TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to In-Device Coexistence (IDC) problems for a User Equipment (UE) in a communication network.

BACKGROUND

In-Device Coexistence

The In-Device Coexistence (IDC) feature was introduced in Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR).

IDC can arise in user equipments (UEs) that are able to operate according to different radio access technologies (RATs) at the same time. For example, a UE may comprise one or more antennas and circuitry for transmitting and receiving signals according to a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-standardised RAT, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR), and also one or more antennas and circuitry for transmitting and receiving signals according to WiFi (IEEE 802.11) or Bluetooth (BT). Since these antennas and circuitry are effectively collocated in the UE, it is possible for transmissions/receptions of signals on one of the RATs to interfere with the transmissions/reception of signals on another one of the RATs that are taking place at the same time. This interference can be referred to as in-device coexistence (IDC) interference. A high level description of IDC problems can be found in 3GPP TS 36.300 V17.0.0 section 23.4.

The IDC feature was introduced to address situations where a UE is operating using multiple radio technologies and the radios used for these different technologies cause interference to each other. An example is shown in Fig. 1 Error! Reference source not found.where radio frequency (RF) transmissions by an LTE transmitter is causing interference to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and a Bluetooth (BT)/Wide Local Area Network (WLAN) receiver, as well as RF transmissions by the Bluetooth/WLAN transmitter causing interference to the LTE receiver. It should be noted that the IDC feature is here described using LTE as an example of a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Radio Access Technology (RAT), but on a high level, the IDC feature is the same for NR.

When the UE identifies that there is IDC type of interference, the UE shall first try to solve the problems internally. If this does not succeed, the UE can indicate to the eNB (the base station or radio access network (RAN) node in LTE) that it experiences IDC problems which it cannot solve itself. It should be noted that how the UE detects IDC problems is left to implementation. The indication from the UE to the eNB that it is experiencing, or expects to experience, IDC problems that it cannot resolve itself is referred to herein as an "IDC indication”.

First, the UE indicates the frequencies that are suffering from IDC interference, and optionally signals the technology that causes the interference, for instance that the interference comes from WLAN. In addition, if the UE determines that the IDC problems can be solved in a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)-manner (i.e. by multiplexing the use of the interfering transceivers in time), the UE can indicate a bit-map or Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycles to the eNB which indicates which Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs) are affected by IDC interference. When the eNB receives the indication, it can take action to solve the problems. For example, the eNB can handover the UE to other frequencies, remove (in case of Carrier Aggregation (CA)) the problematic cell or configure the UE with a DRX-configuration which would solve the problem. It should be noted that, at least up to Release 17, the NR specification does not support the TDM indications for IDC.

An example scenario where the IDC feature is useful is when the UE is using an LTE carrier in band 40 at the same time as it is using WLAN in the 2.4 GHz band. There may be IDC problems in this scenario since these frequency bands are just next to each other, as shown in Fig. 2. Error! Reference source not found.The UE would then try to solve the problems internally (e.g. by adjusting or changing the operation of LTE or WLAN), but if it cannot do so it will indicate to the eNB that the serving cell on band 40 is having an IDC problem, and the eNB can then handover the UE to another frequency or reconfigure the cell.

DRX

A UE may be configured with a DRX configuration in connected mode to save battery. When DRX is configured, the UE is only required to monitor the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) when the UE is in "Active Time”, but when the UE is not in Active Time, the UE can skip PDCCH monitoring and hence save power.

Below is an excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.321 v15.6.0 section 5.7 that defines when the UE is considered to be in Active Time:

In the above excerpt, PUCCH is Physical Uplink Control Channel, and C-RNTI is Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier.

The UE starts the drx-onDurationTimer (sometimes referred to only as "onDuration” or similar) periodically and the period between onDurations is referred to as the "DRX cycle”. In other words, the UE will, once every DRX cycle, start the onDuration timer and hence be in Active Time and monitor PDCCH. The longer the DRX cycle is, the longer the UE can be "asleep” between OnDurations. The longer the onDuration is, the longer the time the UE will stay awake each DRX cycle.

However, it is likely that if the network schedules the UE, the network would want to continue to schedule the UE for a while. Consider for example that the UE is downloading a file. The network would then have to wait until the UE wakes up (i.e. until the next onDuration) and then the network can start sending data to the UE. However, if the onDuration is short, the network may not be able to complete the data transfer to the UE. To address this the drx- InactivityTimer (or just "inactivity timer” or similar) is used. The inactivity timer is started by the UE each time the UE is scheduled (i.e. the UE receives a grant to send uplink (UL) data after it sends a Scheduling Request (SR), or UE receives downlink assignment because the network (NW) wants to send downlink (DL) data). So, even if the onDuration would be short, the UE starts the inactivity timer if it gets scheduled, and hence the UE will stay in Active Time as long as the UE keeps on getting scheduled.

DRX cycles and the drx-lnactivityTimer

A UE configured with the DRX can be configured with both a long and a short DRX cycle. The intention with the long DRX cycle is that the UE should be able to sleep a long time between waking up, while with a short DRX cycle the UE wakes up more frequently. These time periods that the UE is awake to listen for scheduling requests is called OnDuration periods, and is configured for a certain time duration that the UE shall be awake. The UE first drops into a short DRX cycle, where the UE is still relatively quickly reachable, but if there is not traffic for some time, the UE drops into the long DRX cycle.

When the UE is scheduled the drx-lnactivityTimer is started and while this timer is running the UE is in Active Time and hence monitors PDCCH. When the drx-lnactivityTimer expires, the UE will go to short DRX cycle/sleep, if configured, otherwise the UE will go to long DRX cycle/sleep.

If the UE has not been scheduled for a configured number of short DRX cycles, the UE will start applying long DRX cycles.

Secondary DRX

It has been proposed to introduce so-called secondary DRX. In one version of secondary DRX, the UE has two different values for the drx-lnactivityTimer and two different values for the onDuration timers. The UE would, for one set of cells, apply a first drx-lnactivityTimer value and a first onDuration timer value, while for another set of cells, apply a second drx-lnactivityTimer value and a first onDuration timer value.

Note that in Dual Connectivity (DC) scenarios, the UE has two Medium Access Control (MAC) entities and each MAC entity has its own DRX operation. However, with dual DRX the UE would have two DRX processes per MAC entity, i.e. in total four DRX processes/procedures.

SUMMARY

There currently exist certain challenge(s). In current art, the UE may indicate to the network information about IDC problems that the UE cannot solve by itself. The UE may indicate a TDM indication which says that the IDC problems can be addressed by a TDM pattern, e.g. a DRX pattern. The network may, in response to such an indication, configure a DRX configuration that the UE applies and that addresses the UE's IDC problems. However, the DRX configuration will apply to all carriers and hence also impacts carriers which do not experience IDC issues/problems. If the UE applies that DRX pattern to unaffected cells it means those carriers cannot be used for communication during the time that the UE is not in Active Time according to the DRX pattern. That wastes resources and will reduce the times when the UE can communicate with the network, hence also reducing user experience, since throughput will be limited.

Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. According to a first set of Embodiments (also referred to as "Embodiment family 1”), the network can configure a DRX configuration for the UE that does not apply to all communication resources (e.g. carriers), and instead it applies only to a subset of the communication resources (e.g. carriers). That subset contains the problematic communication resources (e.g. carriers), but not all communication resources (e.g. carriers). In some embodiments of this first set, the UE can consider adjustments to an existing (already configured) DRX pattern when determining a suitable TDM indication.

According to a second set of Embodiments (also referred to as "Embodiment family 2”), the UE can send two sets of IDC indications, one for a first set of communication resources (e.g. carriers) and one for a second set of communication resources (e.g. carriers). In short, the UE can determine whether it is experiencing a first IDC issue on a first (set of) communication resources (e.g. carriers), the UE can determine whether it is experiencing a second IDC issue on a second (set of) communication resources (e.g. carriers), the UE can determine whether the first IDC issue can be addressed by a first DRX pattern, the UE can determine whether the second IDC issue can be addressed by a second DRX pattern, and the UE can get configured with a first DRX pattern for the first set of communication resources (e.g. carriers), and a second DRX pattern for the second set of communication resources (e.g. carriers).

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method performed by a first network node. A UE is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network. The method comprises receiving, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; and sending, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource, wherein the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a method performed by a UE configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network. The method comprises determining that use of the first communication resource for communications with a first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; sending, to the first network node, a first indication identifying the first communication resource; receiving, from the first network node, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; determining that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; sending, to the first network node, a second indication identifying the second communication resource; and receiving, from the first network node, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a method performed by a first network node. A UE is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; sending, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; receiving, from the UE, a second indication identifying the second communication resource and indicating that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; and sending, to the UE, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processor, the computer or processor is caused to perform the method according to the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or any embodiment thereof.

According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a first network node for use in a communication network in which a UE is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in the communication network. The first network node is configured to: receive, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; and send, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource, wherein the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a UE capable of using at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network. The UE configured to: determine that use of the first communication resource for communications with a first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; send, to the first network node, a first indication identifying the first communication resource; receive, from the first network node, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; determine that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; send, to the first network node, a second indication identifying the second communication resource; and receive, from the first network node, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a first network node for use in a communication network in which a UE is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in the communication network. The first network node is configured to: receive, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; send, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; receive, from the UE, a second indication identifying the second communication resource and indicating that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; and send, to the UE, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a first network node for use in a communication network in which a UE is operative to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in the communication network. The first network node comprises a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said first network node is operative to: receive, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; and send, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource, wherein the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a UE that is capable of using at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network, the UE comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said UE is operative to: determine that use of the first communication resource for communications with a first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; send, to the first network node, a first indication identifying the first communication resource; receive, from the first network node, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; determine that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; send, to the first network node, a second indication identifying the second communication resource; and receive, from the first network node, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource. According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a first network node for use in a communication network in which a UE is operative to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in the communication network, the first network node comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said first network node is operative to: receive, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE; send, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource; receive, from the UE, a second indication identifying the second communication resource and indicating that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; and send, to the UE, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Advantages arise when a UE indicates IDC issues for one or more communication resources (e.g. carriers) which can be addressed in a TDM manner. In response to this IDC indication, the network can configure a DRX configuration applicable to a subset of the communication resources of the UE, including at least the indicated set of communication resources, but not to all communication resources. This therefore does not limit the available time that the network can communicate with the UE, hence increasing the throughput compared to a conventional DRX approach, or compared to allowing the IDC issue to continue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates self-interference in a device;

Fig. 2 illustrates a Release 11 in-device coexistence issue example;

Fig. 3 shows two DRX configurations;

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method in accordance with some embodiments performed by a UE;

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method in accordance with some embodiments performed by a first network node;

Fig. 6 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 7 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 8 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a host in accordance with some embodiments;

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and Fig. 11 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

As used herein, the term "IDC indication” refers to the indication from the UE to a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (e.g. an eNB or gNB) that the UE is experiencing, or expects to experience, IDC problems that it cannot resolve itself. The IDC indication can indicate the communication resources (e.g. carrier(s)) that are suffering from IDC interference, and optionally indicate the radio access technology(ies) that are causing and/or experiencing the interference.

In addition, the present disclosure describes different types of IDC indications. "TDM indications” are IDC indications that indicate to the network that the IDC problems that the UE experiences can be addressed by applying a time division multiplexing (TDM) approach, e.g. by use of a DRX pattern or some other approach where the UE uses the radio resources only certain times. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) indications are IDC indications which indicate to the network that the IDC problems that the UE experiences can be addressed by applying an FDM approach, for example by stopping the use of a frequency range altogether.

It will herein be described how a UE sends two IDC indications. However, it will be appreciated that sending two IDC indications is just an example, and in general the techniques described herein can be applied to the sending of more than two indications.

Further, it will herein be described how the IDC indication indicates IDC problems for sets of communication resources in the form of carriers. However, "carriers” is just a non-limiting example, and communication resources other than "carriers” may be considered. For example, the IDC indication can alternatively relate to communication resources in the form of "bandwidth parts” (BWPs), "frequencies”, "range(s) of frequencies”, "range(s) of Physical Resource Blocks” (PRBs), etc.

The RAT used by the UE and network node to communicate with each other may be a 3GPP-standardised communication protocol, such as LTE or NR. The RAT used by the UE for other communications can be any other type of communication protocol, including, for example, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-wave, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Near-Field Communication (NFC).

Embodiment family 1

In the first set of embodiments, the network (NW) receives IDC indications regarding IDC problems on a certain set of communication resources that the UE indicates can be addressed in a TDM manner. The TDM manner may, for example, be a DRX pattern which the UE considers would address the IDC problems. Communication resources may be indicated in terms of carriers, cells, bandwidth parts (BWPs), frequency/frequencies or frequency range(s), PRB range(s), etc. In response to this IDC indication (TDM indication) the network can configure a DRX configuration applicable to a subset of the communications resources, including at least the indicated set of communication resources, but not to all communications resources.

It should be noted that, according to conventional techniques, a network would configure one DRX configuration applicable to all communication resources of the UE for a particular RAT, e.g. LTE or NR. If instead, as per this first set of embodiments, a DRX configuration is only configured for the communication resources of a particular RAT that the UE indicated the IDC issues for (or some additional, but not all other, communications resources), the rest of the communication resources for that RAT can be used as normal. It should be noted that the network may still configure another DRX configuration for the rest of the communication resources, but that other DRX configuration does not need to consider the IDC issues and hence may not need to be as restrictive (e.g. it does not need to include a DRX sleep time for the times when the UE is experiencing IDC issues).

The UE may further indicate whether or not it is capable of a feature allowing it to use multiple (DRX) time patterns, e.g. different (DRX) time patterns for different communication resources. One example of such an indication is an indication of whether the UE supports a "secondary DRX feature”. The secondary DRX feature was defined in 3GPP Release 16 of NR, and allows the UE to have independent DRX configurations for two sets of serving cells, i.e. one DRX pattern (or no DRX pattern) associated to a first set of cells, and another DRX pattern (or no DRX pattern) associated to a second set of cells.

When the network receives the above mentioned UE indications (i.e. an IDC indication with TDM indications and the mentioned UE capability indication), the network can determine whether the communications resources with the IDC issues (that can be addressed in a TDM manner) can share a DRX configuration or not. For example, if the UE indicated that serving cell A and serving cell B have IDC issues which can be addressed by a TDM indication, the network would determine if serving cell A and B can share a DRX configuration or not. This may be determined based on whether serving cell A and B are in the same frequency range. If they can share a DRX configuration, the network may configure a DRX configuration applicable to those two cells, but the DRX configuration is not applicable to (all) other cells.

Embodiment family 2

In the second set of embodiments, the UE indicates IDC indications per group of carriers, and may provide (multiple) relevant TDM configurations. Further details of this approach is provided below.

UE actions

In some embodiments of the second set, a UE sends a first IDC indication to the network for a first set of carriers, and a second IDC indication to the network for a second set of carriers. The IDC indications may be TDM indications or FDM indications. For example, the UE may send two TDM indications, one for a first set of carriers and one for the second set of carriers. Alternatively, the first indication may be a TDM indication, and the second indication may be an FDM indication.

The first IDC indication and the second IDC indication may be sent in the same message. This would reduce latency of sending the IDC indications, and would reduce signalling overhead. Alternatively, the first IDC indication may be sent in a first message and the second IDC indication in a second message. The UE may in this case indicate a relation between the first IDC indication and the second IDC indication. This relation may be so that when sending the second IDC indication the UE indicates with an indication that the previously sent first IDC indication still applies. Alternatively, no explicit indication that the previously sent first indication applies may be included in the message, but instead the network assumes that the first IDC indication applies until the UE has explicitly indicated that the first IDC indication no longer applies, e.g. by means of an indication that the first IDC indication is cancelled or can be ignored.

According to some embodiments of the second set, the UE can first send a message with the first IDC indication, and later send a message with both the first IDC indication and later the second IDC indication. This has the benefit that if initially the UE only experiences IDC issues on the first set of carriers (which are indicated to the network), and later starts experiencing IDC issues also on the second set of carriers, each message contains the complete information relevant at the point of sending the messages. Compare, for example, to a situation where if the second message only contains the second IDC indication, it would not be clear if the first IDC indication is still relevant if the first IDC indication is not present in the second message.

How to determine the first and second set of carriers

According to some embodiments of the second set, the UE can determine the first set of carriers to be carriers in a first frequency range (e.g. one of Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2)), and the second set of carriers to be carriers in a second frequency range (e.g. the other one of FR1 and FR2). A benefit of this approach is that it is well-defined (e.g. by a specification) which carriers/frequencies an IDC indication applies to, without a need for additional signalling. It is not, however, as flexible as some other approaches (for example as described below).

According to other embodiments of the second set, the network can indicate the carriers belonging to the first set and the second set. The indication may be an indication in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. For example, the network may indicate a flag for a carrier to indicate which set the carrier belongs to. The indication may have a numerical value, e.g. 0 to indicate the first set, and 1 to indicate the second set. Another approach is that if a flag is present for a carrier it means that the carrier belongs to the second set, but if absent it means that the carrier belongs to the first set.

Other embodiments of the second set provide that the UE decides which carriers belong to the first and second set of carriers. The UE can indicate, for an IDC indication, which carriers the IDC indication applies to. For example, the UE may send a first IDC indication and indicate that the IDC indication applies to carriers C1 and C3, and a second IDC indication that applies to carriers C2 and C4. The UE may indicate the applicable carriers by referring to an index associated with the carrier, such as a serving cell index.

Network actions

The network receiving the indication may configure a first DRX configuration for the first set of carriers. It should be noted that some additional carriers that are not experiencing IDC problems may also apply this first DRX configuration. For example, the first set of carriers may be part of a defined range of carriers, e.g. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) carriers or Frequency Range 2 (FR2) carriers, and the network may configure a DRX configuration that is applied to all of the carriers in that defined range, i.e. all Frequency Range 1 (FR1) carriers or all Frequency Range 2 (FR2) carriers. In this case, the DRX configuration will be applied to the carriers in the defined range that are experiencing IDC issues, and to the other carriers in the defined range that are not experiencing IDC issues. The network may also configure a second DRX configuration for the second set of carriers, and where the second set of carriers are only some of the carriers in a defined range of carriers (e.g. part of FR1 or FR2), the UE will apply the DRX configuration to the second set of carriers and also some additional (unaffected) carriers in the defined range that are not experiencing IDC issues.

Configurability

Whether the UE sends two IDC indications as described above or not may be configured by the network. The network may, for example, configure the UE to do so only if the network is able to configure secondary DRX patterns for the UE. If the network has not enabled the feature of secondary DRX, it would not configure a UE to send two DRX patterns as IDC indications. Alternatively, even if the network does support secondary DRX, if a particular UE is not capable of secondary DRX the network may refrain from configuring the UE with two DRX patterns as the network does not support two different DRX patterns anyway.

Text proposal

Below is a text proposal for how some aspects of the above embodiments can be implemented in the LTE RRC specification (3GPP TS 36.331 v17.0.0):

Embodiment family 3 In a third set of embodiments, beneficial receiver on-duration instances (TDM patterns) for resolving IDC problems can be determined from an indicated time offset from an e.g. existing (legacy) UE DRX configuration. The IDC indication may then give further granularity as to what time instances the UE may be expected to be in favourable active time in relation to a single DRX configuration. In one additional example, a frequency, or periodic Active Time occasions makes it possible for a second DRX pattern to be determined based on this indication at the Network side. In another alternative, the indicated offset is in relation to the recent reception of a successful scheduling signal, e.g. a PDCCH or similar.

This is illustrated in Fig. 3 below, which shows two DRX configurations, Pattern A and Pattern B. DRX pattern A is the DRX pattern that the UE is configured with first. DRX pattern B is the DRX pattern the UE wants in order to address the IDC issues. It can be seen there is an offset in the Active Time instances and frequency of on-durations in the two configurations. The UE may require Pattern B in order to address the IDC problem, and the UE would hence send information to the network which the network can use to change the DRX configuration from Pattern A to Pattern B.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating another method according to various embodiments performed by a UE. The method in Fig. 4 may be performed by a UE or wireless device (e.g. the UE 612 or UE 700 as described later with reference to Figs. 6 and 7 respectively). The UE may perform the method in response to executing suitably formulated computer readable code. The computer readable code may be embodied or stored on a computer readable medium, such as a memory chip, optical disc, or other storage medium. The computer readable medium may be part of a computer program product.

The UE performing the method in Fig. 4 is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network. In step 402, the UE determines that use of the first communication resource for communications with a first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE.

In step 404, the UE sends, to the first network node, a first indication identifying the first communication resource (i.e. the communication resource that has the IDC problem).

In step 406 the UE receives, from the first network node, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource. In some embodiments, the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

The method may further comprise using the first DRX configuration for communications on the first communication resource. In this case, the method may further comprise using a non-DRX configuration for communications on the second communication resource.

The received first DRX configuration may be a modification of an existing DRX configuration used by the UE for the first communication resource. Step 402 may comprise determining that the issue with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations. In these embodiments, the first indication can further comprise an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations.

Optional steps 408, 410 and 412 in Fig. 4 illustrate a particular embodiment of the method of operating the UE. In step 408, the UE can determine that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE. Then, in step 410, the UE can send, to the first network node, a second indication identifying the second communication resource. In step 412, the UE receives, from the first network node, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

In this particular embodiment, the second configuration may be a second DRX configuration (with the first DRX configuration being different to the second DRX configuration). In addition or alternatively, the first indication can further comprise an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations, and the second indication can further comprise an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations or FDM operations.

In some embodiments, the first indication and the second indication are part of the same message to the first network node. Alternatively, the first indication and the second indication can be separate messages to the first network node.

In some embodiments, the UE can receive, from the first network node, a third indication indicating whether the UE is to send the second indication.

The first communication resource may be, or may be part of FR1 or FR2, and the second communication resource may be, or may be part of, the other one of FR1 and FR2.

In some embodiments, the UE can send, to the first network node, a fourth indication indicating whether the UE is capable of using a DRX configuration for only a subset of communication resources that the UE is configured to use to communicate with one or more network nodes. In these embodiments, the fourth indication can further indicate whether the UE is capable of using respective DRX configurations for different communication resources.

The communication resource may be any of: a frequency domain location and bandwidth, a carrier, a cell, a BWP, a bandwidth, one or more PRBs, a frequency domain location and bandwidth with subcarrier spacing information.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another method according to various embodiments performed by a first network node (e.g. an eNB or gNB). The method in Fig. 5 may be performed by a network node (e.g. the network node 610 or network node 800 as described later with reference to Fig. 6 and 8 respectively). The first network node may perform the method in response to executing suitably formulated computer readable code. The computer readable code may be embodied or stored on a computer readable medium, such as a memory chip, optical disc, or other storage medium. The computer readable medium may be part of a computer program product.

In step 502, the first network node receives, from a UE, a first indication identifying a first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource by the UE for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, IDC problems for other communications by the UE. The UE is configured to use at least the first communication resource and a second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in the communication network.

In step 504, the first network node sends, to the UE, a first DRX configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource.

In some embodiments, the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

The first DRX configuration sent in step 504 can be a modification of an existing DRX configuration used by the UE for the first communication resource.

In some embodiments, the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations.

Steps 506 and 508 in Fig. 5 represent two optional operations of the first network node according to an embodiment. In step 506, the first network node can receive, from the UE, a second indication identifying the second communication resource and indicating that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE. In step 508, the first network node sends, to the UE, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

The second configuration may be a second DRX configuration which is different to the second DRX configuration.

The first indication can further comprise an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations, and the second indication can further comprise an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations or FDM operations.

The first indication and the second indication can be part of the same message to the first network node. Alternatively, the first indication and the second indication can be separate messages to the first network node.

In these embodiments, the method can further comprise sending a third indication to the UE indicating whether the UE is to send the second indication.

The first communication resource may be, or may be part of FR1 or FR2, and the second communication resource may be, or may be part of, the other one of FR1 and FR2.

The method may further comprise the first network node receiving a fourth indication from the UE indicating whether the UE is capable of using a DRX configuration for only a subset of communication resources that the UE is configured to use to communicate with one or more network nodes.

The fourth indication can further indicate whether the UE is capable of using respective DRX configurations for different communication resources.

The communication resource may be any of: a frequency domain location and bandwidth, a carrier, a cell, a BWP, a bandwidth, one or more PRBs, a frequency domain location and bandwidth with subcarrier spacing information. In some embodiments, the first network node may, in response to receiving the first indication, determine whether the IDC problem for the first communication resource can be addressed by a single DRX configuration. Then the first network node can send the first DRX configuration in the event that it is determined that the IDC problem can be addressed by a single DRX configuration.

Fig. 6 shows an example of a communication system 600 in accordance with some embodiments.

In the example, the communication system 600 includes a telecommunication network 602 that includes an access network 604, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 606, which includes one or more core network nodes 608. The access network 604 includes one or more access network nodes, such as access network nodes 610a and 610b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as access network nodes 610), or any other similar 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The access network nodes 610 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices (also referred to interchangeably herein as user equipment (UE)), such as by connecting UEs 612a, 612b, 612c, and 612d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 612) to the core network 606 over one or more wireless connections. The access network nodes 610 may be, for example, 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)).

Unless otherwise indicated, the term ‘network node' is used herein to refer to access network nodes 610.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 600 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 600 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

The wireless devices/UEs 612 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 610 and other communication devices. Similarly, the access network nodes 610 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 612 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 602 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 602.

In the depicted example, the core network 606 connects the access network nodes 610 to one or more hosts, such as host 616. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 606 includes one more core network nodes (e.g. core network node 608) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the wireless devices/UEs, access network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 608. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

The host 616 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 604 and/or the telecommunication network 602, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 616 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include the provision of live and/or pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services, for example, retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, the communication system 600 of Fig. 6 enables connectivity between the wireless devices/UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2 ^nd Generation (2G), 3 ^rd Generation (3G), 4 ^th Generation (4G), 5 ^th Generation (5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g. 6 ^th Generation (6G)); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) Zig Bee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, the telecommunication network 602 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 602 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 602. For example, the telecommunications network 602 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, the UEs 612 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 604 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 604. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

In the example illustrated in Fig. 6, the hub 614 communicates with the access network 604 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g. UE 612c and/or 612d) and access network nodes (e.g. access network node 610b). In some examples, the hub 614 may be a controller, router, a content source and analytics node, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 614 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 606 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 614 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 610, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 614. As another example, the hub 614 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 614 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 614 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 614 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 614 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

The hub 614 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 610b. The hub 614 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 614 and UEs (e.g. UE 612c and/or 612d), and between the hub 614 and the core network 606. In other examples, the hub 614 is connected to the core network 606 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 614 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 604 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 610 while still connected via the hub 614 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 614 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 610b. In other embodiments, the hub 614 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 610b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Fig. 7 shows a wireless device or UE 700 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a wireless device/UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A wireless device/UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, 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). Alternatively, 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).

The UE 700 includes processing circuitry 702 that is operatively coupled via a bus 704 to an input/output interface 706, a power source 708, a memory 710, a communication interface 712, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 7. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The processing circuitry 702 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 710. The processing circuitry 702 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g. in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 702 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processing circuitry 702 may be operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other UE 700 components, such as the memory 710, to provide UE 700 functionality. For example, the processing circuitry 702 may be configured to cause the UE 702 to perform the methods as described with reference to Fig. 1.

In the example, the input/output interface 706 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 700. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g. a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), 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, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, the power source 708 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g. an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 708 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 708 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 700 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 708. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 708 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 700 to which power is supplied.

The memory 710 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 710 includes one or more application programs 714, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 716. The memory 710 may store, for use by the UE 700, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The memory 710 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) and/or Integrated Subscriber Identity Module (I SI M), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (IUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card'. The memory 710 may allow the UE 700 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 710, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

The processing circuitry 702 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 712. The communication interface 712 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 722. The communication interface 712 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g. another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 718 and/or a receiver 720 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g. optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 718 and receiver 720 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g. antenna 722) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In some embodiments, communication functions of the communication interface 712 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11 , Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 712, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g. once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g. to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g. when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g. a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g. a live video feed of a patient).

As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or controls a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are devices which are or which are embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence on the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 700 shown in Fig. 7. As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Fig. 8 shows a network node 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access network nodes such as 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)).

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). 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).

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multistandard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

The network node 800 includes processing circuitry 802, a memory 804, a communication interface 806, and a power source 808, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. The network node 800 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. In certain scenarios in which the network node 800 comprises multiple separate components (e.g. BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 800 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g. separate memory 804 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g. a same antenna 810 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 800 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 800, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 800.

The processing circuitry 802 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 800 components, such as the memory 804, to provide network node 800 functionality. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to cause the network node to perform the methods as described with reference to Fig. 2.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and the baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

The memory 804 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 802. The memory 804 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 802 and utilized by the network node 800. The memory 804 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 802 and/or any data received via the communication interface 806. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 and memory 804 is integrated. The communication interface 806 is used in wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network nodes, the access network, the core network, and/or a UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 806 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 816 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection.

In embodiments where the network node 800 is an access network node, the communication interface 806 also includes radio front-end circuitry 818 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 810. In embodiments where the network node 800 is a core network node, the core network node may not include radio frontend circuitry 818 and antenna 810. Radio front-end circuitry 818 comprises filters 820 and amplifiers 822. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may be connected to an antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 820 and/or amplifiers 822. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 810. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 810 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 818. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 802. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, the access network node 800 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 818, instead, the processing circuitry 802 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 810. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 812 is part of the communication interface 806. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 806 includes one or more ports or terminals 816, the radio front-end circuitry 818, and the RF transceiver circuitry 812, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 806 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 814, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

The antenna 810 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 810 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 818 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 810 is separate from the network node 800 and connectable to the network node 800 through an interface or port.

The antenna 810, communication interface 806, and/or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 810, the communication interface 806, and/or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. The power source 808 provides power to the various components of network node 800 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g. at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 808 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 800 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 800 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g. the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 808. As a further example, the power source 808 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

Embodiments of the network node 800 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 8 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. For example, the network node 800 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 800 and to allow output of information from the network node 800. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 800.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a host 900, which may be an embodiment of the host 616 of Fig. 6, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 900 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 900 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

The host 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input/output interface 906, a network interface 908, a power source 910, and a memory 912. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figs. 7 and 8, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 900.

The memory 912 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 914 and data 916, which may include user data, e.g. data generated by a UE for the host 900 or data generated by the host 900 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 900 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 914 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g. Versatile Video Coding (WC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g. FLAG, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g. handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 914 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 900 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 914 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1000 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1000 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, a wireless device/UE, a core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g. a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications 1002 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1000 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Hardware 1004 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1006 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1008a and 1008b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1008), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1006 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1008.

The VMs 1008 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1006. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1002 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1008, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, a VM 1008 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1008, and that part of hardware 1004 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1008 on top of the hardware 1004 and corresponds to the application 1002. Hardware 1004 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1004 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1004 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1010, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1002. In some embodiments, hardware 1004 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signalling can be provided with the use of a control system 1012 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Fig. 11 shows a communication diagram of a host 1102 communicating via a network node 1104 with a UE 1106 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 612a of Fig. 6 and/or UE 700 of Fig. 7), network node (such as network node 610a of Fig. 6 and/or network node 800 of Fig. 8), and host (such as host 616 of Fig. 6 and/or host 900 of Fig. 9) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Fig. 11.

Like host 900, embodiments of host 1102 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1102 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1102 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1106 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1150 extending between the UE 1106 and host 1102. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1150.

The network node 1104 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1102 and UE 1106. The connection 1160 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 606 of Fig. 6) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

The UE 1106 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1106 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific "app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1106 with the support of the host 1102. In the host 1102, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1150 terminating at the UE 1106 and host 1102. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1150 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1150. The OTT connection 1150 may extend via a connection 1160 between the host 1102 and the network node 1104 and via a wireless connection 1170 between the network node 1104 and the UE 1106 to provide the connection between the host 1102 and the UE 1106. The connection 1160 and wireless connection 1170, over which the OTT connection 1150 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1102 and the UE 1106 via the network node 1104, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1150, in step 1108, the host 1102 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1106. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1106 that shares data with the host 1102 without explicit human interaction. In step 1110, the host 1102 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1106. The host 1102 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1106. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1106 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1106. The transmission may pass via the network node 1104, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1112, the network node 1104 transmits to the UE 1106 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1102 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1114, the UE 1106 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1106 associated with the host application executed by the host 1102.

In some examples, the UE 1106 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1102. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1102. Accordingly, in step 1116, the UE 1106 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 1106. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1106 initiates, in step 1118, transmission of the user data towards the host 1102 via the network node 1104. In step 1120, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1104 receives user data from the UE 1106 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1102. In step 1122, the host 1102 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1106.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1106 using the OTT connection 1150, in which the wireless connection 1170 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the resolution of IDO problems for a UE, and thereby provide benefits to the OTT service such as improved content stability, higher content resolution, higher content frame rates, etc.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analysed by the host 1102. As another example, the host 1102 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1102 may collect and analyse real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g. controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1102 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1102 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1102 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analysing and/or transmitting data.

In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1150 between the host 1102 and UE 1106, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1102 and/or UE 1106. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1150 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1150 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1104. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1102. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or 'dummy' messages, using the OTT connection 1150 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

Although the computing devices described herein (e.g. UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware. In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the scope of the disclosure. Various exemplary embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

The following numbered statements set out some embodiments of the disclosure:

Group A Embodiments

1. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network, the method comprising: determining that use of the first communication resource for communications with a first network node may cause, and/or is causing, In-Device Coexistence, IDC, problems for other communications by the UE; sending, to the first network node, a first indication identifying the first communication resource; and receiving, from the first network node, a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource.

2. The method of Embodiment 1 , wherein the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

3. The method of Embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises: using the first DRX configuration for communications on the first communication resource.

4. The method of Embodiment 3, further comprising the step of: using a non-DRX configuration for communications on the second communication resource. 5. The method of any of Embodiments 1-4, wherein the received first DRX configuration is a modification of an existing DRX configuration used by the UE for the first communication resource.

6. The method of any of Embodiments 1-5, wherein the step of determining further comprises determining that the issue with the first communication resource can be addressed using time division multiplexing, TDM, operations.

7. The method of Embodiment 6, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations.

8. The method of any of Embodiments 1 -7, wherein the step of determining comprises determining that the second communication resource will not cause, and/or is not causing, IDC problems with other communications by the UE.

9. The method of any of Embodiments 1-7, further comprising the steps of: determining that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; sending, to the first network node, a second indication identifying the second communication resource; and receiving, from the first network node, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

10. The method of Embodiment 9, wherein the second configuration is a second DRX configuration, wherein the first DRX configuration is different to the second DRX configuration.

11. The method of Embodiment 9 or 10, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations, and the second indication further comprises an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations.

12. The method of Embodiment 9 or 10, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations, and the second indication further comprises an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using frequency division multiplexing, FDM, operations. 13. The method of any of Embodiments 9-12, wherein the first indication and the second indication are part of the same message to the first network node.

14. The method of any of Embodiments 9-12, wherein the first indication and the second indication are separate messages to the first network node.

15. The method of any of Embodiments 9-14, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from the first network node, a third indication indicating whether the UE is to send the second indication.

16. The method of any of Embodiments 1-15, wherein the first communication resource is, or is part of, Frequency Range 1, FR1, or Frequency Range 2, FR2, and the second communication resource is, or is part of, the other one of FR1 and FR2.

17. The method of any of Embodiments 1-16, further comprising the step of: sending, to the first network node, a fourth indication indicating whether the UE is capable of using a DRX configuration for only a subset of communication resources that the UE is configured to use to communicate with one or more network nodes.

18. The method of Embodiment 17, wherein the fourth indication further indicates whether the UE is capable of using respective DRX configurations for different communication resources.

19. The method of any of Embodiments 1-18, wherein a communication resource is any of: a frequency domain location and bandwidth, a carrier, a cell, a bandwidth part, BWP, a bandwidth, one or more physical resource blocks, PRBs, a frequency domain location and bandwidth with subcarrier spacing information.

20. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

Group B Embodiments

21 . A method performed by a first network node, wherein a user equipment, UE, is configured to use at least first and second communication resources for communications with one or more network nodes in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from the UE, a first indication identifying the first communication resource and indicating that use of the first communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, and/or is causing, InDevice Coexistence, IDC, problems for other communications by the UE; and sending, to the UE, a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration relating to the first communication resource that configures the UE to use DRX for the first communication resource.

22. The method of Embodiment 21, wherein the first DRX configuration does not relate to the second communication resource.

23. The method of Embodiment 21 or 22, wherein the sent first DRX configuration is a modification of an existing DRX configuration used by the UE for the first communication resource.

24. The method of any of Embodiments 21-23, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using Time Division Multiplexing, TDM, operations.

25. The method of any of Embodiments 21-24, further comprising the steps of: receiving, from the UE, a second indication identifying the second communication resource and indicating that use of the second communication resource for communications with the first network node may cause, or is causing, a respective IDC problem with other communications by the UE; and sending, to the UE, a second configuration relating to the second communication resource that configures the UE to use a different configuration for the second communication resource.

26. The method of Embodiment 25, wherein the second configuration is a second DRX configuration, wherein the first DRX configuration is different to the second DRX configuration.

27. The method of Embodiment 25 or 26, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using Time Division Multiplexing, TDM, operations, and the second indication further comprises an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using TDM operations.

28. The method of Embodiment 25 or 26, wherein the first indication further comprises an indication that the IDC problem with the first communication resource can be addressed using Time Division Multiplexing, TDM, operations, and the second indication further comprises an indication that the respective IDC problem with the second communication resource can be addressed using frequency division multiplexing, FDM, operations. 29. The method of any of Embodiments 25-28, wherein the first indication and the second indication are part of the same message to the first network node.

30. The method of any of Embodiments 25-28, wherein the first indication and the second indication are separate messages to the first network node.

31 . The method of any of Embodiments 25-30, wherein the method further comprises: sending, to the UE, a third indication indicating whether the UE is to send the second indication.

32. The method of any of Embodiments 21-31, wherein the first communication resource is, or is part of, Frequency Range 1, FR1, or Frequency Range 2, FR2, and the second communication resource is, or is part of, the other one of FR1 and FR2.

33. The method of any of Embodiments 21-32, further comprising the step of: receiving, from the UE, a fourth indication indicating whether the UE is capable of using a DRX configuration for only a subset of communication resources that the UE is configured to use to communicate with one or more network nodes.

34. The method of Embodiment 33, wherein the fourth indication further indicates whether the UE is capable of using respective DRX configurations for different communication resources.

35. The method of any of Embodiments 21-34, wherein a communication resource is any of: a frequency domain location and bandwidth, a carrier, a cell, a bandwidth part, BWP, a bandwidth, one or more physical resource blocks, PRBs, a frequency domain location and bandwidth with subcarrier spacing information.

36. The method of any of Embodiments 21-35, wherein the method further comprises: in response to receiving the first indication, determining whether the IDC problem for the first communication resource can be addressed by a single DRX configuration; and sending the first DRX configuration in the event that it is determined that the IDC problem can be addressed by a single DRX configuration.

37. The method of any of Embodiments 21-36, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment. Group C Embodiments

38. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processor, the computer or processor is caused to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments or the Group B embodiments.

39. A user equipment, UE, configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

40. A user equipment, UE, comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said UE is operative to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

41 . A first radio access network, RAN, node, configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

42. A first radio access network, RAN, node comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said first RAN node is operative to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

43. A user equipment, comprising: processing circuitry configured to cause the user equipment to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

44. A network node, the network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to cause the network node to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

45. A user equipment (UE), the UE 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 embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

46. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

47. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

48. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

49. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

50. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

51 . The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

52. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

53. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

54. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

55. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

56. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

57. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application. 58. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

59. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

60. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

61. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

62. The method of any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

63. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

64. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and/or the user equipment.

65. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

66. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

67. The host of the any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

68. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

69. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.