PORT COUPLING FOR WIDE BAND CERAMIC WAVEGUIDE

FILTER UNIT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods for port coupling for a wideband Ceramic Waveguide Filter Unit (CWG FU).

BACKGROUND

With the development of 5 ^th Generation (5G) communication, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technology is widely used in Sub-6GHz base station product(s), in which an amount of filter units (FUs) need to be integrated with an antenna unit (AU) or radio unit (RU). Considering cost and space saving, FUs are usually soldered onto a radio mother board, low pass filter (LPF) board, or antenna calibration network (AC)/power splitter board to reduce the radio size and weight. One type of FU is ceramic waveguide (CWG), which has smaller size/weight and better cost compared with metal FUs.

During the 5G Time Division Duplexing (TDD) development phase, CWG filter came into widespread use, due to its light weight, small size, low cost, and easy combination with other parts. It has better insertion loss and power handing capacity than other board combined FUs.

Based on the 5G frequency band assignment previously used, the radio frequency band is not very wide. Accordingly, the bandwidth of FU usually does not need a very wide bandwidth.

With the development of 5G system, more wider frequency band is needed to get more radio frequency (RF) signal. The wider frequency band also can cover two communication bands from different customs. However, the existing port coupling of CWG has significantly limitation to realize wide frequency band with good return loss. To find other kinds of RF port couplings, it is necessary to get wide band CWG FU.

Certain problems exist, however. For example, the RF port of traditional CWG FUs always consists of two blind holes with silver plating and with the ceramic circle ring near the blind hole. The input/output blind holes of CWG are on the opposite of the first/last frequency blind holes. The gap between RF port blind hole and Frequency blind hole needs to be more than 1mm, making it difficult to produce an RF port with less than 1mm gap. A reliability issue is also a concern.

The gap between RF port blind hole and Frequency blind hole has big influence of port coupling value and filter bandwidth. As a result, the bandwidth is limited using this kind of coupling structure, and it’s difficult to realize a wide band CWG FU based on this kind of blind hole port coupling.

Further, during production period, the input/output blind hole and frequency hole need to be produced separately. The opposite blind hole is difficult to machine when the hole is deep. For example, a deep hole will have a certain slope, which will influence the coupling value and bring more tuning and RF leakage.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, according to certain embodiments, methods and systems are provided that include a RF port coupling structure that includes two through holes connected with RF connectors or RF connect pin and two connect coupling grooves connected with Frequency holes.

According to certain embodiments, a RF port coupling structure includes a blind hole formed on a first surface of the RF port coupling structure. An input/output port is disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface. A through hole is formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, and a first conductive material is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

According to certain embodiments, a method for forming a RF port coupling structure includes forming a blind hole on a first surface of a RF port coupling structure and disposing an input/output port on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface. The method further includes forming a through hole at least partially through the RF port coupling structure and disposing a conductive material in at least a portion of the through hole to form an RF port coupling.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For example, one technical advantage may be that certain embodiments including the coupling structure can achieve property coupling value without silver plating or with part of silver plating. As another example, a technical advantage may be that the coupling structure can be produced one time with all frequency blind holes. There is no need for other extra production processes.

As still another example, a technical advantage may be that certain embodiments include a coupling structure of in/out port that may achieve high port coupling. As such, it may be easy to get wide frequency band.

As still further examples, certain embodiments may demonstrate one or more technical advantages that may include and/or provide any combination of the following benefits:

• reducing wide band radio size and weight with wide band CWG FUs,

• obtaining higher port coupling, easy to get wide frequency band compared with normal blind hole coupling structure,

• obtaining better return loss,

• providing easy integration of the wide band CWG FU with new type port coupling structure with PCB,

• simplifying production since the through hole of input/output port and coupling groove can be produced one time with frequency blind hole without the need for extra processing steps,

• providing an input/output PIN at the through hole that is easy to assemble,

• providing a reduced cost CWG structure since the through hole and coupling groove require no silver plating or reduced silver plating, and/or

• providing a port coupling that can be adjusted by port PIN length or silver area of the through hole.

Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates an example topology of a CWG FU, according to certain embodiments; FIGURE 2 illustrates a top view of an example filter structure 1 that may be included in the CWG FU, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 3 illustrates a perspective view of an example filter structure 1 that may be included in the CWG FU, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 4 illustrates 8 poles filter response, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURES 5A-5C illustrate an example of the RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment;

FIGURES 6A-6C illustrate another example of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment;

FIGURES 7A-7H illustrate yet another example of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment;

FIGURES 8A-8E illustrate still another example of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment;

FIGURES 9A-9F illustrate still another example of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment;

FIGURE 10 illustrates an example wireless network, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 11 illustrates an example network node, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 12 illustrates an example wireless device, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 13 illustrate an example user equipment, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 14 illustrates a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 15 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 16 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 17 illustrates a method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment; FIGURE 18 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 19 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 20 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 21 illustrates an example method, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 22 illustrates an example virtual apparatus, according to certain embodiments; and

FIGURE 23 illustrates another example method, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

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. In some embodiments, a more general term “network node” may be used and may correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a user equipment (UE) (directly or via another node) and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNodeB (MeNB), a network node belonging to Master Cell Group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi -standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.), Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Operations Support System (OSS), Self Organizing Network (SON), positioning node (e.g. Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC)), Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT), test equipment (physical node or software), etc.

In some embodiments, the non-limiting term UE or wireless device may be used and may refer to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Unified Serial Bus (USB) dongles, UE category Ml, UE category M2, Proximity Services UE (ProSe UE), Vehicle-to- Vehicle UE (V2V UE), Vehicle-to- Any thing (V2X UE), etc.

Additionally, terminologies such as base station/gNB and UE should be considered non-limiting and do in particular not imply a certain hierarchical relation between the two; in general, “gNB” could be considered as device 1 and “UE” could be considered as device 2 and these two devices communicate with each other over some radio channel. And in the following the transmitter or receiver could be either gNB or UE.

According to certain embodiments, a wide band CWG FU is provided with a RF port coupling structure that includes a through hole connected with an RF connector or RF connect PIN. One or more coupling grooves connect with Frequency holes and several frequency blind holes. In a particular embodiment, the surface of the CWG FU is provided with a shielding layer such as, for example, silver, and a magnetic field travels inside the shield.

In a particular embodiment, the material of the CWG FU has high permittivity, which may reduce the filter size with same electromagnetic wavelength and resonant frequency. In a particular embodiment, a serials ceramic material may be used for CWG filter design to balance the performance and size. The CWG filter design described herein provides a flexibility that is unmatched by any other type of design with same performance. Accordingly, a dual band CWG FU composed with two CWG filters, as described herein, may be a better choice for 5G MIMO miniaturization system or traditional indoor base station.

According to certain embodiments, the RF port coupling may include one or more of the following features and/or benefits:

1. Through hole port coupling structure can be produce one time with frequency blind holes, which will improve production efficiency.

2. The through hole port coupling structure no need full area silver plating and it also can be removed the silver plating.

Reduce silver amount and cost.

3. The through hole port coupling structure can meet high coupling value and get wider bandwidth of CWG.

4. The CWG FU with through hole port coupling structure can get better return loss.

5. The wide band CWG FU with new port coupling structure can be soldered on PCB board.

6. The input/output ports connection can be soldering pad, pin connection, connectors, direct coupling or any other possible methods.

According to certain embodiments, the wide band CWG FUs will be a good solution for 5G wide band TDD system and general indoor base station, said apparatus including several ceramic resonating cavities and a kind of new types RF port coupling.

In a particular embodiment, a ceramic block is operated as a dielectrically loaded waveguide filter, and one or several apertures, holes/grooves are positioned and/or disposed at appropriate positions in this ceramic block to get applicable resonate frequency and coupling.

In a particular embodiment, electrically conductive apertures, blind holes, and coupling windows are defined, positioned, and/or disposed between each two adjacent resonating cavities within the ceramic body portion. The two top/bottom nearby blind holes are positioned to realize cross-couple predominantly between the magnetic/electric fields of the resonating means.

In a particular embodiment, substantially the entire exterior surface of the ceramic material except the port coupling structure has silver plating or another type metal plating to provide an electrically conductive condition. The port coupling structure can achieve property coupling value without silver plating or with part of silver plating.

FIGURE 1 illustrates an example topology of an 8 pole wideband CWG FU 50, according to certain embodiments. As depicted, the poles are coupled by main couplings, inductance cross couplings, or capacitance cross couplings. For example, poles 1 and 2 are coupled by a main coupling, whereas poles 1 and 3 are connected by an inductance cross coupling and poles 2 and 3 are coupled by a capacitance cross coupling. It is recognized that FIGURE 1 is just one example topology of a CWG FU 50 and other topologies with more or less poles and/or different arrangements of couplings are possible within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIGURES 2 and 3 illustrate top and perspective views, respectively, of an example filter structure 100 that may be included in the CWG FU, according to certain embodiments. The CWG filter 1 with 4 zeros could meet more than 400MHz band width, wherein seven mainline couplings (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8) are provided from electrically conductive through channels as part 103. The coupling (2- 3) and coupling (6-7) is capacitance cross coupling, achieve by two blind holes as part 102 at opposite side of CWG. The filter structure also includes a resonator 101, RF connectors 104, and RF port coupling structure 105, which is a new type of RF port coupling structure as described herein.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a graph 150 depicting an 8 poles filter response, according to certain embodiments.

FIGURES 5A-5C illustrate an example of a part 200 of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment. Part 200 is the first or last resonator from CWG FU, on which the frequency blind hole 201, port coupling groove 202, and through hole 203 can be produced at one time.

In a particular embodiment, the frequency blind hole 201 is silver plated or includes another conductive plating, layer, or material so as to meet a desired property frequency. The coupling groove 202 and through hole 203 can add part of area silver or other conductive plating or include no silver plating, in various embodiments.

Reference numeral 205 depicts the connect area with extra RF connectors, which contains a ceramic circular to conduct signal to CWG’s internal.

In a particular embodiment, part 204 can be plated by silver or another conductive material or a metal PIN may be added in the hole, as shown in FIGURE 5B.

In another particular embodiment, coupling groove 202 and through hole 203 may include no silver or other conductive plating, as shown in FIGURE 5C.

In still another particular embodiment, the silver area of through hole 203 may be adjusted to get different coupling value(s) when the through hole 203 forms part of area conductive plating. For example, the thickness and or area of the conductive plating in through hole 203 may be adjusted.

In yet another embodiment in which through hole 203 does not include conductive plating, the coupling 2 can be tuned by the length of in/out metal PIN, which may be soldered on the CWG filter. The coupling 2 also can be tuned by the size of the coupling groove 202. For example, the length and/or width of the coupling groove 202 can be adjusted.

FIGURES 6A-6C illustrate another example of a part 300 of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment. In the depicted example, Part 300 is the first or last resonator from CWG FU. The frequency blind hole is depicted as 301. The top part of through hole 302 is without silver or other conductive plating. The top part and the bottom part of through hole 303 both compose the port coupling structure.

In a particular embodiment, the coupling value can be adjusted by the conductive area.

In a particular embodiment, part 303 can be plated by silver or another conductive material or a metal PIN may be added in the hole, as shown in FIGURE 6B. Part 304 depicts the RF connector. In another particular embodiment, part 303 may include no silver or other conductive plating, as shown in FIGURE 6C.

FIGURES 7A-7H illustrate yet another example part 400 of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment. In the depicted example, Part 400 is the first or last resonator from CWG FU. The frequency blind hole is depicted as 401. The top side of coupling hole 402 can be formed by or of any shape. For example the top side of coupling hole 402 may be a cylinder, in a particular embodiment. As another example, the top side of coupling hole 402 may be a rectangle. In a particular embodiment, coupling hole 402, the middle part of the hole 403, and the bottom part of hole 404 may be formed at one time to get a trough hole. In the depicted embodiment, part 405 is the outside RF port.

In a particular embodiment, the middle part of hole 403 may be without silver or other conductive plating. It can be set to top and middle part of the hole. The bottom part of hole 404 can be plated with a conductive material and/or a metal pin can be placed in the hole.

FIGURES 7A and 7B illustrate a three-dimensional model of the port structure. FIGURES 7C through 7H illustrate a two-dimensional model of a similar port structure, which contains different type of conductive material remove. As depicted, middle part of the hole 403 is the conductive material that is the removed area at different positions of the through hole. The bottom part of the hole 404 is a metal PIN assembly into the through hole. The various through holes with removed conductive material enable a strong IN/OUT port coupling, though the conductive area is removed from different locations in the structure.

In a particular embodiment, the coupling value can be adjusted by the conductive area or pin size.

In the depicted example, Part 405 refers to the connect area with extra RF connectors.

FIGURES 8A-8E illustrate still another example of a part 500 of an RF coupling structure, according to a particular embodiment. In the example depicted in FIGURES 8A-8E (and as opposed or different from the embodiment of FIGURES 7A-7H), the frequency hole and input/output port hole can connect as one hole. Part 500 is the first/last resonator of the CWG FU. Part 501 refers to the frequency hole, and part 503 refs to the input/output hole, which can be plated silver and/or a metal pin can be added. Part 502 indicates that no silver-plating area at the hole, it can be set to top and middle parts of the hole as shown in FIGURES 8D and 8C, respectively. The no silver-plating area is not only limited to the graphics shown, however. FIGURE 8A is a three-dimensional model of the RF coupling structure, according to certain embodiments. The top side of the through hole control the first/last frequency of filter and the through hole with removed conductive material will achieve a strong port coupling. FIGURES 8B through 8E illustrate different positions of removed conductive material of the through hole, according to various embodiments. The removed conductive material area at different location will get a property port coupling of filter.

FIGURES 9A-9F illustrate yet another example of a part 600 of an RF coupling structure according to a particular embodiment. Part 500 is the first/last resonator of the CWG FU. In FIGURES 9A-9F, the dotted line indicates locations that do not include silver plating. Thus, the dotted line indicates a no silver-plating area. FIGURES 9A-9F illustrate different possible shapes of a through hole with removed conductive material, according to certain embodiments. The different shape of through hole and removed conductive area formed a RF port structure.

In a particular embodiment, the shape of coupling structure can be change according production condition.

Parts 601-606 indicate different shapes of the port coupling structure. However, the shape of the hole is not limited to the depicted Figures. It is recognized that the hole may be of any other shape suitable for performing the functionality described herein.

In a particular embodiment, the example RF port coupling structure may be produced at one or the same time, whereas a traditional port coupling blind hole at bottom side of CWG must be produced separately.

In a particular embodiment, the port coupling structure can remove some area of silver plating, which will reduce the amount of silver.

FIGURE 10 illustrates a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments. 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 illustrated in FIGURE 10. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIGURE 10 only depicts network 706, network nodes 760 and 760b, and wireless devices 710. 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 760 and wireless device 710 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. 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 706 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 760 and wireless device 710 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. 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.

FIGURE 11 illustrates an example network node 760, according to certain embodiments. As used herein, 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, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and 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.

In FIGURE 11, network node 760 includes processing circuitry 770, device readable medium 780, interface 790, auxiliary equipment 784, power source 786, power circuitry 787, and antenna 762. Although network node 760 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIGURE 11 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 760 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 780 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 760 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 760 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 760 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 780 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 762 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 760 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 760, 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 760.

Processing circuitry 770 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 770 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 770 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 770 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 760 components, such as device readable medium 780, network node 760 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 770 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 780 or in memory within processing circuitry 770. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774 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 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774 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 770 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 780 or memory within processing circuitry 770. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 770 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 770 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 770 alone or to other components of network node 760 but are enjoyed by network node 760 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 780 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 770. Device readable medium 780 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 770 and, utilized by network node 760. Device readable medium 780 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 770 and/or any data received via interface 790. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 and device readable medium 780 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 790 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 760, network 706, and/or wireless devices 710. As illustrated, interface 790 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 794 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 706 over a wired connection. Interface 790 also includes radio front end circuitry 792 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 762. Radio front end circuitry 792 comprises filters 798 and amplifiers 796. Radio front end circuitry 792 may be connected to antenna 762 and processing circuitry 770. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 762 and processing circuitry 770. Radio front end circuitry 792 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 792 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 798 and/or amplifiers 796. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 762. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 762 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 792. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 770. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 760 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 792, instead, processing circuitry 770 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 762 without separate radio front end circuitry 792. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 772 may be considered a part of interface 790. In still other embodiments, interface 790 may include one or more ports or terminals 794, radio front end circuitry 792, and RF transceiver circuitry 772, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 790 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 774, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 762 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 762 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 792 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 762 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 MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 762 may be separate from network node 760 and may be connectable to network node 760 through an interface or port.

Antenna 762, interface 790, and/or processing circuitry 770 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 762, interface 790, and/or processing circuitry 770 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 787 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 760 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 787 may receive power from power source 786. Power source 786 and/or power circuitry 787 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 760 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 786 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 787 and/or network node 760. For example, network node 760 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 787. As a further example, power source 786 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 787. 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 760 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 11 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 760 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 760 and to allow output of information from network node 760. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 760. As another example, according to certain embodiments, network node 760 may include a CWG FU that includes a RF port coupling structure. The RF port coupling structure may include a blind hole formed on a first surface of the RF port coupling structure; an RF connector disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface; and a through hole formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, the through hole forming at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector. The RF port coupling structure may include including any of the functionality and features described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein.

FIGURE 12 illustrates an example wireless device 7710. According to certain embodiments. As used herein, wireless device 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 wireless device may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a wireless device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a wireless device may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), a vehicle- mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A wireless device may support device-to- device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a wireless device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another wireless device and/or a network node. The wireless device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the wireless device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) 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 wireless device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A wireless device as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 710 includes antenna 711, interface 714, processing circuitry 720, device readable medium 730, user interface equipment 732, auxiliary equipment 734, power source QQ136 and power circuitry QQ137. Wireless device 710 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by wireless device 710, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within wireless device 710.

Antenna 711 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 714. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 711 may be separate from wireless device 710 and be connectable to wireless device 710 through an interface or port. Antenna 714, interface 714, and/or processing circuitry 720 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 711 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 714 comprises radio front end circuitry 712 and antenna 711. Radio front end circuitry 712 comprise one or more filters 718 and amplifiers 716. Radio front end circuitry 712 is connected to antenna 711 and processing circuitry 720 and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 711 and processing circuitry 720. Radio front end circuitry 712 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 711. In some embodiments, wireless device 710 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 712; rather, processing circuitry 720 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 711. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be considered a part of interface 714. Radio front end circuitry 712 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 712 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 718 and/or amplifiers 176. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 711. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 711 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 712. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 720. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 720 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 710 components, such as device readable medium 730, wireless device 710 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 720 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 730 or in memory within processing circuitry 720 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 720 includes one or more ofRF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 720 of wireless device 710 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry QQ124 and application processing circuitry 726 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722 and baseband processing circuitry 724 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 726 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be a part of interface 164. RF transceiver circuitry 722 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 720.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a wireless device may be provided by processing circuitry 720 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 730, 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 720 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 720 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 720 alone or to other components of wireless device 710, but are enjoyed by wireless device 710 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 720 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a wireless device. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 720, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 720 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by wireless device 710, 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 730 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 720. Device readable medium 730 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 720. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 720 and device readable medium 730 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 732 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with wireless device 710. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 732 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to wireless device 710. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 732 installed in wireless device 710. For example, if wireless device 710 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if wireless device 710 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 732 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 732 is configured to allow input of information into wireless device 710 and is connected to processing circuitry 720 to allow processing circuitry 720 to process the input information. User interface equipment 732 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 732 is also configured to allow output of information from wireless device 710, and to allow processing circuitry 720 to output information from wireless device 710. User interface equipment 732 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 732, wireless device 710 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 734 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by wireless devices. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 734 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 736 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used wireless device 710 may further comprise power circuitry 717 for delivering power from power source 736 to the various parts of wireless device 160 which need power from power source 736 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 717 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 717 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case wireless device 710 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 717 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 736. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 736. Power circuitry 717 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 736 to make the power suitable for the respective components of wireless device 710 to which power is supplied. FIGURE 13 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 (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 800 may be any UE identified by the 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including aNB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 800, as illustrated in FIGURE 11, is one example of a wireless device configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term wireless device and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIGURE 13 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a wireless device, and vice-versa.

In FIGURE 13, UE 800 includes processing circuitry 801 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 805, radio frequency (RF) interface 809, network connection interface 811, memory 815 including random access memory (RAM) 817, read-only memory (ROM) 819, and storage medium 821 or the like, communication subsystem 831, power source 833, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 821 includes operating system 823, application program 825, and data 827. In other embodiments, storage medium 821 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIGURE 13, 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 FIGURE 13, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 801 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 801 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 805 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 800 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 805. 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 800. 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 800 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 805 to allow a user to capture information into UE 800. 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 FIGURE 13, RF interface 809 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 811 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 843a. Network 843a 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 843a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 811 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 811 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 817 may be configured to interface via bus 802 to processing circuitry 801 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 819 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 801. For example, ROM 819 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 821 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 821 may be configured to include operating system 823, application program 825 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 827. Storage medium 821 may store, for use by UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 821 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 821 may allow UE 800 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 821, which may comprise a device readable medium. In FIGURE 13, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to communicate with network 843b using communication subsystem 831. Network 843a and network 843b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 843b. For example, communication subsystem 831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another wireless device, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter 833 and/or receiver 835 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 833 and receiver 835 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 831 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 831 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 843b 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 843b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 813 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 800.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 800 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 800. 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 831 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 802. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 801 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 801 and communication subsystem 831. 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.

FIGURE 14 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 900 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 900 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 930. 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 920 (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 920 are run in virtualization environment 900 which provides hardware 930 comprising processing circuitry 960 and memory 990. Memory 990 contains instructions 995 executable by processing circuitry 960 whereby application 920 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 900, comprises general-purpose or special- purpose network hardware devices 930 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 960, 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 990-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 995 or software executed by processing circuitry 960. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 970, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 980. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 990-2 having stored therein software 995 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 960. Software 995 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 950 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 940 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 940, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 950 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 920 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 940, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 960 executes software 995 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 950, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 950 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 940.

As shown in FIGURE 14, hardware 930 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 930 may comprise antenna 9225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 930 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) 9100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 920.

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 940 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 940, and that part of hardware 930 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 940, 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 940 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 930 and corresponds to application 920 in FIGURE 14.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 9200 that each include one or more transmitters 9220 and one or more receivers 9210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 9225. Radio units 9200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 930 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 affected with the use of control system 9230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 930 and radio units 9200.

FIGURE 15 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments.

With reference to FIGURE 15, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 1010, such as a 3GPP- type cellular network, which comprises access network 1011, such as a radio access network, and core network 1014. Access network 1011 comprises a plurality of base stations 1012a, 1012b, 1012c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 1013a, 1013b, 1013c. Each base station 1012a, 1012b, 1012c is connectable to core network 1014 over a wired or wireless connection 1015. A first UE 1091 located in coverage area 1013c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 1012c. A second UE 1092 in coverage area 1013a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 1012a. While a plurality ofUEs 1091, 1092 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 1012.

Telecommunication network 1010 is itself connected to host computer 1030, 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 1030 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 1021 and 1022 between telecommunication network 1010 and host computer 1030 may extend directly from core network 1014 to host computer 1030 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1020. Intermediate network 1020 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1020, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 1020 may comprise two or more sub networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIGURE 15 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 1091, 1092 and host computer 1030. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1050. Host computer 1030 and the connected UEs 1091, 1092 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 1050, using access network 1011, core network 1014, any intermediate network 1020 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 1050 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 1050 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 1012 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 1030 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 1091. Similarly, base station 1012 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1091 towards the host computer 1030. FIGURE 16 illustrates 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 FIGURE 16. In communication system 1100, host computer 1110 comprises hardware 1115 including communication interface 1116 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1100. Host computer 1110 further comprises processing circuitry 1118, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 1118 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 1110 further comprises software 1111, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 1110 and executable by processing circuitry 1118. Software 1111 includes host application 1112. Host application 1112 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 1130 connecting via OTT connection 1150 terminating at UE 1130 and host computer 1110. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 1112 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1150.

Communication system 1100 further includes base station 1120 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1125 enabling it to communicate with host computer 1110 and with UE 1130. Hardware 1125 may include communication interface 1126 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1100, as well as radio interface 1127 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 1170 with UE 1130 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIGURE 16) served by base station 1120. Communication interface 1126 may be configured to facilitate connection 1160 to host computer 1110. Connection 1160 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIGURE 16) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 1125 of base station 1120 further includes processing circuitry 1128, 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 1120 further has software 1121 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 1100 further includes UE 1130 already referred to. Its hardware 1135 may include radio interface 1137 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1170 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1130 is currently located. Hardware 1135 of UE 1130 further includes processing circuitry 1138, 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 1130 further comprises software 1131, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1130 and executable by processing circuitry 1138. Software 1131 includes client application 1132. Client application 1132 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1130, with the support of host computer 1110. In host computer 1110, an executing host application 1112 may communicate with the executing client application 1132 via OTT connection 1150 terminating at UE 1130 and host computer 1110. In providing the service to the user, client application 1132 may receive request data from host application 1112 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1150 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 1132 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 1110, base station 1120 and UE 1130 illustrated in FIGURE 16 may be similar or identical to host computer 1030, one of base stations 1012a, 1012b, 1012c and one of UEs 1091, 1092 of FIGURE 15, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in FIGURE 16 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIGURE 15.

In FIGURE 16, OTT connection 1150 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 1110 and UE 1130 via base station 1120, 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 1130 or from the service provider operating host computer 1110, or both. While OTT connection 1150 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 1170 between UE 1130 and base station 1120 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 1130 using OTT connection 1150, in which wireless connection 1170 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, and/or extended battery lifetime.

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 1150 between host computer 1110 and UE 1130, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1150 may be implemented in software 1111 and hardware 1115 of host computer 1110 or in software 1131 and hardware 1135 of UE 1130, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 1150 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 1111, 1131 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1150 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1120, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1120. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 1110’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 1111 and 1131 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1150 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIGURE 17 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 15 and 16. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 17 will be included in this section. In step 1210, the host computer provides user data. In substep 1211 (which may be optional) of step 1210, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1220, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 1230 (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 1240 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIGURE 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 15 and 16. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 18 will be included in this section. In step 1250 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1260, 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 1270 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIGURE 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 15 and 16. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 19 will be included in this section. In step 1310 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1320, the UE provides user data. In substep 1321 (which may be optional) of step 1320, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 1311 (which may be optional) of step 1310, 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 substep 1330 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 1340 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 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 FIGURES 15 and 16. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 20 will be included in this section. In step 1410 (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 1420 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1430 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

FIGURE 21 depicts a method 1500, according to certain embodiments. At step 1502, the method includes forming a blind hole on a first surface of a RF port coupling structure. At step 1504, an RF connector is disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface. At step 1506, a through hole is formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure. The through hole forms at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is a component of a CWGFU.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

In a particular embodiment, the blind hole and the through hole are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes disposing silver plating over a surface forming the blind hole.

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes forming a coupling groove on the first surface, the coupling groove coupling the blind hole and the through hole. In a further particular embodiment, the method further includes disposing silver plating in at least a portion of the coupling groove. In a further particular embodiment, at least one of a width and a length of the coupling groove is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole. In another further embodiment, the blind hole, the through hole, and the coupling groove are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes disposing silver plating in at least a portion of the through hole. In a further particular embodiment, the through hole comprises a first portion formed more proximate the first surface and a second portion formed more proximate the second surface, and the method further includes disposing the silver plating in the second portion, wherein no silver plating is disposed in the first portion. In still another particular embodiment, an amount of silver plating (i.e., a thickness or width) is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes disposing a metal pin in at least a portion of the through hole. In a further particular embodiment, a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes incorporating the RF port coupling structure into a network node.

In a particular embodiment, the method further includes incorporating the RF port coupling structure into a base station. In a further particular embodiment, the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system. In still a further particular embodiment, the base station comprises an indoor base station.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure comprises a ceramic block operating as a dielectrically loaded CWG.

FIGURE 22 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a virtual apparatus 1600 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIGURE 10). The apparatus may be implemented in a network node (e.g., network node QQ160 shown in FIGURE 10). Apparatus 1600 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to FIGURE 20 and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIGURE 20 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus 1600. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus 1600 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 first forming module 1602, disposing module 1604, second forming module 1606, and any other suitable units of apparatus 1600 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

According to certain embodiments, first forming module 1610 may perform certain of the forming functions of the apparatus 1600. For example, first forming module 1610 may form a blind hole on a first surface of a RF port coupling structure.

According to certain embodiments, disposing module 1604 may perform certain of the disposing functions of the apparatus 1600. For example, disposing module 1604 may dispose an RF connector on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface.

According to certain embodiments, second forming module 1606 may perform certain other of the forming functions of the apparatus 1600. For example, second forming module 1606 may form a through hole at least partially through the RF port coupling structure. The through hole forms at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector.

As used herein, the term module or 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.

FIGURE 23 depicts a method 1700 for forming aRF port coupling structure, according to certain embodiments. At step 1702, the method includes forming a blind hole 201, 301, 401, 501 on a first surface of a RF port coupling structure. At step 1704, an input/output port 205, 305, 405, 505 is disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface. At step 1706, a through hole is formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure. At step 1708, a conductive material is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole to form an RF port coupling.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is a component of a wideband CWG FU.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

In a particular embodiment, a conductive plating is disposed over a surface forming the blind hole.

In a particular embodiment, a coupling groove is formed on the first surface, and the coupling groove couples the blind hole and the through hole.

In a particular embodiment, a conductive plating is disposed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

In a particular embodiment, a conductive plating is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

In a particular embodiment, forming the through hole includes forming a first portion of the through hole more proximate the first surface, forming a second portion more proximate the second surface, and disposing the conductive plating in the second portion. No conductive plating is disposed in the first portion.

In a particular embodiment, a thickness of the conductive plating is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

In a particular embodiment, a metal pin is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

In a particular embodiment, a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole. In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a base station.

In a particular embodiment, the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system.

In a particular embodiment, the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Group A Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment Al. A radio frequency (RF) port coupling structure, comprising: a blind hole formed on a first surface of the RF port coupling structure; an RF connector disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface; and a through hole formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, the through hole forming at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector.

Example Embodiment A2. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment Al, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a component of a wideband ceramic waveguide (CWG) filter unit (FU).

Example Embodiment A3. The RF port coupling structure of Example Emboidment A2, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

Example Embodiment A4. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments Al to A3, wherein the blind hole and the through hole are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment A5. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments Al to A4, wherein silver plating is disposed in the blind hole.

Example Embodiment A6. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments Al to A5, further comprising: a coupling groove formed on the first surface, the coupling groove coupling the blind hole and the through hole.

Example Embodiment A7. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment A6, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

Example Embodiment A8. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment A7, wherein at least one of a width and a length of the coupling groove is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment A9. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A6 to A8, wherein the blind hole, the through hole, and the coupling groove are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment A10. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A9, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example Embodiment All. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment A10, wherein the through hole comprises a first portion formed more proximate the first surface and a second portion formed more proximate the second surface, and wherein the silver plating is disposed in the second portion and no silver plating is disposed in the first portion.

Example Embodiment A12. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A10 to All, wherein an amount of silver plating is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment A13. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A12, wherein a metal pin is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example Embodiment A14. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment A13, wherein a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment A15. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A14, wherein the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a network node.

Example Embodiment A16. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A17, wherein the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a base station.

Example Embodiment A17. The RF port coupling structure of Example Embodiment A16, wherein the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system. Example Embodiment A18. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A16 to A17, wherein the base station comprises an indoor base station.

Example Embodiment A19. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A18, wherein the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

Example Embodiment A20. The RF port coupling structure of any one of Example Embodiments A1 to A19, wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises a ceramic block operating as a dielectrically loaded CWG.

Group B Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment Bl. A method comprising: forming a blind hole on a first surface of a radio frequency (RF) port coupling structure; disposing an RF connector on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface; and forming a through hole at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, the through hole forming at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector.

Example Embodiment B2. The method of Example Embodiment Bl, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a component of a wideband ceramic waveguide (CWG) filter unit (FU).

Example Embodiment B3. The method of Example Emboidment B2, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

Example Embodiment B4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Bl to B3, wherein the blind hole and the through hole are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment B5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Bl to B4, further comprising disposing silver plating over a surface forming the blind hole.

Example Embodiment B6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Bl to B5, further comprising: forming a coupling groove on the first surface, the coupling groove coupling the blind hole and the through hole.

Example Embodiment B7. The method of Example Embodiment B6, further comprising disposing silver plating in at least a portion of the coupling groove. Example Embodiment B8. The method of Example Embodiment B7, wherein at least one of a width and a length of the coupling groove is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment B9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments B6 to B8, wherein the blind hole, the through hole, and the coupling groove are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment BIO. The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B9, further comprising disposing silver plating in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example Embodiment B 11. The method of Example Embodiment BIO, wherein the through hole comprises a first portion formed more proximate the first surface and a second portion formed more proximate the second surface, and the method further comprising disposing the silver plating in the second portion, wherein no silver plating is disposed in the first portion.

Example Embodiment B12.The method of any one of Example Embodiments BIO to B11, wherein an amount of silver plating is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment B 13. The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B12, further comprising disposing a metal pin in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example Embodiment B14. The method of Example Embodiment B13, wherein a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment B 15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B14, further comprising incorporating the RF port coupling structure into a network node.

Example Embodiment B16.The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B17, further comprising incorporating the RF port coupling structure into a base station. Example Embodiment B 17. The method of Example Embodiment B 16, wherein the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system.

Example Embodiment B 18. The method of any one of Example Embodiments B16 to B17, wherein the base station comprises an indoor base station.

Example Embodiment B19.The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B18, wherein the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

Example Embodiment B20.The method of any one of Example Embodiments B1 to B19, wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises a ceramic block operating as a dielectrically loaded CWG.

Example Embodiment B21. An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments B1 to B20.

Example Embodiment B22. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments B1 to B209.

Example Embodiment B23. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments B1 to B20.

Example Embodiment B24. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments B 1 to B20.

Group C Embodiments

Example Embodiment Cl. A wideband ceramic waveguide (CWG) filter unit (FU) comprising: a plurality of ports comprising at least a first port and a second port; and a radio frequency (RF) port coupling structure coupling the first port and the second port, wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises: a blind hole formed on a first surface of the RF port coupling structure; an RF connector disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface; and a through hole formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, the through hole forming at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector. Example Embodiment C2. The CWG FU of Example Emboidment Cl, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

Example Embodiment C3. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to C2, wherein the blind hole and the through hole are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment C4. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to C3, wherein silver plating is disposed in the blind hole.

Example Embodiment C5. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to C4, further comprising: a coupling groove formed on the first surface, the coupling groove coupling the blind hole and the through hole.

Example Embodiment C6. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment C5, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

Example Embodiment C7. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment C6, wherein at least one of a width and a length of the coupling groove is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment C8. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments C5 to C7, wherein the blind hole, the through hole, and the coupling groove are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example Embodiment C9. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to C8, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example Embodiment CIO. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment C9, wherein the through hole comprises a first portion formed more proximate the first surface and a second portion formed more proximate the second surface, and wherein the silver plating is disposed in the second portion and no silver plating is disposed in the first portion.

Example Embodiment Cl 1. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments C9 to CIO, wherein an amount of silver plating is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment C 12. The CWG FU of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cll, wherein a metal pin is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole. Example Embodiment Cl 3. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment C12, wherein a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example Embodiment C14. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to Cl 3, wherein the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a network node.

Example Embodiment Cl 5. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to Cl 4, wherein the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a base station.

Example Embodiment Cl 6. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment Cl 5, wherein the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system.

Example Embodiment Cl 7. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments C 15 to C 16, wherein the base station comprises an indoor base station.

Example Embodiment Cl 8. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to Cl 7, wherein the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

Example Embodiment Cl 9. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments C 1 to C 18, wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises a ceramic block operating as a dielectrically loaded CWG.

Example Embodiment C20. The CWG FU of any one of Example

Embodiments Cl to Cl 9, further comprising a shielding layer formed on a surface of the CWG FU.

Example Embodiment C21. The CWG FU of Example Embodiment C20, wherein the shielding layer is formed of silver.

Group D Embodiments

Example D1. A network node comprising: a wideband ceramic waveguide (CWG) filter unit (FU) comprising a radio frequency (RF) port coupling structure, and wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises: a blind hole formed on a first surface of the RF port coupling structure; an RF connector disposed on or adjacent a second surface that is opposite the first surface; and a through hole formed at least partially through the RF port coupling structure, the through hole forming at least a portion of a conductive coupling between the blind hole and the RF connector.

Example D2. The network node of Example Emboidment Dl, wherein the RF port coupling structure is a first or last resonator of the CWG FU.

Example D3. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D2, wherein the blind hole and the through hole are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example D4. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D3, wherein silver plating is disposed in the blind hole.

Example D5. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D4, wherein the RF port coupling structure further comprises: a coupling groove formed on the first surface, the coupling groove coupling the blind hole and the through hole.

Example D6. The network node of Example Embodiment D5, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

Example D7. The network node of Example Embodiment D6, wherein at least one of a width and a length of the coupling groove is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example D8. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D5 to D7, wherein the blind hole, the through hole, and the coupling groove are formed at one time (i.e., during a single process and/or step).

Example D9. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments Dl to D8, wherein silver plating is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example DIO. The network node of Example Embodiment D9, wherein the through hole comprises a first portion formed more proximate the first surface and a second portion formed more proximate the second surface, and wherein the silver plating is disposed in the second portion and no silver plating is disposed in the first portion.

Example Dll. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D9 to DIO, wherein an amount of silver plating is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole. Example D12. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D11, wherein a metal pin is disposed in at least a portion of the through hole.

Example D13. The network node of Example Embodiment D12, wherein a length of the metal pin is selected to achieve a minimum or desired coupling value between the RF connector and at least one of the connecting groove and the blind hole.

Example D14. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D13, wherein the RF port coupling structure is incorporated into a network node.

Example D15. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D14, wherein network node comprises a base station.

Example D 16. The network node of Example Embodiment D15, wherein the base station is associated with a 5G wide band time division duplexing network system.

Example D 17. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D 15 to D16, wherein the base station comprises an indoor base station.

Example D18. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D17, wherein the RF port coupling structure is formed at least partially of ceramic.

Example D19. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D18, wherein the RF port coupling structure comprises a ceramic block operating as a dielectrically loaded CWG.

Example D20. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D19, further comprising a shielding layer formed on a surface of the CWG FU.

Example D21. The network node of Example Embodiment D20, wherein the shielding layer is formed of silver.

Example D22. The network node of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D21, wherein the CWG FU comprises: a plurality of ports comprising at least a first port and a second port, and wherein the RF port coupling structure couples the first port and the second port.

Example D23. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D22, wherein the network node comprises a gNodeB (gNB).

ABBREVIATIONS

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s). lx RTT CDMA2000 lx Radio Transmission Technology

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5th Generation

5GS 5G System

5QI 5G QoS Identifier

AAS Advanced Antenna Systems

ABS Almost Blank Subframe

AC Antenna Calibration Network

AN Access Network

AN Access Node

ANR Automatic Neighbor Relations

AP Access Point

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AS Access Stratum

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel

BLER Block Error Rate

BS Base Station

BSC Base Station Controller

BTS Base Transceiver Station

CA Carrier Aggregation

CC Carrier Component

CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU

CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access

CG Cell Group

CGI Cell Global Identifier/Identity

CIR Channel Impulse Response

CN Core Network

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band

CQI Channel Quality information

C-RNTI Cell RNTI

CSI Channel State Information

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

DL Downlink

DL-SCH Downlink Shared Channel

DM Demodulation

DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DRX Discontinuous Reception

DTX Discontinuous Transmission

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel

DUT Device Under Test

EARFCN Evolved Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)

ECGI Evolved CGI

E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre

ECGI Evolved CGI eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband eNB E-UTRAN NodeB/eNodeB ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

EPS Evolved Packet System

E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

FDD Frequency Division Duplex(ing)

FFS For Further Study

FU Filter Unit

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network gNB gNode B (a base station in NR; a Node B supporting

NR and connectivity to NGC)

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HO Handover

HSPA High Speed Packet Access

HRPD High Rate Packet Data

LOS Line of Sight

LPF Low Pass Filter

LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

LTE Long-Term Evolution

M2M Machine to Machine

MAC Medium Access Control

MBB Mobile Broadband

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services

MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single

Frequency Network

MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe

MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

MIB Master Information Block

MME Mobility Management Entity

MRTD Maximum Receive Timing Difference

MSC Mobile Switching Center

MTC Machine Type Communication

NGC Next Generation Core

NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

NR New Radio

OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OSS Operations Support System

OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCell Primary Cell

PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

PCH Paging Channel

PCI Physical Cell Identity /Identifier

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDP Profile Delay Profile

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PGW Packet Gateway

PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator

PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PS Packet Switched

PSCell Primary SCell

PSC Primary serving Cell

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

RACH Random Access Channel

RAB Radio Access Bearer

RAN Radio Access Network

RANAP Radio Access Network Application Part

RAT Radio Access Technology

RF Radio Frequency

RLM Radio Link Monitoring

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRM Radio Resource Management

RRH Remote Radio Head

RRU Remote Radio Unit

RS Reference Signal

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

RV Redundancy Version

RX Receiver

RWR Release with Redirect

SCC Secondary Component Carrier

SCH Synchronization Channel

SC ell Secondary Cell

SCG Secondary Cell Group scs Subcarrier Spacing

SDU Service Data Unit

SeNB Secondary eNodeB SFN System Frame Number

SGW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block

SIB1 System Information Block Type 1

SINR Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

S-NSSAI Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

SON Self Organizing Network ss Synchronization Signal ssc Secondary Serving Cell sss Secondary Synchronization Signal

TBS Transport Block Size

TDD Time Division Duplex(ing)

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TOA Time of Arrival

TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

TTI Transmission Time Interval

TX Transmitter

UARFCN UTMS Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival

UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WCDMA Wide CDMA

WLAN Wide Local Area Network

CONCLUSION

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.