CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLIATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/343,246 entitled “REMOTE RADIO HEAD LOW-POWER TUNING PROCEDURE,” filed May 18, 2022.

FIELD

[0002] Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications in a cellular network.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications, and especially to switching transmit (TX) chains on the user equipment (UE) side for uplink shared channel transmissions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Fig. 1 shows a cellular network compliant with a Third Generation Partnership Project Standard such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) or 5G (Fifth Generation).

[0005] Fig. 2 shows a wireless network.

[0006] Fig. 3 shows components able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0007] Fig. 4 shows an open 0-RAN architecture.

[0008] Fig 5 shows the Uu interface between a User Equipment (UE) and a O-e/gNB as well as between the UE and 0-RAN components.

[0009] Fig. 6 shows an 0-RAN disaggregated centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU)/radio unit (RU) architecture from the ITU Technical Report GSTR-TN5G. [0010] Fig 7 shows CU/DU/RU split options in a LTE or New Radio (NR) protocol stack with layers and sublayers including numbered functional split options proposed by 3 GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project).

[0011] Fig. 8 shows a simplified version of a Radio Frequency (RF) hierarchy.

[0012] Fig. 9A shows a legacy power management system for a 3GPP compliant network,

[0013] Fig. 9B shows a power management system for a 3GPP compliant network according to some embodiments.

[0014] Fig. 10 shows a flowchart showing various flows of operations for RU power tuning according to an embodiment.

[0015] Fig. 11 shows example power modes of operation of a RU.

[0016] Fig. 12 is a flow chart of a first process according to an embodiment.

[0017] Fig. 13 is a flow chart of a second process according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0019] Fifth generation (5G) (New Radio, or NR) base stations may draw more power than LTE1, and wireless network operators may find that electricity costs are a major % of their

¹ https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/power-consumption-5g- basestarions-are-hungry -hungry-hippos/d/d- id/749979 operating expense (OPEX). In fact, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) Release 18 has a focused Study Item (RP-213554) which aims to define standardized power saving features for networks, and the Open RAN alliance (O-RAN) has started a similar initiative. The motivation for this study item has, in part, been the Radio Network operators’ sentiment that some RAN vendors are not doing enough to reduce network power, or their power-saving features are proprietary and won’t work with a mix of RAN equipment from multiple vendors.

[0020] Systems and Implementations

[0021] Figs. 1-5 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

[0022] Fig. 1 illustrates a network 100 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 100 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3 GPP systems, or the like.

[0023] The network 100 may include a UE 102, which may include any mobile or non- mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 104 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 102 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 104 by a Uu interface. The UE 102 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electron! c/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

[0024] In some embodiments, the network 100 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0025] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may additionally communicate with an AP 106 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 106 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 104. The connection between the UE 102 and the AP 106 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 106 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 102, RAN 104, and AP 106 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular- WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 102 being configured by the RAN 104 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

[0026] The RAN 104 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 108. AN 108 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 102 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 108 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 120 and the UE 102. In some embodiments, the AN 108 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 108 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 108 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0027] In embodiments in which the RAN 104 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 104 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 104 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

[0028] The ANs of the RAN 104 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 102 with an air interface for network access. The UE 102 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 104. For example, the UE 102 and RAN 104 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 102 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc. [0029] The RAN 104 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0030] In V2X scenarios the UE 102 or AN 108 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

[0031] In some embodiments, the RAN 104 may be an LTE RAN 110 with eNBs, for example, eNB 112. The LTE RAN 110 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSLRS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on sub-6 GHz bands.

[0032] In some embodiments, the RAN 104 may be an NG-RAN 114 with gNBs, for example, gNB 116, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 118. The gNB 116 may connect with 5G- enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 1 16 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include anN2 interface or anN3 interface. The ng-eNB 118 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 116 and the ng-eNB 118 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

[0033] In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 114 and a UPF 148 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN114 and an AMF 144 (e.g., N2 interface).

[0034] The NG-RAN 1 14 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G- NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

[0035] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 102 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 102, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 102 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 102 and in some cases at the gNB 116. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

[0036] The RAN 104 is communicatively coupled to CN 120 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 102). The components of the CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. Tn some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 120 onto physical compute/ storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 120 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 120 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

[0037] In some embodiments, the CN 120 may be an LTE CN 122, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 122 may include MME 124, SGW 126, SGSN 128, HSS 130, PGW 132, and PCRF 134 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 122 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0038] The MME 124 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 102 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0039] The SGW 126 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 122. The SGW 126 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0040] The SGSN 128 may track a location of the UE 102 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 128 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 124; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 124 and the SGSN 128 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

[0041] The HSS 130 may include a database for network users, including subscription- related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 130 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 130 and the MME 124 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 120.

[0042] The PGW 132 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 136 that may include an application/content server 138. The PGW 132 may route data packets between the LTE CN 122 and the data network 136. The PGW 132 may be coupled with the SGW 126 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 132 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 132 and the data network 1 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 132 may be coupled with a PCRF 134 via a Gx reference point.

[0043] The PCRF 134 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 122. The PCRF 134 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 138 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 132 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

[0044] In some embodiments, the CN 120 may be a 5GC 140. The 5GC 140 may include an AUSF 142, AMF 144, SMF 146, UPF 148, NSSF 150, NEF 152, NRF 154, PCF 156, UDM 158, and AF 160 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 140 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0045] The AUSF 142 may store data for authentication of UE 102 and handle authentication-related functionality. The AUSF 142 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 140 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 142 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface. [0046] The AMF 144 may allow other functions of the 5GC 140 to communicate with the UE 102 and the RAN 104 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 102. The AMF 144 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 102), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 144 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 102 and the SMF 146, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 144 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 102 and an SMSF. AMF 144 may interact with the AUSF 142 and the UE 102 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 144 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 104 and the AMF 144; and the AMF 144 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 144 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 102 over an N3 IWF interface.

[0047] The SMF 146 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 148 and AN 108); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 148 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 144 over N2 to AN 108; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 102 and the data network 136.

[0048] The UPF 148 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 136, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 148 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF- to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 148 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

[0049] The NSSF 150 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 102. The NSSF 150 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 150 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 102, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 154. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 102 may be triggered by the AMF 144 with which the UE 102 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 150, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 150 may interact with the AMF 144 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 150 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface. [0050] The NEF 152 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 160), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 152 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 152 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 160 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 152 may translate between an AF-Service-ldentifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 152 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 152 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 152 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 152 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

[0051] The NRF 154 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 154 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 154 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

[0052] The PCF 156 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 156 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 158. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 156 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

[0053] The UDM 158 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 102. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 158 and the AMF 144. The UDM 158 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 158 and the PCF 156, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 102) for the NEF 152. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 158, PCF 156, and NEF 152 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM- FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 158 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

[0054] The AF 160 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0055] In some embodiments, the 5GC 140 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 102 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 140 may select a UPF 148 close to the UE 102 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 148 to data network 136 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 160. In this way, the AF 160 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 160 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 160 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 160 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

[0056] The data network 136 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 138.

[0057] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a wireless network 200 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 200 may include a UE 202 in wireless communication with an AN 204. The UE 202 and AN 204 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

[0058] The UE 202 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 204 via connection 206. The connection 206 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

[0059] The UE 202 may include a host platform 208 coupled with a modem platform 210. The host platform 208 may include application processing circuitry 212, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 214 of the modem platform 210. The application processing circuitry 212 may run various applications for the UE 202 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 212 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations

[0060] The protocol processing circuitry 214 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 206. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 214 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

[0061] The modem platform 210 may further include digital baseband circuitry 216 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 214 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0062] The modem platform 210 may further include transmit circuitry 218, receive circuitry 220, RF circuitry 222, and RF front end (RFFE) 224, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 226. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 218 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 220 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 222 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 224 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 218, receive circuitry 220, RF circuitry 222, RFFE 224, and antenna panels 226 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

[0063] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 214 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

[0064] A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 226, RFFE 224, RF circuitry 222, receive circuitry 220, digital baseband circuitry 216, and protocol processing circuitry 214. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 226 may receive a transmission from the AN 204 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 226.

[0065] A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 214, digital baseband circuitry 216, transmit circuitry 218, RF circuitry 222, RFFE 224, and antenna panels 226. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 204 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 226.

[0066] Similar to the UE 202, the AN 204 may include a host platform 228 coupled with a modem platform 230. The host platform 228 may include application processing circuitry 232 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 234 of the modem platform 230. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 236, transmit circuitry 238, receive circuitry 240, RF circuitry 242, RFFE circuitry 244, and antenna panels 246. The components of the AN 204 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 202. In addition to performing data transmi s si on/recepti on as described above, the components of the AN 208 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling. [0067] Fig 3 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Fig. 3 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 300 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 310, one or more memory/storage devices 320, and one or more communication resources 330, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 340 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 302 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/ sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 300.

[0068] The processors 310 may include, for example, a processor 312 and a processor 314. The processors 310 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0069] The memory/storage devices 320 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 320 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0070] The communication resources 330 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 304 or one or more databases 306 or other network elements via a network 308. For example, the communication resources 330 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components. [0071] Instructions 350 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 310 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 350 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 310 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory/storage devices 320, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 350 may be transferred to the hardware resources 300 from any combination of the peripheral devices 304 or the databases 306. Accordingly, the memory of processors 310, the memory/storage devices 320, the peripheral devices 304, and the databases 306 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0072] Fig. 4 provides a high-level view of an Open RAN (0-RAN) architecture 400. The 0-RAN architecture 400 includes four 0-RAN defined interfaces - namely, the Al interface, the 01 interface, the 02 interface, and the Open Fronthaul Management (M)-plane interface - which connect the Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 402 to 0-RAN network functions (NFs) 404 and the O-Cloud 406. The SMO 402 also connects with an external system 410, which provides enrichment data to the SMO 402. Fig. 4 also illustrates that the Al interface terminates at an 0-RAN Non-Real Time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 412 in or at the SMO 402 and at the 0-RAN Near-RT RIC 414 in or at the 0-RAN NFs 404. The 0-RAN NFs 404 can be VNFs such as VMs or containers, sitting above the O-Cloud 406 and/or Physical Network Functions (PNFs) utilizing customized hardware. All 0-RAN NFs 404 are expected to support the 01 interface when interfacing the SMO framework 402. The 0-RAN NFs 404 connect to the NG-Core 408 via the NG interface (which is a 3GPP defined interface). The Open Fronthaul M-plane interface between the SMO 402 and the 0-RAN Radio Unit (0-RU) 416 supports the O- RU 416 management in the 0-RAN hybrid model. The Open Fronthaul M-plane interface is an optional interface to the SMO 402 that is included for backward compatibility purposes, and is intended for management of the O-RU 416 in hybrid mode only. The O-RU 416 termination of the 01 interface towards the SMO 402.

[0073] Fig. 5 shows an 0-RAN logical architecture 500 corresponding to the 0-RAN architecture 400 of Fig. 4. In Fig. 5, the SMO 502 corresponds to the SMO 402, O-Cloud 506 corresponds to the O-Cloud 406, the non-RT RIC 512 corresponds to the non-RT RIC 412, the near-RT RIC 514 corresponds to the near-RT RIC 414, and the O-RU 516 corresponds to the O- a management portion.

[0074] The management portion/side of the architectures 500 includes the SMO Framework 502 containing the non-RT RIC 512, and may include the O-Cloud 506. The O-Cloud 506 is a cloud computing platform including a collection of physical infrastructure nodes to host the relevant O-RAN functions (e.g., the near-RT RIC 514, O-CU-CP 521, O-CU-UP 522, and the 0-DU 515), supporting software components (e.g., OSs, VMMs, container runtime engines, ML engines, etc.), and appropriate management and orchestration functions.

[0075] The radio portion/side of the logical architecture 500 includes the near-RT RIC 514, the O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) 515, the 0-RU 516, the O-RAN Central Unit - Control Plane (O-CU-CP) 521, and the O-RAN Central Unit - User Plane (O-CU-UP) 522 functions. The radio portion/side of the logical architecture 500 may also include the O-e/gNB 510.

[0076] The 0-DU 515 is a logical node hosting RLC, MAC, and higher PHY layer entities/elements (High-PHY layers) based on a lower layer functional split. The O-RU 516 is a logical node hosting lower PHY layer entities/elements (Low-PHY layer) (e.g., FFT/iFFT, PRACH extraction, etc.) and RF processing elements based on a lower layer functional split. Virtualization of O-RU 516 is FFS. The O-CU-CP 521 is a logical node hosting the RRC and the control plane (CP) part of the PDCP protocol. The O O-CU-UP 522 is a logical node hosting the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol.

[0077] An E2 interface terminates at a plurality of E2 nodes. The E2 nodes are logical nodes/entities that terminate the E2 interface. ForNR/5G access, the E2 nodes include the O-CU- CP 521, O-CU-UP 522, 0-DU 515, or any combination of elements. For E-UTRA access the E2 nodes include the O-e/gNB 510. As shown in Fig. 5, the E2 interface also connects the O-e/gNB 510 to the Near-RT RIC 514. The protocols over E2 interface are based exclusively on Control Plane (CP) protocols. The E2 functions are grouped into the following categories: (a) near-RT RIC 514 services (REPORT, INSERT, CONTROL and POLICY; and (b) near-RT RIC 514 support functions, which include E2 Interface Management (E2 Setup, E2 Reset, Reporting of General Error Situations, etc.) and Near-RT RIC Service Update (e g., capability exchange related to the list of E2 Node functions exposed over E2). [0078] Fig 5 shows the Uu interface between a UE 501 and O-e/gNB 510 as well as between the UE 501 and O-RAN components. The Uu interface is a 3GPP defined interface, which includes a complete protocol stack from LI to L3 and terminates in the NG-RAN or E-UTRAN. The O-e/gNB 510 is an LTE eNB, a 5G gNB or ng-eNB that supports the E2 interface. The O- e/gNB 510 may be the same or similar as some other gNB or base station discussed previously. The a UE 501 may correspond to a UE such as previously described with respect to one or more of the above embodiments or Figs., and/or the like. There may be multiple UEs 501 and/or multiple O-e/gNB 510, each of which may be connected to one another the via respective Uu interfaces. Although not shown in Fig. 5, the O-e/gNB 510 supports O-DU 515 and 0-RU 516 functions with an Open Fronthaul interface between them.

[0079] The Open Fronthaul (OF) interface(s) is/are between O-DU 515 and 0-RU 516 functions. The OF interface(s) includes the Control User Synchronization (CUS) Plane and Management (M) Plane. Figs. 4 and 5 also show that the 0-RU 516 terminates the OF M-Plane interface towards the O-DU 515 and optionally towards the SMO 502. The 0-RU 516 terminates the OF CUS-Plane interface towards the O-DU 515 and the SMO 502.

[0080] The Fl-c interface connects the O-CU-CP 521 with the O-DU 515. As defined by 3GPP, the Fl-c interface is between the gNB-CU-CP and gNB-DU nodes. However, for purposes of O-RAN, the Fl-c interface is adopted between the O-CU-CP 521 with the O-DU 515 functions while reusing the principles and protocol stack defined by 3 GPP and the definition of interoperability profile specifications.

[0081] The Fl-u interface connects the O-CU-UP 522 with the O-DU 515. As defined by 3GPP, the F l-u interface is between the gNB-CU-UP and gNB-DU nodes. However, for purposes of O-RAN, the Fl-u interface is adopted between the O-CU-UP 522 with the O-DU 515 functions while reusing the principles and protocol stack defined by 3 GPP and the definition of interoperability profile specifications.

[0082] The NG-c interface is defined by 3GPP as an interface between the gNB-CU-CP and the AMF in the 5GC. The NG-c is also referred as the N2 interface. The NG-u interface is defined by 3GPP, as an interface between the gNB-CU-UP and the UPF in the 5GC. The NG-u interface is referred as the N3 interface. In O-RAN, NG-c and NG-u protocol stacks defined by 3 GPP are reused and may be adapted for O-RAN purposes. [0083] The X2-c interface is defined in 3GPP for transmitting control plane information between eNBs or between eNB and en-gNB in EN-DC. The X2-u interface is defined in 3GPP for transmitting user plane information between eNBs or between eNB and en-gNB in EN-DC. In 0-RAN, X2-c and X2-u protocol stacks defined by 3 GPP are reused and may be adapted for O- RAN purposes

[0084] The Xn-c interface is defined in 3GPP for transmitting control plane information between gNBs, ng-eNBs, or between an ng-eNB and gNB. The Xn-u interface is defined in 3GPP for transmitting user plane information between gNBs, ng-eNBs, or between ng-eNB and gNB. In O-RAN, Xn-c and Xn-u protocol stacks defined by 3GPP are reused and may be adapted for O- RAN purposes

[0085] The El interface is defined by 3GPP as being an interface between the gNB-CU- CP (e.g., gNB-CU-CP 3728) and gNB-CU-UP. In 0-RAN, El protocol stacks defined by 3GPP are reused and adapted as being an interface between the O-CU-CP 521 and the O-CU-UP 522 functions.

[0086] The 0-RAN Non-Real Time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 512 is a logical function within the SMO framework 402, 502 that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources; Al/machine learning (ML) workflow(s) including model training, inferences, and updates; and policy-based guidance of applications/features in the Near-RT RIC 514.

[0087] The 0-RAN near-RT RIC 514 is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions over the E2 interface. The near-RT RIC 514 may include one or more AI/ML workflows including model training, inferences, and updates.

[0088] The non-RT RIC 512 can be an ML training host to host the training of one or more ML models. ML training can be performed offline using data collected from the RIC, 0-DU 515 and 0-RU 516. For supervised learning, non-RT RIC 512 is part of the SMO 502, and the ML training host and/or ML model host/actor can be part of the non-RT RIC 512 and/or the near-RT RIC 514. For unsupervised learning, the ML training host and ML model host/actor can be part of the non-RT RIC 512 and/or the near-RT RIC 514. For reinforcement learning, the ML training host and ML model host/actor may be co-located as part of the non-RT RIC 512 and/or the near- RT RTC 514. Tn some implementations, the non-RT RTC 512 may request or trigger ML model training in the training hosts regardless of where the model is deployed and executed. ML models may be trained and not currently deployed.

[0089] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 512 provides a query-able catalog for an ML designer/developer to publish/install trained ML models (e.g., executable software components). In these implementations, the non-RT RIC 512 may provide discovery mechanism if a particular ML model can be executed in a target ML inference host (MF), and what number and type of ML models can be executed in the MF. For example, there may be three types of ML catalogs made disoverable by the non-RT RIC 512: a design-time catalog (e.g., residing outside the non-RT RIC 512 and hosted by some other ML platform(s)), a training/deployment-time catalog (e.g., residing inside the non-RT RIC 512), and a run-time catalog (e.g., residing inside the non-RT RIC 512). The non-RT RIC 512 supports necessary capabilities for ML model inference in support of ML assisted solutions running in the non-RT RIC 512 or some other ML inference host. These capabilities enable executable software to be installed such as VMs, containers, etc. The non-RT RIC 512 may also include and/or operate one or more ML engines, which are packaged software executable libraries that provide methods, routines, data types, etc., used to run ML models. The non-RT RIC 512 may also implement policies to switch and activate ML model instances under different operating conditions.

[0090] The non-RT RIC 52 is able to access feedback data (e.g., FM and PM statistics) over the 01 interface on ML model performance and perform necessary evaluations. If the ML model fails during runtime, an alarm can be generated as feedback to the non-RT RIC 512. How well the ML model is performing in terms of prediction accuracy or other operating statistics it produces can also be sent to the non-RT RIC 512 over 01. The non-RT RIC 512 can also scale ML model instances running in a target MF over the 01 interface by observing resource utilization in MF. The environment where the ML model instance is running (e.g., the MF) monitors resource utilization of the running ML model. This can be done, for example, using an ORAN-SC component called ResourceMonitor in the near-RT RIC 514 and/or in the non-RT RIC 512, which continuously monitors resource utilization. If resources are low or fall below a certain threshold, the runtime environment in the near-RT RIC 514 and/or the non-RT RIC 512 provides a scaling mechanism to add more ML instances. The scaling mechanism may include a scaling factor such as an number, percentage, and/or other like data used to scale up/down the number of ML instances. ML model instances running in the target ML inference hosts may be automatically scaled by observing resource utilization in the MF. For example, the Kubemetes® (K8s) runtime environment typically provides an auto-scaling feature.

[0091] The Al interface is between the non-RT RIC 512 (within or outside the SMO 502) and the near-RT RIC 514. The Al interface supports three types of services, including a Policy Management Service, an Enrichment Information Service, and ML Model Management Service. Al policies have the following characteristics compared to persistent configuration: Al policies are not critical to traffic; Al policies have temporary validity; Al policies may handle individual UE or dynamically defined groups of UEs; Al policies act within and take precedence over the configuration; and Al policies are non-persistent, i.e., do not survive a restart of the near-RT RIC. [0092] *^*********

[0093] One or more of the systems or devise shown in any one of Figs. 1-5 may be used to implement aspects of some embodiments as described in further detail below.

[0094] Referring to Fig. 6, the figure shows the 0-RAN disaggregated centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU)/radio unit (RU) architecture 600 from the ITU Technical Report GSTR-TN5G, depicting a CU-DU-RU base station hierarchy. The ITU Technical Report GSTR- TN5G is a document published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that provides a comprehensive overview of the technical aspects of 5G networks. The report covers a wide range of topics related to 5G, including network architecture, radio access technologies, spectrum requirements, and deployment scenarios. Fig. 6 shows the CU-DU and DU-RU interfaces from the above publication, along with the functional splits as in the top portion of the figure. The RU is the equivalent of the Remote Radio head, is mounted on the radio tower, and typically is connected to the DU via a fiber optic link. The splits shown at the bottom of the figure in the form of boxes may be interpreted in one example to pertain to distinct physical devices that can communicate via Fx interfaces as suggested in the figure.

[0095] In this hierarchy, the Central Unit (CU) is the top-level node that provides centralized control and management functions for the entire base station. The CU is responsible for coordinating communication between different Distributed Units (DUs) and is typically located in a centralized data center. The Distributed Units (DUs) are the intermediate nodes in the base station hierarchy, responsible for the lower-level processing and control of the radio access network. The DUs are typically deployed closer to the Radio Units (RUs) and are connected to the CU via high-speed data links. The Radio Units (RUs) are the lowest-level nodes in the base station hierarchy, responsible for transmitting and receiving radio signals from the user devices. The RUs are typically located close to the users and are connected to the DUs via high-speed fronthaul links. [0096] This CU-DU-RU base station hierarchy is designed to provide a flexible, scalable, and efficient architecture for 5G networks. It allows for a distributed deployment of the base station components, which can help to reduce latency and improve network performance. Additionally, the CU-DU-RU architecture allows for easy network upgrades and maintenance, as individual components can be upgraded or replaced without affecting the rest of the network.

[0097] In 0-RAN, network operators may mix and match equipment from different vendors. Low power features may be desired that are not dependent on a single RAN vendors DU/RU/CU suite of equipment, but can also save power in a mix-and-match situation using ORAN-defined messaging protocols.

[0098] Some embodiments relate to power-saving methods that can satisfy the above requirements and include 3 GPP or ORAN-standardized aspects.

[0099] State of the art approaches have been to (1 ) get all the RAN equipment from a single vendor, or (2) use RAN equipment from different vendors but only rely on self-contained power saving features for each of the RU, DU, or CU.

[0100] In the case of single vendor solution, most if not all details of the power savings methods may be proprietary. Any required coordination between DU and RU, or DU and CU, related to the power savings, may be via vendor specific messages. Most of all, the requirement to use a single vendor for all the 0-RAN equipment may be contrary to goals of 0-RAN.

[0101] In the second scenario, only power saving methods that are absolutely guaranteed to have no network performance impact, and that require no messaging or coordination between RU and DU, may be employed. This will limit the amount of power savings that can be realized, and it also means that the DU will be unaware if the RU adopts a low power mode.

[0102] Some embodiments herein relate to messaging formats between RU and DU, and possibly RU-CU and DU-CU, which allow the RU to query the CU regarding network performance statistics, and also the DU or CU can query the RU regarding its own (lower-level) metrics. Examples of such statistical metrics include, for the CU or DU, HARQ retry rates, average throughput (UL or DL), radio link failure (RLF) events, etc. For the RU, metrics could include AGC overload events, RF blocker events, average UL signal power, DL RB allocations per CC, power in adjacent bands or CCs, etc.

[0103] Some embodiments further relate to methods/procedures such that the RU can transition to a lower power mode based on CU/DU reported metrics, or the CU/DU can command the RU to enter this lower power mode, all without the RU needing to disclose the exact low power procedures being used.

[0104] While the RU is in the lower power mode, the CU, DU, or the RU itself, can perform statistical hypothesis testing, e.g., Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to determine if the lower power mode has had any impact on network performance, and then decide whether to continue the lower power mode RU operation.

[0105] The RU can advertise availability of lower power features, e.g., a lower linearity /lower power RX mode, without having to disclose full details or exact register controls needed to activate this mode. The RU, the DU, or the CU can then assess, via known statistical tests or machine learning algorithms, whether the low power features have any impact at all on network performance. If they have no negative impact, the networks keeps the low power features in place. (The low power features may have a time-of-day dependency, i.e., they are applied only late at night with lighter network traffic.). If network performance is degraded, the network reverts to the normal power state.

[0106] Some embodiments may relate to standard 3GPP or 0-RAN messaging to allow RUs to enter lower power modes via either DU command, or autonomously based on the RU making decisions to enter low power modes. Support for these messages/low power features may be advertised in the RU and/or DU product datasheet.

[0107] Fig. 7 provides more detail on the CU/DU/RU split options (though they may not explicitly show the RU) by depicting a LTE protocol stack 700 with layers and sublayers including the numbered functional split options proposed by 3GPP. A common DU-RU split now used in the industry is split 7-2, where in the downlink (DL) direction, the RU receives Frequency Domain information in a compressed format, then uncompresses the signal, applies beamforming weights in a massive MIMO use case, then performs an inverse Fast Fourier Transform function iFFT to generate in-phase and quadrature (TQ) time domain samples which are injected into the transit (TX) chain. In the TX chain we will have the operations of Digital Front End (DFE) filtering, Component Carrier combining (CC combining), Crest Factor Reduction, DPD processing, up- mixing and RF amplification.

[0108] Downlink DFE processing is commonly used in high-speed communication systems, such as wired and wireless RF networks to provide digital up-sampling, filtering, 1/Q correction, up-mixing and other operations in the uplink, before feeding the final signal to the DAC.

[0109] DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion) processing is a technique used in communication systems to mitigate the nonlinear distortion that can occur in high-power amplifiers. DPD processing aims to improve the linearity and efficiency of power amplifiers by correcting for the distortion caused by the amplifier.

[0110] In the uplink (UL) direction, the flow is basically reversed. There is no DPD per se, but there may be linearity correction for front-end elements, in anticipation of RF blockers. The DFE will perform the reverse operations of what is described above, e.g., down-mixing, decimation filtering, EQ correction, etc.

[0111] Fig 8 shows a simplified version of a radio frequency (RF) CU/DU/RU hierarchy 800. The 0-RAN vision is that the CU, DU and RU will be interoperable. According to some embodiments, the RU may have energy saving features not fully disclosed to the DU or CU. In the shown hierarchy 800, for example under a 7-2 regime, the CU, which may perform radio resource control (RRC), medium access control (MAC), and LI (Physical layer or PHY) - High. The RUs may handle low PHY functionality, beamforming, and including RF converters and analog RF circuitry.

[0112] The 0-RAN specification defines the DU-RU, and CU-DU interfaces, such that RU equipment from one vendor can be used with DU equipment from another, and similarly for the CU and DU interface. The CPRI protocol used in LTE had the same objective, but the specification was so loosely defined that mainly single-vendor deployments were used for CU/DU/RU. 0-RAN was formed, in part, to address this unstructured nature of CPRI and provide true multi-vendor solutions. The links between the RUs and the CU/DU component may include fiber links which can extend up to 20 km from the DU. [0113] Fig 9A shows a typical power management system 900A, and Fig 9B shows a power management system 900B according to some embodiments.

[0114] In the system of Fig. 9A, the power management function is centralized in either CU or DU and has a proper model of the RU and network performance measurements. This typically works if all units are from the same vendor as it requires detailed knowledge of the RU and the control messaging.

[0115] In the example system of Fig. 9B, the RU performs its own power management function. The RU may then need some performance metrics estimated by the higher network layers (e g , HARQ rate, throughput, etc ). Based on those metrics and some local RU specific metrics through RU’ s own performance measurements, the RU can then independently manage and save the power, for example through using its own power saving engine as shown. Advantages of a RU that can determine to save power include the following by way of example: if the messages are standardized, the RU and DU/CU can work seamlessly even if they are from different vendors. Some outlines of the standard messages are described herein; and any detailed local specific RU measurements might enable better power saving in the RU Some examples are given below.

[0116] Referring still to Figs. 9A and 9B, the CU/DU (CU or DU, or combination of CU and DU - see the bottom two NGC options of Fig. 5 by way of example) of both systems may take performance measurements of the network and may include a power saving engine to communicate with the RU. While the legacy system 900A has the CU/DU sending power saving control messages to the RU to have the RU implement them by executing commands within the CU/DU’ s power saving control messages to save RU power, the system 900B according to an example embodiment has the RU implement power savings on its own, and, in the example shown, performing its own performance measurements and sending the same to the CU/DU, while receiving the CU/DU’ s performance measurements as well.

[0117] Regarding the message content and example message formats between the RU and the CUZDU, the data types that can be requested and exchanged between RU and CU/DU, or DU and CU, pertain to KPIs and other metrics such as UL HARQ retry rate (retry rate of UL hybrid automatic repeat request), average RF input signal to the RU, RU AGC (automatic gain control) overload rate, UL or DL throughput, average number of RBs (resource block) sent per active DL symbol, etc. The statistical data type object can include mean, median, variance, sample size, observation interval, etc. One of the network entities, e.g., RU, can request to enter a certain low power mode, or advertise that it has transitioned to a low power mode. An entity such as the DU can also command the RU to enter a certain low power mode. Unlike the low power modes SMi- SM4 related to the O-RAN Energy Savings Feature, which all result in the RF function disabled, the low power modes defined herein may still have the RF function enabled, but with reduced parametric performance.

[0118] In some embodiments, some of the new messages that could be implemented are as follows: i. Request_performance_stats(Requestor, Target, Parameter,

Observation interval).... Example would be Requestor = RU, Target = CU, Parameter=UL_HARQ_retry_rate, Observation interval = 10 PM to 5 AM for a certain date. Another would be Requestor = DU, Target = RU, Parameter=AGC_overload_rate (e g., overload events per frame) ii. Report_performance_stats(Source, Target, Parameter, Mean, Variance, Num observations) Example would be Parameter=UL_HARQ_retry_rate, Mean=10%, Variance=l% ^A 2, Num_observations = 2000 connections. iii. Low_power_mode_config(Requestor, Target, RF direction, Low power level ) Example would be RF direction = UL, Low power level = 0-3 with 0 = normal power mode, l=next lowest power level, 3 = lowest power level iv. Low_power_mode_advisory(Actor, Target, RF_direction, Low_power_level) Example would be Actor=RU, Target = DU, RF direction = UL, Low_power_level = 0-3 as described above. Used when, for example, RU autonomously enters a lower power mode and advises the DU.

[0119] Description of concepts herein may be provided with respect to one specific embodiment, then further embodiments that use the same principles may be introduced.

[0120] 3GPP has various RX performance specs related to base station interference, as per the TS38.104 specification. For example, the Release 16 out-of-band blocking specification table is shown below in Table 1, which suggests that, with the -15 dBm interfering signal present, the RX throughput defined in basic RX sensitivity test shall degrade no more than 5% from the rate when no blocker is present.

Table 7.5.2-1: Out-of-band blocking performance requirement for NR

Fig. 5: 38.104 out-of-band blocking spec

[0121] Most base station front end modules mitigate RF blockers using high bias currents and operating voltages for the LNAs, real-time AGC cutback, or even more sophisticated nonlinearity compensation schemes. These linearity corrections, or higher LNA biases to avoid nonlinear distortion in the case of blockers, result in higher front-end power consumption.

[0122] For example, a receive path may use a non-linear equalizer block (NLEQ) that can correct for RX input overload conditions that could be seen in a blocking scenario. Use of this feature, however, increases the RX power consumption by over 1.4 W with eight antennas active. [0123] How do we know that RX blocking mitigation is really needed? In a well-planned network deployment, with all systems complying with 3 GPP specs and the UEs under transmit power control, it may not add any value, especially in rural areas. When user traffic abates late at night, the need for RX blocking mitigation should also diminish as there is less UL traffic to produce an overload. [0124] The high level answer to the question about the need for RX blocking is “What RF network parameters are impacted without RX blocking mitigation engaged”? These parameters would include UL user throughput, HARQ retry rates, average UL signal power, etc. The problem can be expressed via the classical ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) statistical hypothesis, with two different “populations”, or in this case, base station UL performance metrics measured in a defined window. Basically, if RX blocking mitigation is disabled, does it matter? With ANOVA, the standard F and p-values can be used to accept or reject the hypothesis that “NLEQ affects UL RX performance ” To implement this statistical evaluation in the network, we describe the following RU-driven approach as set forth below.

[0125] Referring now to Fig. 10, a flowchart 1000 is shown for various flows of operations for RU power tuning according to an embodiment. Operations of Fig. 10 may by way of example be described in part as follows:

1. With the RU running with NLEQ active, the RU requests performance metrics from the DU/CU from the previous night’s operation, say from 10 PM to 6 AM. Metrics would be of the form [Parameter, Mean, Variance, Sample Size N], Here the parameters requested could be HARQ retry rate and average UL user throughput, with N being the number of data connection events. a. The DU returns the requested parameters to the RU.

2. The next night, the RU disables NLEQ for the same operational period 10 PM to 6 AM.

3. The next morning, the RU requests the same parameters from DU/CU and performs a statistical ANOVA test. a. If the F and p-values show that “NLEQ doesn’t matter w.r.t. RF performance”, retain the lower power operational mode with NLEQ disabled. b. If the opposite is true, i.e., a deleterious effect on RF performance is seen, then revert to the NLEQ-active mode. [0126] F and p values are statistical values commonly used in hypothesis testing to determine whether there is a significant difference between two or more groups. F-value (also known as the F-statistic) is a ratio of the variances of two or more groups being compared. It is calculated by dividing the variance between groups by the variance within groups. The larger the F-value, the greater the difference between the groups being compared, p-value (also known as the probability value) is the probability of obtaining a result as extreme as or more extreme than the observed result, assuming that the null hypothesis is true.

[0127] Other embodiments or enhancements:

[0128] Reinforcement learning mode:

[0129] The RU power management function according to some embodiments is in fact implementing a power management “policy” that is deciding to apply certain power saving actions given the current observations of the current system state. The observations include the DU/CU information sent via the above-mentioned messages (e g. HARQ retry rate), and also optionally the local RU information can be added (e.g. AGC overload rate, adjacent channel power leakage). The first embodiment describes an example policy for one particular situation. A generic policy could be obtained for any system using the reinforcement learning approach. The value function used for reinforcement learning could be based on some system power models or direct measurements and also combined with some throughput related measures (e.g. HARQ retry rates)

[0130] Outer loop/inner loop:

[0131] An enhancement of the generic power saving scheme can be achieved by adding an inner loop. As before, the RU has several modes of operation, as shown by way of example in the diagram 1100 of Fig. 11. Each mode of operation has a defined power/performance range as shown in Fig. 11. Note that the operating ranges of the different modes may overlap.

[0132] The decision as to what mode the RU should operate in is based on the outer loop, i.e. on the procedure outlined before and based on the metrics estimated by the higher network layers such as CU or DU (e g. HARQ, etc.).

[0133] The idea is that the RU can implement power/performance trade-offs within the operating range of the mode it is in as controlled by an inner loop.

[0134] The inner loop is based on a statistic that can be estimated by the RU itself and it requires no interaction with the higher network layers in CU or DU. The RU inner loop may initiate a RU Mode change request if it decides that it has been operating at one of the extreme ends of its operating range for a sufficiently long period of time. For instance, if the RU in Mode 2 of Fig. 11 has been operating at the lower end of its range for a sufficiently long time, and it thinks that it could lower the power/performance further, it may request that the outer loop performs the necessary network measurements to see if the RU can move into the Mode 1 operating range. An example of the type of measurements that the RU could make to drive the inner loop is the average or peak antenna RF power, which is typically estimated by the receiver AGC loop.

[0135] TX Digital Predistortion (DPD) “tuning”:

[0136] The power spectral density of the cellular base station transmitter may be kept constant. The more resource blocks (RB) that are used the higher the output power. During a time of low network activity (low RB allocation), the power amplifier transmit power is reduced. With greater back off the power amplifier is more linear and may need either reduced digital predistortion (DPD) or none at all. By disabling the DPD or reducing the computational complexity, the power consumption is reduced. The DPD might have a number of predefined states with various compute complexity and power consumption. During times of low usage the RU can go to lower power states. However, if a message is given from the CU that KPI’s are degraded the RU can go to the next power state up. If a subsequent message is received that performance is not meeting requirements the DU will continue to increment up power states until requirements are met. If the performance deficit is large a message to the DU can put it into its highest performance state take multi-level steps up on performance.

[0137] An example DPD implementation may include a set of look up tables (LUTs), for example as described in US Patent 9,813,223. For example, a non-linear model may be provided with look-up tables, where the values for the look-up tables are directly optimized from the physical data. Increasing the number of LUTs and the size of the LUTs will increase the performance of the DPD (e.g. reduce out of band power leakage) but also the power consumption. The large number of LUTs are typically needed to handle the power amplifier in high power states when the non-linear effects are the highest.

[0138] It is also possible that different algorithms perform better at lower power than at higher output power besides just adding or removing LUT. Some embodiments provide configuring lower power states for lower output power PA usage (determined by pre- characterization of a particular PA). The DPD engine can be designed to do a fast gear shift between algorithms when transitioning to or from low power states. With this implementation, not only can power states be incremented but a low performance message could lead the DU to choose to shift algorithms and wait to see if the performance is improved.

[0139] DPD low-power tuning with full network awareness:

[0140] With the aforementioned DPD tuning procedures, the prevailing opinion is that no matter what measures we take to reduce DL power consumption, we must always comply with 3GPP ACLR specifications as defined in TS38.104 section 6.6.3.

[0141] If, however, the adjacent channels in question are run by the same operator, then additional flexibility is provided. For example, during low traffic scenarios, the operator may choose to shutdown these adjacent CCs anyway for power reduction, so, according to an embodiment, the DPD configuration for the remaining CCs could be modified such that we are marginal on the adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) performance, but no one is harmed by it.

[0142] There are numerous benefits provided by embodiments herein such as:

A. The network can adaptively enable low power modes as a function of the network environment.

B. The network can statistically assess the impact of low power modes, and retain them if no impact.

C. The messaging protocol described allows for RU, CU, and DU boxes from different vendors to be used, while shielding the low-level details of the low power modes enabled.

D. Local information in the RU that is typically not shared with the DU/CU could enable better power management of the RU.

EXAMPLE PROCEDURES

[0143] In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figs. 1-5, or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in Fig. 12 and another Fig. 13. [0144] A process according to some embodiments may relate to a method to be performed by a radio unit (RU) in an 0-RAN, network, a hardware device that implements or includes such a RU, and/or one or more elements of the RU. The technique may include querying, a centralized unit (CU) and/or distributed unit (DU) regarding network performance statistics; and changing, based on the provided statistics or some other factor, to a lower power mode.

[0145] Another process according to some embodiments may relate to a method to be performed by a centralized unit (CU) and/or distributed unit (DU) in an 0-RAN network, a hardware device that implements or includes such a CU and/or DU, and/or one or more elements of the CU or DU. The technique may include identifying, a query received from a radio unit (RU) regarding network performance statistics; and providing to the RU based on the query, the requested statistics, wherein the RU is to change, based on the provided statistics or some other factor, to a lower power mode.

[0146] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[0147] Fig. 12 depicts a process 1200 to be performed at an apparatus of a RU according to an embodiment. Process 1200 includes, at operation 1202, making a determination, using one or more low power procedures at an RU of a 0-RAN, to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU; and at operation 1204, encoding for transmission, to a device of the 0-RAN including at least one of a Central Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU) (CU/DU), information on the determination. [0148] Fig. 13 depicts a process 1300 to be performed at an apparatus of a DU according to an embodiment. Process 1300 includes, at operation 1302, decoding a message from a Radio Unit device (RU) of the 0-RAN, the message including information on a determination by the RU to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU, the determination based on one or more low power procedures at the RU; and at operation 1304, encoding for transmission to the RU a message including information on network performance measurements at a Distributed Unit of the O-RAN.

EXAMPLES

[0149] Example 1 includes an apparatus of a Radio Unit device (RU) of an Open Radio Access Network (0-RAN) architecture, the apparatus including a communication interface, and processing circuitry coupled to the communication interface, the processing circuitry to: make a determination, using one or more low power procedures at the RU, to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU; and encode for transmission, to a device of the 0-RAN including at least one of a Central Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU) (CU/DU), information on the determination.

[0150] Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1 , wherein the determination is based on network performance measurements at the RU (RU network performance measurements).

[0151] Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 2, the processing circuitry to perform the RU network performance measurements.

[0152] Example 4 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-3, the processing circuitry to further decode a message including information on network performance measurements at the CU/DU (CU/DU network performance measurements), the determination based on the CU/DU network performance measurements.

[0153] Example 5 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-4, wherein the information on the determination includes information that the RU has determined to enter or exit the low power mode.

[0154] Example 6 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-4, wherein the information on the determination does not include information on any low power procedure used at the RU to arrive at the determination.

[0155] Example 7 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-6, the processing circuitry to further encode for transmission to the CU/DU information on availability of low power features of the RU.

[0156] Example 8 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-7, the processing circuitry to determine an impact of the low power mode on performance of the 0-RAN based on one or more of statistical testing or machine learning, the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning performed at at least one of the RU or the CU/DU. [0157] Example 9 includes the subject matter of Example 8, wherein a statistical data type object for the statistical testing includes at least one of mean, median, variance, sample size or observation interval.

[0158] Example 10 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 8-9, wherein the processing circuitry is to perform at least some of the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning.

[0159] Example 11 includes the subject matter of Example 10, wherein the machine learning includes reinforcement learning.

[0160] Example 12 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-11, wherein the determination to enter the low power mode is based on a time of day.

[0161] Example 13 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-12, wherein the determination is further based on messaging from the CU/DU to enter or exit the low power mode. [0162] Example 14 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-13, the processing circuitry to further determine, based on a statistic estimated at the RU, an adjustment to a power setting of the RU within an operating parameter range of a power mode of the RU.

[0163] Example 15 includes the subject matter of Example 14, wherein the adjustment determination is a first determination, the processing circuitry to make a second determination, after the first determination, to exit or to enter the low power mode of the RU based on the adjustment to the power setting of the RU.

[0164] Example 16 includes the subj ect matter of Example 15, wherein the messaging from the CU/DU is based on at least one of network performance measurements at the CU/DU (CU/DU network performance measurements), a DU command to the RU, or results of one or more of statistical testing or machine learnings at the CU/DU.

[0165] Example 17 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-16, wherein the determination is a first determination, the processing circuitry to make a second determination, after the first determination, to exit or to enter the low power mode of the RU based on messaging from the CU/DU.

[0166] Example 18 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-16, wherein message content for a message exchanged between the RU and the CU/DU to cause the processing circuitry to make the determination includes at least one of: uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retry rate (UL HARQ retry rate), average radio frequency input signal to the RU, RU automatic gain control (AGC) overload rate, UL throughput, downlink (DL) throughput, or average number of resource blocks (RBs) sent per active DL symbol.

[0167] Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to or decode from the CU/DU a message including a Request for Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a requestor, an identification of a target, an identification of a parameter requested, and an observation interval.

[0168] Example 20 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the processing circuitry to: encode for transmission to the CU/DU a first Request for Performance Statistics, the first Request comprising an identification of a first requested parameter based on a first observation interval while a non-linear equalizer block (NLEQ) of the RU is active; decode a first response from the CU/DU to the first Request, the first response including the first parameter; cause deactivation of the NLEQ; encode for transmission to the CU/DU a second Request for Performance Statistics, the second Request comprising an identification of a second requested parameter based on a second observation interval while the NLEQ is inactive; decode a second response from the CU/DU to the second Request, the second response including the second parameter; and based on the first response and the second response, determine whether to keep the NLEQ deactivated.

[0169] Example 21 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to or decode from the CU/DU a message including a Report of Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a source of the performance statistics , an identification of a target as the performance statistics, an identification of a parameter being reported, and an indication of one or more statistical data type object for the performance statistics. [0170] Example 22 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the processing circuitry to decode a message from the CU/DU including a Low Power Mode Configuration request comprising an identification of a source of the request as the CU/DU, an identification of a target of the request as the RU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode to be configured at the RU.

[0171] Example 23 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the processing circuitry to encode a message for transmission to the CU/DU including a Low Power Mode Advisory message comprising an identification of an actor for the message as the RU, an identification of a target of the message as the CU/DU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode configured at the RU.

[0172] Example 24 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-23, wherein making the determination to enter a low power mode of the RU includes at least one of disabling or controlling power states of a digital predistortion (DPD) of a power amplifier (PA) of the RU. [0173] Example 25 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-24, further including a front end module, and a plurality of antennas coupled to the front end module to communicate radio frequency signals with a user equipment.

[0174] Example 26 includes a method to be performed at an apparatus of a Radio Unit device (RU) of an Open Radio Access Network (0-RAN) architecture, the method including: making a determination, using one or more low power procedures at the RU, to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU; and encoding for transmission, to a device of the 0-RAN including at least one of a Central Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU) (CU/DU), information on the determination.

[0175] Example 27 includes the subject matter of Example 26, wherein the determination is based on network performance measurements at the RU (RU network performance measurements).

[0176] Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, further including performing the RU network performance measurements.

[0177] Example 29 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-28, further including decoding network performance measurements at the CU/DU (CU/DU network performance measurements), the determination based on the CU/DU network performance measurements.

[0178] Example 30 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-29, wherein the information on the determination includes information that the RU has determined to enter or exit the low power mode.

[0179] Example 31 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-29, wherein the information on the determination does not include information on any low power procedure used at the RU to arrive at the determination. [0180] Example 32 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-31, further including encoding for transmission to the CU/DU information on an availability of low power features of the RU.

[0181] Example 33 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-32, further including determining an impact of the low power mode on performance of the 0-RAN based on one or more of statistical testing or machine learning, the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning performed at at least one of the RU or the CU/DU.

[0182] Example 34 includes the subject matter of Example 33, wherein a statistical data type object for the statistical testing includes at least one of mean, median, variance, sample size or observation interval.

[0183] Example 35 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 33-34, further including performing at least some of the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning.

[0184] Example 36 includes the subject matter of Example 35, wherein the machine learning includes reinforcement learning.

[0185] Example 37 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-36, wherein the determination to enter the low power mode is based on a time of day.

[0186] Example 38 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-37, wherein the determination is further based on messaging from the CU/DU to enter or exit the low power mode. [0187] Example 39 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-38, further including determining, based on a statistic estimated at the RU, an adjustment to a power setting of the RU within an operating parameter range of a power mode of the RU.

[0188] Example 40 includes the subject matter of Example 39, wherein the determination is a first determination, the method further including making a second determination, after the first determination, to exit or to enter the low power mode of the RU based on the adjustment to the power setting of the RU.

[0189] Example 41 includes the subj ect matter of Example 40, wherein the messaging from the CU/DU is based on at least one of: network performance measurements at the CU/DU (CU/DU network performance measurements), a DU command to the RU, or results of one or more of statistical testing or machine learnings at the CU/DU. [0190] Example 42 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-41, wherein the determination is a first determination, the method further including making a second determination, after the first determination, to exit or to enter the low power mode of the RU based on messaging from the CU/DU.

[0191] Example 43 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-41, wherein message content for a message exchanged between the RU and the CU/DU to cause making the determination includes at least one of: uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retry rate (UL_HARQ_retry rate), average radio frequency input signal to the RU, RU automatic gain control (AGC) overload rate, UL throughput, downlink (DL) throughput, or average number of resource blocks (RBs) sent per active DL symbol.

[0192] Example 44 includes the subject matter of Example 41, further including encoding for transmission to or decoding from the CU/DU a message including a Request for Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a requestor, an identification of a target, an identification of a parameter requested, and an observation interval.

[0193] Example 45 includes the subject matter of Example 41, further including: encoding for transmission to the CU/DU a first Request for Performance Statistics, the first Request comprising an identification of a first requested parameter based on a first observation interval while a non-linear equalizer block (NLEQ) of the RU is active; decoding a first response from the CU/DU to the first Request, the first response including the first parameter; causing deactivation of the NLEQ; encoding for transmission to the CU/DU a second Request for Performance Statistics, the second Request comprising an identification of a second requested parameter based on a second observation interval while the NLEQ is inactive; decoding a second response from the CU/DU to the second Request, the second response including the second parameter; and based on the first response and the second response, determining whether to keep the NLEQ deactivated.

[0194] Example 46 includes the subject matter of Example 41, further including encoding for transmission to or decoding from the CU/DU a message including a Report of Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a source of the performance statistics , an identification of a target as the performance statistics, an identification of a parameter being reported, and an indication of one or more statistical data type object for the performance statistics. [0195] Example 47 includes the subject matter of Example 41, further including decoding a message from the CU/DU including a Low Power Mode Configuration request comprising an identification of a source of the request as the CU/DU, an identification of a target of the request as the RU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode to be configured at the RU.

[0196] Example 48 includes the subject matter of Example 41, further including encoding a message for transmission to the CU/DU including a Low Power Mode Advisory message comprising an identification of an actor for the message as the RU, an identification of a target of the message as the CU/DU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode configured at the RU.

[0197] Example 49 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-48, wherein making the determination to enter a low power mode of the RU includes at least one of disabling or controlling power states of a digital predistortion (DPD) of a power amplifier (PA) of the RU.

[0198] Example 50 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 26-49, further including using a front end module and a plurality of antennas coupled to the front end module to communicate radio frequency signals with a user equipment.

[0199] Example 51 includes an apparatus of a device including a Distributed Unit (DU) of an Open Radio Access Network (0-RAN) architecture, the apparatus including a communication interface, and processing circuitry coupled to the communication interface, the processing circuitry to: decode a message from a Radio Unit device (RU) of the 0-RAN, the message including information on a determination by the RU to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU, the determination based on one or more low power procedures at the RU; and encode for transmission to the RU a message including information on network performance measurements at the DU.

[0200]

[0201] Example 52 includes the subject matter of Example 51, wherein the determination is based on network performance measurements at the RU (RU network performance measurements).

[0202] Example 53 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-52, wherein the information on the determination includes information that the RU has determined to enter or exit the low power mode. [0203] Example 54 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-53, wherein the information on the determination does not include information on any low power procedure used at the RU to arrive at the determination.

[0204] Example 55 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-54, the processing circuitry to further: decode a message from the RU including information on availability of low power features of the RU; and determine, based on the message including information on the availability, that the RU has low power features.

[0205] Example 56 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-55, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to the RU a message including information on an impact of the low power mode on performance of the 0-RAN based on one or more of statistical testing or machine learning.

[0206] Example 57 includes the subject matter of Example 56, wherein a statistical data type object for the statistical testing includes at least one of mean, median, variance, sample size or observation interval.

[0207] Example 58 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 56-57, wherein the processing circuitry is to perform at least some of the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning.

[0208] Example 59 includes the subject matter of Example 58, wherein the machine learning includes reinforcement learning.

[0209] Example 60 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 58-59, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to the RU, after the message from the RU including the information on the determination, a command to enter or exit the low power mode.

[0210] Example 61 includes the subject matter of Example 61, wherein the command from the DU is based on at least one of: network performance measurements at the DU, or results of one or more of statistical testing or machine learnings at the DU.

[0211] Example 62 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-61, wherein message content for a message exchanged between the RU and the DU includes at least one of: uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retry rate (UL HARQ retry rate), average radio frequency input signal to the RU, RU automatic gain control (AGC) overload rate, UL throughput, downlink (DL) throughput, or average number of resource blocks (RBs) sent per active DL symbol.

[0212] Example 63 includes the subject matter of Example 62, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to or decode from the RU a message including a Request for Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a requestor, an identification of a target, an identification of a parameter requested, and an observation interval.

[0213] Example 64 includes the subject matter of Example 62, the processing circuitry to: decode a first Request for Performance Statistics from the RU, the first Request comprising an identification of a first requested parameter based on a first observation interval while a non-linear equalizer block (NLEQ) of the RU is active; encode for transmission to the RU a first response to the first Request, the first response including the first parameter; decode a second Request for Performance Statistics from the RU, the second Request comprising an identification of a second requested parameter based on a second observation interval while the NLEQ is inactive; and encode for transmission to the RU a second response to the second Request, the second response including the second parameter.

[0214] Example 65 includes the subject matter of Example 62, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to or decode from the RU a message including a Report of Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a source of the performance statistics , an identification of a target as the performance statistics, an identification of a parameter being reported, and an indication of one or more statistical data type object for the performance statistics.

[0215] Example 66 includes the subject matter of Example 62, the processing circuitry to encode for transmission to the RU a message including a Low Power Mode Configuration request comprising an identification of a source of the request as the DU, an identification of a target of the request as the RU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode to be configured at the RU.

[0216] Example 67 includes the subject matter of Example 62, the processing circuitry to decode a message from the RU including a Low Power Mode Advisory message comprising an identification of an actor for the message as the RU, an identification of a target of the message as the DU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode configured at the RU. [0217] Example 68 includes a method to be performed at an apparatus of a device including a Distributed Unit (DU) of an Open Radio Access Network (0-RAN) architecture, the method including: decoding a message from a Radio Unit device (RU) of the 0-RAN, the message including information on a determination by the RU to enter or to exit a low power mode of the RU, the determination based on one or more low power procedures at the RU; and encoding for transmission to the RU a message including information on network performance measurements at the DU.

[0218]

[0219] Example 69 includes the subject matter of Example 68, wherein the determination is based on network performance measurements at the RU (RU network performance measurements).

[0220] Example 70 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-69, wherein the information on the determination includes information that the RU has determined to enter or exit the low power mode.

[0221] Example 71 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-70, wherein the information on the determination does not include information on any low power procedure used at the RU to arrive at the determination.

[0222] Example 72 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-71, further including: decoding a message from the RU including information on availability of low power features of the RU; and determining, based on the message including information on the availability, that the RU has low power features.

[0223] Example 73 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-72, further including encoding for transmission to the RU a message including information on an impact of the low power mode on performance of the O-RAN based on one or more of statistical testing or machine learning.

[0224] Example 74 includes the subject matter of Example 73, wherein a statistical data type object for the statistical testing includes at least one of mean, median, variance, sample size or observation interval.

[0225] Example 75 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 73-74, further including performing at least some of the one or more of statistical testing or machine learning. [0226] Example 76 includes the subject matter of Example 75, wherein the machine learning includes reinforcement learning.

[0227] Example 77 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-76, further including encoding for transmission to the RU, after the message from the RU including the information on the determination, a command to enter or exit the low power mode.

[0228] Example 78 includes the subj ect matter of Example 77, wherein the command from the DU is based on at least one of: network performance measurements at the DU, or results of one or more of statistical testing or machine learnings at the DU.

[0229] Example 79 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 68-78, wherein message content for a message exchanged between the RU and the DU includes at least one of: uplink (UL) hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retry rate (UL HARQ retry rate), average radio frequency input signal to the RU, RU automatic gain control (AGC) overload rate, UL throughput, downlink (DL) throughput, or average number of resource blocks (RBs) sent per active DL symbol.

[0230] Example 80 includes the subject matter of Example 79, further including encoding for transmission to or decoding from the RU a message including a Request for Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a requestor, an identification of a target, an identification of a parameter requested, and an observation interval.

[0231] Example 81 includes the subject matter of Example 79, further including: decoding a first Request for Performance Statistics from the RU, the first Request comprising an identification of a first requested parameter based on a first observation interval while a non-linear equalizer block (NLEQ) of the RU is active; encoding for transmission to the RU a first response to the first Request, the first response including the first parameter; decoding a second Request for Performance Statistics from the RU, the second Request comprising an identification of a second requested parameter based on a second observation interval while the NLEQ is inactive; and encoding for transmission to the RU a second response to the second Request, the second response including the second parameter.

[0232] Example 82 includes the subject matter of Example 79, further including encoding for transmission to or decoding from the RU a message including a Report of Performance Statistics comprising an identification of a source of the performance statistics , an identification of a target as the performance statistics, an identification of a parameter being reported, and an indication of one or more statistical data type object for the performance statistics.

[0233] Example 83 includes the subject matter of Example 79, further including encoding for transmission to the RU a message including a Low Power Mode Configuration request comprising an identification of a source of the request as the DU, an identification of a target of the request as the RU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode to be configured at the RU.

[0234] Example 84 includes the subject matter of Example 79, further including decoding a message from the RU including a Low Power Mode Advisory message comprising an identification of an actor for the message as the RU, an identification of a target of the message as the DU, an identification of radio frequency (RF) direction, and an indication of a level of the low power mode configured at the RU.

[0235] Example Al may include the set of messages between a Remote Radio head and higher layer protocol functions, the messages providing for exchange of statistical data relating to network performance parameters, requests to enter or exit lower power modes, intents to enter low power mode, and indications that low power mode has been entered.

[0236] Example A2 may include the Remote Radio head Power consumption tuning procedure using said messages from example 1, and/or some other example herein, combined with activation of lower power modes in the RRH and higher layer entities, in order to determine if RRH low power modes cause any degradation of network performance.

[0237] Example A3 may include the procedure in Example A2, and/or some other example herein, where the low power mode is retained if no network performance degradation is observed, or reverted to normal power mode is network performance degradation is observed.

[0238] Example A4 may include the procedures in Examples 2, 3, and/or some other example herein, where the low power modes are restricted to a certain time of day or network activity threshold.

[0239] Example A5 includes a method to be performed by a radio unit (RU) in an 0-RAN network, a hardware device that implements or includes such a RU, and/or one or more elements of the RU, wherein the method comprises: querying a centralized unit (CU) and/or distributed unit (DU) regarding network performance statistics; and changing, based on the provided statistics or some other factor, to a lower power mode.

[0240] Example A6 includes the method of example 5, and/or some other example herein, wherein the other factor is an indication provided by the CU or DU that directs the RU to change to the lower power mode.

[0241] Example A7 includes the method of any of examples 5-6, and/or some other example herein, further comprising: performing, after changing to the lower power mode, statistical hypothesis testing; and changing from, or remaining in, the lower power mode based on the result of the statistical hypothesis testing.

[0242] Example A8 includes the method of any of examples 5-7, and/or some other example herein, further comprising advertising availability of lower power features to the CU or DU.

[0243] Example A9 includes a method to be performed by a centralized unit (CU) and/or distributed unit (DU) in an 0-RAN network, a hardware device that implements or includes such a CU and/or DU, and/or one or more elements of the CU or DU, wherein the method comprises: identifying a query received from a radio unit (RU) regarding network performance statistics; and providing, to the RU based on the query, the requested statistics, wherein the RU is to change, based on the provided statistics or some other factor, to a lower power mode.

[0244] Example Al 0 includes the method of example 9, and/or some other example herein, wherein the other factor is an indication provided by the CU or DU that directs the RU to change to the lower power mode.

[0245] Example Al l includes the method of any of examples 9-10, and/or some other example herein, further comprising identifying an advertisement received from the RU, wherein the advertisement relates to availability of lower power features to the CU or DU.

[0246] Example Bl may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or any other method or process described herein.

[0247] Example B2 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or any other method or process described herein.

[0248] Example B3 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or any other method or process described herein.

[0249] Example B4 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions or parts thereof.

[0250] Example B5 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions thereof.

[0251] Example B6 may include a signal as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions or parts thereof.

[0252] Example B7 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0253] Example B8 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0254] Example B9 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0255] Example BIO may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions thereof.

[0256] Example Bl l may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the method Examples above, or portions thereof. [0257] Example B12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0258] Example B13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0259] Example B14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0260] Example B 15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0261]

[0262] Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Examples related to a method herein, or any other method or process described herein.

[0263] Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Examples related to a method herein, or any other method or process described herein.

[0264] Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Examples related to a method herein, or any other method or process described herein.

[0265] Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions or parts thereof.

[0266] Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions thereof.

[0267] Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions or parts thereof. [0268] Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0269] Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0270] Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0271] Example Z 10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions thereof.

[0272] Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of Examples related to methods herein, or portions thereof.

[0273] Example Z 12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0274] Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0275] Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0276] Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0277] Example XI includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-50, further including a RU communication interface to be coupled to one or more fiber optic cables and to the communication interface of the apparatus. [0278] Example X2 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 51-84, further including a DU communication interface to be coupled to one or more fiber optic cables and to the communication interface of the apparatus.

[0279] Example X3 includes a machine-readable medium including code which, when executed, is to cause a machine to perform the method of any one of the method Examples above. [0280] Example X4 includes an apparatus including means to perform the method of any one of the method Examples above.

[0281] Example X5 includes non-transitory machine-readable storage medium which, when executed by an apparatus of one or a RU or a CUZDU, is to perform operations including the method of any one of the method Examples above.

[0282] Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0283] Terminology

[0284] For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

[0285] The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. Tn these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

[0286] The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a singlecore processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.” [0287] The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like.

[0288] The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

[0289] The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

[0290] The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

[0291] The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

[0292] The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/sy stems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable. [0293] The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

[0294] The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

[0295] The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like.