TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for operating a network node in a wireless network.

BACKGROUND

Wireless cellular networks are built up of cells, each cell defined by a certain coverage area of a radio base station (BS) or network node. The BSs communicate with terminals/user equipment (UE) in the network wirelessly. The communication may be carried out in either paired or unpaired spectrum. In case of paired spectrum, the downlink, DL, and uplink, UL, transmission directions are separated in frequency, called Frequency Division Duplex (FDD).

In case of unpaired spectrum, the downlink DL and uplink UL share or use the same spectrum, using a technology called Time Division Duplex (TDD). As the name implies, the DL and UL are separated in the time domain, typically with guard periods (GP) between them. A guard period serves several purposes. One of the most essential purpose is to allow the processing circuitry at the BS and UE sufficient time to switch between transmission and reception mode. However this is typically a fast procedure and does not significantly contribute to the requirement of the guard period size. There is typically one guard period allocated when switching downlink-to-uplink and one guard period allocated when switching uplink-to-downlink. However, since the guard period at the uplink-to-downlink switch only needs to provide enough time to allow BS and UE to switch between reception and transmission mode, and consequently typically is small, it is for simplicity neglected in the following description. The guard period at the downlink-to-uplink switch, GP, however, must be sufficiently large to allow a UE to receive a (time-delayed) DL grant, scheduling the UL, and transmit the UL signal with proper timing advance (compensating for the propagation delay) such that it is received in the UL part of the frame at the BS. In fact, the guard period at the uplink-to-downlink switch is created with an offset to the timing advance. Thus, the GP should be larger than two times the propagation time towards a UE at the cell edge, otherwise, the UL and DL signals in the cell will interfere. Because of this, the GP is typically chosen to depend on the cell size such that larger cells (i.e. larger inter-site distances) have a larger GP and vice versa. Additionally, a further purpose of the GP is to reduce DL-to-UL interference between BSs by allowing a certain propagation delay between cells without having the DL transmission of a first BS entering the UL reception of a second BS. In a typical macro network, the DL transmission power can be on the order of 20 dB larger than the UL transmission power, and the pathloss between base stations, perhaps above roof top and in LOS, may often be much smaller than the pathloss between base stations and terminals (in NLOS). Hence, if the UL is interfered by the DL of other cells, so called cross-link interference, the UL performance can be seriously degraded. Because of the large transmit power discrepancy between UL and DL and/or propagation conditions, cross-link interference can be detrimental to system performance not only for the co-channel case (where DL interferes UL on the same carrier) but also for the adjacent channel case (where DL of one carrier interferes with UL on an adjacent carrier). Because of this, TDD macro networks are typically operated in a synchronized and aligned fashion where the symbol timing is aligned and a semi-static TDD UL/DL pattern is used which is the same for all the cells in the NW; by aligning uplink and downlink periods so that they do not occur simultaneously. The idea is to reduce interference between uplink and downlink. Typically, operators with adjacent TDD carriers also synchronize their TDD UL/DL patterns to avoid adjacent channel cross-link interference.

In an example, where the GL is not of sufficient length, a victim BS (V) may at least potentially be interfered by an aggressor (A), when the aggressor sends a DL signal to a device in its cell. This is particularly typical when ducting events occur, resulting in remote interference.

Thus, there is a need for an improved method for mitigating remote interference.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An objective of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a solution which mitigates or solves the drawbacks described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objective is achieved by the subject matter described herein. Further advantageous implementation forms of the invention are further defined herein.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the above mentioned and other objectives are achieved by a method for detecting remote interference by operating a first network node of a first wireless network, the method comprising detecting a second set of reference symbols comprised in a second reference signal transmitted by a second network node of a second wireless network, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node and transmitting a first reference signal comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the first network node.

In a first embodiment of the first aspect, detecting the remote interference further comprises determining an interference profile during a time interval, and, wherein the interference profile is indicative of a decline in interference over the time interval.

In a second embodiment according to the first aspect, the first set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the first network node.

In a third embodiment according to the first aspect the second set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the second network node.

In a fourth embodiment according to the first aspect, the first set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a first mapping relation, the first mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the first network node.

In a fifth embodiment according to the first aspect, the second set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a second mapping relation, the second mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the second network node.

In a sixth embodiment according to the first aspect, the method further comprising repeatedly receiving the second reference signal comprising the second set of reference symbols indicating that the remote interference remains.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the above mentioned and other objectives are achieved by a method for a second network node of a second wireless network, the method comprising transmitting a second reference signal comprising a second set of reference symbols, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node, receiving a first reference signal comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of a first network node.

The advantages of the second aspect are at least the same as for the first aspect.

It is noted that embodiments of the present disclosure relate to all possible combinations of features recited in the claims. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which are incorporated into this section by reference. A more complete understanding of embodiments of the invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 illustrates the interference or remote interference problem.

Fig. 2 illustrates the principle of applying a guard period, to avoid DL to UL interference.

Fig. 3 shows a time-frequency grid according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 shows uplink-downlink configurations according to one or more embodiments according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a remote interference scenario.

Fig. 6 illustrates remote interference from another country.

Fig. 7 illustrates generation of a reference symbol RS according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates generation of reference symbols according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates generation of reference symbols according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 illustrates a table indicative of mapping of information according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 shows a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 shows details of a network node according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 13 shows details of a wireless device according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 14 shows components of a User Equipment according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 16 shows a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer according to one or more embodiments. Fig. 17 shows a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 18 illustrates a flowchart of a method according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 20 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 21 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and user equipment according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 22 depicts a method according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 23: shows a virtualization apparatus according to one or more embodiments.

Fig. 24 shows a flowchart of a method according to one or more embodiments.

A more complete understanding of embodiments of the invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description. New radio (NR) is the radio interface for fifth generation of wireless networks (5g). NR design is based on a flexible structure where any time domain resource for transmission can be allocated for DownLink (DL) or UpLink (UL) or a combination of both. If the DL and UL transmission occur on different carriers, it resembles Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) type of operation in e.g. LTE. However, if UL and DL transmissions occur on the same carrier it resembles Time Division Duplex (TDD) type of operation in LTE. Due to the built-in flexible design in NR, the NR operation is sometimes referred to as Dynamic TDD operation. This enables NR to maximally utilize available radio resources in the most efficient way for both traffic directions, e.g. UL and DL. The traditional LTE technology only supports static TDD where time domain resources are split between downlink and uplink based on a long-term configuration. This can be very inefficient, particularly when only one traffic direction exists since the other dedicated time resource for the other direction is wasted.

NR operation based on dynamic TDD, in particular, will bring significant performance gain at the low to medium load compared to the traditional fixed TDD in LTE. This is true since dynamic TDD may be considered to not have any restriction on the usage of radio resource in a certain time period.

The term “interference” used herein is used interchangeably with the term “remote interference” and may refer to interference occurring mainly due to some atmospheric conditions, such as a ducting phenomenon. In the context of the present disclosure, e.g. for synchronized TD-LTE networks, remote interference is typically strong, e.g., about - 130dBm~-96dBm/PRB, and lasting for a relatively long period, e.g. existing or remaining for several hours. Such remote interference is typically caused by a downlink signal of remote base station, e.g., 150km~320km away, can be experienced by a base station in some atmospheric conditions that is favorable for producing tropospheric bending of VHF, UHF and/or microwave radio waves, such as a ducting phenomenon. Long-term statistical data shows that typical strong remote interference comes from less than 150km (about 0.5ms) for eNB located in inland cities, and comes from 280km~320km (about 0.93ms-1.07ms) for eNB located in coastal cities.

In this invention disclosure a network node is referred to as a base station. This is a more general term and can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB. MeNB, SeNB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), road side unit (RSU), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME etc), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC) etc.

The term“radio access technology” used herein, or RAT, may refer to any RAT e.g. UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band internet of things (NB-loT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT (NR), 4G, 5G, etc. Any of the first and the second nodes may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

The term“reference signal” used herein can be any physical signal or physical channel. Examples of downlink reference signals are PSS, SSS, CRS, PRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, NRS, NPSS, NSSS, SS, MBSFN RS etc. Examples of uplink reference signals are SRS, DMRS etc.

The term“time interval” used herein may refer to a selection of any of a duration of a radio frame, a duration of a sub-frame a slot or a duration of a symbol. The initial part may be the initial bits of a radio frame, a sub-frame, a slot or a symbol.

Fig. 1 illustrates the interference or remote interference, Rl, problem, e.g. in a 5G NR network. As shown in Figure 1 , if two cells have different traffic directions or transmission directions, remote interference may occur. Access point, AP2, or QQ160b may in uplink transmission direction experience remote interference from access point AP1 or QQ160, since AP1 QQ160 is transmitting in downlink transmission direction. In a synchronized TDD network, this can be mitigated by the use of guard periods. However, when the propagation conditions temporarily are enhanced, e.g. due to a ducting phenomenon, the increased propagation delay can no longer be handled by the guard period. Figure 1 also illustrates that user equipment QQ110b may experience or cause remote interference to a second user equipment QQ110c due to the ducting phenomenon.

Fig. 2 illustrates the principle of applying a GP, at the downlink-to-uplink switch, to avoid DL- to UL interference between BSs, which is the focus of this invention.

In Fig. 2, a victim BS V)is (at least potentially) interfered by an aggressor BS A. The aggressor sending a DL signal to a device or user equipment UE in its cell, the DL signal also reaching the victim BS V (the propagation loss is not enough to protect it from the signals of A) which is trying to receive a signal from another terminal or UE (not shown in the figure) in its cell. The signal has propagated a distance (d) and due to propagation delay, the experienced frame structure alignment of A at V is shifted/delayed t second, proportional to the propagation distance d. As can be seen from the figure, although the DL part of the aggressor BS (A) is delayed, it does not enter the UL region of the victim (V) due to the guard period used. The system design therefore serves its purpose. As a side note, the aggressor DL signal does of course undergo attenuation, but may due to differences in transmit powers in terminals and base stations as well as propagation condition differences for base station-to-base station links and terminal-to-base station links be very high relative to the received victim UL signal.

It could be noted that the terminology victim and aggressor is only used here to illustrate why typical TDD systems are designed as they are. The victim can also act as an aggressor and vice versa and even simultaneously since channel reciprocity exists between the BSs.

Multi-operator TDD operation

In case the cells of a TDD network are not within the same operator network but are locaeted in the same geographical area, interference between the operator networks will be present unless also the cells between the networks are synchronized. This applies both in the case when the networks operate in the same spectrum (co-channel), or in the case when the networks operate in neighboring spectrum (adjacent-channel).

Synchronization may e.g. be achieved by using a common clock to synchronize to (e.g. a GPS) and also a common understanding of the TDD configuration used (typically avoiding simultaneous transmission and reception by different cells). Enforcing such a coordination could e.g. be performed on an operator voluntary basis or by regulatory requirements.

NR Frame Structure

The RAT next generation mobile wireless communication system (5G) or new radio (NR), supports a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. The later includes deployment at both low frequencies (100s of MHz), similar to the RAT LTE today, and very high frequencies (mm waves in the tens of GHz).

Fig. 3 shows a time-frequency grid according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Similar to LTE, NR uses OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the downlink (i.e. from a network node, gNB, eNB, or base station, to a user equipment or UE). The basic NR physical resource over an antenna port can thus be seen as a time-frequency grid as illustrated in 3, where a resource block (RB) in a 14-symbol slot is shown. A resource block corresponds to 12 contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain. Resource blocks are numbered in the frequency domain, starting with 0 from one end of the system bandwidth. Each resource element corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval.

Different subcarrier spacing values are supported in NR. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also referred to as different numerologies) are given by Af = (15 x 2“) kHz where a e (0,1, 2, 3, 4). Af = 15kHz is the basic (or reference) subcarrier spacing that is also used in LTE.In the time domain, downlink and uplink transmissions in NR will be organized into equally-sized sub-frames of 1 ms each, similar to LTE. A sub-frame is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration. The slot length for subcarrier spacing Af = (15 x 2“) kHz is l/2“ ms. There is only one slot per sub-frame at Af = 15kHz and a slot consists of 14 OFDM symbols.

Downlink transmissions are dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each slot the gNB transmits downlink control information (DCI) about which UE data is to be transmitted to and which resource blocks in the current downlink slot the data is transmitted on. This control information is typically transmitted in the first one or two OFDM symbols in each slot in NR. The control information is carried on the Physical Control Channel (PDCCH) and data is carried on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). A UE first detects and decodes PDCCH and if a PDCCH is decoded successfully, it then decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the decoded control information in the PDCCH. In addition to PDCCH and PDSCH, there are also other channels and reference signals transmitted in the downlink.

In one example, a set of reference symbols may be mapped to physical resources of the physical resource grid described above by a mapping relation or reference symbol, RS, resource mapping. The mapping relation may e.g. be a predetermined function of a network identity.

Uplink data transmissions, carried on Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), are also dynamically scheduled by the gNB by transmitting a DCI. In case of TDD operation, the DCI (which is transmitted in the DL region) always indicates a scheduling offset so that the PUSCH is transmitted in a slot in the UL region.

Uplink-downlink configurations in TDD

In TDD, some sub-frames/slots are allocated for uplink transmissions and some sub frames/slots are allocated for downlink transmissions. The switch between downlink and uplink occurs in the so called special sub-frames (LTE) or flexible slots (NR).

In LTE, seven different uplink-downlink configurations are provided. Fig. 4 shows uplink-downlink configurations according to one or more embodiments according to the present disclosure. Fig. 4 shows a table, Table 1. Table 2 shows LTE uplink- downlink configurations (from technical specification 36.211 , Table 4.2-2). The size of the guard period (and hence the number of symbols for DwPTS (downlink transmission in a special sub-frame) and UpPTS (uplink transmission in a special sub-frame) in the special sub-frame) can also be configured from a set of possible selections.

NR on the other hand provides many different uplink-downlink configurations. There are typically 10 to 320 slots per radio frame (where each radio frame has a duration of 10 ms) depending on subcarrier spacing. The OFDM symbols in a slot are classified as 'downlink' (denoted O' in Fig. 10 Table 2), 'flexible' (denoted 'X'), or 'uplink' (denoted ΊG). A semi-static TDD UL-DL configuration may be used where the TDD configuration is RRC configured using the IE TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon:

TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon ::= SEQUENCE {

-- Reference SCS used to determine the time domain boundaries in the UL-DL pattern which must be common across all subcarrier specific

-- virtual carriers, i.e., independent of the actual subcarrier spacing using for data transmission.

-- Only the values 15 or 30 kHz (<6GHz), 60 or 120 kHz (>6GHz) are applicable.

-- Corresponds to L1 parameter 'reference-SCS' (see 38.211 , section FFS_Section) referenceSubcarrierSpacing SubcarrierSpacing

OPTIONAL,

-- Periodicity of the DL-UL pattern. Corresponds to L1 parameter 'DL-UL-transmission- periodicity' (see 38.211 , section FFS_Section)

dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, ms1 , ms1 p25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, ms10} OPTIONAL,

-- Number of consecutive full DL slots at the beginning of each DL-UL pattern.

-- Corresponds to L1 parameter 'number-of-DL-slots' (see 38.211 , Table 4.3.2-1) nrofDownlinkSlots INTEGER (C maxNrofSlots)

OPTIONAL, -- Number of consecutive DL symbols in the beginning of the slot following the last full DL slot (as derived from nrofDownlinkSlots).

-- If the field is absent or released, there is no partial-downlink slot.

-- Corresponds to L1 parameter 'number-of-DL-symbols-common' (see 38.211 , section FFS_Section).

nrofDownlinkSymbols INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1)

OPTIONAL, -- Need R

-- Number of consecutive full UL slots at the end of each DL-UL pattern.

-- Corresponds to L1 parameter 'number-of-UL-slots' (see 38.211 , Table 4.3.2-1) nrofUplinkSlots INTEGER (C maxNrofSlots)

OPTIONAL,

-- Number of consecutive UL symbols in the end of the slot preceding the first full UL slot (as derived from nrofUplinkSlots).

-- If the field is absent or released, there is no partial-uplink slot.

-- Corresponds to L1 parameter 'number-of-UL-symbols-common' (see 38.211 , section FFS_Section)

nrofUplinkSymbols INTEGER (0..maxNrofSymbols-1)

OPTIONAL

-- Need R

Or alternatively, the slot format can be dynamically indicated with a Slot Format Indicator (SFI) conveyed with DCI Format 2_0. Regardless if dynamic or semi-static TDD configuration is used in NR, the number of UL and DL slots, as well as the guard period (the number of UL and DL symbols in the flexible slot(s)) may be almost arbitrarily configured within the TDD periodicity. This allows for very flexible uplink-downlink configurations.

Atmospheric ducting

In certain weather conditions and in certain regions of the world a ducting phenomenon can happen in the atmosphere. The appearance of the duct is dependent on for example temperature and humidity and when it appears it can“channel” the signal to help it propagate a significantly longer distance than if the duct was not present. An atmospheric duct is a layer in which rapid decrease in the refractivity of the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) occurs. In this way, atmospheric ducts can trap the propagating signals in the ducting layer, instead of radiating out in space. Thus, most of the signal energy propagates in ducting layer, which acts as a wave guide. Therefore, trapped signals can propagate through beyond-line-of-sight distances with relatively low path loss, sometimes even lower than in line-of-sight propagation. A ducting event is typically temporary and can have a time duration from a couple of minutes to several hours. This phenomena may result in remote interference, that needs to be managed according to the present disclosure.

Remote Interference Management (RIM)

To mitigate DL-to-UL interference occurring due to ducting events in TDD macro deployments (so called remote interference), several mechanisms exists. For instance, the aggressor BS may increase its GP (and thereby reduce the number of DL symbols in its cell). While this reduces DL capacity in the aggressor cell, it may reduce the UL interference level in the victim cell and therefore be beneficial to the overall network performance. As such a measure mutes resources in one cell to protect resources in another cell, it is crucial to only apply the mechanism when the remote BS aggressor is actually causing interference to the victim, i.e. when a tropospheric ducting event occurs. Thus, the (potential) aggressor BS needs to be made aware of that it is causing interference to a (potential) victim BS in order to know when to apply the remote interference mitigation mechanism.

In some proposed remote interference mitigation schemes, the victim of remote interference transmits a reference signal (RS) in certain time locations in order to make aggressor(s) aware that they are causing interference to the victim. Since the propagation channel is reciprocal in TDD systems, the aggressor would receive the RS at the same signal strength as the victim receives the aggressor’s interfering signal (given that the same TX power and TX/RX antenna patterns are used for both transmissions). A potential aggressor BS would then monitor certain time locations for RSs transmitted by potential victims, and upon detection of an RS sequence it would infer that it is causing remote interference to a certain victim BS (whereon it may apply a remote interference mitigation mechanism).

Such an RS is typically transmitted by the victim at the end of the DL region (right before the GP) and the potential aggressor monitors the start of the UL region (right after the GP) for transmitted RSs.

Combining the knowledge of the TDD system design and the presence of atmospheric conditions such as a duct, the distance d shown in Fig. 2, where a first node or a“victim base station, BS” experience interference from as second node or an“aggressor BS”, is greatly increased. In other words, interference from the second node is experienced by the first node at a much greater distance than normal due to the ducting phenomena or signal propagation phenomena. Since the phenomenon is only appearing in certain parts of the world under certain conditions, this has typically not been considered in designs of cellular systems using unpaired spectrum. The implication is that a DL transmission can suddenly enter the UL region as interference (I), which is illustrated in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 illustrates a remote interference scenario. Fig. 5 illustrates a single radio link, but when the atmospheric ducting occurs and thus signal propagation conditions are enhanced, a BS can potentially be interfered by thousands of other base stations, e.g. experience remote interference from distant base stations. The closer the aggressor, the shorter the propagation delay, and the stronger the interference.

Fig. 6 illustrates remote interference from another country. Consider now that the remote interference in the UL, typically due to the ducting phenomenon, is coming from another operator/network/country which typically is synchronized in time to the victim network and avoids interference by aligning the TDD configuration. Still, this synchronization and alignment is not enough in the presence of a duct phenomenon, as the propagation distance is much greater than accounted for by typical guard periods in the system design. Interference will occur between operators, which typically is difficult to coordinate and avoid.

The main concept of the present disclosure, is to provide knowledge to a receiver from which network a reference signal is received from and/or that a second receiver is experiencing interference. This knowledge that a second receiver is experiencing interference can be used to indicate that a node is experiencing interference or Rl. This knowledge may additionally or alternatively be used to indicate that a ducting phenomenon exists. This may be accomplished by including information about the “network ID” in a special reference sequence. E.g. by using the network ID to generate the reference sequence and/or by using mapping of the reference sequence to the physical resources, used to transmit it, to indicate the network ID.

In one embodiment, a method for detecting remote interference by operating a first network node QQ160 of a first wireless network is provided the method comprising detecting a second set of reference symbols comprised in a second reference signal RS2 transmitted by a second network node QQ160b of a second wireless network, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node QQ160b, transmitting (2420) a first reference signal (RS1) comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the first network node QQ160.

Fig. 24 shows a flowchart of a method 2400 according to one or more embodiments herein.

In one embodiment, a method 2400 for operating a first network node QQ160 of a first wireless network is provided. The method 2400 comprising:

Step 2410: detecting remote interference Rl following a switch from DL to UL transmission by detecting a second set of reference symbols comprised in a second reference signal RS2 transmitted by a second network node QQ160b of a second wireless network. The second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node QQ160b.

The first network node QQ160 is typically communicating with user equipments, UEs, served by the first network node QQ160 of the first wireless network. The second network node QQ160b is typically communicating with user equipments, UEs, served by the second network node QQ160b of the second wireless network.

The first and second wireless networks are typically at least partially using overlapping resources and are operating using Time Division Multiplex, TDM, technology. Operating using TDM comprises periodically switching transmission direction from DL to UL and from UL to DL, i.e. performing switches in transmission direction between DL and UL.

Remote interference is further described in relation to Fig. 5. E.g. referring to interference caused by network node, which normally are not considered adjacent.

Detecting reference symbols comprised in a reference signal can be performed by any suitable method known to the skilled person, e.g. by correlating the reference signal with a predetermined set of reference sequences.

Network identity or network ID comprises means to identify different networks, e.g. being interfered by each other. The network ID may be a unique identity or be an existing identifier in the network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) ID, a Mobile Country Code (MCC), a Mobile Network Code (MNC), Network Color Code (NCC).

In one example, the second network node QQ160b is an aggressor node A and the first network node QQ160 is a victim node V. As the propagation is reciprocal, an aggressor node may also be a victim note and vice versa.

The method further comprises: Step 2420: transmitting a first reference signal RS1 comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the first network node QQ160.

The second network node QQ160b may then receive the first reference signal RS1 comprising a first set of reference symbols and obtain the knowledge that a ducting phenomenon exist and that the first network node QQ160 is likely experiencing interference or Rl. The knowledge that a ducting phenomenon exist may e.g. be obtained by comparing the first reference signal RS1 to historically received reference signals. Additionally or alternatively, the knowledge that a ducting phenomenon exist, by comparing a distance between the first network node QQ160 and the second network node QQ160b, to a nominal or typical distance between adjacent cells. E.g. if a nominal coverage range is 10 km, distances over 20 km may be considered as indicative of a ducting phenomenon existing.

In one embodiment, detecting the remote interference Rl further comprises determining an interference profile during a time interval following the switch from DL to UL transmission, and determining that the interference profile is indicative of a decline in interference over the time interval. The time interval may be a selection of any of a duration of a radio frame, a duration of a sub-frame a slot or a duration of a symbol. The initial part may be the initial bits of a radio frame, a sub-frame, a slot or a symbol.

In one example, the interference level strictly drops from a start of a slot to the end of a slot. This may then be seen as indicative of Dl transmissions interfering with a slot dedicated for UL transmission.

In one example, with reference to Figure 3, an uplink period of the victim node V follows a guard period or a switch from DL to UL transmission. An interference profile during this uplink time interval may be determined, e.g. by measuring a noise level over the time interval. As can be seen from Figure 3, the DL period of the Aggressor node overlaps with the uplink period of the victim node for a part or initial part of the time interval. An interference profile may e.g. be determined as a linear projection such as a line from a noise level at a beginning of the UL time interval to a noise level at an end of the UL time interval. In other words, an interference profile that is indicative of a decline in interference over the time interval would be indicative of base stations further away causing remote interference, as further described above.

In one example, described in view of Fig. 5, the first network node QQ160 is a victim node V and the second network node QQ160b is the aggressor node A. The victim node V and the aggressor node A are not neighboring nodes or adjacent nodes under normal conditions. However when a ducting phenomenon exists, the victim node V will receive signal transmissions from the aggressor node A at signal strength levels as if it was a neighboring node. Due to the large distance between the aggressor node A and the victim node V, the time interval assigned for downlink transmission at the aggressor node A will overlap with the time interval assigned for uplink transmission at the victim node V. Interference or Rl may then be detected at the victim node V by determining an interference profile during the time interval assigned for uplink transmission at the victim node V and determining that the interference profile is indicative of a decline in interference over the time interval.

In one aspect of the invention, a sequence of the reference symbol is used to indicate a network identity of an aggressor and/or victim.

In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the first network node QQ160 and/or the second set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the second network node QQ160b. This embodiment is further described in relation to Figure 5.

In yet an aspect of the invention, a mapping of reference symbols to physical resources is used to indicate a network identity of an aggressor and/or victim.

In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a first mapping relation, the first mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the first network node QQ160. In one embodiment, the second set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a second mapping relation, the second mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the second network node (QQ160b). These embodiments are further described in relation to Figure 8.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises repeatedly receiving the second reference signal RS2 comprising the second set of reference symbols indicating that the remote interference Rl remains.

In one embodiment, a method for a second network node QQ160b of a second wireless network is provided, the method comprising:

transmitting a second reference signal RS2 comprising a second set of reference symbols, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node QQ160b and receiving a first reference signal RS1 comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of a first network node QQ160. In other words, by sending RS2, the first network node is enabled to detect the network identity of the second network node. The first network node can then send RS1 to make the second network node aware that a network node in a different wireless network is interfered by the second network node.

Advantages of the proposed solution

The disclosed disclosure has the advantage that TDD networks, by performing the disclosed method, can understand the source of interference in case of inter-network interference. The source is determined based on the detected reference signal being either from its own network where the operator has control of the RS allocation, or, from another network where a“network ID” can be detected without knowing any details of the actual RS allocation of the aggressor network.

If a network has knowledge of a neighboring operator interfering, then bilateral discussions can be initiated on to how to avoid such a situation and can also be used in communication with regulatory bodies in the region for example. It will also help in the intra-operator interference mitigation to discard such detected RSs that are coming from other network IDs than its own.

Detailed description of Examples of the proposed embodiments

Fig. 7 illustrates generation of a reference symbol RS according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

5.1 In one embodiment, an adaptive reference signal structure is provided. The main concept of the present disclosure includes a“network ID” in the generation of the reference signal and/or the sequence of the reference signal.

A reference sequence of a reference symbol is typically generated by different seed initialization (and/or e.g. time reference) of a pre-defined sequence generator, or for example having pre-defined sequences to select from. In addition to this, the present disclosure adds a dependency on a“network ID” which allows an operator to identify if interference is coming from its own network or another operator network.

In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols may be generated based at least on the network identity of the first network node QQ160. In other words, the Network ID is used when generating the reference sequence of the first set of reference symbols is related to the first wireless network. The first set of reference symbols may include a single reference symbol or a plurality of reference symbols. Generation of the first set of reference symbols is further described below. In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols may be generated based at least on a seed and/or a time reference, e.g. a current time obtained according to a suitable method known in the art. In one embodiment, the seed is generated at least based on the Network ID. In one example, the seed is comprising 31 bits and the Network ID is used to generate 10 out of those 31 bits, e.g. in a similar manner to how a network color code is generated in GSM.

It is understood that the second set of reference symbols can be generated based on a network ID of the second network node in a similar manner.

Examples of reference symbols and/or reference (signal) sequences generated are Zadoff- Chu sequences, where a different Zadoff-Chu sequence may be selected to convey different information, or PN-sequences such as Gold-sequences or m-sequences, or Omega sequences, or ZC Sequences with m Sequence Cover (ZCxM), where different initialization seeds may be used to convey information.

For instance, consider a length-31 Gold-sequence defined by of length^™, where

where ^c = ¹⁶⁰⁰ _an d the first m-sequence ^Xl ^ shall be initialized with a seed c ₁ (q) = ΐ, c ₁ (h) = q, h = ΐ,2,...bq - _{|-he jnj} f _ja|jza f _{jon 0} f the second m-sequence, ^Xl ^ , is denoted by

In some embodiments, specific bits in the initialization seed is associated with the network ID n _NW -w while other bits are associated with a sequence which may depend on the gNB ID or some other form of identifier, here generically labeled n _!D . In other words, the first set of reference symbols may be generated based at least on the network identity of the first network node QQ160 and the gNB ID. In one example, the initialization seed is defined as follows:

Cjnit = (2 ¹⁰ n _NW -w + n _|D )mod2 ³¹

That is, the 21 MSBs are associated with the network ID n _NW-ID and the 10 LSBs are associated with the other ID n _!D . Naturally, the sequence seed may in other embodiments also depend on other input parameters. Other examples of signal sequences is stretched-split-stacked-summed (S4) sequence, also referred to as added cyclically shifted (ACS) sequences. Using this technique, a new sequence type with larger set of reference symbols and/or reference sequences can be generated/created from an existing reference sequence while still having good correlation properties. For example, when applied to ZC sequences, the technique allows doubling of the number of reference sequences while retaining the original auto-correlation magnitude and slightly reducing (i.e. improving) the worst-case cross-correlation magnitude. For another example, applying the S4 technique to Gold sequences, the cross-correlation properties can even improve dramatically, while at the same time again increasing the number of sequences. Moreover, if appropriately selecting, from a set of S4 ZC sequences, a subset of equal size as the full set of ZC of the same length, then that set of S4 ZC will (besides lower worst-case cross-correlation than ZC) have lower PAPR and lower worst-case cubic metric (CM) than ZC.

One way of creating ACS sequence is as follows. Let L be the desired sequence length and select an integer M and a base sequence length p so that M L > p holds. For each base sequence (e.g. for each of p - 1 Zadoff-Chu sequences, indexed as u = 0, 1, ... , p - 1), one should then perform the following steps:

“Stretch” the sequence by performing a p-point DFT, 0-padding to length M L, and performing an (M L)-point IDFT

Split the resulting sequence into M parts each of length L

Sum all parts element-wise (“stack and sum”)

The resulting sequence can then be normalized as desired to form the final sequences x _u (n), n = 0,1, ... , L— 1. This method is illustrated in Figure 6 for the case L = 72, p = 139, and M = 2.

Fig. 8 illustrates generation of reference symbols according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, Fig. 8 illustrates construction of reference symbols in the form of S4 sequences illustrated for the case L = 72, p = 139, and M = 2.

One embodiment includes that while generating the sequence of length p (=139 in Fig. 8), specific bits of the initialization seed are associated with Network ID and rest of the initialization bits can be associated with gNB ID or some other form of identifier. With this approach, selection of p can also be dependent on the requirements of the size of the gNB ID space, to ensure that all gNB IDs (or some other form of identifier) are covered. 5.2 In yet an aspect of the disclosure, different mapping of reference symbols onto the physical resources are used to indicate the Network ID. In other words, the mapping of reference symbols to physical resources can be used to determine a Network ID. In one example, the physical resources are split into N groups, and a reference symbols detected in physical resource comprised in a group n of the N groups indicates a Network ID = n or indicates a Network ID = f(n), where f is a predetermined function. The predetermined function f may further depend on additional parameters, such as gNB/gNB-set ID.

This aspect of the invention includes a“Network ID” in the mapping of the reference signal to the physical resources. The mapping can differ in both frequency and/or time domain.

Fig. 9 illustrates generation of reference symbols according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, Fig. 9 illustrates RS mapping conveying the“Network ID”.

Also in this case, the RS mapping for network identification is separated from the network specific RS mapping to assist the network in detecting intra-network-remote-interference.

In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources, where the mapping is based at least on the network identity of the first network node QQ160 and/or the network identity of the second network node QQ160b.

In an embodiment, information indicative of the mapping or the aggressor information ID can be designed such that part of the bits are encoded by a gNB/gNB-set ID, and the network ID is encoded in the rest of the information bits.

In one embodiment, the mapping is based at least on the network identity of the first network node QQ160 and/or the network identity of the second network node QQ160b and/or gNB/gNB-set ID.

In one example, different mapping of reference symbols onto the physical resources are used to indicate the Network ID and the and gNB/gNB-set ID. In other words, the mapping of reference symbols to physical resources can be used to determine a Network ID and gNB/gNB-set ID. In one example, the physical resources are split into N groups, and the mapping of reference symbols to a group n of the N groups may be performed by a predetermined function, dependent on the Network ID and the and gNB/gNB-set ID, e.g. n=f ¹ (Network ID, gNB), where the predetermined function f ¹ () may be an inverse function of the predetermined function f(), described above.

Fig. 10 illustrates a table indicative of mapping of information according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 10 shows a table, Table 2, which illustrates an example where information indicative of the mapping or the aggressor information ID has 22bits in total, where the 20 most significant bits carry the gNB ID or some other form of identifier and the least 2 bits are used to indicate the network ID. In this example, it is assumed that for each radio frame (10 ms), the first set of reference symbols is transmitted as a signal RS1 on both a sub-frame 1 and a sub-frame 6 of a radio frame, before the GP for DL to UL switching. In addition, there are eight different RS sequences that may be selected for aggressor identification. In other words, the first set of reference symbols are selected from the eight different RS sequences. The ID of the reference symbol, RS, sequence sent on sub-frame 1 is determined by the 3 most significant bits of the information indicative of the mapping or the aggressor information ID, while the ID of the RS sequence sent on sub-frame 6 is indicated by the fourth, fifth and the sixth information bits of the information indicative of the mapping or the aggressor information ID.

The time (frame number in this example) to transmit RS depends on the value of the 16 least information bits (bit numbers 7 to 22 in Table 2) contained in the aggressor information ID. For instance, when the (UTC time in second ^* 100) mod 2 ¹⁶ is the same as the last 16 bit of the aggressor information ID, then, the gNB/glMB-set sends the RS sequences in both sub- frame 1 and 6 in this radio frame. Since the network ID is encoded in these 16 least information bits, the RS transmitted from different networks will be separated in the time domain.

Table 3 shows an example of encoding the network ID in the RS resource mapping in the time domain. In other words, an example of the information indicative of the mapping and/or the aggressor information ID.

Mapping, and structure, of reference signal

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a combination of the embodiments in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 above can also be specified. In other words a combination of generating the set of reference symbols based on the network identity, as well as mapping the set of reference symbols to physical resources based on the network identity.

In one embodiment, the first set of reference symbols are generated based at least on the network identity of the first network node QQ160 and the first set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a first mapping relation, the first mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the first network node QQ160 and/or of the second network node QQ160b. In one embodiment, the second set of reference symbols are generated based at least on the network identity of the second network node QQ160b and the second set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a second mapping relation, the second mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the second network node QQ160b.

Also, a combination between reference signal generation and reference signal mapping can also be used for inter-network and intra-network RS identification, e.g. the network ID is carried in the RS sequence generator while the mapping of the RS assists the cell in the network to apply remote interference mitigation schemes.

Network ID

The present disclosure mentions network ID as a means to identify different networks being interfered by each other. In one embodiment, such network ID is coordinated between operators. In another embodiment the network ID is planned by the regional standards developing organization (SDO), or from allocation by the regional regulatory agency. In one embodiment the requirement of using a specific network ID may be limited to the geographical area between operators where the interference situation is expected to occur.

The network ID could also be associated with existing identifiers in the network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) ID, a Mobile Country Code (MCC), a Mobile Network Code (MNC), Network Color Code (NCC).

It could also be noted that the network ID need not be regulated or introduced in a specification text, but could be based on a bi/multi-lateral agreement between operators in a certain region (or allocated by a government agency or regulatory authority). Assume for example that eight RS sequences are reserved between operators so that not more than one operator uses a specific sequence. Such an implementation-based solution achieves a similar result as introducing a dependency in the RS generation to network ID. It will however not be possible to have a dedicated RS as described in Section 5.5.

transmitting backhaul signaling for coordination purposes is likely infeasible. Therefore, in one embodiment, the intra-network RIM mechanism is separated from the inter-NW RIM mechanism and a dedicated reference signal designed specifically for identifying the presence of inter-border and/or inter-operator remote interference is adopted. In such embodiments, the dedicated inter-network RIM RS may only encode a smaller set of information compared to an intra-network RIM RS (which may encode information enabling individual gNB identification within the network), such as in one embodiment only the network ID. The inter-network RIM RS is in some embodiments transmitted with a longer periodicity than the intra-network RIM RS.

In some such embodiments, the same inter-network RIM RS is transmitted by all gNBs in the network experiencing remote interference. Thus, the potential victim gNB in adjacent country only needs to try to detect a smaller number of sequences, in some cases, only one sequence per country. This reduces the detection complexity at the victim gNB.

Abbreviations

Abbreviation Explanation

BS Base Station

DCI Downlink Control Information

DL Downlink

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

GP Guard Period

LTE Long Term Evolution

NR New Radio

TDD Time Division Duplex

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RAT Radio Access Technology

RB Resource Block

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

Fig. 11 shows a wireless network QQ106 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network 300 illustrated in Fig. 1. For simplicity, the wireless network of Fig. 11 only depicts network QQ106, base stations/network nodes QQ160 and QQ160b, and wireless Devices WDs or UEs QQ110, QQ110b, and QQ110c. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node QQ160 and wireless device, WD, QQ110 are depicted with additional detail in Fig. 12 and 11 respectively. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network QQ106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide- area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node QQ160 and WD QQ110 comprise various components described in more detail in Fig. 12 and 13. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, base station/network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, and evolved Node Bs (eNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

Fig. 12 shows details of a network node QQ160 according to one or more embodiments. In Fig. 12, network node QQ160 includes processing circuitry QQ170, device readable medium QQ180, interface QQ190, auxiliary equipment QQ184, power source QQ186, power circuitry QQ187, and antenna QQ162. Although network node QQ160 illustrated in the example wireless network of Fig. 12 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node QQ160 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium QQ180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules). Similarly, network node QQ160 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 network node QQ160 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 NodeB’s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node QQ160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium QQ180 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna QQ162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node QQ160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ160, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ160.

Processing circuitry QQ170 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry QQ170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry QQ170 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry QQ170 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 QQ160 components, such as device readable medium QQ180, network node QQ160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry QQ170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium QQ180 or in memory within processing circuitry QQ170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 may include a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 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 QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry QQ170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium QQ180 or memory within processing circuitry QQ170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry QQ170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry QQ170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry QQ170 alone or to other components of network node QQ160, but are enjoyed by network node QQ160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium QQ180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 00170. Device readable medium QQ180 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry QQ170 and, utilized by network node QQ160. Device readable medium QQ180 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry QQ170 and/or any data received via interface QQ190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 and device readable medium QQ180 may be considered to be integrated. Interface QQ190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between network node QQ160, network QQ106, and/or WDs QQ110. As illustrated, interface QQ190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) QQ194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network QQ106 over a wired connection. Interface QQ190 also includes radio front end circuitry QQ192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna QQ162. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 comprises filters QQ198 and amplifiers QQ196. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may be connected to antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ198 and/or amplifiers QQ196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna QQ162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry QQ192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry QQ170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node QQ160 may not include separate radio front end circuitry QQ192, instead, processing circuitry QQ170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna QQ162 without separate radio front end circuitry QQ192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry QQ172 may be considered a part of interface QQ190. In still other embodiments, interface QQ190 may include one or more ports or terminals QQ194, radio front end circuitry QQ192, and RF transceiver circuitry QQ172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface QQ190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry QQ174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna QQ162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna QQ162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry QQ190 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna QQ162 may comprise one or more omni directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as Ml MO. In certain embodiments, antenna QQ162 may be separate from network node QQ160 and may be connectable to network node QQ160 through an interface or port.

Antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry QQ187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node QQ160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry QQ187 may receive power from power source QQ186. Power source QQ186 and/or power circuitry QQ187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node QQ160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source QQ186 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry QQ187 and/or network node QQ160. For example, network node QQ160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry QQ187. As a further example, power source QQ186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry QQ187. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node QQ160 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 12 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node QQ160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node QQ160 and to allow output of information from network node QQ160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node QQ160. As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc.. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (loT) scenario, a WD 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 WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

Fig. 13 shows details of a wireless device QQ110 according to one or more embodiments. As illustrated, wireless device QQ110 includes antenna QQ111 , interface QQ114, processing circuitry QQ120, device readable medium QQ130, user interface equipment QQ132, auxiliary equipment QQ134, power source QQ136 and power circuitry QQ137. WD QQ110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD QQ110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD QQ110.

Antenna QQ111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface QQ114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna QQ111 may be separate from WD QQ110 and be connectable to WD QQ110 through an interface or port. Antenna QQ111 , interface QQ114, and/or processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna QQ111 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface QQ114 comprises radio front end circuitry QQ112 and antenna QQ111. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 comprise one or more filters QQ118 and amplifiers QQ116. Radio front end circuitry QQ114 is connected to antenna QQ111 and processing circuitry QQ120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ111 and processing circuitry QQ120. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna QQ111. In some embodiments, WD QQ110 may not include separate radio front end circuitry QQ112; rather, processing circuitry QQ120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna QQ111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be considered a part of interface QQ114. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry QQ112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ118 and/or amplifiers QQ116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna QQ111 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry QQ112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry QQ120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. Processing circuitry QQ120 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 WD QQ110 components, such as device readable medium QQ130, WD QQ110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry QQ120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium QQ130 or in memory within processing circuitry QQ120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry QQ120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry QQ120 of WD QQ110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry QQ124 and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 and baseband processing circuitry QQ124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be a part of interface QQ114. RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry QQ120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry QQ120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium QQ130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry QQ120 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 device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry QQ120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry QQ120 alone or to other components of WD QQ110, but are enjoyed by WD QQ110 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry QQ120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry QQ120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD QQ110, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium QQ130 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry QQ120. Device readable medium QQ130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non- transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry QQ120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ120 and device readable medium QQ130 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment QQ132 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD QQ110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment QQ132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD QQ110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment QQ132 installed in WD QQ110. For example, if WD QQ110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD QQ110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment QQ132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment QQ132 is configured to allow input of information into WD QQ110, and is connected to processing circuitry QQ120 to allow processing circuitry QQ120 to process the input information. User interface equipment QQ132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment QQ132 is also configured to allow output of information from WD QQ110, and to allow processing circuitry QQ120 to output information from WD QQ110. User interface equipment QQ132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment QQ132, WD QQ110 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment QQ134 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment QQ134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source QQ136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD QQ110 may further comprise power circuitry QQ137 for delivering power from power source QQ136 to the various parts of WD QQ110 which need power from power source QQ136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry QQ137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry QQ137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD QQ110 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry QQ137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source QQ136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source QQ136. Power circuitry QQ137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source QQ136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD QQ110 to which power is supplied.

Fig. 14 shows components of a User Equipment QQ200 according to one or more embodiments. Fig. 14 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. 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. A UE may also comprise any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-loT UE that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user. UE QQ200, as illustrated in Fig. 14, is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although Figure QQ2 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

In Fig. 14, UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ201 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface QQ205, radio frequency (RF) interface QQ209, network connection interface QQ211 , memory QQ215 including random access memory (RAM) QQ217, read only memory (ROM) QQ219, and storage medium QQ221 or the like, communication subsystem QQ231 , power source QQ233, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium QQ221 includes operating system QQ223, application program QQ225, and data QQ227. In other embodiments, storage medium QQ221 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in Fig. 14 QQ2, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In Fig. 14, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface QQ205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE QQ200 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface QQ205. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE QQ200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE QQ200 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface QQ205 to allow a user to capture information into UE QQ200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence- sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In Fig. 14, RF interface QQ209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface QQ211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network QQ243a. Network QQ243a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local- area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network QQ243a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface QQ211 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface QQ211 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM QQ217 may be configured to interface via bus QQ202 to processing circuitry QQ201 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM QQ219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry QQ201. For example, ROM QQ219 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include operating system QQ223, application program QQ225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file QQ227. Storage medium QQ221 may store, for use by UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro- DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium QQ221 may allow UE QQ200 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium QQ221 , which may comprise a device readable medium.

In Fig. 14, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to communicate with network QQ243b using communication subsystem QQ231. Network QQ243a and network QQ243b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network QQ243b. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802. QQ2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter QQ233 and/or receiver QQ235 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter QQ233 and receiver QQ235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem QQ231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network QQ243b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network QQ243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source QQ213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE QQ200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE QQ200 or partitioned across multiple components of UE QQ200. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus QQ202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry QQ201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry QQ201 and communication subsystem QQ231. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

Fig. 15 illustrates a virtualization environment QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ300 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 a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) 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 (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes QQ330. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications QQ320 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications QQ320 are run in virtualization environment QQ300 which provides hardware QQ330 comprising processing circuitry QQ360 and memory QQ390. Memory QQ390 contains instructions QQ395 executable by processing circuitry QQ360 whereby application QQ320 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment QQ300, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices QQ330 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry QQ360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory QQ390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions QQ395 or software executed by processing circuitry QQ360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) QQ370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface QQ380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media QQ390- 2 having stored therein software QQ395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry QQ360. Software QQ395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers QQ350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines QQ340 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. Virtual machines QQ340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance QQ320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines QQ340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry QQ360 executes software QQ395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer QQ350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer QQ350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine QQ340.

As shown in Fig. 15, hardware QQ330 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ330 may comprise antenna QQ3225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) QQ3100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ320.

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, virtual machine QQ340 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 virtual machines QQ340, and that part of hardware QQ330 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines QQ340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines QQ340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure QQ330 and corresponds to application QQ320 in Fig. 15.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units QQ3200 that each include one or more transmitters QQ3220 and one or more receivers QQ3210 may be coupled to one or more antennas QQ3225. Radio units QQ3200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes QQ330 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 signaling can be effected with the use of control system QQ3230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes QQ330 and radio units QQ3200.

Fig. 16 shows a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments. With reference to Fig. 16, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network QQ410, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network QQ411 , such as a radio access network, and core network QQ414. Access network QQ411 comprises a plurality of base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area QQ413a, QQ413b, QQ413c. Each base station QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c is connectable to core network QQ414 over a wired or wireless connection QQ415. A first UE QQ491 located in coverage area QQ413c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station QQ412c. A second UE QQ492 in coverage area QQ413a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station QQ412a. While a plurality of UEs QQ491 , QQ492 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station QQ412.

Telecommunication network QQ410 is itself connected to host computer QQ430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer QQ430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections QQ421 and QQ422 between telecommunication network QQ410 and host computer QQ430 may extend directly from core network QQ414 to host computer QQ430 or may go via an optional intermediate network QQ420. Intermediate network QQ420 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network QQ420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network QQ420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Fig. 16 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs QQ491 , QQ492 and host computer QQ430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ450. Host computer QQ430 and the connected UEs QQ491 , QQ492 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection QQ450, using access network QQ411 , core network QQ414, any intermediate network QQ420 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection QQ450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection QQ450 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station QQ412 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer QQ430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE QQ491. Similarly, base station QQ412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE QQ491 towards the host computer QQ430.

Fig. 17 shows a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Fig. 17. In communication system QQ500, host computer QQ510 comprises hardware QQ515 including communication interface QQ516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system QQ500. Host computer QQ510 further comprises processing circuitry QQ518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry QQ518 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer QQ510 further comprises software QQ511 , which is stored in or accessible by host computer QQ510 and executable by processing circuitry QQ518. Software QQ511 includes host application QQ512. Host application QQ512 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE QQ530 connecting via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 and host computer QQ510. In providing the service to the remote user, host application QQ512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection QQ550.

Communication system QQ500 further includes base station QQ520 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware QQ525 enabling it to communicate with host computer QQ510 and with UE QQ530. Hardware QQ525 may include communication interface QQ526 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system QQ500, as well as radio interface QQ527 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection QQ570 with UE QQ530 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig. 17) served by base station QQ520. Communication interface QQ526 may be configured to facilitate connection QQ560 to host computer QQ510. Connection QQ560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig. 17) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware QQ525 of base station QQ520 further includes processing circuitry QQ528, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station QQ520 further has software QQ521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system QQ500 further includes UE QQ530 already referred to. It’s hardware QQ535 may include radio interface QQ537 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection QQ570 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE QQ530 is currently located. Hardware QQ535 of UE QQ530 further includes processing circuitry QQ538, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE QQ530 further comprises software QQ531 , which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ530 and executable by processing circuitry QQ538. Software QQ531 includes client application QQ532. Client application QQ532 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ530, with the support of host computer QQ510. In host computer QQ510, an executing host application QQ512 may communicate with the executing client application QQ532 via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 and host computer QQ510. In providing the service to the user, client application QQ532 may receive request data from host application QQ512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection QQ550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application QQ532 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer QQ510, base station QQ520 and UE QQ530 illustrated in Fig. 17 may be similar or identical to host computer QQ430, one of base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c and one of UEs QQ491 , QQ492 of Fig. 16, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig. 17 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. 16.

In Fig. 17, OTT connection QQ550 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer QQ510 and UE QQ530 via base station QQ520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE QQ530 or from the service provider operating host computer QQ510, or both. While OTT connection QQ550 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection QQ570 between UE QQ530 and base station QQ520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE QQ530 using OTT connection QQ550, in which wireless connection QQ570 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate by reducing and/or mitigating interference and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time.

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 OTT connection QQ550 between host computer QQ510 and UE QQ530, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection QQ550 may be implemented in software QQ511 and hardware QQ515 of host computer QQ510 or in software QQ531 and hardware QQ535 of UE QQ530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection QQ550 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 QQ511 , QQ531 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection QQ550 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station QQ520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station QQ520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer QQ510’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software QQ511 and QQ531 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection QQ550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc. Fig. 18 illustrates a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. Fig. 18 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 12 will be included in this section. In step QQ610, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step QQ611 (which may be optional) of step QQ610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step QQ630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

Fig. 19 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

Fig. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 13 will be included in this section. In step QQ710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Fig. 20 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig. 13 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 14 will be included in this section. In step QQ810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step QQ820, the UE provides user data. In sub-step QQ821 (which may be optional) of step QQ820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In sub-step QQ811 (which may be optional) of step QQ810, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in sub-step QQ830 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step QQ840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Fig. 21 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 15 will be included in this section. In step QQ910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step QQ920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step QQ930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Fig. 22 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments, the method begins at step VV02 with detecting remote interference following a switch from DL to UL transmission. The method further comprises transmitting a first reference signal comprising a first set of reference symbols.

Fig. 23: shows a virtualization apparatus in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 23 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus WW00 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network 300 shown in Fig. 11). The apparatus may be implemented in a wireless device or network node (e.g., wireless device QQ110 or network node QQ160 shown in Fig. 11). Apparatus WW00 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to Fig. 24 and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of Figure 24 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus WW00. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities. Virtual Apparatus WWOO may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause detecting unit WW02, and Transmitting Unit WW04 any other suitable units of apparatus WWOO to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in Fig. 23, apparatus WWOO includes Detecting unit WW02, configured for detecting remote interference Rl following a switch from DL to UL transmission by detecting a second set of reference symbols comprised in a second reference signal RS2 transmitted by the second network node QQ160b of the second wireless network, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node QQ160b, Transmitting Unit WW04, configured for transmitting a first reference signal RS1 comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the first network node QQ160.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein

Finally, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but also relates to and incorporates all embodiments within the scope of the appended independent claims. ENUMERATED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiment 1. A method for operating a first network node (QQ160) of a first wireless network, the method comprising: detecting remote interference (Rl) following a switch from DL to UL transmission by detecting a second set of reference symbols comprised in a second reference signal (RS2) transmitted by a second network node (QQ160b) of a second wireless network, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node (QQ160b), transmitting a first reference signal (RS1 ) comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the first network node (QQ160).

Embodiment 2. The method according to any of the preceding Embodiments, wherein detecting the remote interference (Rl) further comprises: determining an interference profile during a time interval following the switch from DL to UL transmission, and,

wherein the interference profile is indicative of a decline in interference over the time interval.

Embodiment 3. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the first set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the first network node (QQ160).

Embodiment 4. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the second set of reference symbols are generated based at least on a network identity of the second network node (QQ160b).

Embodiment 5. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the first set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a first mapping relation, the first mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the first network node (QQ160).

Embodiment 6. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the second set of reference symbols is mapped to physical resources by a second mapping relation, the second mapping relation being indicative of the network identity of the second network node (QQ160b).

Embodiment 7. The method according to any of the preceding Embodiments, further comprising repeatedly receiving the second reference signal (RS2) comprising the second set of reference symbols indicating that the remote interference (Rl) remains.

Embodiment 8. A method for a second network node (QQ160b) of a second wireless network, the method comprising: transmitting a second reference signal (RS2) comprising a second set of reference symbols, the second set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of the second network node (QQ160b),

receiving a first reference signal (RS1 ) comprising a first set of reference symbols, the first set of reference symbols being indicative of a network identity of a first network node (QQ160).