TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a network node and a method performed therein. Furthermore, a computer program and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling interference in a communication network.

BACKGROUND

In a typical communication network, User Equipment (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (ST A) and/or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CNs). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a NodeB, an eNodeB”, or a gNodeB. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the wireless device within range of the radio network node.

A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for third generation networks, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. This type of connection is sometimes referred to as a backhaul connection. The RNCs and BSCs are typically connected to one or more core networks. Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of an RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes which can be connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they do not need to be connected to the core via RNCs.

With the emerging 5G technologies such as New Radio (NR), the use of a large number of transmit- and receive-antenna elements is of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify received signals coming from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing received unwanted signals coming from other directions.

Interference of external networks, e.g. public networks, is a general challenge for dedicated networks and/or Non-Public Networks (NPN). A public network may be a network to which anyone can connect. An example of such a public network is the Internet. An NPN, e.g. a private network, is any network to which access is restricted. A corporate network or a network in a school are examples of NPNs. A dedicated network may e.g. be a network inside a factory for manufacturing.

Interference of external networks may create un-planned interference in the local network, i.e. in the NPN, and challenges reliability and availability. An assumption may be that an identification of interference of an external network, in contrast to NPN-internal interference, i.e. between different cells of the NPN, has a value. NPN-internal interference is plannable, self-created and may be acted on, e.g. with Radio Resource Management (RRM) but interference of external networks cannot be influenced, i.e. cannot be changed or acted on.

One challenge that should be handled is the interference that may be caused by the communication to or from a public network that is located on-premises of the nonpublic network. The situation may occur if e.g. employees or consultants on premises are using public network services from their smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. This applies for both co-channel interference as well as adjacent channel interference scenarios. Cochannel interference may e.g. be crosstalk from two different radio transmitters using the same channel. Co-channel interference may be caused by different factors such as weather conditions and administrative and design issues. Adjacent-channel interference may be interference caused by extraneous power from a signal in an adjacent channel.

SUMMARY

An object of embodiments herein is to provide a mechanism for handling interference in a communication network in an efficient and reliable manner.

According to an aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by a method performed by a network node for handling interference in a first communication network. The network node collects an interference measurement information of an adjacent channel of a second communication network. The network node further determines to perform an action when an estimated interference, based on the collected interference measurement information, of the adjacent channel of the second communication network fulfils a condition.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by providing a network node for handling interference in a first communication network. The network node is configured to collect an interference measurement information of an adjacent channel of a second communication network. The network node is further configured to perform an action when an estimated interference, based on the collected interference measurement information, of the adjacent channel of the second communication network fulfils a condition.

It is furthermore provided herein a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods above, as performed by the network node. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods above, as performed by the network node.

Embodiments herein are based on the realisation that by collecting interference information of an adjacent channel of a second communication network, using various approaches, and determining to perform an action based on an estimated interference of an adjacent channel of the second communication network, reliability of the first communication network can be increased. Accordingly, by collecting an interference measurement information and determining to perform an action, the interference in the first communication network is handled in a more efficient and reliable manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting a communication network according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 2 is a schematic overview illustrating an example of handling interference in a first communication network, according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 3 is a flowchart depicting a method performed by a network node according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 4 is a schematic overview illustrating a collecting of interference measurement information according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 5 is a block diagram depicting a network node according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer;

Fig. 7 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection; and

Figs. 8 to 11 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting a communication network 1. The communication network 1 may comprise a first communication network 21 such as a non-public network, and a second communication network 22, e.g. an external network, such as a public network, or a NPN. The communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs connected to one or more CNs. The communication network 1 may use a number of different technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 5G, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a 5G context, however, embodiments are applicable also in further development of the existing communication systems such as e.g. a WCDMA and or LTE system.

In the communication network 1 , wireless devices e.g. a wireless device 10 such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA, a user equipment (UE) and/or a wireless terminal, communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more CNs. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “wireless device” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, internet of things (loT) operable device, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a network node within an area served by the network node.

The communication network 1 comprises a network node 12, e.g. a radio network node, providing e.g. radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 20 i.e. a first cell, of a radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or similar. The network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point, a computational server, a base station e.g. a network node such as a satellite, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access node, an access controller, a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base transceiver station, a baseband unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used. The network node 12 may alternatively or additionally be a controller node or a packet processing node or similar. The network node 12 may be referred to as source node, source access node or a serving network node wherein the first service area 20 may be referred to as a serving cell, source cell or primary cell, and the network node communicates with the wireless device 10 in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device 10 and UL transmissions from the wireless device 10. The network node 12 may be a target node. The network node 12 may be a distributed node comprising a baseband unit and one or more remote radio units. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage. According to embodiments herein the network node 12 handles interference in the first communication network 21 by collecting an interference measurement information. Collecting the interference measurement information may comprise monitoring an adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 to gather interference information of the adjacent channel, time statistics of interference of the adjacent channel and/or a positioning information of the wireless device 10, e.g. the interfering device. Collecting the interference measurement information may also comprise identifying the wireless device 10, by using at least one distributed sensor to measure signals on the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22. The network node 12 then determines to perform an action when an estimated interference of an adjacent channel fulfils a condition.

An example scenario of handling interference in the first communication network 21 , according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to Fig. 2.

Action 201. The network node 12 operates in the first communication network 21, e.g. a non-public network. To enable the network node 12 to handle the interference of the adjacent channel in another communication network, e.g. in the second communication network 22, the network node 12 needs information about the interference. Therefore the network node 12 first collects the interference measurement information. The second communication network 22 may be an external network, e.g. a public network. The interference measurement information may be a value, a position, a time stamp and/or an interference level.

Action 202. The interference measurement information may be collected in different ways. One way to collect interference measurement information may be to monitor the adjacent channel of the second communication network. Thus, collecting the interference measurement information may comprise monitoring the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 to gather interference information of the adjacent channel in the second communication network 22, time statistics of interference of the adjacent channel in the second communication network 22 and/or a positioning information, e.g. a location, of the wireless device 10.

Action 203. An estimate of the interference of the adjacent channel may then be determined by an Artificial Intelligence (Al) model based on the gathered interference information of the adjacent channel in the second communication network 22, the time statistics of the adjacent channel in the second communication network 22 and/or the positioning information of the wireless device 10. Action 204. Another way to collect the interference measurement information may be to identify the wireless device 10, e.g. the interfering device, by using at least one distributed sensor 14, e.g. a spectrum sensor, to measure signals on the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22. The at least one distributed sensor 14 may be an indoor distributed sensor and/or an indoor-outdoor pair sensor.

Action 205. The location of the wireless device 10 may be determined by the Al model. The same Al model or another Al model, may also estimate the interference of the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 based on the measured signals described in Action 204.

Action 206. The network node 12 then determines to perform an action when the estimated interference of the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22, in Action 203 and/or 205, fulfils a condition, e.g. is larger than a certain threshold which may be pre-determined. The condition may relate to a signal strength above a certain threshold value, a signal quality above a certain threshold value and/or other interference relating parameters above a certain threshold value.

The action may comprise using a power control algorithm to guarantee a Signal- to-lnterference-plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of the wireless device 10, selecting more conservative operation modes in the corresponding cells and/or scheduling different Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) than the ones interfered in the serving/neighboring cells.

The method actions performed by the network node 12 for handling interference in the first communication network 21 , according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 3. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

Action 301. The network node 12 collects the interference measurement information of the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22. According to some embodiments, collecting the interference measurement information may comprise monitoring the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 to gather interference information of the adjacent channel, time statistics of interference of the adjacent channel and/or the positioning information of the wireless device 10. Collecting the interference measurement information may comprise estimating the interference taking the gathered interference information into account. The estimate of the interference of the adjacent channel may be determined by the Al model based on the gathered interference information of the adjacent channel, the time statistics of the adjacent channel and/or the positioning information of the wireless device 10. According to some embodiments, collecting the interference measurement information may comprise identifying the wireless device 10 by using the at least one distributed sensor 14 to measure the signals on the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22. The at least one distributed sensor 14 may be the indoor distributed sensor and/or the indoor-outdoor pair sensor. The Al model may estimate the interference of the adjacent channel based on the measured signals.

The first communication network 21 may be a non-public network and the second communication network 22 may be an external network. The interference measurement information may be one or more of: the value, the position, the time stamp and the interference level.

Action 302. The network node 12 may combine the collected interference measurement information with the positioning information of the wireless device 10. The combining may be used for identifying a cell in which the external interference is generated.

Action 303. The network node 12 determines to perform the action when the estimated interference of the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 fulfils the condition. The action may comprise one or more of: using the power control algorithm to guarantee the SI NR of the wireless device 10, selecting more conservative operation modes in the corresponding cells or scheduling different PRBs than the ones interfered in the serving/neighboring cells.

An advantage of embodiments herein is that by estimating and/or identifying the external interference, the dedicated network could distinguish intra-network and internetwork interference and then perform actions to keep a high quality of service.

Embodiments herein such as mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above. According to an example scenario, to increase the reliability in the first communication network 21 , the network node 12 may collect information about interference using various approaches such as:

• the distributed sensors 14, e.g. spectrum sensors such as Spectrum analysers.

• the wireless devices 10, either special wireless devices, e.g. without own user plane traffic, or using general wireless devices which may be used for measurement outside their own transmission. The network node 12 may thus use the wireless devices 10 and/or the distributed sensors 14 to collect the measurements, e.g. the interference measurement information. This information may be combined along with the positioning data of the wireless device 10. A single wireless device 10 may measure at multiple locations and the measurement may be correlated with the position of the wireless device 10. The interference measurement information may be the value, the position, the time stamp, the interference level or similar.

One way to collect the information about interference may be to monitor the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 and infer, i.e. gather, interference knowledge. Interference knowledge may be time statistics of interference variations on adjacent channels, e.g. in the public network. Monitoring on adjacent channels may show the interference there, which may allow to derive the estimate of the external interference that leaks into the desired band. The Al model, which may be a Reinforcement Learning (RL) agent, may take the time statistics of interference variations on the adjacent channels as input to the Al model. The Al model may interpret the input and take actions. The Al model may provide rewards for best actions. The Al model may take actions such as changing the settings in such a way to maximize rewards continuously based on environment conditions. The Al model may also determine inference of interference-level-probabilities, maybe even for specific time periods. Depending on the expected level of external interference, power control algorithms may be applied to guarantee the SINR of NPN UEs.

Another way to collect the information about interference may be to identify interfering devices, e.g. wireless devices 10 that may be located e.g. indoors.

The identification may be performed by using the at least one distributed sensor 14 for interference classification. The at least one distributed sensor 14 may be an indoor distributed sensor.

When measuring the signals on the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 it may be possible to identify the wireless devices 10, by high signal levels on the adjacent channel. The distributed sensor 14 may be an indooroutdoor pair sensor, which also can measure signals on adjacent channels. If the indoor signal is larger than the outdoor signal, it may mean that a public device, e.g. wireless device 10, is on the premises. The Al model, e.g. an Al based algorithm, may use the signal measurements of the at least one distributed sensor 14 and determine a rough location of the interferer, e.g. an indoor public network device such as the wireless device 10. The Al model may estimate the interference of the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 based on the measured signals. E.g. the Al model may predict the future n steps of the interferer, to see whether the interference is going to increase or decrease in a near future. By correlating the measured signals with transmissions of the network node 12 of the first communication network 21 , a signal level of the first communication network 21 , e.g. a NPN signal level, may be deducted to observe the interference of the first communication network 21 better.

Given the rough locations of the indoor interferes, more conservative operation modes may be selected in the corresponding cells, e.g. by setting link adaptation targets or schedule different PRBs than the ones interfered in the serving and/or neighboring cells. For example, if Cell A uses PRB1 for its wireless devices then Cell B does not use that PRB for assigning to wireless devices under its control. Based on e.g. a spectrum sensing and related inference, a presence of indoor interferes from the second communication network 22 may be detected. This may be used to set frequency selection priorities in the second communication network 22 to move wireless devices to other networks.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram depicting the network node 12 for handling interference in the first communication network 21, according to embodiments herein.

The network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 501 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

The network node 12 may comprise a collecting unit 502. The network node 12, the processing circuitry 501, and/or the collecting unit 502 is configured to collect the interference measurement information. Collecting the interference measurement information may be adapted to comprise monitoring the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22 to gather interference information of the adjacent channel, time statistics of interference of the adjacent channel and/or the positioning information of the wireless device 10. The estimate of the interference of the adjacent channel may be adapted to be determined by the Al model based on the gathered interference information of the adjacent channel, the time statistics of the adjacent channel and/or the positioning information of the wireless device 10. Collecting the interference measurement information may be adapted to comprise identifying the wireless device 10 by using the at least one distributed sensor 14 to measure the signals on the adjacent channel of the second communication network 22. The at least one distributed sensor 14 may be the indoor distributed sensor and/or the indoor-outdoor pair sensor. The Al model may be adapted to estimate the interference of the adjacent channel based on the measured signals.

The first communication network 21 may be a non-public network and the second communication network 22 may be an external network. The interference measurement information may be one or more of: the value, the position, the time stamp and the interference level.

The network node 12 may comprise a combining unit 503. The network node 12, the processing circuitry 501, and/or the combining unit 503 may be configured to combine the collected interference measurement information with the positioning information of the wireless device 10.

The network node 12 may comprise a determining unit 504. The network node 12, the processing circuitry 501, and/or the determining unit 504 is configured to determine to perform the action when the estimated interference of the adjacent channel fulfils the condition. The action may comprise one or more of: using the power control algorithm to guarantee the SI NR of the wireless device 10, selecting more conservative operation modes in the corresponding cells or scheduling different PRBs than the ones interfered in the serving/neighboring cells.

The network node 12 further comprises a memory 505. The memory 505 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as interference measurement information, time statistics of interference, positioning information, input/output data, metadata, etc. and applications to perform the method disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. The network node 12 may further comprise a communication interface comprising e.g. one or more antenna or antenna elements.

The method according to the embodiments described herein for the network node 12 is implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 506 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the network node 12. The computer program product 506 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 507, e.g. a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 507, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In some embodiments the general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are gNodeB, eNodeB, NodeB, MeNB, SeNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary cell group (SCG), base station (BS), multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radionetwork controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), etc.

In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or UE is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

Embodiments are applicable to any radio access technology (RAT) or multi- RAT systems, where the devices receives and/or transmit signals, e.g. data, such as New Radio (NR), Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or circuits may be implemented using digital logic and/or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and/or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a UE or network node, for example.

Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing units discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware and/or program or application data. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Further Extensions and Variations

With reference to Figure 6, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 3210 such as the wireless communications network 100, e.g. a NR network, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 3211 , such as a radio access network, and a core network 3214. The access network 3211 comprises a plurality of base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c, such as the radio network node 110, access nodes, AP STAs NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 3213a, 3213b, 3213c. Each base station 3212a, 3212b, 3212c is connectable to the core network 3214 over a wired or wireless connection 3215. A first user equipment (UE) e.g. the wireless devices 120 such as a non-AP STA 3291 located in coverage area 3213c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 3212c. A second UE 3292 e.g. the first or second radio node 110, 120 or such as a non-AP STA in coverage area 3213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 3212a. While a plurality of UEs 3291, 3292 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 3212.

The telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to a host computer 3230, 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. The host computer 3230 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. The connections 3221, 3222 between the telecommunication network 3210 and the host computer 3230 may extend directly from the core network 3214 to the host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 3220. The intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 6 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 and the host computer 3230. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 3250. The host computer 3230 and the connected UEs 3291 , 3292 are configured to communicate data and/or signalling via the OTT connection 3250, using the access network 3211 , the core network 3214, any intermediate network 3220 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 3250 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 3250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 3212 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 3230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 3291. Similarly, the base station 3212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 3291 towards the host computer 3230.

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 Figure 7. In a communication system 3300, a host computer 3310 comprises hardware 3315 including a communication interface 3316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300. The host computer 3310 further comprises processing circuitry 3318, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 3318 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. The host computer 3310 further comprises software 3311 , which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 3310 and executable by the processing circuitry 3318. The software 3311 includes a host application 3312. The host application 3312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 3330 connecting via an OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 3312 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 3350.

The communication system 3300 further includes a base station 3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 3310 and with the UE 3330. The hardware 3325 may include a communication interface 3326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300, as well as a radio interface 3327 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 3370 with a UE 3330 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 7) served by the base station 3320. The communication interface 3326 may be configured to facilitate a connection 3360 to the host computer 3310. The connection 3360 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 7) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, the hardware 3325 of the base station 3320 further includes processing circuitry 3328, 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. The base station 3320 further has software 3321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

The communication system 3300 further includes the UE 3330 already referred to. Its hardware 3335 may include a radio interface 3337 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 3370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 3330 is currently located. The hardware 3335 of the UE 3330 further includes processing circuitry 3338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, applicationspecific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 3330 further comprises software 3331, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 3330 and executable by the processing circuitry 3338. The software 3331 includes a client application 3332. The client application 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 3330, with the support of the host computer 3310. In the host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 may communicate with the executing client application 3332 via the OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the user, the client application 3332 may receive request data from the host application 3312 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 3350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that the host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330 illustrated in Figure 7 may be identical to the host computer 3230, one of the base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c and one of the UEs 3291 , 3292 of Figure 6, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 7 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 6.

In Figure 7, the OTT connection 3350 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 3310 and the use equipment 3330 via the base station 3320, 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 the UE 3330 or from the service provider operating the host computer 3310, or both. While the OTT connection 3350 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).

The wireless connection 3370 between the UE 3330 and the base station 3320 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 the UE 3330 using the OTT connection 3350, in which the wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may handle interference of an external network in a more efficient and reliable manner and thereby improve the communication in the communication network for the UE. This may also lead to extended battery lifetime of the UE.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 between the host computer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in the software 3311 of the host computer 3310 or in the software 3331 of the UE 3330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 3350 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 3311 , 3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 3320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalling facilitating the host computer’s 3310 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 3311, 3331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

Figure 8 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 such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 6 and Figure 7. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 8 will be included in this section. In a first action 3410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction 3411 of the first action 3410, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In an optional third action 3430, 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 an optional fourth action 3440, the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

Figure 9 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 such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 6 and Figure 7. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 9 will be included in this section. In a first action 3510 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional subaction (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second action 3520, 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 an optional third action 3530, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission. Figure 10 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 such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 6 and Figure 7. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 10 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3610 of the method, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second action 3620, the UE provides user data. In an optional subaction 3621 of the second action 3620, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In a further optional subaction 3611 of the first action 3610, 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 an optional third subaction 3630, transmission of the user data to the host computer. In a fourth action 3640 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.

Figure 11 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 such as an AP STA, and a UE such as a non-AP STA which may be those described with reference to Figure 6 and Figure 7. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 11 will be included in this section. In an optional first action 3710 of the method, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In an optional second action 3720, the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In a third action 3730, the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

The embodiments herein are not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.