSITION REPORT, HANDOVER NOTIFY, PATH SWITCH REQUEST, INITIAL UE MESSAGE, UPLINK NAS TRANSPORT, LOCATION REPORT, SECONDARY RAT DATA USAGE REPORT.
  • IEs Information Elements
  • the actual location information in these messages is described in 3GPP TS 38.413 vl6.4.0.
  • the user location provided by the CU to the AMF is a choice between cell identifier related information in Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA), cell identifier related information in New Radio (NR), transport layer related identifiers or indication of the location information via wireline access.
  • EUTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
  • NR New Radio
  • transport layer related identifiers or indication of the location information via wireline access.
  • L1/L2 centric mobility in Rel-17 3GPP standardized what had been referred to as L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility (or Ll-mobility, inter-PCI TCI state change / update / modification, etc.) ⁇ This was justified in the Work Item Description (WID) RP-193133 by the fact that, while Rel-16 manages to offer some reduction in overhead and/or latency, high-speed vehicular scenarios at FR2 such as, for example, where a UE is traveling at high speed on highways, require more aggressive reduction in latency and overhead. This is true not only for intra-cell but also for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • L1/L2 inter-cell centric mobility may be standardized, the understanding may be that the UE receives a L 1/L2 signaling (instead of RRC signaling) indicating a TCI state (e.g. for PDCCH) possibly associated to an SSB whose Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) is not necessarily the same as the PCI of the cell the UE has connected to, for example, via connection resume or connection establishment.
  • L l/L2-centric inter-cell mobility procedure can be interpreted as a beam management operation expanding the coverage of multiple SSBs associated to multiple PCIs, which may be associated to the same cell or different cells.
  • 3 GPP is also specifying solutions for multi-TRP inter-cell operation, wherein the UE can be configured by the network to transmit and/or receive information to/from different TRPs wherein each TRP may be associated to a different cell and/or at least a different PCI.
  • the UE monitors TCI states whose QCL source(s) are Reference Signals (e.g. SSBs and/or Channel State Information-Reference signals (CSI-RSs)) from different cells (or having/encoding different PCI(s)), wherein in mTRP inter-cell, these TCI states may be dynamically activated/ deactivated via L 1/L2 signaling (e.g. Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), Downlink Control Information (DCI)), and the UE possibly have multiple of these TCI states simultaneously activated.
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • CE Control Element
  • DCI Downlink Control Information
  • RAN2 has initiated the work in L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility in RAN2#104e meeting.
  • beam management and the activation/deactivation of TCI states is considered to be a lower function (executed in MAC and LI layers), in a split architecture, wherein a gNodeB is split into a Centralized Unit (CU)-gNB and a Distributed Unit (DU)-gNB, it would be the DU-gNB that is responsible for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility and for inter-cell mTRP procedures.
  • CU Centralized Unit
  • DU Distributed Unit
  • CA Carrier aggregation
  • SCell(s) configuration of SCell(s)
  • CA Component Carriers
  • a UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities.
  • the UE only has one RRC connection with the network.
  • one serving cell provides the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) mobility information
  • NAS Non-Access Stratum
  • RRC connection re-establishment/handover one serving cell provides the security input.
  • This cell is referred to as the Primary Cell (PCell).
  • SCells can be configured to form together with the PCell a set of serving cells.
  • the configured set of serving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one or more SCells.
  • the reconfiguration, modification, addition, and removal of SCells can be performed via RRC signaling such as, for example, via a RRCReco figuration message during a RRC reconfiguration procedure.
  • RRC can also add, remove, reconfigure, or modify SCell(s) for usage with the target PCell.
  • dedicated RRC signaling is used for sending all required system information of the SCell.
  • UEs need not acquire broadcast system information directly from the SCells.
  • the UE When the UE transitions from IDLE to CONNECTED in a cell (the PCell), or from INACTIVE to CONNECTED state, the UE can be configured (e.g. in an RRCReconfiguration or an RRCResume message) with so-called Secondary Cell(s), SCells, said to be in the same cell group (i.e., the Master Cell Group (MCG)) as the PCell.
  • the PCell the Master Cell Group
  • SCells are configured as part of the MCG configuration, in the IE CellGroupConfig. They can be added in the sCellToAddModList where each SCell is configured in the IE SCellConfig, as discussed in 3GPP TS 38.331.
  • SCells associated to the Secondary Cell Group can be added for the SCG when an SCG is being added to the UE. These SCells are said to be part of the SCG.
  • an activation/deactivation mechanism of SCells is supported.
  • the UE When an SCell is deactivated, the UE does not need to receive the corresponding PDCCH or PDSCH, the UE cannot transmit in the corresponding uplink, and the UE is not required to perform CQI measurements. However, that does not prevent the need for performing RRM measurements for these SCells.
  • the UE shall receive PDSCH and PDCCH (if the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH from this SCell) and the UE is expected to be able to perform CQI measurements.
  • SCells added to the set are initially activated or deactivated, and SCells which remain in the set (either unchanged or reconfigured) do not change their activation status (activated or deactivated).
  • SCells are activated or deactivated.
  • the UE stops monitoring PDCCH and transmitting Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)/PUSCH/PUCCH on the SCell but continues performing CSI measurements, Automatic Gain Control (AGC), and beam management, if configured.
  • SRS Sounding Reference Signal
  • a Downlink Control Information (DCI) is used to control entering/leaving the dormant BWP for one or more SCell(s) or one or more SCell group(s).
  • the dormant BWP is one of the UE's dedicated BWPs configured by network via dedicated RRC signalling.
  • the SpCell and PUCCH SCell cannot be configured with a dormant BWP.
  • sCellConfigDedicated of IE ServingCellConfig which used to configure (add or modify) the UE with an Scell of an Master Cell Group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG).
  • MCG Master Cell Group
  • SCG Secondary Cell Group
  • the parameters herein are mostly UE specific but partly also cell specific (e.g. in additionally configured bandwidth parts).
  • the UE is configured with PDCCH and PDSCH configuration (for that BWP, similar scheme for additional DL BWPs, if configured).
  • TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator
  • Each TCI state in tci-StatesToAddModList is defined as described above.
  • the UE is configured per BWP with a list of TCI states.
  • Each TCI state has a QCL source associated (RS in the DL, e.g. an SSB of a given PCI).
  • each QCL source configuration of a TCI state indicates the BWP the RS is transmitted (bwp-Id), and the UE’s serving cell the RS is configured (e.g., that exact same SCell or another serving cell), and the RS index (e.g., SSB-index or CSI-RS index).
  • RS e.g., PCI and SSB frequency /ARFCN
  • the UE may receive a MAC CE indicating which TCI states are to be activated/deactivated for UE-specific PDCCH.
  • the network may indicate to the UE a TCI state for PDCCH reception for a CORESET of a Serving Cell (or a set of Serving Cells configured in simultaneousTCI- UpdateListl or simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2) by sending the TCI State Indication for UE- specific PDCCH MAC CE (see 6.1.3.15 in TS 38.321). If the MAC entity receives a TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE on a Serving Cell, the UE indicates to lower layers the information regarding the TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE.
  • FIGURE 2 illustrates the TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE.
  • the TCI State Indication is identified by a MAC subheader with LCID. It has a fixed size of 16 bits with following fields: Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field is 5 bits. If the indicated Serving Cell is configured as part of a simultaneousTCI-UpdateListl or simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2, as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331, this MAC CE applies to all the Serving Cells in the set simultaneousTCI-UpdateListl or simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2, respectively.
  • CORESET ID This field indicates a Control Resource Set (CORESET) identified with ControlResourceSetld as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331, for which the TCI State is being indicated. In case the value of the field is 0, the field refers to the CORESET configured by controlResourceSetZero as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331. The length of the field is 4 bits.
  • TCI State ID This field indicates the TCI state identified by TCI-Stateld as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 applicable to the CORESET identified by CORESET ID field. If the field of CORESET ID is set to 0, this field indicates a TCI-Stateld for a TCI state of the first 64 TCI-states configured by tci-States- ToAddModList and tci-States-ToReleaseList in the PDSCH-Config in the active BWP.
  • this field indicates a TCI-Stateld configured by tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and tci- StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList in the controlResourceSet identified by the indicated CORESET ID.
  • the length of the field is 7 bits.
  • the gNB-CU (herein also referred to as the CU) is tasked with making the selection of PCell/Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell) in a handover (Master Cell Group (MCG) reconfiguration with sync/ Secondary Cell Group (SCG) reconfiguration with sync) and the mobility decisions to change the PCell/PSCell.
  • MCG Master Cell Group
  • SCG Secondary Cell Group
  • the CU is tasked with the mobility decisions to change the PCell.
  • the logic for handling the mobility operation (PCell change and/or PSCell change and/or MCG and/or SCG reconfiguration with sync) is at the CU.
  • the CU is up to date for the UE’s location in terms of its current PCell and PSCell and can indicate to the Core Network (CN) the location of the UE in terms of the cell identifier that is used by the UE as the PCell and as PSCell.
  • CN Core Network
  • L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility seems to point to a direction wherein the DU makes the PCell change/PSCell change indicating to the UE a lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE or DCI), possibly making the PCell change/PSCell change transparent to the CU. It is instead proposed to be a choice of a gNB-DU (or DU), as a change of serving beam (e.g., change of TCI state based on a TCI state indication with a new QCL source/S SB. Further, the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility seems to could also involve SCell changes on the same frequency which might again be transparent to the CU.
  • a gNB-DU or DU
  • the CU may end up reporting a wrong PCell (and/or PSCell) information to the CN.
  • Another problematic scenario includes a situation in which the CU and the DU decide on conflicting mobility targets such as, for example, where the DU chooses a new PCell to serve the UE, while the CU decides to trigger handover to a different PCell, assuming that the UE is still served by the PCell acting as source cell before the DU made its PCell change decision.
  • conflicting mobility targets such as, for example, where the DU chooses a new PCell to serve the UE, while the CU decides to trigger handover to a different PCell, assuming that the UE is still served by the PCell acting as source cell before the DU made its PCell change decision.
  • the UE can transmit and receive data (including control information or traffic data) from more than one PCI/ cell in a serving frequency, i.e., the UE gets served from more than one PCI/ cells on the same frequency.
  • data including control information or traffic data
  • which PCIs/ cells are used to transmit data towards the UE or receive the data from the UE is known to the DU as the DU makes that decision. So, the possibly multiple PCIs/ cells that are being used to serve the UE are not visible to the CU. This results in the issue that the CU might not be aware of the PCIs/ cells on the PCell/PSCell frequency that is used to communicate with the UE at any given point in time.
  • CU-CP Central Unit-Control Plane
  • the methods and systems may allow the gNB-DU to indicate the cells amongst which the gNB-DU can enable the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the gNB-CU-CP may be able to configure the gNB-DU with a list of potential PCell the gNB-DU may choose from when deciding which PCell should serve the UE.
  • a method by a DU of a first network node to enable the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility includes transmitting, to a CU of a second network node, an identifier of a target cell for a L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • a DU of a first network node for enabling L1/L2 inter-cell mobility is adapted to transmit, to a CU of a second network node, an identifier of a target cell for a L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • a method by a CU of a second network node to enable L1/L2 inter-cell mobility includes receiving, from a DU of a first network node, an identifier of a target cell for an L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • the CU reports, to a Core Network node, the identifier of the target cell for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of the wireless device.
  • a CU of a second network node to enable L 1/L2 inter-cell mobility is adapted to receive, from a DU of a first network node, an identifier of a target cell for an L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • the CU is adapted to report, to a Core Network node, the identifier of the target cell for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of the wireless device.
  • one technical advantage may be that certain embodiments enable the gNB-CU to retain the central mobility decision making mechanism and offload only the aspects of when the mobility operations can be triggered by the gNB-DU amongst the list of cells as configured by the CU.
  • a technical advantage may be that certain embodiments ensure that the CU and DU are aware of which node is handling which PCIs related inter-cell mobility operation.
  • a technical advantage may be that certain embodiments ensure that gNB-CU and gNB-DU are in synch with regards to the primary serving cell for the UE, which is an information that may be requested to be signalled to systems different form the RAN.
  • FIGURE 1 illustrates an example structure for signaling for the initial DL BWP case
  • FIGURE 2 illustrates the TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE
  • FIGURE 3 illustrates a PCI being encoded by a Primary Synchronization Sequence (PSS) and an a Secondary Synchronization Sequence (SSS);
  • PSS Primary Synchronization Sequence
  • SSS Secondary Synchronization Sequence
  • FIGURE 4 illustrates a signaling diagram that includes the L1/L2 centric mobility candidate list indication in a FI Setup Request message
  • FIGURE 5 illustrates an example signaling diagram for the exchange of L1/L2 centric mobility candidate list information between gNB-DU and CU-CP during context setup, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 6 illustrates an example signaling diagram that combines the exchange of L1/L2 centric mobility information during FI setup and context setup, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 7 illustrates an example signaling diagram that includes the gNB-DU sending L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility command to a UE and an indication of serving cell changes from PCI-A to PCI-B to the CU-CP, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 8 illustrates a scenario depicting the inter-cell mTRP transmission/reception, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 9 illustrates an example signaling flow between different nodes for determining and reporting the location information of the UE for the inter-cell mTRP scenario, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 10 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram to determine the UE location information, between the different nodes for when the DU indicates to the CU a new list every time there is a change and a new cell is being activated and/or deactivated, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 11 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram to determine the UE location information, between the different nodes (UE, DU, CU and AMF) for the case the DU indicates to the CU when a new cell is being added and/or removed to/from the set/list of cells being used by the UE, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 12 illustrates for location information reporting/determining at a first network node serving a UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 13 illustrates a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 14 illustrates a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 15 illustrates a signaling diagram for determining/reporting location information of a UE for the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility case, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 16 illustrates a method for location information reporting/determining at a first network node serving a UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 17 illustrates a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 18 illustrates another method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 19 illustrates a method for reporting location information of a UE, at a first network node serving the UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 20 illustrates a method performed by a second network node operating as a CU and serving a UE, for reporting location information of a UE, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 21 illustrates a method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node, according to certain embodiments;
  • FIGURE 22 illustrates a method for location information reporting at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 23 illustrates an example method by a DU of a first network node to enable the L 1/L2 inter-cell mobility, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 24 illustrates a method by a CU of a second network node to enable L1/L2 inter-cell mobility, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 25 illustrates an example wireless network, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 26 illustrates an example network node, according to certain embodiments
  • FIGURE 27 illustrates an example wireless device, according to certain embodiments.
  • FIGURE 28 illustrate an example user equipment, according to certain embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • a more general term “network node” may be used and may correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE (directly or via another node) and/or with another network node.
  • network nodes are NodeB, Master eNodeB (MeNB), a network node belonging to MCG or SCG, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g.
  • MSC Mobile Switching Center
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • O&M Operations & Maintenance
  • OSS Operations Support System
  • SON Self Organizing Network
  • positioning node e.g. Evolved- Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC)
  • E-SMLC Evolved- Serving Mobile Location Center
  • MDT Minimization of Drive Tests
  • test equipment physical node or software
  • the non-limiting term user equipment (UE) or wireless device may be used and may refer to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system.
  • UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Unified Serial Bus (USB) dongles, UE category Ml, UE category M2, Proximity Services UE (ProSe UE), Vehicle to Vehicle UE (V2V UE), Vehicle to Anything UE (V2X UE), etc.
  • D2D device to device
  • M2M machine to machine
  • PDA Personal Digital Assistant
  • Tablet tablet
  • smart phone smart phone
  • LEE laptop embedded equipped
  • LME laptop mounted equipment
  • USB Unified Serial Bus
  • gNB could be considered as device 1
  • UE could be considered as device 2 and these two devices communicate with each other over some radio channel.
  • transmitter or receiver could be either gNB or UE.
  • beam used in the text can correspond to a RS that is transmitted in a given direction.
  • the RS may be beamformed such that RS may correspond to a beam.
  • a beam or an RS may refer to an SS/PBCH Block (SSB) or layer 3 configured CSI-RS.
  • SSB SS/PBCH Block
  • CSI-RS CSI-RS
  • FIGURE 3 illustrates the PCI 100 being encoded by a Primary Synchronization Sequence (PSS) 102 and an a Secondary Synchronization Sequence (SSS) 104 that are comprised in an SSB, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.211.
  • PSS Primary Synchronization Sequence
  • SSS Secondary Synchronization Sequence
  • cells or a “set of cells” or secondary cells wherein the UE can be configured with to perform L1/L2 centric mobility.
  • These set of cells may be called a set of intra-frequency neighbour cells the UE can perform measurements on and can perform a change of SCells, or a set of intra-frequency non-serving cells or simply a set of non-serving cells (in addition to the serving cell).
  • the cells that the UE can use to perform LI based mobility can be called candidate SCells, additional SCells, SCells, non-serving SCells, non serving cells (configured SCells candidates for LI based mobility), etc.
  • the set of cells may be also extended to inter frequency cells.
  • the Rel-16 specifications for RRC may be considered as a reference for the omitted IEs and field in the messages and/or Information Elements that are proposed to be extended to implement the methods and techniques disclosed herein.
  • the element “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell configured at the UE for carrier aggregation (CA) i.e. to be used as a component carrier. That same term is used for NR (e.g., 3GPP TS 38.331) and in EUTRA (e.g., 3GPP TS 36.331).
  • the embodiments disclosed herein are applicable to any type of cells with a different terminology but that may be configured at the UE for carrier aggregation, or for a UE configured with CA, a cell providing additional radio resources on top of Special Cell/ PCell, PSCell or any sort of cell considered a main cell or a higher hierarchy cell.
  • the element “secondary serving frequency” refers to a carrier frequency (e.g., SSB frequency and/or Point A frequency, both as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331) for a Secondary Cell i.e. for a cell that is not an SpCell (i.e., not the PCell or the PSCell).
  • CORESET refers to a Control Resource Set, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.300.
  • a UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates in the configured monitoring occasions in one or more configured COntrol REsource SETs (CORESETs) according to the corresponding search space configurations.
  • a CORESET consists of a set of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) with a time duration of 1 to 3 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.
  • the resource units Resource Element Groups (REGs) and Control Channel Elements (CCEs) are defined within a CORESET with each CCE consisting a set of REGs.
  • Control channels are formed by aggregation of CCE. Different code rates for the control channels are realized by aggregating different number of CCE. Interleaved and non-interleaved CCE-to-REG mapping are supported in a CORESET.
  • the “UE receives” a message (e.g., a MAC CE) in certain embodiments.
  • a message e.g., a MAC CE
  • This may correspond to the UE receiving from a network node or a network function, such as a DU of a gNB in a Next Generation Radio Access Network, or a CU, or a node performing a Baseband functionality.
  • TCI state(s) and the configuration of its QCL source, i.e., a RS associated to a cell that is not a serving cell.
  • This terminology may correspond to NR specifications such as, for example 3GPP TS 38.211, 3GPP TS 38.212, 3 GPP TS 38.213, 3 GPP TS 38.331, and 3 GPP TS 38.321.
  • the embodiments disclosed herein should not be limited thereto.
  • the UE is configured via higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC) with a beam indication (e.g. TCI state) associated to a physical channel (e.g.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • the beams are associated to a cell that is not a secondary serving cell (i.e. not an SCell).
  • UE receives a L1/L2 indication (e.g. a MAC CE) including an identifier of the beam indication (e.g. a TCI state identifier).
  • L1/L2 indication e.g. a MAC CE
  • the UE determines the beam indication and the cell associated to it. The UE then determines that the cell of the indicated beam is in a serving frequency but is not a serving cell, and the UE performs a change of serving cell in that serving frequency from the current serving cell to the cell associated to the indicated beam.
  • a solution is provided where the gNB-CU- CP, CU-CP, or CU is in communication with a gNB-DU or DU, such as in an NR split RAN architecture.
  • the methods are equivalently valid for other split architectures such as the E-UTRAN split RAN architecture where the communication described would be between the eNB-CU and eNB-DU.
  • L1/L2 inter-cell centric mobility As used herein, the terms “L1/L2 inter-cell centric mobility,” “L1/L2 inter-cell mobility”, “L1/L2 mobility”, “LI -mobility”, and “LI based mobility” are used interchangeably. Even though 3GPP has not decided how a L1/L2 inter-cell centric mobility should be standardized, it may be recognized that the objective of certain embodiments described herein (i.e., the derivation of cell quality such as, for example, by computing the RSRP of a serving cell) is that the UE in RRC_CONNECTED is connected to and served by a serving cell (SpCell), considered to be the PCell, for example, after the UE performs connection setup, if transitioning from RRC IDLE to RRC CONNECTED, or connection resume, if transitioning from RRC_INACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED, wherein the UE has a first PCI associated to that PCell i.e.
  • SpCell serving cell
  • a cell can be associated to multiple SSBs, and during a half-frame, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e. using different beams, spanning the coverage area of a cell).
  • L1/L2 inter-cell centric mobility has the term “inter-cell”
  • a serving cell configuration has more than one PCI associated to it, and thus there are at least 2 approaches to create that association:
  • Intra-cell multi-PCI L1/L2 centric mobility where a same serving cell configuration is associated to more than one PCI (e.g. a TCI state configuration within ServingCellConfig can be associated to a PCI, wherein that can be different from the PCI in ServingCellConfigCommon).
  • a TCI state configuration within ServingCellConfig can be associated to a PCI, wherein that can be different from the PCI in ServingCellConfigCommon).
  • the UE can receive a L1/L2 signaling (e.g. a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element, as the ones defined in 3GPP TS 38.321) that indicates to the UE that the PCI of the Scell needs to be changed (e.g. from PCI-1 to PCI-2).
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • Inter-cell multi-PCI L1/L2 centric mobility where UE has several cell configurations with respective PCIs associated but TCI state may refer to other cell PCIs (e.g. other serving cell or, even a non-serving cell the UE can move to with L1/L2 centric mobility).
  • the UE is configured with multiple cells (e.g., SCells), and SCell has its own PCI; and, the UE can receive a L1/L2 signaling (e.g. a MAC Control Element, as the ones defined in 3GPP TS 38.321) that indicates to the UE that the SCell needs to be changed (e.g. from cell associated to PCI-1 to cell associated to PCI-2) in that given secondary serving frequency.
  • a L1/L2 signaling e.g. a MAC Control Element, as the ones defined in 3GPP TS 38.321
  • L1/L2 signaling for LI mobility may refer to a “TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE” comprising one or multiple indications of in which configuration the TCI configuration is configured (e.g., Serving Cell ID and/or a serving frequency ID), a CORESET ID, and a TCI State ID.
  • That MAC CE can be identified by a MAC subheader with LCID as specified in a table that is to be defined in 3GPP TS 38.321.
  • CU-CP Central Unit-Control Plane
  • the methods and systems may allow the gNB-DU to indicate the cells amongst which the gNB- DU can enable the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the gNB-CU-CP may be able to configure the gNB-DU with a list of potential PCell the gNB-DU may choose from when deciding which PCell should serve the UE.
  • methods and systems include the DU indicating to the CU the new serving cell of the UE when the DU performs the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operations.
  • a method performed by a first network node enables the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the method includes: transmitting a first set of information to a second network node; and receiving a second set of information from the second network node.
  • a method performed by a second network node enables the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the method includes: receiving a first set of information from a first network node; and transmitting a second set of information to the second network node.
  • the first set of information optionally includes the cells amongst which the gNB-DU can perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility and the second set of information includes the cells amongst which the gNB-DU is allowed to perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • a method performed by a first network node enables the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the method includes: performing a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation towards the UE; and transmitting a first set of information to a second network node.
  • a method performed by a second network node enables the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the method includes: receiving a first set of information from a second network node.
  • the method optionally includes updating the RRC configuration to the UE with a second set of information.
  • the method optionally includes updating the second network node UE context information.
  • the method optionally includes updating external systems about the change of serving cell for the UE due to L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the first set of information may include the new serving cell PCI of the UE after the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation is performed by the DU and the second set of information includes the any new RRC reconfiguration like updated measurement configuration as per the new serving cell.
  • the DU indicates to the CU about its abilities to perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility at the time of FI Setup procedure.
  • the gNB-DU can indicate also at a stage later than that of F 1 Setup whether the gNB- DU is capable of performing L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the gNB-DU may communicate to the gNB-CU that it can perform L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility via the FI: gNB-DU configuration Update.
  • the gNB-DU may indicate to the gNB-CU that L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility is not possible anymore.
  • the gNB-CU may decide to remove any context relative to the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility function with that gNB-DU. For example, the gNB-CU may decide to de-allocate any potential PCells to be used for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility and to signal to the gNB-DU that such cells should be removed from the list of potential PCells to be used for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the DU further indicates the list of cells amongst which the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility can be performed to the gNB-CU.
  • the DU may indicate such a cell list per each of the serving frequency. For example, such a list would be for intra- frequency L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the DU may indicate the cell list consisting of more than one frequency.
  • FIGURE 4 illustrates an signaling diagram 200 including the L1/L2 centric mobility candidate list indication being transmitted in a FI Setup Request message.
  • this information may implicitly serve as an indication that the gNB-DU is able to perform and support L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the gNB-DU may indicate an update of the candidate cells for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility. This update may remove some of the cells previously indicated to the gNB-CU, or it may add new cells.
  • the gNB-DU may revoke all the cells from the list and signal to the gNB-CU that, despite L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility being supported (which could be signalled via a dedicated indicator), there are no candidate cells that can be used for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • FIGURE 4 illustrates the use of the FI Setup procedure
  • other embodiments may use a new procedure to communicate, from gNB-DU to gNB-CU, the capability of the gNB-DU to perform L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, as well as the list of potential cells that can be used for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • This message is sent by the gNB-DU to transfer information associated to an F1-C interface instance.
  • This IE contains assistance information from the DU to the CU regarding the capability to perform L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility and the cells that can be used for L1/L2 inter-cell mobility.
  • the DU informs the CU about the list of candidate cells for the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility at a per Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) level granularity.
  • PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
  • the gNB-DU also signals the capability of being able to perform L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • a gNB-DU may be capable of performing such mobility, but it might detect no cells suitable for such mobility, or the gNB- DU might detect cells that are suitable for such mobility but it might not be capable of such mobility.
  • the CU could provide a list of cell within which the DU is allowed to perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation in the future.
  • This list of cells could be same as the one as requested by the DU in the FI Setup Request message or this list of cells could be a subset among the cells included by the DU in the FI Setup request message.
  • the gNB-CU may decide, for example, to restrict the list of cells for which L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility is allowed for reasons such as:
  • Limiting cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to cells supporting the same network slices
  • Limiting cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to cells for which multi connectivity involving other gNB-DUs and other NG-RAN nodes can be triggered An example of changes to the F 1-SetUp Response message, as described in 3GPP TS
  • This message is sent by the gNB-CU to transfer information associated to an F1-C interface instance.
  • This IE contains the response from the CU to the DU regarding allowing the DU to perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility among the list of cells.
  • the response message could be simplified to include just a flag that indicates that the DU’s request has been acknowledged.
  • Such an embodiment is provided as an L1/L2 inter-cell mobility response flag that indicates whether or not the DU requested 5 list of cells is accepted by the CU. If the CU does not accept this list, then the CU sends the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility response information which includes a subset of cells associated to the cell list as requested by the DU.
  • the DU indicates to the CU about its abilities to perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility at the time of UE’s context setup procedure.
  • this procedure is performed at a per-UE level, this embodiment enables a per-UE level control of which cells can be configured for this UE as L 1/L2 centric inter cell mobility candidates. For example, if only a sub-set of the cells of the DU support a given slice associated to this 5 UE, then certain embodiments enable the adaptation of which cells amongst which L1/L2 centric mobility can be enabled based on the UE’s current slice requirements.
  • the DU indicates the list of cells amongst which the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility can be performed for this UE.
  • the DU could either indicate such a cell list per each of the serving frequency (i.e., such a list would be for intra-frequency L1/L2 0 centric inter-cell mobility) or the cell list consisting of more than one frequency (i.e., such a list would be for inter-frequency L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility).
  • both intra-frequency list and the inter-frequency list is provided from the DU to the CU.
  • FIGURE 5 illustrates an example signaling diagram 300 for the exchange of L1/L2 centric mobility candidate list information between gNB-DU and CU-CP during context setup, according to certain embodiments.
  • the UE Context Setup Request message sent from the CU to the DU contains only a flag to indicate whether the L 1/L2 centric mobility is allowed for this UE or not.
  • the DU includes a list of L1/L2 centric mobility candidate cell list in the UE context Setup response message. Based on this list, the CU can send a UE context modification request in which the CU can restrict the L 1/L2 centric mobility candidate list to a subset of the one requested by the DU in the UE context setup response message.
  • the UE Context Setup Request message sent from the CU to the DU contains a list of L1/L2 centric mobility candidate cell list for this UE.
  • the DU includes a list of L1/L2 centric mobility candidate cell list in the UE context Setup response message which could be a subset of the ones indicated by the CU in the UE context setup request message.
  • the gNB-DU could trigger an FI: UE context Modification Required message towards the gNB-CU to indicate a change of the candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility for the UE.
  • the gNB-CU may respond with an FI: gNB-DU UE context Modification Confirm, confirming a new list of cells that are allowed to be used by the gNB-DU for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the gNB-CU may first reply to the FI: UE context Modification Required message with a FI: gNB-DU UE context Modification Confirm message, to acknowledge reception of the message, and later issue an FI: UE Context Modification Required message towards the gNB-DU to indicate a new list of cells for F 1 : gNB-DU UE context Modification Confirm that the gNB-DU can use for the UE.
  • This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
  • This message is sent by the gNB-DU to confirm the setup of a UE context.
  • This message is sent by the gNB-CU to provide UE Context information changes to the gNB-DU.
  • the gNB-CU-CP receives from the gNB-DU a notification of occurred serving cell change such as, for example, a PCell change.
  • This indication may consist of one or more of the following:
  • the gNB-DU may inform the gNB-CU of an occurred change of the PCell. In this case control and data channels are served by a new target cell
  • the gNB-DU may inform the gNB-CU of an occurred change of PSCell. Namely, in a multi connectivity scenario, where the gNB-DU is acting as Secondary Node, the gNB-DU may notify of the SN cell serving the UE. In this case data channels served by the SN will be moved to a new target PSCell and possibly some control channels will follow the same move
  • the gNB-DU may inform the gNB-CU of an occurred SCell change. Namely in the case of Carrier Aggregation, the gNB-DU may notify the gNB-CU-CP of changes at SCell level.
  • the gNB-CU-CP may take one or more of the following actions once it receives the notification from the gNB-DU: o If the notification involves a PCell change, a PSCell change or both:
  • the gNB-CU may use the information received concerning the new serving PCell/PSCell identity and other associated parameters (such as the cell’s TAI) to report updated User Location Information to the Core Network (CN).
  • the User Location Information IE includes a number of cell related configuration parameters, which are signalled form a RAN node to the CN in specific procedures of the RAN-CN interface. In the example of the NR split architecture, this information is signalled by the gNB-CU-CP over the NG interface to the AMF in messages such as:
  • the CN would have an erroneous understanding of the cell serving the UE. This may lead to erroneous troubleshooting, charging, QoS policing, etc. o If the notification involves a PCell change, a PSCell change or SCell:
  • Update mobility policies for example: o Configure the UE with new mobility events and mobility measurements, which would depend on the cell serving the UE o choose appropriate SN change policies, which would depend on the cell serving the UE o Choose appropriate inter frequency mobility policies, such as the “blind” selection of mobility target cells (where “blind” means that the selection is done without gathering UE measurements on the target cells but only by using the serving cell identity information to deduce that other inter frequency cells are in range)
  • FIGURE 6 illustrates an example signaling diagram 400 that combines the exchange of L1/L2 centric mobility information during FI setup and context setup, according to certain embodiments.
  • the DU indicates to the CU about its abilities to perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility at the time of UE’s context setup procedure.
  • the DU also informs the cells amongst which the DU intends to perform L1/L2 centric mobility.
  • This information is stored by the CU and at every UE context setup procedure, the CU indicates to the DU whether the L1/L2 centric mobility is allowed or not and if allowed, it could also indicate the subset of cells (amongst the one indicated by the DU in the FI setup request message) amongst which the DU can perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility. Thus, this may be a combination of the embodiments listed in above.
  • FIGURE 7 illustrates an example signaling diagram 500 that includes the gNB-DU sending L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility command to a UE and an indication of serving cell changes from PCI-A to PCI-B to the CU-CP, according to certain embodiments.
  • This message is sent by the gNB-DU to request the modification of a UE context.
  • Two aspects are disclosed that are related to location information associated to a UE reporting from the CU-Control Plane (CP) to the core network when the UE is configured with 5 L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility related configurations or mTRP inter cell related configurations.
  • a first aspect is related to the methods by which the CU-CP gets to know about the latest serving cell for the UE from the DU.
  • a second aspect is related to the location information contents sent from the CU-CP to the CN while the UE is configured with the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility or mTRP inter cell operation.
  • Some embodiments associated to the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility provide a method at the DU to indicate to the CU a cell change due to L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility triggered by the DU towards the UE. Some embodiments also provide a method at the CU to indicate to the CN about the location information of the UE, wherein the location information could be a list of cells amongst which the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility is configured for the UE and/or the latest SpCell as indicated by the DU.
  • Some embodiments associated to the inter-cell mTRP procedure provide a method at the DU to indicate to the CU a cell identifier due to inter-cell mTRP procedure triggered by the DU towards the UE.
  • Some embodiments provide a method at the CU to indicate to the CN about the location information of the UE, wherein the location information could be a list of candidate cells configured for the UE amongst which the inter-cell mTRP could be enabled by the DU and/or the latest cell towards which the inter-cell mTRP is activated as indicated by the DU.
  • a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU comprises: receiving from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier is of the cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation, and wherein the multiple cell identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node; and Reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the received multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU comprises: transmitting a first configuration to the UE, wherein the first configuration includes an inter cell mTRP configuration; and reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs, wherein the first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs includes the current serving cell/PCI/CGI and a second list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the inter-cell mTRP configuration to the UE.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • a method for location information reporting/determining at a first network node serving a UE and operating as a DU comprises: Triggering a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell, by transmitting a lower layer signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit the target cell; and transmitting to a second network node, operating as a CU, an identifier of the target cell, wherein the identifier of the target cell is to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU comprises: Receiving from a first network node, operating as a DU, an identifier of a target cell the UE is being served by; and Reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the identifier of the target cell.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • a method for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU comprises: transmitting a first configuration to the UE, wherein the said first configuration includes L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration; and Reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs wherein the first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs includes the current serving cell/PCI/CGI and the list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration to the UE.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • a method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node comprises: receiving from a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), multiple identifiers associated with multiple cells, wherein the multiple identifiers are associated with target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility or the multiple identifiers are associated with cells for the UE to use for inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) operation.
  • mTRP Inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point
  • a network node comprising processing circuitry, is also provided to implement the different proposed methods.
  • the proposed solutions reduce the interaction between the CU-CP and the AMF, while the DU can change the serving cell via L1/L2 centric mobility frequently.
  • the proposed solutions enable the CN to be up to date in terms of the serving cell of the UE despite DU taking the actions related to changing the serving cell.
  • the proposed solutions enable the CN to get better location information, wherein the location information indicates a fine granular information, i.e., an indication of the cell identifiers that are serving the UE via inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • An advantage of using the tracking area as location information is that databases in the network for Tracking Area Codes (TACs) are generally more stable and easier to maintain than those for cell IDs.
  • TACs Tracking Area Codes
  • FIGURE 8 illustrates an example scenario 600 for the inter-cell mTRP solution, according to certain embodiments.
  • the UE 602 can transmit and receive data from TRPs 604 of the serving cell/PCI 606 and from/to the TRPs 608 of a neighbor cell/PCI 610.
  • the UE is configured with TCI states associated to the serving cell PCI (i.e., the cell field in the QCL-Info indicates the corresponding serving cell index) and also the neighbor cell PCI (i.e., the cell field in the QCL-Info indicates the corresponding neighbor cell information although how this can be done needs to be discussed further) and one needs a MAC CE using which the network can indicate the serving PCI related TCI state and neighbor cell PCI related TCI state.
  • the relevant downlink control/data channels such as Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and/or uplink control/data channels such as Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) configurations of the neighbor cell needs to be made available to the UE.
  • PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
  • PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel
  • PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel
  • PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel
  • UE receives from serving cell, configuration of SSBs of the TRP with different PCI for beam measurement, and configurations needed to use radio resources for data transmission/reception including resources for different PCI.
  • UE performs beam measurement for the TRP with different PCI and report it to serving cell.
  • TCI state(s) associated to the TRP with different PCI is activated from the serving cell (by L1/L2 signaling).
  • UE receives and transmits using UE-dedicated channel on TRP with different PCI.
  • UE should be in coverage of a serving cell always, also for multi-TRP case, e.g. UE should use common channels BCCH PCH etc. from the serving cell (as in legacy).
  • the UE needs to receive the dedicated configuration associated to the PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH and PUCCH configurations associated to these PCIs and then the UE can use these configurations to transmit/receive to these PCIs while being still served by the serving cell.
  • the PCI or another identifier, becomes a “title”, or “handle” to the configuration that is associated to the PCI.
  • each of the PCIs amongst which the mTRP operations can be enabled with more than one PCI to a UE have their own servingCellConfigCommon, i.e., all the common configurations in these PCIs are independent of one another. They could even have the same SIB1 transmission including the CGI information.
  • servingCellConfigCommon i.e., all the common configurations in these PCIs are independent of one another. They could even have the same SIB1 transmission including the CGI information.
  • the UE needs to receive the dedicated configuration associated to the PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH and PUCCH configurations associated to these PCIs and then the UE can use these configurations to transmit/receive to these PCIs while being still served by the serving cell.
  • the PCI or another identifier, becomes a “title”, or “handle” to the configuration that is associated to the PCI.
  • FIGURE 9 shows an example of a signaling flow 700 between different nodes (UE, DU, CU, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF)) for determining and reporting the location information of the UE for the inter-cell mTRP scenario, according to certain embodiments.
  • UE User Equipment
  • DU User Data Unit
  • CU User Plane Control Function
  • AMF Access and Mobility Management Function
  • the DU sends a MAC CE or DCI to the UE for indicating an inter-cell mTRP configuration.
  • the UE can be configured with cell-A, cell-B and cell-C, which are used for inter-cell mTRP at step 720.
  • the DU can send other messages to the UE, including other inter-cell mTRP configurations, for example.
  • the DU sends a message to the CU for indicating the cells used for inter cell mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-B and cell-C.
  • the CU stores the list of cells used for inter-cell mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-B and cell-C, at step 740.
  • the CU sends a message to the core network (e.g. AMF) indicating the set of cells being used by the UE for inter-cell mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-B and cell-C.
  • the core network e.g. AMF
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, requesting information about the mTRP cells in use by the gNB-DU to serve a UE.
  • the “cells in use” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g.
  • the SSBs are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for mTRP operation.
  • the request triggers a response from the DU, the DU response may include an indication of the cells or any other cell identifier amongst which the inter-cell mTRP operation is enabled by the DU at the time of transmitting the response.
  • the cell identifier can be a PCI or CGI or any other unique identifier of a cell.
  • the request from the CU to the DU, concerning the mTRP cells (for UE’s location) may be triggered by a request from a core network node/function, such as the AMF, which may be done by means of the NG-C interface.
  • the CU can send a message to the DU to request if a specific cell/PCI/CGI is being used, e.g. if the UE has an activated TCI state whose QCL source has a RS of that specific cell.
  • the CU may receive a confirmation that the cell is activated or a confirmation that the cell is not activated; and/or it may receive the list of activated cells and/or the list of cells, wherein a cell being activated corresponds to a cell whose RS is configured as the QCL source of an activated TCI state that is configured at the UE.
  • a periodic response procedure between the CU and DU can be provided.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU.
  • the request may include the periodicity with which the CU expects the response from the DU (periodic response).
  • the response from the DU can include an indication of a cell identifier (e.g. PCI, CGI or any other unique cell identifier) amongst which the inter-cell mTRP operation is enabled by the DU at the time of transmitting the response.
  • a cell identifier e.g. PCI, CGI or any other unique cell identifier
  • the periodicity is defined in the standard specifications so that the DU is aware of how often it needs to send the list of cells for inter-cell mTRP operation to the CU, i.e. there may be no need for a request from the CU.
  • an event triggered response between the CU and DU can be provided.
  • the CU can send a request to the DU to update the inter-cell mTRP procedure related aspects.
  • the request can include an event associated to the inter-cell mTRP procedure.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, e.g. the request can indicate to the DU to send a response when the DU changes the inter-cell mTRP procedure related PCIs/CGIs/cells towards the UE (either configures a new PCI/CGIs/cell or changes to a different PCI/CGI/cell or removes a PCI/CGI/cell).
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCIs/ CGIs/cells being used for inter-cell mTRP operation, i.e., enabled by the DU at the time of transmitting the response.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU; the request can indicate to the DU to send a response when the DU changes the inter-cell mTRP related configuration as part of the new cellGroupConfig generated towards the UE (either configures a new PCI/CGI/cell or changes to a different PCI/CGI/cell or removes a PCI/CGI/cell in the inter-cell mTRP configuration).
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCIs/CGIs/cells which are to be configured for the UE as part of the inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • the DU sends this event triggered procedure related message to the CU without any explicit configuration, i.e., for example, the DU sends a response when the DU changes the inter-cell mTRP procedure related PCIs/CGIs/cells towards the UE (either configures a new PCI/CGI/cell or changes to a different PCI/CGI/cell or removes a PCI/CGI/ cell).
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCIs/CGIs/cells being used for inter-cell mTRP operation, i.e., enabled by the DU at the time of transmitting the message to the CU.
  • the list of cells signaled by the DU to the CU in the above mentioned procedures is either made of the cells serving the UE in a mTRP configuration or it is made of the cells that may be used to serve the UE in mTRP, namely some cells may have been configured at RAN and at the UE to serve the UE in mTRP, but it is not in use at the time of sending the response.
  • the request from the CU can include indications for cells configured for mTRP inter-cell operation, indicating that the DU needs to send the indication when at least one of the indicated cells is being used, wherein “cells being used” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. SSBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for mTRP operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • the request from the CU can include indications for a list of cells configured for mTRP inter-cell operation, indicating that the DU needs to send the indication if at least one cell that is not configured in the list is being used for inter-cell mTRP operation, wherein “cells being used” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. SSBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for mTRP operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • the request from the CU can include indications of at least one subset of cells configured for mTRP inter-cell operation, indicating that the DU needs to send the indication when all of the indicated cells are being used, wherein “cells being used” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. SSBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for mTRP operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • SSBs Refence Signals
  • the request from the CU to the DU and/or responses from the DU to the CU may have even higher granularity and, not being limited to the cells/ PCI(s) the UE is using. For example, they may be based on a split in Downlink (DL) and/or Uplink (UL) and/or per channel being used and/or activated, e.g. PDCCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, and/or per beam/Reference Signal index (SSB index, CSI-RS index).
  • DL Downlink
  • UL Uplink
  • per channel being used and/or activated e.g. PDCCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, and/or per beam/Reference Signal index (SSB index, CSI-RS index).
  • SSB index per beam/Reference Signal index
  • the request can indicate cells the UE may be using for DL transmissions, so that the response from the DU to the CU is on cells for which the UE is using the DL, for example, cells whose TCI state for a downlink channel (e.g. PDCCH, PDSCH) is activated.
  • a downlink channel e.g. PDCCH, PDSCH
  • the request can indicate cells the UE may be using for UL transmissions, so that the response from the DU to the CU is on cells for which the UE is using the UL, for example, cells whose TCI state for a uplink channel (e.g. PUCCH, PUSCH) is activated.
  • a uplink channel e.g. PUCCH, PUSCH
  • the request can indicate beam(s)/ Reference Signal indexes the UE may be using, so that the response from the DU to the CU is on beams/ RSs indexes for which the UE is using, for example, SSB indexes being used as QCL source for TCI state that are activated.
  • Such a request from the CU could further include the cell identifier associated to the beam/reference signal.
  • the response from the DU to the CU is in response to an event that has been triggered, wherein the event may be a new cell that starts to be used (e.g. TCI state activated for that cell), or a cell that was being used but is stopped from being used (e.g. TCI state deactivated for that cell).
  • the event may be a new cell that starts to be used (e.g. TCI state activated for that cell), or a cell that was being used but is stopped from being used (e.g. TCI state deactivated for that cell).
  • the response can contain the new set of cells being used by the UE after the DU has activated and/or deactivated TCI states for the cells.
  • the CU stores the latest list of cells reported by the DU but does not need to manage the list by adding or removing cells, but rather the DU replaces a stored list with the newly reported list.
  • FIGURE 10 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram 800 to determine the UE location information, between the different nodes (UE, DU, CU and AMF) for when the DU indicates to the CU a new list every time there is a change and a new cell is being activated and/or deactivated, according to certain embodiments.
  • the UE is at first configured with cell-A, cell-B and cell-C for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • the DU could have sent this configuration to the UE.
  • the DU stores the list of cells, used for mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-B and cell-C.
  • the CU also stores the list of cells, used for mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-B and cell-C.
  • the DU determines to deactivate a cell (e.g. cell-B) for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • a cell e.g. cell-B
  • the DU sends a MAC CE for inter-cell mTRP to the UE indicating that cell-B is to be deactivated.
  • the deactivation indication can be done via TCI state ID.
  • the DU sends a message to the CU indicating the cells to be used for mTRP, e.g. cell-A and cell-C.
  • the CU upon receipt of this message, the CU replaces the stored list of cells with the list of cells provided in the message, e.g. cell-A and cell-C.
  • the DU can determine to activate a cell, e.g. cell-D, for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • the DU sends a message (e.g. MAC CE) for inter-cell mTRP, to the UE, indicating cell-D to be activated.
  • a message e.g. MAC CE
  • the indication can be done via TCI state ID, for example.
  • the DU sends a message to the CU indicating the cells to be used for mTRP, e.g. cell-A, cell-C and cell-D.
  • the CU upon receipt of this message, the CU replaces the stored list of cells with the list of cells provided in the message, e.g. cell-A, cell-C and cell-D.
  • the CU sends a message to the AMF, indicating the set/list of cells being used by the UE, e.g. cell-A, cell-C and cell-D.
  • the response can contain incrementally each cell or set of cells that starts to be used and/or that stops to be used by the UE after the DU has activated and/or deactivated TCI states for the cells.
  • the CU stores the latest list of cells reported by the DU, but in addition it needs to manage the list by adding or removing cells. For example, if the current cell list at time tO is cell-A, cell-B and cell-C, and at time tl the DU deactivates cell-B and indicates that to the CU (e.g. “cell-B deactivated”), the CU removes cell-B from the list of cells being used, and the current list becomes cell-A and cell-C.
  • FIGURE 11 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram 900 to determine the UE location information, between the different nodes (UE, DU, CU and AMF) for the case the DU indicates to the CU when a new cell is being added and/or removed to/from the set/list of cells being used by the UE, and when the CU reports the location (e.g. used list of cells) to the AMF at the Core Network. Further details for the communication between the CU and AMF can be found in 3 GPP TS 38.413 vl6.4.0.
  • FIGURE 11 includes steps that are similar to those depicted and described with regard to FIGURE 10, except for the messages from the DU to CU, informing/indicating to the CU that a particular cell is deactivated or activated.
  • the DU sends an indication of Cell-B to be deactivated, at step 930.
  • DU sends a MAC CE to the UE indicating that Cell-B is to be deactivated, at step 935.
  • the CU Upon receiving the indication at the CU, the CU removes the indicated cell from/in the set/list of stored cells being used by the UE for inter-cell mTRP operation, at step 940.
  • the DU determines to activate a cell-D.
  • the DU sends an indication of Cell-D to be activated, at step 960.
  • the DU sends a MAC CE to the UE indicating that Cell-D is to be activated, at step 965.
  • the CU adds the indicated cell to/in the set/list of stored cells being used by the UE for inter-cell mTRP operation, at step 970.
  • FIGURE 12 illustrates a method 1000 for location information reporting/determining at a first network node serving a UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method includes the first network node transmitting, to a second network node, operating as a CU, multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, at step 1010. Each identifier is of the cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation, and the multiple cell identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • transmitting to the second network node multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells can be performed in response to the triggering of a mTRP operation, by transmitting a signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit one of the multiple cells.
  • the DU can send all of the identifiers all the time there is a change in active set of cells/identifiers.
  • the DU can send the identifiers incrementally, e.g. every time a cell is activated and/or deactivated the DU indicates to the CU, so the CU always has the updated active set of cells.
  • the DU can send an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein the TAI includes the cells that have been configured for mTRP at the UE.
  • FIGURE 13 illustrates a method 1100 for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1110 with receiving, from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier is of the cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation. The multiple cell identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • the received multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells are reported to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the received multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • FIGURE 14 illustrates a method 1200 for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 1210 when the second network node transmits a first configuration to the UE, wherein the first configuration includes an inter-cell mTRP configuration.
  • the second network node reports, to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs.
  • the first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs includes the current serving cell/PCI/CGI and a second list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the inter-cell mTRP configuration to the UE.
  • the CU can receive from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple identifiers of the cells/PCIs/CGIs that are candidates for inter-cell mTRP operation, wherein the cells/PCIs/CGIs are the cells the UE is configured for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • the CU can receive from the first network node, operating as a DU, an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein the area comprises the cells that are candidates for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • a method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node may include receiving from a second network node, operating as a CU, multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier is of the cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation.
  • the method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node may include receiving from a second network node, operating as a CU, multiple identifiers of the target cells that are candidates for inter-cell mTRP operation, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • FIGURE 15 illustrates an example signaling diagram 1300 between different nodes (UE, DU, CU, AMF) for the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation, for determining and reporting the location information of the UE, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 1310 when the DU sends a MAC CE/DCI message to the UE for L1L2 inter-cell mobility configuration.
  • the indication can be to change the serving cell from cell-A to cell-B.
  • the DU can send other messages or other/more L1L2 inter-cell mobility configurations.
  • the UE performs a change of serving cell from cell-A to cell-B, for example.
  • the DU sends a message to the CU, indicating the latest serving cell for the UE, e.g. cell-B.
  • the CU stores the information regarding the latest serving cell, i.e. cell-B.
  • the CU sends a message to the AMF, indicating a set of cells being used as serving cell by the UE, e.g. cell-B.
  • an on-demand request-response procedure between the CU and DU can be provided.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, requesting information about the latest serving cell associated to the L1L2 inter-cell mobility performed by the gNB- DU to serve a UE.
  • the “latest serving cell” may correspond to the cell/ PCI/CGI whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. SSBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for L1L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • the request triggers a response from the DU.
  • the DU response can include an indication of the latest cell/ PCI/CGI (e.g. or any other cell identifier) which is the serving cell of the UE at the time of transmitting the response.
  • the serving cell might have been changed by the DU via L1L2 centric mobility procedure.
  • the request from the CU to the DU, concerning the latest serving cell (UE’s location) may be triggered by a request from a core network node/function, such as the AMF, which may be done by means of the NG-C interface.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU to know if a specific cell/PCI/CGI is being used as the serving cell.
  • the CU may receive a confirmation that the requested cell is the serving cell/PCI/CGI or a confirmation that the requested cell/PCI/CGI is not the serving cell for the UE.
  • a periodic response procedure between the CU and DU can be provided.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, the request including the periodicity with which the CU expects the response from the DU (periodic response) regarding the serving cell for the UE.
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the cell/PCI/CGI (or any other cell identifier) of the serving cell for the UE at the time of transmitting the response.
  • the serving cell might have been changed by the DU via L1L2 centric mobility procedure.
  • the periodicity is defined in the standard specifications so that the DU is aware of how often it needs to send the response message to the CU, i.e. there may be no need for a request from the CU.
  • an event triggered response procedure between the CU and DU can be provided.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU to update the serving cell, the request including an event associated to the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, the request indicating to the DU to send a response when the DU changes the serving cell/PCI/CGI towards the UE via the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure.
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCI/cell/CGI being used as the serving cell for the UE at the time of transmitting the response.
  • the CU sends a request to the DU, the request indicating to the DU to send a response when the DU changes the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure related configuration as part of the new cellGroupConfig generated towards the UE (either configures a new PCI/cell/CGI or changes to a different PCI/cell/CGI or removes a PCI/cell/CGI in the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration).
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCIs/ cells/CGIs which are to be configured to the UE as part of the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the DU sends this event triggered procedure related message to the CU without any explicit configuration, i.e., for example, the DU sends a response when the DU changes the serving cell/PCI/CGI via L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure towards the UE.
  • the response message from the DU includes an indication of the PCI/ cell/CGI being used as the serving cell.
  • the request from the CU can include indications for cells configured for L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation, indicating that the DU needs to send the indication when at least one of the indicated cells is being used as the serving cell, wherein “cells being used” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs/CGIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. S SBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for L 1L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • the request from the CU can include indications for a list of cells configured for L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation, indicating that the DU needs to send the indication when a cell that is not configured in this list is being used as the serving cell, wherein “being used” may correspond to the cells/ PCIs/CGIs whose Refence Signals (RSs), e.g. SSBs, are configured as QCL sources of TCI states that are activated at the UE for L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation.
  • RSs Refence Signals
  • the request from the CU to the DU and/or responses from the DU to the CU may have even higher granularity and, not being limited to the cell/ PCI/CGI of the serving cell the UE is configured with.
  • they may be based on a split in Downlink (DL) and/or Uplink (UL), and/or per channel being used and/or activated e.g. PDCCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, PUSCH; and/or per beam / Reference Signal index (SSB index, CSI-RS index).
  • the request can indicate beam(s)/ Reference Signal indexes the UE may be using, so that the response from the DU to the CU is on beams/ RSs indexes for which the UE is using, for example, SSB indexes being used as QCL source for TCI state that are activated.
  • Such a request from the CU could further include the cell identifier associated to the beam/reference signal.
  • the response from the DU to the CU is in response to an event that has been triggered, wherein the event may be a new cell that starts to be used as the serving cell (e.g. TCI state activated for that cell), or a cell that was being used that is stopped to be used as the serving cell (e.g. TCI state deactivated for that cell).
  • the event may be a new cell that starts to be used as the serving cell (e.g. TCI state activated for that cell), or a cell that was being used that is stopped to be used as the serving cell (e.g. TCI state deactivated for that cell).
  • FIGURE 16 illustrates a method 1400 for location information reporting/determining at a first network node serving a UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 1410 with triggering a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell, by transmitting a lower layer signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit the target cell.
  • the first network node transmits to a second network node, operating as a CU, an identifier of the target cell, wherein the identifier of the target cell is to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • the DU transmits to the CU a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the target cell and/or a Cell Global Identifier and/or a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify the UE’s serving cell.
  • PCI Physical Cell Identifier
  • the DU transmits to the CU an identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the triggering of the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell. In some examples, the transmission to the CU of the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the confirmation that the UE has triggered of the L1/L2 centric inter cell mobility to a target cell, e.g. an acknowledgement the UE transmits in response to the reception of the lower layer signaling.
  • the transmission to the CU of the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to a request from the second network node.
  • the DU transmits to the CU multiple identifiers of the target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the DU transmits to the CU at least one area identifier (such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier), wherein the area comprises the target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier
  • the lower layer signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit the target cell may correspond to a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • CE Control Element
  • the MAC CE includes a TCI state indication for a TCI state whose Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source correspond to a Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not the serving cell in the serving frequency.
  • QCL Quasi-Co-Location
  • RS Reference Signal
  • the Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not the serving cell in the serving frequency is a synchronization signal Block (SSB) or a CSI-RS.
  • SSB synchronization signal Block
  • FIGURE 17 illustrates a method 1500 for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method 470 begins at step 472 when the second network node receives from a first network node, operating as a DU, an identifier of a target cell the UE is being served by.
  • the second network node reports, to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the identifier of the target cell.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • the CU receives from the DU a Physical Cell Identifier of the target cell and/or a Cell Global Identifier and/or a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify the UE’s serving cell.
  • the reception from the DU of the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the first network node having triggered the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell. In some examples, the reception from the DU of the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the first network node having confirmed that the UE has triggered of the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • the reception from the DU of the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to a request from the second network node.
  • the CU transmits a request to the first network node for the UE’s location, i.e. for an identifier of the target cell.
  • the CU receives from the DU multiple identifiers of the target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the CU receives from the DU an area identifiers such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein the area comprises the target cells that are candidates for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifiers such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • FIGURE 18 illustrates another method 1600 for location information reporting/determining at a second network node serving a UE and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 1610 when the second network node transmits a first configuration to the UE, wherein the said first configuration includes L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration.
  • the second network node reports to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g.
  • AMF a first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs wherein the first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs includes the current serving cell/PCI/CGI and the list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration to the UE.
  • the CU receives from the DU multiple identifiers of the target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the CU receives from the DU an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein the area comprises the target cells that are candidates for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • a method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node comprises: receiving from a second network node, operating as a CU, multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the CU can indicate the location information (e.g. the location information of the UE) to the CN via one or more of the following methods:
  • the CU Upon receiving a notification from the gNB-DU that the SpCell has been changed via the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure and the information regarding the latest SpCell, the CU indicates this latest SpCell (e.g. target cell) information to the CN.
  • this latest SpCell e.g. target cell
  • the CU Upon receiving a periodic notification from the gNB-DU regarding the latest SpCell information associated to L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, the CU checks whether the SpCell information last reported to the CN needs to be updated, i.e., the latest SpCell indicated by the gNB-DU is different from the last SpCell reported to the CN. If that is the case, the CU sends the latest SpCell information as part of the location information to the CN.
  • the CU Upon configuring the UE with a list of candidate cells amongst which the gNB-DU can enable L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, the CU includes one or more of the following location information to the CN. The CU could further include an indication that these cells are part of the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility procedure configured at the UE. a. The list of candidate cells configured to the UE as candidate cells amongst which L1/L2 centric mobility can be enabled. b. A unique identifier that can jointly represent this list of candidate cells, e.g., a tracking area code (TAC).
  • TAC tracking area code
  • the CU Upon receiving a notification from the gNB-DU about the updated set of cells amongst which the inter-cell mTRP procedure is enabled to the UE, the CU indicates such a list of cells as part of the location information to the CN. The CU could further include an indication that these cells are part of the inter-cell mTRP procedure enabled at the UE.
  • the CU Upon receiving a periodic notification from the gNB-DU regarding the latest set of cells amongst which the inter-cell mTRP procedure is enabled to the UE, the CU checks whether the latest location information reported to the CN is different from the current set of cells indicated by the gNB-DU. If so, the CU indicates such a list of cells as part of the location information to the CN. The CU could further include an indication that these cells are part of the inter-cell mTRP procedure enabled at the UE. 6) Upon configuring the UE with a list of candidate cells amongst which the gNB-DU can enable inter-cell mTRP procedure, the CU includes one or more of the following location information to the CN.
  • the CU could further include an indication that these cells are part of the inter-cell mTRP procedure configured at 5 the UE.
  • a. The list of candidate cells configured to the UE as candidate cells amongst which inter-cell mTRP procedure can be enabled.
  • b. A unique identifier that can jointly represent this list of candidate cells, e.g., a TAC.
  • the CU-CP sends the list of cell identifiers associated to the cell 15 identities which are configured as the candidates for L1/L2 centric mobility to the UE.
  • An example implementation of the same is provided below.
  • both PCell and/or PSCell related cell identifier list inclusion is provided. Section 9.3.1.16 from 3GPP TS. 38.413 vl6.4.0 could be changed as follows:
  • This IE is used to provide location information of the UE.
  • the list of cells signaled from the RAN to the CN constitutes a maximum number of cells that might be configured at the UE for L1/L2 location information.
  • maximization could consist of all cells served by a gNB-DU or all cells 5 served by a gNB-DU amongst which L 1/L2 mobility is possible/allowed, or all cells served by a gNB-DU that are contained within a tracking area covering the current serving area the UE is in.
  • the RAN may signal to the CN one single area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, covering the cells amongst which the UE may move for L1/L2 mobility. Sending an identifier associated to the list of cells configured forLl/L2 centric mobility for user location information
  • the CU-CP sends an identifier to the CN.
  • an identifier could be a virtual identity associated to the list of cells as decided by the CU-CP.
  • the CU-CP sends identifier- 1 as the location information to the CN and when a UE is configured with PCI-1 and PCI-3 as the candidates amongst which L1/L2 centric mobility can be enabled, the CU-CP sends identifier-2 as the location information to the CN.
  • Section 9.3.1.16 from 3GPP TS. 38.413 vl6.4.0 could be changed as follows: 9.3.1.16 User Location Information
  • This IE is used to provide location information of the UE
  • FIGURE 19 illustrates a method 1700 for reporting location information of a user equipment (UE), at a first network node serving the UE and operating as a DU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 1710 when the first network node sends a message to the UE, and the message comprises an indication of one or more cells associated with the UE.
  • the first network node transmits to a second network node, operating as a CU, one or more identifiers associated with the one or more cells, wherein the one or more identifiers are to be reported to a third network node.
  • sending the message to the UE may comprise sending a lower layer signaling to the UE.
  • the indication of one or more cells associated with the UE can be an indication of a target cell for the UE to move to.
  • transmitting the one or more identifiers associated to one or more cells may correspond to transmitting an identifier of the target cell.
  • the identifier of the target cell may be one of a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the target cell, a Cell Global Identifier (CGI) and a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify a serving cell of the UE.
  • PCI Physical Cell Identifier
  • CGI Cell Global Identifier
  • the identifier of the target cell can be transmitted in response to a triggering of L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • the identifier of the target cell can be transmitted in response to a confirmation that the UE has triggered a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell (e.g. an acknowledgement the UE transmits in response to the reception of the lower layer signaling).
  • the identifier of the target cell can be transmitted in response to a request from the second network node.
  • transmitting the one or more identifiers associated with the one or more cells may comprise transmitting multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the one or more identifiers may be at least one area identifier (such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier), wherein the area can comprise the target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier
  • the lower layer signaling can correspond to a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • CE Control Element
  • the MAC CE can include a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state indication for a TCI state whose Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source corresponds to a Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not a serving cell in a serving frequency.
  • TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator
  • QCL Quasi-Co-Location
  • RS Reference Signal
  • the Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not the serving cell in the serving frequency is a synchronization signal Block (SSB) or a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS).
  • SSB synchronization signal Block
  • CSI-RS Channel State Information-Reference Signal
  • transmitting one or more identifiers associated with the one or more cells may comprise transmitting multiple identifiers associated with multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) operation.
  • mTRP Transmission Reception Point
  • the multiple identifiers associated with multiple cells can be transmitted in response to triggering of the mTRP operation, by transmitting a signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit one of the multiple cells.
  • the multiple identifiers can be transmitted each time there is a change in an active set of cells.
  • the multiple identifiers comprises can be transmitted incrementally, an identifier (at the time), the identifier corresponding to a cell that is activated and/or deactivated and being reported to a third network node (e.g. AMF) so that the third network node always has an updated set of active cells.
  • a third network node e.g. AMF
  • the one or more identifiers can be an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI), wherein the TAI includes cells that have been configured for mTRP at the UE.
  • TAI Tracking Area Identifier
  • FIGURE 20 illustrates a method 1800 performed by a second network node operating as a centralized unit (CU) and serving a user equipment (UE), for reporting location information of a UE, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method 1800 includes, at step 1810, the second network node receiving from a first network node, operating as a distributed unit (DU), an indication of one or more cells associated with the UE.
  • the second network node reports to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the indication of the one or more cells associated with the UE.
  • the indication of one or more cells may correspond to an identifier of a target cell for serving the UE and wherein reporting the indication may comprise reporting the identifier of the target cell.
  • the identifier may correspond to a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the target cell and/or a Cell Global Identifier (CGI) and/or a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify a serving cell of the UE.
  • PCI Physical Cell Identifier
  • CGI Cell Global Identifier
  • the identifier of the target cell can be received in response to the first network node having triggered a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • the identifier of the target cell may be received in response to the first network node having confirmed that the UE has triggered a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • the identifier of the target cell can be received in response to a request from the second network node.
  • the second network node may transmit a request to the first network node for the location information of the UE (e.g. requesting the identifier of the target cell).
  • the indication of one or more cells may correspond to multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the indication of one or more cells may correspond to an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein the area comprises target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • the indication of one or more cells may correspond to multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) operation, and wherein the multiple identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • mTRP Inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point
  • FIGURE 21 illustrates a method 1900 for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE and operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), according to certain embodiments.
  • the method includes, at step 1910, the third network node receiving from a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), multiple identifiers associated with multiple cells.
  • the multiple identifiers are associated with target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility or the multiple identifiers are associated with cells for the UE to use for inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) operation.
  • the candidate cells can be cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • FIGURE 22 illustrates a method 2000 for location information reporting at a second network node serving a User Equipment (UE), and operating as a CU, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 2010 with the second network node transmitting a first configuration to the UE, wherein the first configuration includes one of L1L2 centric inter cell mobility configuration and inter-cell multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) configuration.
  • the second network node reports to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of indication of cells (e.g. cells, PCIs, CGIs), wherein the first list of indication of cells (e.g.
  • AMF Core Network node
  • a first list of indication of cells e.g. cells, PCIs, CGIs
  • the first list of indication of cells e.g.
  • cells/PCIs/CGIs includes a current serving cell/PCI/CGI and a second list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration to the UE or the inter-cell mTRP configuration to the UE.
  • the CU may receive from a first network node, operating as a distributed unit (DU), multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • DU distributed unit
  • the CU may receive from the first network node, operating as a DU, an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI), wherein an area comprises target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI)
  • TAI Tracking Area Identifier
  • the CU may receive from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple identifiers corresponding to the cells/PCIs/CGIs that are candidate cells for the inter cell mTRP operation, wherein the cells/PCIs/CGIs are cells the UE is configured for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • the CU may receive from the first network node, operating as a DU, an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein an area comprises cells that are candidate cells for the inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • FIGURE 23 illustrates an example method 2100 by a DU of a first network node to enable the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 2110 when the DU of the first network node transmits, to a CU of a second network node, an identifier of a target cell for a L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • the identifier comprises a PCI.
  • the identifier comprises a CGI.
  • the DU of the first network node prior to transmitting the identifier to the CU of the second network node, performs the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation towards the wireless device.
  • the DU of the first network node prior to performing the L 1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation towards the wireless device, transmits a first set of information to the CU, and the first set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which DU can perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the DU of the first network node receives a second set of information from the CU, and the second set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the DU is allowed to perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the second set of information is a subset of the first set of information.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU in a F 1 setup request message
  • the second set of information is received from the CU in a F 1 setup response message or a UE context setup request message.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU in a configuration update message
  • the second set of information is received from the CU in a configuration response message.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU in a context setup response message, and the second set of information is received from the CU in a context modification request message.
  • the DU of the first network node transmits, to the wireless device, a lower layer signaling that indicates a target cell to trigger the L 1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of the wireless device to the target cell.
  • the lower layer signaling indicating the target cell is a MAC CE.
  • the MAC CE includes a TCI state indication for a TCI state whose QCL source corresponds to a RS of a cell that is not a serving cell in a serving frequency.
  • the RS of the cell that is not the serving cell in the serving frequency is a SSB or a CSI-RS.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU of the second network node in response to transmitting the lower layer signaling to the wireless device to trigger the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility of the wireless device to the target cell.
  • the DU of the first network node receives, from the wireless device, an acknowledgement that the wireless device has triggered the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility of the wireless device to the target cell.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU of the second network node in response to receiving the acknowledgement that the wireless device has triggered the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • the first set of information is transmitted to the CU of the second network node in response to a request from the second network node.
  • the first set of information comprises a plurality of identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation, wherein the candidates cells are cells the wireless device is configured for L1/L2 centric inter cell mobility.
  • the identifier comprises an area identifier associated with target cell for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • FIGURE 24 illustrates a method 2200 by a CU of a second network node to enable L1/L2 inter-cell mobility, according to certain embodiments.
  • the method begins at step 2210, when the CU of the second network node receives, from a DU of a first network node, an identifier of a target cell for an L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of a wireless device.
  • the CU of the second network node reports, to a Core Network node, the identifier of the target cell for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation of the wireless device.
  • the identifier comprises a PCI.
  • the identifier comprises a CGI.
  • the CU of the second network node receives from the DU, a first set of information, and the first set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the DU can perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the CU transmits to the DU, a second set of information, and the second set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the DU is allowed to perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the second set of information is a subset of the first set of information.
  • the first set of information is received from the DU in a F 1 setup request message, and the second set of information is transmitted to the DU in a F 1 setup response message or a UE context setup request message.
  • the first set of information is received from the DU in a configuration update message, and the second set of information is transmitted to the DU in a configuration response message.
  • the first set of information is received from the DU in a context setup response message, and the second set of information is transmitted to the DU in a context modification request message.
  • the first set of identifiers comprises a plurality of target cells that are candidate cells for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation, wherein the candidate cells are cells the wireless device is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • the CU sends to the DU, a request for the identifier of the target cell.
  • the CU transmits a request to the first network node for a location of the wireless device.
  • the identifier comprises an area identifier associated with the target cell for the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation.
  • the CU transmits a first configuration to the wireless device, wherein the first configuration includes a L1/L2 inter-cell mobility configuration.
  • the CU reports, to the Core Network node, a first list of identifiers, and the first list of identifiers includes an identifier of a current serving cell and identifiers of cells configured in the first configuration as part of the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility configuration.
  • FIGURE 25 illustrates a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments.
  • a wireless network such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIGURE 25.
  • the wireless network of FIGURE 25 only depicts network 2306, network nodes 2360 and 2360b, and wireless devices 2310, 2310b, and 2310c.
  • a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device.
  • network node 2360 and wireless device 2310 are depicted with additional detail.
  • the wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.
  • the wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system.
  • the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures.
  • wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
  • Bluetooth Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.
  • Network 2306 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
  • PSTNs public switched telephone networks
  • WANs wide-area networks
  • LANs local area networks
  • WLANs wireless local area networks
  • wired networks wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
  • Network node 2360 and wireless device 2310 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network.
  • the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
  • FIGURE 26 illustrates an example network node 2360, according to certain embodiments.
  • network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network.
  • network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)).
  • APs access points
  • BSs base stations
  • Node Bs Node Bs
  • eNBs evolved Node Bs
  • gNBs NR NodeBs
  • Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations.
  • a base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay.
  • a network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
  • RRUs remote radio units
  • RRHs Remote Radio Heads
  • Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
  • Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).
  • DAS distributed antenna system
  • network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs.
  • MSR multi-standard radio
  • RNCs radio network controllers
  • BSCs base station controllers
  • BTSs base transceiver stations
  • transmission points transmission nodes
  • MCEs multi-cell/multicast coordination entities
  • core network nodes e.g., MSCs, MMEs
  • O&M nodes e.g., OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs.
  • network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.
  • network node 2360 includes processing circuitry 2370, device readable medium 2380, interface 2390, auxiliary equipment 2384, power source 2386, power circuitry 2387, and antenna 2362.
  • network node 2360 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIGURE 6 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.
  • network node 2360 may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 2380 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).
  • network node 2360 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components.
  • network node 2360 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components)
  • one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes.
  • a single RNC may control multiple NodeB’s.
  • each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node.
  • network node 2360 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs).
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • Network node 2360 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 2360, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 2360.
  • Processing circuitry 2370 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 2370 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 2370 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • processing information obtained by processing circuitry 2370 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • Processing circuitry 2370 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 2360 components, such as device readable medium 2380, network node 2360 functionality.
  • processing circuitry 2370 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 2380 or in memory within processing circuitry 2370. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein.
  • processing circuitry 2370 may include a system on a chip (SOC).
  • SOC system on a chip
  • processing circuitry 2370 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2372 and baseband processing circuitry 2374.
  • radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2372 and baseband processing circuitry 2374 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 2372 and baseband processing circuitry 2374 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.
  • processing circuitry 2370 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 2380 or memory within processing circuitry 2370.
  • some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 2370 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
  • processing circuitry 2370 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 2370 alone or to other components of network node 2360 but are enjoyed by network node 2360 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
  • Device readable medium 2380 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 2370.
  • volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or
  • Device readable medium 2380 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 2370 and, utilized by network node 2360.
  • Device readable medium 2380 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 2370 and/or any data received via interface 2390.
  • processing circuitry 2370 and device readable medium 2380 may be considered to be integrated.
  • Interface 2390 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 2360, network 2306, and/or wireless devices 2310. As illustrated, interface 2390 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 2394 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 2306 over a wired connection. Interface 2390 also includes radio front end circuitry 2392 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 2362. Radio front end circuitry 2392 comprises filters 2398 and amplifiers 2396. Radio front end circuitry 2392 may be connected to antenna 2362 and processing circuitry 2370. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 2362 and processing circuitry 2370.
  • Radio front end circuitry 2392 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 2392 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 2398 and/or amplifiers 2396. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 2362. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 2362 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 2392. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 2370. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • network node 2360 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 2392, instead, processing circuitry 2370 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 2362 without separate radio front end circuitry 2392.
  • processing circuitry 2370 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 2362 without separate radio front end circuitry 2392.
  • all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 2372 may be considered a part of interface 2390.
  • interface 2390 may include one or more ports or terminals 2394, radio front end circuitry 2392, and RF transceiver circuitry 2372, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 2390 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 2374, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).
  • Antenna 2362 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals.
  • Antenna 2362 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 2392 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly.
  • antenna 2362 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz.
  • An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction
  • a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area
  • a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line.
  • the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO.
  • antenna 2362 may be separate from network node 2360 and may be connectable to network node 2360 through an interface or port.
  • Antenna 2362, interface 2390, and/or processing circuitry 2370 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 2362, interface 2390, and/or processing circuitry 2370 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Power circuitry 2387 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 2360 with power for performing the functionality described herein.
  • Power circuitry 2387 may receive power from power source 2386.
  • Power source 2386 and/or power circuitry 2387 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 2360 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component).
  • Power source 2386 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 2387 and/or network node 2360.
  • network node 2360 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 2387.
  • an external power source e.g., an electricity outlet
  • power source 2386 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 2387.
  • the battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.
  • Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.
  • network node 2360 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 26 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein.
  • network node 2360 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 2360 and to allow output of information from network node 2360. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 2360.
  • FIGURE 27 illustrates an example wireless device 2310.
  • wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices.
  • the term wireless device may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).
  • Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air.
  • a wireless device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction.
  • a wireless device may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network.
  • Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer- premise equipment (CPE), a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc.
  • VoIP voice over IP
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • LOE laptop-embedded equipment
  • LME laptop-mounted equipment
  • CPE wireless customer- premise equipment
  • a wireless device may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device.
  • D2D device-to-device
  • V2V vehicle-to-vehicle
  • V2I vehicle-to-infrastructure
  • V2X vehicle-to-everything
  • a wireless device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another wireless device and/or a network node.
  • the wireless device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device.
  • M2M machine-to-machine
  • the wireless device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard.
  • NB-IoT narrow band internet of things
  • machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.).
  • a wireless device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.
  • a wireless device as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.
  • wireless device 2310 includes antenna 2311, interface 2314, processing circuitry 2320, device readable medium 2330, user interface equipment 2332, auxiliary equipment 2334, power source 2336 and power circuitry 2337.
  • Wireless device 2310 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by wireless device 2310, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within wireless device 2310.
  • Antenna 2311 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 2314. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 2311 may be separate from wireless device 2310 and be connectable to wireless device 2310 through an interface or port. Antenna 2311, interface 2314, and/or processing circuitry 2320 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 2311 may be considered an interface.
  • interface 2314 comprises radio front end circuitry 2312 and antenna 2311.
  • Radio front end circuitry 2312 comprise one or more fdters 2318 and amplifiers 2316.
  • Radio front end circuitry 2312 is connected to antenna 2311 and processing circuitry 2320 and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 2311 and processing circuitry 2320.
  • Radio front end circuitry 2312 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 2311.
  • wireless device 2310 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 2312; rather, processing circuitry 2320 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 2311.
  • some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 2322 may be considered a part of interface 2314.
  • Radio front end circuitry 2312 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 2312 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 2318 and/or amplifiers 2316. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 2311. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 2311 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 2312. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 2320. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • Processing circuitry 2320 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 2310 components, such as device readable medium 2330, wireless device 2310 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 2320 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 2330 or in memory within processing circuitry 2320 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.
  • processing circuitry 2320 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 2322, baseband processing circuitry 2324, and application processing circuitry 2326.
  • the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • processing circuitry 2320 of wireless device 2310 may comprise a SOC.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 2322, baseband processing circuitry 2324, and application processing circuitry 2326 may be on separate chips or sets of chips.
  • part or all of baseband processing circuitry 2324 and application processing circuitry 2326 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 2322 may be on a separate chip or set of chips.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 2322 and baseband processing circuitry 2324 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 2326 may be on a separate chip or set of chips.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 2322, baseband processing circuitry 2324, and application processing circuitry 2326 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 2322 may be a part of interface 2314.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 2322 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 2320.
  • processing circuitry 2320 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 2330, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium.
  • some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 2320 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
  • processing circuitry 2320 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 2320 alone or to other components of wireless device 2310, but are enjoyed by wireless device 2310 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
  • Processing circuitry 2320 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a wireless device. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 2320, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 2320 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by wireless device 2310, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • Device readable medium 2330 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 2320.
  • Device readable medium 2330 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non- transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 2320.
  • processing circuitry 2320 and device readable medium 2330 may be considered to be integrated.
  • User interface equipment 2332 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with wireless device 2310. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 2332 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to wireless device 2310. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 2332 installed in wireless device 2310. For example, if wireless device 2310 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if wireless device 2310 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).
  • usage e.g., the number of gallons used
  • a speaker that provides an audible alert
  • User interface equipment 2332 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 2332 is configured to allow input of information into wireless device 2310 and is connected to processing circuitry 2320 to allow processing circuitry 2320 to process the input information. User interface equipment 2332 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 2332 is also configured to allow output of information from wireless device 2310, and to allow processing circuitry 2320 to output information from wireless device 2310. User interface equipment 2332 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 2332, wireless device 2310 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.
  • Auxiliary equipment 2334 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by wireless devices. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 2334 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.
  • Power source 2336 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used wireless device 2310 may further comprise power circuitry 2337 for delivering power from power source 2336 to the various parts of wireless device 2310 which need power from power source 2336 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 2337 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 2337 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case wireless device 2310 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable.
  • an external power source e.g., an electricity outlet
  • wireless device 2310 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable.
  • Power circuitry 2337 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 2336. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 2336. Power circuitry 2337 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 2336 to make the power suitable for the respective components of wireless device 2310 to which power is supplied.
  • FIGURE 28 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device.
  • a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller).
  • a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).
  • UE 2400 may be any UE identified by the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.
  • UE 2400, as illustrated in FIGURE 28, is one example of a wireless device configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards.
  • 3GPP 3 rd Generation Partnership Project
  • the term wireless device and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIGURE 28 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a wireless device, and vice- versa.
  • UE 2400 includes processing circuitry 2401 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 2405, radio frequency (RF) interface 2409, network connection interface 2411, memory 2415 including random access memory (RAM) 2417, read-only memory (ROM) 2419, and storage medium 2421 or the like, communication subsystem 2431, power source 2433, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof.
  • Storage medium 2421 includes operating system 2423, application program 2425, and data 2427. In other embodiments, storage medium 2421 may include other similar types of information.
  • Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIGURE 28, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.
  • processing circuitry 2401 may be configured to process computer instructions and data.
  • Processing circuitry 2401 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above.
  • the processing circuitry 2401 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.
  • input/output interface 2405 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device.
  • UE 2400 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 2405.
  • An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device.
  • a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 2400.
  • the output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof.
  • UE 2400 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 2405 to allow a user to capture information into UE 2400.
  • the input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like.
  • the presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user.
  • a sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof.
  • the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.
  • RF interface 2409 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna.
  • Network connection interface 2411 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 2443a.
  • Network 2443a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof.
  • network 2443a may comprise a Wi-Fi network.
  • Network connection interface 2411 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like.
  • Network connection interface 2411 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.
  • RAM 2417 may be configured to interface via bus 2402 to processing circuitry 2401 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers.
  • ROM 2419 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 2401.
  • ROM 2419 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory.
  • Storage medium 2421 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives.
  • storage medium 2421 may be configured to include operating system 2423, application program 2425 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 2427.
  • Storage medium 2421 may store, for use by UE 2400, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
  • Storage medium 2421 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro- DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof.
  • RAID redundant array of independent disks
  • HD-DVD high-density digital versatile disc
  • HDDS holographic digital data storage
  • DIMM synchronous dynamic random access memory
  • SIM/RUIM removable user identity
  • Storage medium 2421 may allow UE 2400 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data.
  • An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 2421, which may comprise a device readable medium.
  • processing circuitry 2401 may be configured to communicate with network 2443b using communication subsystem 2431.
  • Network 2443a and network 2443b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks.
  • Communication subsystem 2431 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 2443b.
  • communication subsystem 2431 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another wireless device, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.24, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like.
  • RAN radio access network
  • Each transceiver may include transmitter 2433 and/or receiver 2435 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 2433 and receiver 2435 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.
  • the communication functions of communication subsystem 2431 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.
  • communication subsystem 2431 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication.
  • Network 2443b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof.
  • network 2443b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near- field network.
  • Power source 2413 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 2400.
  • communication subsystem 2431 may be configured to include any of the components described herein.
  • processing circuitry 2401 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 2402.
  • any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 2401 perform the corresponding functions described herein.
  • the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 2401 and communication subsystem 2431.
  • the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
  • Example Embodiment Al A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising: any of the wireless device steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment A2 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional wireless device steps, features or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment A3 The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.
  • Example Embodiment B A method performed by a network node, the method comprising: any of the network node steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment B2 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment B3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.
  • a method by a first network node to enable L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility comprises: transmitting a first set of information to a second network node receiving a second set of information from the network node.
  • Example Embodiment C2 The method of Example Embodiment C 1 , wherein the first set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the first network node can perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment C 3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C2, wherein the second set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the first network node is allowed to perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment C4 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C3, wherein the first network node comprises a gNB-DU.
  • Example Embodiment C5 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C4, wherein the second network node comprises a CU-CP.
  • Example Embodiment C6 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C5, wherein the first network node is operable to and/or configured to perform any of the steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment C7 A first network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C6.
  • Example Embodiment C8 A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C6.
  • Example Embodiment C9 A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C6.
  • Example Embodiment CIO A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C6.
  • a method by a first network node to enable L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility comprises: receiving a first set of information to a second network node and transmitting a second set of information from the network node.
  • Example Embodiment D2 The method of Example Embodiment D 1, wherein the first set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the second network node can perform the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment D3 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D2, wherein the second set of information comprises an indication of at least one cell for which the second network node is allowed to perform the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment D4 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D3, wherein the first network node comprises a CU-CP.
  • Example Embodiment D5 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D4, wherein the second network node comprises a gNB-DU.
  • Example Embodiment D6 The method of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D5, wherein the first network node is operable to and/or configured to perform any of the steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment D7 A first network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Dl to D6.
  • Example Embodiment D8 A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D 1 to D6.
  • Example Embodiment D9 A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Dl to D6.
  • Example Embodiment DIO A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Dl to D6.
  • Example Embodiment El A method by a first network node to enable the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, the method comprising: performing a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation towards a wireless device; and transmitting a first set of information to a second network node.
  • Example Embodiment E2. The method of Example Embodiment El, wherein the first set of information comprises an identifier of a new serving cell PCI of the wireless device after the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation is performed by a DU.
  • Example Embodiment E3 The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E2, wherein the first network node comprises a gNB-DU.
  • Example Embodiment E4 The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to E3, wherein the second network node comprises a CU-CP.
  • Example Embodiment E5 The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E4, wherein the first network node is operable to and/or configured to perform any of the steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment E6 A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E5.
  • Example Embodiment E7 A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E5.
  • Example Embodiment E8 A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E5.
  • Example Embodiment E9 A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E5.
  • Example Embodiment F A method by a first network node to enable the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, the method comprising: receiving a first set of information from a second network node.
  • Example Embodiment F2 The method of Example Embodiment FI, wherein the first set of information comprises an identifier of a new serving cell PCI of the wireless device after the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility operation is performed by a DU.
  • Example Emboidment F3 The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 1 to F2, further comprising updating an RRC configuration associated with the wireless device with a second set of information.
  • Example Embodiment F4. The method of Example Embodiment F3, wherein the second set of information comprises an indicator any new RRC reconfiguration like updated measurement configuration as per the new serving cell.
  • Example Embodiment F5 The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 1 to F4, wherein the first network node comprises a CU-CP.
  • Example Embodiment F6 The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 1 to F5, wherein the second network node comprises a gNB-DU.
  • Example Embodiment F7 The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 1 to F6, wherein the first network node is operable to and/or configured to perform any of the steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
  • Example Embodiment F8 A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F7.
  • Example Embodiment F9 A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F7.
  • Example Embodiment F10 A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F7.
  • Example Embodiment F 11 A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F7.
  • Example Embodiment Gl A wireless device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G2 A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B, C, D, E, and F Example Embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G3 A wireless device, the wireless device comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the wireless device to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the wireless device that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G4 A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a wireless device, wherein the cellular network comprises a network node having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B, C, D, E, and F Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G5 The communication system of the pervious embodiment further including the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G6 The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is configured to communicate with the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G7 The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the wireless device comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.
  • Example Embodiment G8 A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a wireless device, the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the wireless device via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B, C, D, E, and F Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G9 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data.
  • Example Embodiment G10 The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the wireless device, executing a client application associated with the host application.
  • Example Embodiment Gi l. A wireless device configured to communicate with a network node, the wireless device comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G12 A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a wireless device, wherein the wireless device comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the wireless device’s components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G13 The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G14 The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the wireless device’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.
  • Example Embodiment G15 A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a wireless device, the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the wireless device via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the wireless device performs any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G16 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the wireless device, receiving the user data from the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G17 A communication system including a host computer comprising: communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a wireless device to a network node, wherein the wireless device comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the wireless device’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G18 The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G19 The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the network node, wherein the network node comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the wireless device and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the wireless device to the network node.
  • the network node comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the wireless device and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the wireless device to the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G20 The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the wireless device’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.
  • Example Embodiment G21 The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and the wireless device’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data.
  • Example Embodiment G22 A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a wireless device, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the network node from the wireless device, wherein the wireless device performs any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G23 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the wireless device, providing the user data to the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G24 The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the wireless device, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.
  • Example Embodiment G25 The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising: at the wireless device, executing a client application; and at the wireless device, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.
  • Example Embodiment G26 A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a wireless device to a network node, wherein the network node comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B, C, D, E, and F Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G27 The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G28 The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is configured to communicate with the network node.
  • Example Embodiment G29 The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; the wireless device is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.
  • Example Embodiment G30 A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a wireless device, the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the wireless device, wherein the wireless device performs any of the steps of any of the Group A Example Embodiments.
  • Example Embodiment G31 The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node receiving the user data from the wireless device.
  • Example Embodiment G32 The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the network node, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.
  • Example Embodiment G33 The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the network node comprises a base station.
  • Example Embodiment G34 The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the wireless device comprises a user equipment (UE).
  • UE user equipment
  • Example Emboidment HI A method performed by a first network node operating as a distributed unit (DU), for reporting location information of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting to a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for multi Transmission Reception Point (mTRP) inter-cell operation, and wherein the multiple cell identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • DU distributed unit
  • UE user equipment
  • Example Emboidment H2 The method of embodiment HI, wherein transmitting to the second network node multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells is performed in response to triggering of the mTRP operation, by transmitting a signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit one of the multiple cells.
  • the method of embodiment HI or H2, wherein transmitting the multiple cell identifiers comprises transmitting all the identifiers every time there is a change in an active set of cells/identifiers.
  • Example Emboidment H4 The method of embodiment HI or H2, wherein transmitting the multiple cell identifiers comprises transmitting incrementally an identifier every time a cell is activated and/or deactivated so that the CU always has an updated active set of cells.
  • Example Emboidment H5. The method of embodiment H 1 or H2, wherein transmitting the multiple cell identifiers comprises transmitting an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI), wherein the TAI includes cells that have been configured for mTRP at the UE.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI)
  • TAI Tracking Area Identifier
  • Example Emboidment H6 A method performed by a second network node operating as a centralized unit (CU), for reporting location information of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving from a first network node, operating as a distributed unit (DU), multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation, and wherein the multiple cell identifiers are to be reported from the second network node to a third network node; and reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the received multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • Example Emboidment H7 A method performed by a second network node operating as a centralized unit (CU), for reporting location information of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting a first configuration to the UE, wherein the first configuration includes an inter-cell mTRP configuration; and reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of indication of cells (e.g. cells/PCIs/CGIs) wherein the first list of indications of cells (e.g. cells/PCIs/CGIs) includes a current serving cell indication (e.g. current serving cell/PCI/CGI) and a second list of indication of cells (cells/PCIs/CGIs) configured in the first configuration as part of the inter-cell mTRP configuration to the UE.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • a first list of indication of cells e.g. cells/PCIs/CGIs
  • Example Emboidment H8 The method of embodiment H7, further comprising receiving from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple identifiers of the cells/PCIs/CGIs that are candidates for inter-cell mTRP operation, wherein the cells/PCIs/CGIs are cells the UE is configured for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • Example Emboidment H9 The method of embodiment H7, further comprising receiving from the first network node, operating as a DU, an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein an area comprises cells that are candidates for inter-cell mTRP operation.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • Example Emboidment HI A method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a user equipment (UE) and operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the method comprising: receiving from a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation.
  • a third network node serving a user equipment (UE) and operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF)
  • the method comprising: receiving from a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), multiple cell identifiers associated to multiple cells, wherein each identifier identifies a cell the UE is using for mTRP inter-cell operation.
  • CU centralized unit
  • Example Emboidment HI 1.
  • UE user equipment
  • AMF Core Network node
  • Example Emboidment H12 A method for location information reporting at a first network node serving a user equipment (UE) and operating as a distributed unit (DU), the method comprising: triggering a L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell, by transmitting a lower layer signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit the target cell; and transmitting to a second network node, operating as a centralized unit (CU), an identifier of the target cell, wherein the identifier of the target cell is to be reported from the second network node to a third network node.
  • CU centralized unit
  • transmitting an identifier of the target cell comprises transmitting a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) of the target cell and/or a Cell Global Identifier and/or a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify a serving cell of the UE.
  • PCI Physical Cell Identifier
  • Example Embodiment HI 4 The method of embodiment H12 or HI 3, wherein transmitting the identifier of the target is performed in response to the triggering of the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell.
  • Example Embodiment H15 The method of embodiment H12 or HI 3, wherein transmitting the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the confirmation that the UE has triggered of the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to a target cell, e.g. an acknowledgement the UE transmits in response to the reception of the lower layer signaling.
  • Example Embodiment HI 6 The method of embodiment H12 or HI 3, wherein transmitting the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to a request from the second network node.
  • Example Embodiment H17 The method of any one of embodiments H12 to HI 6, wherein transmitting the identifier comprising transmitting multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidates cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment HI 8 The method of any one of embodiments H12 to HI 6, wherein transmitting the identifier of the target cell comprises transmitting at least one area identifier (such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier), wherein an area comprises target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier, RAN Area Identifier, L1/L2 mobility set identifier
  • Example Embodiment H19 The method of any one of embodiments H12 to H18, wherein the lower layer signaling to the UE indicating implicitly or explicit the target cell is a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • CE Control Element
  • Example Embodiment H20 The method of embodiment H19, wherein the MAC CE includes a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state indication for a TCI state whose Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source corresponds to a Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not a serving cell in a serving frequency.
  • TCI transmission configuration indicator
  • QCL Quasi-Co-Location
  • RS Reference Signal
  • Example Embodiment H21 The method of embodiment H20, wherein the Reference Signal (RS) of a cell (and/or Physical Cell Identifier) that is not the serving cell in the serving frequency is a synchronization signal Block (SSB) or a CSI-RS.
  • RS Reference Signal
  • SSB synchronization signal Block
  • CSI-RS CSI-RS
  • Example Embodiment H22 A method for location information reporting at a second network node serving a user equipment (UE) and operating as a centralized unit (CU), the method comprising: receiving from a first network node, operating as a distributed unit (DU), an identifier of a target cell the UE is being served by; and reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the identifier of the target cell.
  • DU distributed unit
  • AMF Core Network node
  • Example Embodiment H23 The method of embodiment H22, wherein receiving the identifier comprises receiving a Physical Cell Identifier of the target cell and/or a Cell Global Identifier and/or a unique cell identifier enabling the second network node to identify a serving cell of the UE.
  • Example Embodiment H24 The method of embodiment H22 or H23, wherein receiving the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the first network node having triggered the L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • Example Embodiment H25 The method of embodiment H22 or H23, wherein receiving the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to the first network node having confirmed that the UE has triggered of the L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility to the target cell.
  • Example Embodiment H26 The method of embodiment H22 or H23, wherein receiving the identifier of the target cell is performed in response to a request from the second network node.
  • Example Embodiment H27 The method of any one of embodiments H22 to H26, further comprising transmitting a request to the first network node for a location of the UE, i.e. for an identifier of the target cell.
  • Example Embodiment H28 The method of embodiment H22, wherein receiving the identifier comprises receiving multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment H29 The method of embodiment H22, wherein receiving the identifier comprises receiving an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein an area comprises the target cells that are candidate cells for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • Example Embodiment H30 A method for location information reporting at a second network node serving a UE, and operating as a CU, the method comprising: transmitting a first configuration to the UE, wherein the first configuration includes L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration; and reporting to a third network node, operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), a first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs wherein the first list of cells/PCIs/CGIs includes the current serving cell/PCI/CGI and the list of cells/PCIs/CGIs configured in the first configuration as part of the L1L2 centric inter-cell mobility configuration to the UE.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • Example Embodiment H31 The method of embodiment H30, further comprising receiving from a first network node, operating as a DU, multiple identifiers of target cells that are candidates for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the candidate cells are cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • Example Embodiment H32 The method of embodiment H30, further comprising receiving from the first network node, operating as a DU, an area identifier, such as a Tracking Area Identifier, wherein an area comprises target cells that are candidate cells for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • an area identifier such as a Tracking Area Identifier
  • Example Embodiment H33 A method for location information reporting at a third network node serving a UE, and operating as a Core Network node (e.g. AMF), the method comprising: receiving from a second network node, operating as a CU, multiple identifiers of the target cells that are candidates for L 1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility, wherein the cells are the cells the UE is configured for L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility.
  • a Core Network node e.g. AMF
  • Example Embodiment H34 A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments H 1 to H33; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

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

Abstract

Un procédé (2100) par une unité distribuée d'un premier nœud de réseau (2360) permettant la mobilité intercellulaire L1/L2 consiste à transmettre (2110), à une unité centrale d'un second nœud de réseau, un identifiant d'une cellule cible pour une opération de mobilité intercellulaire L1/L2 d'un dispositif sans fil. En outre, un procédé (2200) par une unité centrale d'un second nœud de réseau permettant la mobilité intercellulaire L1/L2 consiste à recevoir (2200), en provenance d'une unité distribuée d'un premier nœud de réseau, un identifiant d'une cellule cible pour une opération de mobilité intercellulaire L1/L2 d'un dispositif sans fil. L'unité centrale rapporte, à un nœud de réseau central, l'identifiant de la cellule cible pour l'opération de mobilité intercellulaire L1/L2 du dispositif sans fil. FIGURE POUR PUBLICATION Figure 23
PCT/IB2022/054236 2021-05-06 2022-05-06 Impacts d'interface et d'architecture de mobilité centrée l1/l2 WO2022234540A1 (fr)

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