TECHNIQUES FOR SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAE (SRS) OPERATION WITH EIGHT PORTS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/111346, which was filed August 10, 2022; and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/485,611, which was filed February 17, 2023.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to sounding reference signal (SRS) operation with eight ports.

BACKGROUND

In Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) Releases 15, 16, and 17, up to 4 ports are supported for sounding reference signal (SRS) operation. However, future specifications may support more than 4 ports, such as 8 ports. The existing techniques are not suitable for more than 4 ports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figures 1A and IB illustrates a radio resource control (RRC) configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of 8-port SRS operation via one SRS resource with two symbols, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of 8-port SRS operation via one SRS resource with four symbols and each symbol is mapped with two ports, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of SRS port mapping over multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in half-half manner, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of SRS port mapping over multiple OFDM symbols in interlaced manner, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of SRS port mapping over multiple OFDM symbols in sequential manner, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 7 illustrates an example of 8-port SRS frequency hopping via one SRS resource with two symbols, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 8 illustrates another example of 8-port SRS frequency hopping via one SRS resource with two symbols, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 9 illustrates an example of 8-port SRS operation via two 4-port SRS resources, in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 10 illustrates a network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 11 schematically illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 12 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.

Figure 13 depicts an example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

Figure 14 depicts another example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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).

As discussed above, in NR release (Rel)-15, Rel-16, and Rel-17, up to 4 transmit (Tx) ports are supported for sounding reference signal (SRS) operation. The number of ports for SRS transmission is configured by radio resource control (RRC) parameter nrofSRS-Ports, as shown in Figures 1A and IB.

In future specifications, e.g., Rel-18, uplink transmission may support up to 8 Tx ports. In various embodiments herein, SRS transmission may also support 8 port operation.

Various embodiments herein provide techniques to support SRS transmission with more than 4 Tx ports, e.g., 8-port operation. For example, to support 8-port SRS, one SRS resource with multiple OFDM symbols may be configured. Alternatively, multiple SRS resources may be configured to enable 8-port operation.

Note that the embodiments described herein may be applied to any SRS usage, such as codebook, non-codebook, antenna switching, and/or beam management.

8 port SRS operation with single SRS resource and multiple OFDM symbols

In an embodiment, for SRS with 8-ports, one SRS resource could be configured with multiple OFDM symbols, e.g., N G {2, 4, 6, 8 to support 8-ports operation, where N is the number of OFDM symbols. The OFDM symbols for SRS could be split into multiple subsets, e.g., two subsets. Both subsets are for 4-ports operation, and each subset is connected to different UE antenna ports/antennas.

For different subset of OFDM symbols, the same set of cyclic shifts or different set of cyclic shifts could be used.

In addition, the UE antenna ports/antennas could be split into multiple antenna port group s/antenna groups/panels, for example, antenna port #0 to #3 is the first antenna port group, and antenna port #4 to #7 is the second antenna port group. In this case, the first subset of the SRS OFDM symbols is for the first antenna port group (port #0 to #3), and the second subset of SRS OFDM symbols is for the second antenna port group (port #4 to #7).

Figure 2 shows an example of the operation.

In another example, the SRS resource with 8-ports could be configured with 4 OFDM symbols, and each OFDM symbol is mapped with 2 ports. The 2-ports over different OFDM symbol are connected to different UE antenna port. Figure 3 shows an example of the operation.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, the repetition could be configured for SRS.

In one example, the SRS OFDM symbols (W symbols) could be divided into multiple subsets, e.g., two subsets. Each subset consists of N/2 consecutive OFDM symbols, e.g., the SRS ports are mapped onto OFDM symbols in half-half manner. Figure 4 shows an example of the operation.

In another example, the OFDM symbols are mapped to different UE antenna ports in interlaced (or cyclical manner) manner. Figure 5 shows an example of the operation.

In another example, the SRS ports are mapped to OFDM symbols in sequential manner, e.g., the first four ports (port #0 ~ #3) are mapped to the first two symbols, the second four ports (port #4 ~ #7) are mapped to the second two symbols, and the same mapping pattern continues for the remaining OFDM symbols. Figure 6 shows an example of the operation, wherein the 8-port SRS resource is configured with 8 OFDM symbols.

With multiple OFDM symbols, if the number of SRS ports mapped over one OFDM symbol is less than 8, for example, 4 ports or 2 ports (or even 1 port) are mapped onto one OFDM symbol, then the linear value of the transmit power determined by SRS power control should be equally split over the number of ports mapped over one OFDM symbol, instead of equally splitting over the configured ports for the SRS resource, e.g. 8 ports. For example, 4 ports are mapped onto one OFDM symbol for the 8-port SRS resource, then the transmit power should be equally split over 4 ports instead of equally splitting over 8 ports. In another example, 2 ports are mapped onto one OFDM symbol for the 8-port SRS resource, then the transmit power should be equally split over 2 ports instead of equally splitting over 8 ports.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, frequency hopping could be applied.

If the OFDM symbols are split into subsets with consecutive OFDM symbols, the frequency hopping operation is shown in Figure 5.

If the OFDM symbols are mapped to different UE antenna ports in interlaced manner, the frequency hopping operation is shown in Figure 6.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, the OFDM symbols for SRS could be within the same time slot or could be across different slots. If the OFDM symbols for SRS with 8-ports are across slots, the slots could be consecutive or non-consecutive.

8 ports SRS operation with multiple SRS resources

In an embodiment, for SRS with 8-ports, multiple SRS resources could be configured. For example, two SRS resources are configured, and each SRS resource is 4-ports. Each SRS resource is connected to different UE antenna ports/antenna port group. Figure 9shows an example of the operation.

In one example, the same frequency resource is configured for the two 4-port SRS resource. In another example, different frequency resource could be configured.

In one example, the two SRS resource occupy different time resource, e.g., different OFDM symbols. In another example, the two SRS resource occupy the same OFDM symbol(s) with different frequency resource.

In another embodiment, the same time domain behavior (aperiodic/periodic/semi- persistent) should be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources. The OFDM symbols for the two 4-port SRS resources could be adjacent or non-adjacent. The two 4-port SRS resources could be within the same time slot or in different time slot.

The same repetition factor and the same frequency hopping pattern and partial sounding pattern should be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources. In another example, different repetition factor/different frequency hopping/different partial sounding pattern could be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple SRS resources, e.g., two 4-port SRS resources, one SRI could indicate multiple SRS resources. In the SRI field in DCI (e.g., 0_l/0_2), one code point of SRI field could indicate the two 4-port SRS resources. The mapping between SRI code point and SRS resources could be configured by RRC/MAC-CE.

All the code points of the SRI field could be mapped with multiple SRS resources. Or some code points of the SRI field could be mapped with multiple SRS resources and some code points are mapped with single SRS resource.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple SRS resources, e.g., two 4-port SRS resources, the linear value of the transmit power determined by SRS power control should be equally split over the number of ports configured for one SRS resource, e.g., 4 ports.

8 port SRS operation with multiple SRS resource sets

In an embodiment, for SRS with 8-ports, multiple SRS resource sets could be configured, e.g., two SRS resource sets. Each SRS resource set consists of one SRS resource of 4-ports. Each SRS resource set is for different UE antenna ports/antenna port group.

The same time behavior (aperiodic, periodic, semi-persistent) should be configured for the two SRS resource sets. The same power control parameters should be configured for the two SRS resource sets. For aperiodic SRS, the same trigger state should be configured for the two SRS resource sets.

In DCI, two SRI field could be included, one for each SRS resource set. Alternatively, one SRI field is included in DCI, and one codepoint of SRI field could be mapped with SRS resource from two SRS resource sets. The mapping between SRI code point and SRS resources could be configured by RRC/MAC-CE.

In another embodiment, for 8-port SRS with multiple SRS resource sets, e.g., two SRS resource sets and each SRS resource set consists of one SRS resource of 4-ports, the linear value of the transmit power determined by SRS power control should be equally split over the number of ports configured for one SRS resource, e.g., 4 ports.

SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

Figures 10-12 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

Figure 10 illustrates a network 1000 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 1000 may operate in a manner consistent with 3 GPP 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. The network 1000 may include a UE 1002, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 1004 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1002 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 1004 by a Uu interface. The UE 1002 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, electronic/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.

In some embodiments, the network 1000 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.

In some embodiments, the UE 1002 may additionally communicate with an AP 1006 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 1006 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 1004. The connection between the UE 1002 and the AP 1006 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1006 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 1002, RAN 1004, and AP 1006 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular- WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 1002 being configured by the RAN 1004 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 1004 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 1008. AN 1008 may terminate air- interface protocols for the UE 1002 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 1008 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 1020 and the UE 1002. In some embodiments, the AN 1008 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 1008 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 1008 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.

In embodiments in which the RAN 1004 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 1004 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 1004 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.

The ANs of the RAN 1004 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 1002 with an air interface for network access. The UE 1002 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 1004. For example, the UE 1002 and RAN 1004 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 1002 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.

The RAN 1004 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.

In V2X scenarios the UE 1002 or AN 1008 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.

In some embodiments, the RAN 1004 may be an LTE RAN 1010 with eNBs, for example, eNB 1012. The LTE RAN 1010 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 operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

In some embodiments, the RAN 1004 may be an NG-RAN 1014 with gNBs, for example, gNB 1016, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 1018. The gNB 1016 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 1016 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 1018 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 1016 and the ng-eNB 1018 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

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 1014 and a UPF 1048 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN1014 and an AMF 1044 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 1014 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 CSLRS, 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 operating 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.

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 1002 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 1002, 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 1002 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 1002 and in some cases at the gNB 1016. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 1004 is communicatively coupled to CN 1020 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 1002). The components of the CN 1020 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 1020 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 1020 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 1020 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 1020 may be an LTE CN 1022, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 1022 may include MME 1024, SGW 1026, SGSN 1028, HSS 1030, PGW 1032, and PCRF 1034 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 1022 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 1024 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 1002 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 1026 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 1022. The SGW 1026 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.

The SGSN 1028 may track a location of the UE 1002 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 1028 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 1024; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 1024 and the SGSN 1028 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 1030 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 1030 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 1030 and the MME 1024 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 1020.

The PGW 1032 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 1036 that may include an application/content server 1038. The PGW 1032 may route data packets between the LTE CN 1022 and the data network 1036. The PGW 1032 may be coupled with the SGW 1026 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 1032 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 1032 and the data network 10 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 1032 may be coupled with a PCRF 1034 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 1034 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 1022. The PCRF 1034 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 1038 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 1032 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 1020 may be a 5GC 1040. The 5GC 1040 may include an AUSF 1042, AMF 1044, SMF 1046, UPF 1048, NSSF 1050, NEF 1052, NRF 1054, PCF 1056, UDM 1058, and AF 1060 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 1040 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 1042 may store data for authentication of UE 1002 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 1042 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 1040 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 1042 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 1044 may allow other functions of the 5GC 1040 to communicate with the UE 1002 and the RAN 1004 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 1002. The AMF 1044 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 1002), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 1044 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 1002 and the SMF 1046, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 1044 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 1002 and an SMSF. AMF 1044 may interact with the AUSF 1042 and the UE 1002 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 1044 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 1004 and the AMF 1044; and the AMF 1044 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 1044 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 1002 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 1046 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 1048 and AN 1008); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 1048 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 1044 over N2 to AN 1008; 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 1002 and the data network 1036.

The UPF 1048 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 1036, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 1048 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, UU/DU 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 1048 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 1050 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 1002. The NSSF 1050 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 1050 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 1002, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 1054. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1002 may be triggered by the AMF 1044 with which the UE 1002 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 1050, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 1050 may interact with the AMF 1044 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 1050 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 1052 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 1060), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 1052 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 1052 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 1060 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 1052 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 1052 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 1052 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 1052 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 1052 may exhibit an Nnef servicebased interface.

The NRF 1054 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 1054 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 1054 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 1056 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 1056 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 1058. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 1056 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 1058 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 1002. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 1058 and the AMF 1044. The UDM 1058 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 1058 and the PCF 1056, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 1002) for the NEF 1052. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 1058, PCF 1056, and NEF 1052 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 1058 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 1060 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 1040 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3 ^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 1002 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 1040 may select a UPF 1048 close to the UE 1002 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 1048 to data network 1036 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 1060. In this way, the AF 1060 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 1060 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 1060 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 1060 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface. The data network 1036 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 1038.

Figure 11 schematically illustrates a wireless network 1100 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 1100 may include a UE 1102 in wireless communication with an AN 1104. The UE 1102 and AN 1104 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 1102 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 1104 via connection 1106. The connection 1106 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.

The UE 1102 may include a host platform 1108 coupled with a modem platform 1110. The host platform 1108 may include application processing circuitry 1112, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1114 of the modem platform 1110. The application processing circuitry 1112 may run various applications for the UE 1102 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 1112 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

The protocol processing circuitry 1114 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 1106. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 1114 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 1110 may further include digital baseband circuitry 1116 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 1114 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.

The modem platform 1110 may further include transmit circuitry 1118, receive circuitry 1120, RF circuitry 1122, and RF front end (RFFE) 1124, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 1126. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 1118 may include a digital-to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 1120 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 1122 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 1124 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 1118, receive circuitry 1120, RF circuitry 1122, RFFE 1124, and antenna panels 1126 (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.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 1114 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 1126, RFFE 1124, RF circuitry 1122, receive circuitry 1120, digital baseband circuitry 1116, and protocol processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 1126 may receive a transmission from the AN 1104 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 1126.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 1114, digital baseband circuitry 1116, transmit circuitry 1118, RF circuitry 1122, RFFE 1124, and antenna panels 1126. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 1104 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 1126.

Similar to the UE 1102, the AN 1104 may include a host platform 1128 coupled with a modem platform 1130. The host platform 1128 may include application processing circuitry 1132 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1134 of the modem platform 1130. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 1136, transmit circuitry 1138, receive circuitry 1140, RF circuitry 1142, RFFE circuitry 1144, and antenna panels 1146. The components of the AN 1104 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like- named components of the UE 1102. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 1108 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.

Figure 12 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, Figure 12 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1200 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1210, one or more memory/storage devices 1220, and one or more communication resources 1230, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1240 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1202 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub- slices to utilize the hardware resources 1200.

The processors 1210 may include, for example, a processor 1212 and a processor 1214. The processors 1210 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 radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 1220 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1220 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.

The communication resources 1230 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1204 or one or more databases 1206 or other network elements via a network 1208. For example, the communication resources 1230 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.

Instructions 1250 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1210 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1250 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1210 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1220, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1250 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1200 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1204 or the databases 1206. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1210, the memory/storage devices 1220, the peripheral devices 1204, and the databases 1206 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

EX MPLE PROCEDURES

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figures 10-12, 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 1300 is depicted in Figure 13. The process 1300 may be performed by a UE or a portion thereof. For example, the process 1300 may include, at 1302, receiving configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, and wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets. For example, the subsets may each include one or more symbols. The symbols of the different subsets may be interlaced with one another within a slot (e.g., as shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6) or grouped together (e.g., as shown in Figure 4).

At 1304, the process 1300 may further include encoding the SRS for transmission in the SRS resource allocation, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports. In some embodiments, a total transmit power of the SRS in a respective symbol may be divided equally among the antenna ports on which the SRS is transmitted in the respective symbol. For example, the SRS may be transmitted using eight total antenna ports divided into a first group of antenna ports and a second group of antenna ports that each include four antenna ports. If the SRS is transmitted in a first symbol with the first group of antenna ports (and not the second group of antenna ports) then a total transmission power in that symbol is divided equally among the four antenna ports of the first group of antenna ports.

Figure 14 illustrates another process 1400 in accordance with various embodiments. The process 1400 may be performed by a gNB or a portion thereof. For example, at 1402, the process 1400 may include encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets, and wherein the UE is to transmit the SRS in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports. For example, the subsets may each include one or more symbols. The symbols of the different subsets may be interlaced with one another within a slot (e.g., as shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6) or grouped together (e.g., as shown in Figure 4). At 1404, the process 1400 may further include receiving the SRS in the SRS resource allocation. 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.

EXAMPLES

Some non-limiting examples of various embodiments are provided below.

Example Al may include an apparatus to be implemented in a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: a memory to store configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, and wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets; and processor circuitry coupled to the memory, the processor circuitry to encode the SRS for transmission in the SRS resource allocation, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports.

Example A2 may include the apparatus of example Al, wherein the subsets each include one or more symbols of the multiple symbols.

Example A3 may include the apparatus of example A2, wherein the subsets each include two or more of the symbols, and wherein the symbols of the subsets are interlaced with one another.

Example A4 may include the apparatus of example A2, wherein the processor circuitry is further to equally divide a total transmit power among the group of antenna ports that is used to transmit the SRS in the respective symbol of the subset.

Example A5 may include the apparatus of example Al, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using a same set of cyclic shifts or different sets of cyclic shifts.

Example A6 may include the apparatus of example Al, wherein the SRS is transmitted using frequency hopping within the individual subsets.

Example A7 may include the apparatus of any one of examples A1-A6, wherein the SRS is transmitted with a total of 8 antenna ports.

Example A8 may include the apparatus of example A7, wherein the multiple subsets is two subsets, and wherein the SRS is transmitted on each of the two subsets using 4 antenna ports. Example A9 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a next generation Node B (gNB) configure the gNB to: encode, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets, and wherein the UE is to transmit the SRS in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports; and receive the SRS in the SRS resource allocation.

Example A10 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A9, wherein the subsets each include one or more symbols of the multiple symbols.

Example Al 1 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A10, wherein the subsets each include two or more of the symbols, and wherein the symbols of the subsets are interlaced with one another.

Example A12 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A9, wherein a total transmit power is divided equally among the group of antenna ports that is used to transmit the SRS in the respective symbol of the subset.

Example A13 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A9, wherein the SRSs in the different subsets use a same set of cyclic shifts or different sets of cyclic shifts.

Example A14 may include the one or more NTCRM example A9, wherein the SRS is received using frequency hopping within the individual subsets.

Example A15 may include the one or more NTCRM of any one of examples A9-A14, wherein the SRS is transmitted with a total of 8 antenna ports.

Example A16 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A15, wherein the multiple subsets is two subsets, and wherein the SRS is transmitted on each of the two subsets using 4 antenna ports.

Example A 17 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) configure the UE to: receive configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes a first subset of symbols that are allocated to a first group of antenna ports and a second subset of symbols that are allocated to a second group of antenna ports, wherein the first and second subsets of symbols are non-overlapping; and transmit the SRS in the first subset of symbols using the first group of antenna ports and in the second subset of symbols using the second group of antenna ports, wherein a total transmit power for the SRS in a respective symbol of the first or second subset of symbols is divided equally among the antenna ports that are used to transmit the SRS in the respective symbol.

Example A18 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A17, wherein the first and second subsets of symbols are interlaced with one another within a slot.

Example A19 may include the one or more NTCRM of example A17, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the second subset of symbols using a same set of cyclic shifts or a different set of cyclic shifts than in the first subset of symbols.

Example A20 may include the one or more NTCRM of any one of examples A17-A19, wherein the first and second groups of antenna ports each include four antenna ports.

Example B 1 may include a method of a gNB or a UE, wherein the gNB configures the UE with SRS transmission as described herein.

Example B2 may include the method of example B 1 or some other example herein, wherein for SRS with 8-ports, one SRS resource could be configured with multiple OFDM symbols, e.g., NG {2, 4, 6, 8... }, to support 8-ports operation, where N is the number of OFDM symbols. The OFDM symbols for SRS could be split into multiple subsets, e.g., two subsets. Both subsets are for 4-ports operation, and each subset is connected to different UE antenna ports/antennas.

Example B3 may include the method of example B2 or some other example herein, wherein for different subset of OFDM symbols, the same set of cyclic shifts or different set of cyclic shifts could be used. The UE antenna ports/antennas could be split into multiple antenna port group s/antenna groups/panels. The first subset of the SRS OFDM symbols is for the first antenna port group, and the second subset of SRS OFDM symbols is for the second antenna port group.

Example B4 may include the method of example B2 or some other example herein, wherein for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, the repetition could be configured for SRS. The SRS OFDM symbols (N symbols) could be divided into multiple subsets, e.g., two subsets. Each subset consists of N/2 consecutive OFDM symbols. Or the OFDM symbols are mapped to different UE antenna ports in interlaced manner.

Example B5 may include the method of example B2 or some other example herein, wherein for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, frequency hopping could be applied. The operation could be as shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6.

Example B6 may include the method of example B2 or some other example herein, wherein for 8-port SRS with multiple OFDM symbols, the OFDM symbols for SRS could be within the same time slot or could be across different slots. If the OFDM symbols for SRS with 8-ports are across slots, the slots could be consecutive or non-consecutive.

Example B7 may include the method of example B 1 or some other example herein, wherein for SRS with 8-ports, multiple SRS resources could be configured. For example, two SRS resources are configured, and each SRS resource is 4-ports. Each SRS resource is connected to different UE antenna ports/antenna port group. The same/different time/frequency resource could be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources.

Example B8 may include the method of example B7 or some other example herein, wherein the same time domain behavior (aperiodic/periodic/semi-persistent) should be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources. The OFDM symbols for the two 4-port SRS resources could be adjacent or non-adjacent. The two 4-port SRS resources could be within the same time slot or in different time slot. The same/different repetition factor and the same/different frequency hopping pattern and partial sounding pattern should be configured for the two 4-port SRS resources.

Example B9 may include the method of example B7 or some other example herein, wherein for 8-port SRS with multiple SRS resources, e.g., two 4-port SRS resources, one SRI could indicate multiple SRS resources. In the SRI field in DCI (e.g., 0_l/0_2), one code point of SRI field could indicate the two 4-port SRS resources. The mapping between SRI code point and SRS resources could be configured by RRC/MAC-CE. All the code points of the SRI field could be mapped with multiple SRS resources. Or some code points of the SRI field could be mapped with multiple SRS resources and some code points are mapped with single SRS resource.

Example BIO may include the method of example Bl or some other example herein, wherein for SRS with 8-ports, multiple SRS resource sets could be configured, e.g., two SRS resource sets. Each SRS resource set consists of one SRS resource of 4-ports. Each SRS resource set is for different UE antenna ports/antenna port group. The same time behavior (aperiodic, periodic, semi-persistent) should be configured for the two SRS resource sets. The same power control parameters should be configured for the two SRS resource sets. For aperiodic SRS, the same trigger state should be configured for the two SRS resource sets. In DCI, two SRI field could be included, one for each SRS resource set. Alternatively, one SRI field is included in DCI, and one codepoint of SRI field could be mapped with SRS resource from two SRS resource sets. The mapping between SRI code point and SRS resources could be configured by RRC/MAC-CE.

Example B 11 may include a method of a UE, the method comprising: receiving configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, and wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets; and encoding the SRS for transmission in the SRS resource allocation, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports.

Example B 12 may include the method of example B 11 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted with a total of 8 antenna ports.

Example B13 may include the method of example B12 or some other example herein, wherein the multiple subsets is two subsets, and wherein the SRS is transmitted on each of the two subsets using 4 antenna ports.

Example B 14 may include the method of example B 11-B 13 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using a same set of cyclic shifts.

Example B 15 may include the method of example B 11-B 13 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted in the different subsets using different sets of cyclic shifts.

Example B 16 may include the method of example B 11-B 15 or some other example herein, wherein the subsets each include one or more whole symbols of the multiple symbols.

Example B 17 may include the method of example B 11-B 15 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted using frequency hopping within the individual subsets.

Example B 18 may include the method of example B 11-B 17 or some other example herein, wherein the subsets are interlaced with one another.

Example B 19 may include the method of example B 11-B 18 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted with repetitions.

Example B20 may include the method of example B 11-B 19 or some other example herein, wherein the symbols are in a same slot or in different slots (e.g., consecutive or non- consecutive slots).

Example B21 may include the method of example B 11-B20 or some other example herein, wherein the symbols are consecutive or non-consecutive.

Example B22 may include a method of a gNB, the method comprising: encoding, for transmission to a UE, configuration information for a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource allocation, wherein the SRS resource allocation includes multiple symbols, wherein resource elements of the SRS resource allocation are allocated into multiple subsets, and wherein the UE is to transmit the SRS in the different subsets using different groups of antenna ports; and receiving the SRS in the SRS resource allocation.

Example B23 may include the method of example B22 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted with a total of 8 antenna ports.

Example B24 may include the method of example B23 or some other example herein, wherein the multiple subsets is two subsets, and wherein the SRS is transmitted on each of the two subsets using 4 antenna ports. Example B25 may include the method of example B22-B24 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is received in the different subsets using a same set of cyclic shifts.

Example B26 may include the method of example B22-B24 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is received in the different subsets using different sets of cyclic shifts.

Example B27 may include the method of example B22-B26 or some other example herein, wherein the subsets each include one or more whole symbols of the multiple symbols.

Example B28 may include the method of example B22-B26 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is transmitted using frequency hopping within the individual subsets.

Example B29 may include the method of example B22-B28 or some other example herein, wherein the subsets are interlaced with one another.

Example B30 may include the method of example B22-B29 or some other example herein, wherein the SRS is received with repetitions.

Example B31 may include the method of example B22-B30 or some other example herein, wherein the symbols are in a same slot or in different slots (e.g., consecutive or non- consecutive slots).

Example B32 may include the method of example B22-B31 or some other example herein, wherein the symbols are consecutive or non-consecutive.

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 A1-A20, B1-B32, or any other method or process described herein.

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 A1-A20, B1-B32, or any other method or process described herein.

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 A1-A20, B1-B32, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions or parts thereof.

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 A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

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 A1-A20, Bl- B32, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 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 A1-A20, B1-B32, or portions thereof.

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 A1-A20, Bl- B32, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

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

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

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

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.

Abbreviations

Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 vl6.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

3 GPP Third Generation Protocol, Antenna BSS Business

Partnership Port, Access Point Support System

Project API Application BS Base Station

4G Fourth Programming Interface BSR Buffer Status

Generation 40 APN Access Point 75 Report

5G Fifth Generation Name BW Bandwidth

5GC 5G Core ARP Allocation and BWP Bandwidth Part network Retention Priority C-RNTI Cell

AC ARQ Automatic Radio Network

Application 45 Repeat Request 80 Temporary

Client AS Access Stratum Identity

ACR Application ASP CA Carrier

Context Relocation Application Service Aggregation,

ACK Provider Certification

Acknowledgeme 50 85 Authority nt ASN.l Abstract Syntax CAPEX CAPital

ACID Notation One Expenditure

Application AUSF Authentication CBRA Contention

Client Identification Server Function Based Random

AF Application 55 AWGN Additive 90 Access

Function White Gaussian CC Component

AM Acknowledged Noise Carrier, Country

Mode BAP Backhaul Code, Cryptographic

AMB R Aggregate Adaptation Protocol Checksum

Maximum Bit Rate 60 BCH Broadcast 95 CCA Clear Channel

AMF Access and Channel Assessment

Mobility BER Bit Error Ratio CCE Control Channel

Management BFD Beam Element

Function Failure Detection CCCH Common

AN Access Network 65 BLER Block Error Rate 100 Control Channel

ANR Automatic BPSK Binary Phase CE Coverage

Neighbour Relation Shift Keying Enhancement

AOA Angle of BRAS Broadband CDM Content Delivery

Arrival Remote Access Network

AP Application 70 Server 105 CDMA Code- Division Multiple Resource Set RNTI Access COTS Commercial Off- CS Circuit Switched

CDR Charging Data The-Shelf CSCF call Request CP Control Plane, session control function

CDR Charging Data 40 Cyclic Prefix, 75 CSAR Cloud Service Response Connection Archive

CFRA Contention Free Point CSI Channel- State Random Access CPD Connection Information CG Cell Group Point Descriptor CSI-IM CSI CGF Charging 45 CPE Customer 80 Interference

Gateway Function Premise Measurement CHF Charging Equipment CSI-RS CSI

Function CPICHCommon Pilot Reference Signal

CI Cell Identity Channel CSI-RSRP CSI CID Cell-ID (e.g., 50 CQI Channel Quality 85 reference signal positioning method) Indicator received power CIM Common CPU CSI processing CSI-RSRQ CSI Information Model unit, Central reference signal CIR Carrier to Processing Unit received quality Interference Ratio 55 C/R 90 CSI-SINR CSI CK Cipher Key Command/Resp signal-to-noise and CM Connection onse field bit interference ratio Management, CRAN Cloud Radio CSMA Carrier Sense

Conditional Access Network, Multiple Access Mandatory 60 Cloud RAN 95 CSMA/CA CSMA CMAS Commercial CRB Common with collision Mobile Alert Service Resource Block avoidance CMD Command CRC Cyclic CSS Common Search CMS Cloud Redundancy Check Space, Cell- specific Management System 65 CRI Channel-State 100 Search Space CO Conditional Information Resource CTF Charging Optional Indicator, CSI-RS Trigger Function CoMP Coordinated Resource CTS Clear-to-Send Multi-Point Indicator CW Codeword CORESET Control 70 C-RNTI Cell 105 CWS Contention Window Size DSLAM DSL Data Network

D2D Device-to- Access Multiplexer EEC Edge

Device DwPTS Enabler Client

DC Dual Downlink Pilot EECID Edge

Connectivity, Direct 40 Time Slot 75 Enabler Client

Current E-LAN Ethernet Identification

DCI Downlink Local Area Network EES Edge

Control E2E End-to-End Enabler Server

Information EAS Edge EESID Edge

DF Deployment 45 Application Server 80 Enabler Server

Flavour ECCA extended clear Identification

DL Downlink channel EHE Edge

DMTF Distributed assessment, Hosting Environment

Management Task extended CCA EGMF Exposure

Force 50 ECCE Enhanced 85 Governance

DPDK Data Plane Control Channel Management

Development Kit Element, Function

DM-RS, DMRS Enhanced CCE EGPRS

Demodulation ED Energy Enhanced GPRS

Reference Signal 55 Detection 90 EIR Equipment

DN Data network EDGE Enhanced Identity Register

DNN Data Network Datarates for GSM eLAA enhanced

Name Evolution (GSM Licensed Assisted

DNAI Data Network Evolution) Access,

Access Identifier 60 EAS Edge 95 enhanced LAA

Application Server EM Element

DRB Data Radio EASID Edge Manager

Bearer Application Server eMBB Enhanced

DRS Discovery Identification Mobile

Reference Signal 65 ECS Edge 100 Broadband

DRX Discontinuous Configuration Server EMS Element

Reception ECSP Edge Management System

DSL Domain Specific Computing Service eNB evolved NodeB,

Language. Digital Provider E-UTRAN Node B

Subscriber Line 70 EDN Edge 105 EN-DC E- UTRA-NR Dual FLC Fl Control plane Access Connectivity interface FE Front End

EPC Evolved Packet FLU Fl User plane FEC Forward Error Core interface Correction

EPDCCH enhanced 40 FACCH Fast 75 FFS For Further

PDCCH, enhanced Associated Control Study

Physical CHannel FFT Fast Fourier

Downlink Control FACCH/F Fast Transformation

Cannel Associated Control feLAA further enhanced

EPRE Energy per 45 Channel/Full 80 Licensed Assisted resource element rate Access, further EPS Evolved Packet FACCH/H Fast enhanced LAA System Associated Control FN Frame Number

EREG enhanced REG, Channel/Half FPGA Field- enhanced resource 50 rate 85 Programmable Gate element groups FACH Forward Access Array

ETSI European Channel FR Frequency

T elecommunicat FAUSCH Fast Range ions Standards Uplink Signalling FQDN Fully Qualified Institute 55 Channel 90 Domain Name

ETWS Earthquake and FB Functional Block G-RNTI GERAN T sunami W arning FBI Feedback Radio Network

System Information Temporary eUICC embedded FCC Federal Identity UICC, embedded 60 Communications 95 GERAN

Universal Commission GSM EDGE

Integrated Circuit FCCH Frequency RAN, GSM EDGE Card Correction CHannel Radio Access

E-UTRA Evolved FDD Frequency Network

UTRA 65 Division Duplex 100 GGSN Gateway GPRS

E-UTRAN Evolved FDM Frequency Support Node

UTRAN Division GLONASS

EV2X Enhanced V2X Multiplex GLObal'naya F1AP Fl Application FDMA Frequency NAvigatsionnay Protocol 70 Division Multiple 105 a Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.: WUS) HTTPS Hyper

Global Navigation GUMMEI Globally Text Transfer Protocol

Satellite System) Unique MME Identifier Secure (https is gNB Next Generation GUTI Globally Unique http/ 1.1 over NodeB 40 Temporary UE 75 SSL, i.e. port 443) gNB-CU gNB- Identity I-Block centralized unit, Next HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Information

Generation Hybrid Block

NodeB Automatic ICCID Integrated centralized unit 45 Repeat Request 80 Circuit Card gNB-DU gNB- HANDO Handover Identification distributed unit, Next HFN HyperFrame IAB Integrated

Generation Number Access and Backhaul

NodeB HHO Hard Handover ICIC Inter-Cell distributed unit 50 HLR Home Location 85 Interference

GNSS Global Register Coordination

Navigation Satellite HN Home Network ID Identity,

System HO Handover identifier

GPRS General Packet HPLMN Home IDFT Inverse Discrete

Radio Service 55 Public Land Mobile 90 Fourier

GPS I Generic Network Transform

Public Subscription HSDPA High IE Information

Identifier Speed Downlink element

GSM Global System Packet Access IBE In-Band for Mobile 60 HSN Hopping 95 Emission

Communications Sequence Number IEEE Institute of , Groupe Special HSPA High Speed Electrical and Mobile Packet Access Electronics

GTP GPRS Tunneling HSS Home Engineers Protocol 65 Subscriber Server 100 IEI Information

GTP-UGPRS HSUPA High Element Identifier

Tunnelling Protocol Speed Uplink Packet IEIDL Information for User Plane Access Element Identifier GTS Go To Sleep HTTP Hyper Text Data Length Signal (related to 70 Transfer Protocol 105 IETF Internet Engineering Task IP-M IP Multicast authentication Force IPv4 Internet Protocol key

IF Infrastructure Version 4 KPI Key

IIOT Industrial IPv6 Internet Protocol Performance Indicator

Internet of Things 40 Version 6 75 KQI Key Quality

IM Interference IR Infrared Indicator

Measurement, IS In Sync KSI Key Set

Intermodulation, IRP Integration Identifier

IP Multimedia Reference Point ksps kilo-symbols per

IMC IMS Credentials 45 ISDN Integrated 80 second

IMEI International Services Digital KVM Kernel Virtual

Mobile Network Machine

Equipment ISIM IM Services LI Layer 1

Identity Identity Module (physical layer)

IMGI International 50 ISO International 85 Ll-RSRP Layer 1 mobile group identity Organisation for reference signal IMPI IP Multimedia Standardisation received power

Private Identity ISP Internet Service L2 Layer 2 (data

IMPU IP Multimedia Provider link layer)

PUblic identity 55 IWF Interworking- 90 L3 Layer 3

IMS IP Multimedia Function (network layer)

Subsystem I-WLAN LAA Licensed

IMS I International Interworking Assisted Access

Mobile WLAN LAN Local Area

Subscriber 60 Constraint length 95 Network

Identity of the convolutional LADN Local loT Internet of code, USIM Area Data Network

Things Individual key LBT Listen Before

IP Internet Protocol kB Kilobyte (1000 Talk

Ipsec IP Security, 65 bytes) 100 LCM LifeCycle

Internet Protocol kbps kilo-bits per Management

Security second LCR Low Chip Rate

IP-CAN IP- Kc Ciphering key LCS Location

Connectivity Access Ki Individual Services

Network 70 subscriber 105 LCID Logical Channel ID used for Data Analytics

LI Layer Indicator authentication Service

LLC Logical Link and key MDT Minimization of

Control, Low Layer agreement (TSG Drive Tests Compatibility 40 T WG3 context) 75 ME Mobile

LMF Location MAC-IMAC used for Equipment

Management Function data integrity of MeNB master eNB

LOS Line of signalling messages MER Message Error

Sight (TSG T WG3 context) Ratio

LPLMN Local 45 MANO 80 MGL Measurement

PLMN Management and Gap Length

LPP LTE Positioning Orchestration MGRP Measurement Protocol MBMS Gap Repetition

LSB Least Significant Multimedia Period

Bit 50 Broadcast and Multicast 85 MIB Master

LTE Long Term Service Information Block,

Evolution MBSFN Management

LWA LTE-WLAN Multimedia Information Base aggregation Broadcast multicast MIMO Multiple Input

LWIP LTE/WLAN 55 service Single 90 Multiple Output

Radio Level Frequency MLC Mobile Location

Integration with Network Centre

IPsec Tunnel MCC Mobile Country MM Mobility

LTE Long Term Code Management

Evolution 60 MCG Master Cell 95 MME Mobility

M2M Machine-to- Group Management Entity

Machine MCOT Maximum MN Master Node

MAC Medium Access Channel MNO Mobile

Control (protocol Occupancy Time Network Operator layering context) 65 MCS Modulation and 100 MO Measurement

MAC Message coding scheme Object, Mobile authentication code MD AF Management Originated (security/encryption Data Analytics MPBCH MTC context) Function Physical Broadcast

MAC-A MAC 70 MDAS Management 105 CHannel MPDCCH MTC MTC Machine-Type Descriptor Physical Downlink Communications NFV Network

Control CHannel mMTCmassive MTC, Functions

MPDSCH MTC massive Machine- Virtualization Physical Downlink 40 Type Communications 75 NFVI NFV

Shared CHannel MU-MIMO Multi Infrastructure

MPRACH MTC User MIMO NFVO NFV Physical Random MWUS MTC Orchestrator

Access CHannel wake-up signal, MTC NG Next Generation,

MPUSCH MTC 45 WUS 80 Next Gen

Physical Uplink Shared NACK Negative NGEN-DC NG-RAN

Channel Acknowledgement E-UTRA-NR Dual

MPLS MultiProtocol NAI Network Access Connectivity

Label Switching Identifier NM Network

MS Mobile Station 50 NAS Non-Access 85 Manager MSB Most Significant Stratum, Non- Access NMS Network Bit Stratum layer Management System

MSC Mobile NCT Network N-PoP Network Point

Switching Centre Connectivity Topology of Presence

MSI Minimum 55 NC-JT Non90 NMIB, N-MIB

System coherent Joint Narrowband MIB

Information, Transmission NPBCH MCH Scheduling NEC Network Narrowband Information Capability Exposure Physical

MS ID Mobile Station 60 NE-DC NR-E- 95 Broadcast

Identifier UTRA Dual CHannel

MS IN Mobile Station Connectivity NPDCCH

Identification NEF Network Narrowband

Number Exposure Function Physical

MSISDN Mobile 65 NF Network 100 Downlink

Subscriber ISDN Function Control CHannel

Number NFP Network NPDSCH

MT Mobile Forwarding Path Narrowband

Terminated, Mobile NFPD Network Physical

Termination 70 Forwarding Path 105 Downlink Shared CHannel NSSAI Personal NPRACH NSSF Network Slice Computer Narrowband Selection Function PCC Primary

Physical Random NW Network Component Carrier, Access CHannel 40 NWUS Narrowband 75 Primary CC NPUSCH wake-up signal, P-CSCF Proxy

Narrowband Narrowband WUS CSCF

Physical Uplink NZP Non-Zero Power PCell Primary Cell Shared CHannel O&M Operation and PCI Physical Cell ID, NPSS Narrowband 45 Maintenance 80 Physical Cell

Primary ODU2 Optical channel Identity

S ynchronization Data Unit - type 2 PCEF Policy and Signal OFDM Orthogonal Charging NSSS Narrowband Frequency Division Enforcement Secondary 50 Multiplexing 85 Function

Synchronization OFDMA PCF Policy Control Signal Orthogonal Function NR New Radio, Frequency Division PCRF Policy Control Neighbour Relation Multiple Access and Charging Rules NRF NF Repository 55 OOB Out-of-band 90 Function Function OOS Out of Sync PDCP Packet Data

NRS Narrowband OPEX OPerating Convergence Protocol,

Reference Signal EXpense Packet Data NS Network Service OSI Other System Convergence NSA Non-Standalone 60 Information 95 Protocol layer operation mode OSS Operations PDCCH Physical NSD Network Service Support System Downlink Control Descriptor OTA over-the-air Channel

NSR Network Service PAPR Peak-to-Average PDCP Packet Data Record 65 Power Ratio 100 Convergence Protocol

NS SAI Network Slice PAR Peak to Average PDN Packet Data Selection Ratio Network, Public

Assistance PBCH Physical Data Network Information Broadcast Channel PDSCH Physical

S-NNSAI Single70 PC Power Control, 105 Downlink Shared Channel PRACH Physical PSTN Public Switched

PDU Protocol Data RACH T elephone N etwork

Unit PRB Physical PT-RS Phase-tracking

PEI Permanent resource block reference signal

Equipment 40 PRG Physical 75 PTT Push-to-Talk

Identifiers resource block PUCCH Physical

PFD Packet Flow group Uplink Control

Description ProSe Proximity Channel

P-GW PDN Gateway Services, PUSCH Physical

PHICH Physical 45 Proximity-Based 80 Uplink Shared hybrid-ARQ indicator Service Channel channel PRS Positioning QAM Quadrature

PHY Physical layer Reference Signal Amplitude

PLMN Public Land PRR Packet Modulation

Mobile Network 50 Reception Radio 85 QCI QoS class of

PIN Personal PS Packet Services identifier

Identification Number PSBCH Physical QCL Quasi co¬

PM Performance Sidelink Broadcast location

Measurement Channel QFI QoS Flow ID,

PMI Precoding 55 PSDCH Physical 90 QoS Flow Identifier

Matrix Indicator Sidelink Downlink QoS Quality of

PNF Physical Channel Service

Network Function PSCCH Physical QPSK Quadrature

PNFD Physical Sidelink Control (Quaternary) Phase

Network Function 60 Channel 95 Shift Keying

Descriptor PSSCH Physical QZSS Quasi-Zenith

PNFR Physical Sidelink Shared Satellite System

Network Function Channel RA-RNTI Random

Record PSFCH physical Access RNTI

POC PTT over 65 sidelink feedback 100 RAB Radio Access

Cellular channel Bearer, Random

PP, PTP Point-to- PS Cell Primary SCell Access Burst

Point PSS Primary RACH Random Access

PPP Point-to-Point Synchronization Channel

Protocol 70 Signal 105 RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In Failure RSSI Received Signal

User Service RLM Radio Link Strength Indicator

RAN Radio Access Monitoring RSU Road Side Unit

Network RLM-RS RSTD Reference Signal

RAND RANDom 40 Reference Signal 75 Time difference number (used for for RLM RTP Real Time authentication) RM Registration Protocol

RAR Random Access Management RTS Ready-To-Send

Response RMC Reference RTT Round Trip

RAT Radio Access 45 Measurement Channel 80 Time

Technology RMSI Remaining MSI, Rx Reception,

RAU Routing Area Remaining Receiving, Receiver

Update Minimum S1AP SI Application

RB Resource block, System Protocol

Radio Bearer 50 Information 85 SI -MME SI for

RBG Resource block RN Relay Node the control plane group RNC Radio Network S 1-U SI for the user

REG Resource Controller plane

Element Group RNL Radio Network S-CSCF serving

Rel Release 55 Layer 90 CSCF

REQ REQuest RNTI Radio Network S-GW Serving Gateway

RF Radio Frequency Temporary Identifier S-RNTI SRNC

RI Rank Indicator ROHC RObust Header Radio Network

RIV Resource Compression Temporary indicator value 60 RRC Radio Resource 95 Identity

RL Radio Link Control, Radio S-TMSI SAE

RLC Radio Link Resource Control Temporary Mobile

Control, Radio layer Station Identifier

Link Control RRM Radio Resource SA Standalone layer 65 Management 100 operation mode

RLC AM RLC RS Reference Signal SAE System

Acknowledged Mode RSRP Reference Signal Architecture

RLC UM RLC Received Power Evolution

Unacknowledged Mode RSRQ Reference Signal SAP Service Access

RLF Radio Link 70 Received Quality 105 Point SAPD Service Access Description Protocol SiP System in

Point Descriptor SDSF Structured Data Package

SAPI Service Access Storage Function SE Sidelink

Point Identifier SDT Small Data SLA Service Level

SCC Secondary 40 Transmission 75 Agreement

Component Carrier, SDU Service Data SM Session

Secondary CC Unit Management

SCell Secondary Cell SEAF Security Anchor SMF Session

SCEF Service Function Management Function

Capability Exposure 45 SeNB secondary eNB 80 SMS Short Message

Function SEPP Security Edge Service

SC-FDMA Single Protection Proxy SMSF SMS Function

Carrier Frequency SFI Slot format SMTC SSB-based

Division indication Measurement Timing

Multiple Access 50 SFTD Space- 85 Configuration

SCG Secondary Cell Frequency Time SN Secondary Node,

Group Diversity, SFN Sequence Number

SCM Security Context and frame timing SoC System on Chip

Management difference SON Self- Organizing

SCS Subcarrier 55 SFN System Frame 90 Network

Spacing Number SpCell Special Cell

SCTP Stream Control SgNB Secondary gNB SP-CSLRNTISemi-

Transmission SGSN Serving GPRS Persistent CSI RNTI

Protocol Support Node SPS Semi-Persistent

SDAP Service Data 60 S-GW Serving Gateway 95 Scheduling

Adaptation Protocol, SI System SQN Sequence

Service Data Information number

Adaptation SLRNTI System SR Scheduling

Protocol layer Information RNTI Request

SDE Supplementary 65 SIB System 100 SRB Signalling Radio

Downlink Information Block Bearer

SDNF Structured Data SIM Subscriber SRS Sounding

Storage Network Identity Module Reference Signal

Function SIP Session Initiated SS Synchronization

SDP Session 70 Protocol 105 Signal SSB Synchronization SST Slice/Service Point Identifier

Signal Block Types TFT Traffic Flow

SSID Service Set SU-MIMO Single Template

Identifier User MIMO TMSI Temporary

SS/PBCH Block 40 SUL Supplementary 75 Mobile

SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Uplink Subscriber

Resource Indicator, TA Timing Identity

Synchronization Advance, Tracking TNL Transport

Signal Block Area Network Layer Resource Indicator 45 TAC Tracking Area 80 TPC Transmit Power

SSC Session and Code Control

Service TAG Timing Advance TPMI Transmitted

Continuity Group Precoding Matrix

SS-RSRP TAI Tracking Indicator

Synchronization 50 Area Identity 85 TR Technical Report Signal based TAU Tracking Area TRP, TRxP

Reference Signal Update Transmission

Received Power TB Transport Block Reception Point

SS-RSRQ TBS Transport Block TRS Tracking

Synchronization 55 Size 90 Reference Signal Signal based TBD To Be Defined TRx Transceiver

Reference Signal TCI Transmission TS Technical

Received Quality Configuration Indicator Specifications,

SS-SINR TCP Transmission Technical

Synchronization 60 Communication 95 Standard Signal based Signal to Protocol TTI Transmission Noise and Interference TDD Time Division Time Interval

Ratio Duplex Tx Transmission,

SSS Secondary TDM Time Division Transmitting,

Synchronization 65 Multiplexing 100 Transmitter

Signal TDMATime Division U-RNTI UTRAN

SSSG Search Space Set Multiple Access Radio Network Group TE Terminal Temporary

SSSIF Search Space Set Equipment Identity Indicator 70 TEID Tunnel End 105 UART Universal Asynchronous Latency VNFFGD VNF Receiver and USB Universal Serial Forwarding Graph

Transmitter Bus Descriptor

UCI Uplink Control US IM Universal VNFMVNF Manager Information 40 Subscriber Identity 75 VoIP Voice-over- IP,

UE User Equipment Module Voice-over- Internet UDM Unified Data USS UE- specific Protocol Management search space VPLMN Visited

UDP User Datagram UTRA UMTS Public Land Mobile Protocol 45 Terrestrial Radio 80 Network

UDSF Unstructured Access VPN Virtual Private

Data Storage Network UTRAN Universal Network Function Terrestrial Radio VRB Virtual Resource

UICC Universal Access Network Block

Integrated Circuit 50 UwPTS Uplink 85 WiMAX Card Pilot Time Slot Worldwide

UL Uplink V2I Vehicle-to- Interoperability

UM Infrastruction for Microwave

Unacknowledge V2P Vehicle-to- Access d Mode 55 Pedestrian 90 WLANWireless Local

UML Unified V2V Vehicle-to- Area Network Modelling Language Vehicle WMAN Wireless UMTS Universal V2X Vehicle-to- Metropolitan Area Mobile everything Network

T elecommunicat 60 VIM Virtualized 95 WPANWireless ions System Infrastructure Manager Personal Area Network

UP User Plane VL Virtual Link, X2-C X2-Control

UPF User Plane VLAN Virtual LAN, plane

Function Virtual Local Area X2-U X2-User plane

URI Uniform 65 Network 100 XML extensible

Resource Identifier VM Virtual Machine Markup

URL Uniform VNF Virtualized Language

Resource Locator Network Function XRES EXpected user

URLLC UltraVNFFG VNF RESponse

Reliable and Low 70 Forwarding Graph 105 XOR exclusive OR ZC Zadoff-Chu

ZP Zero Power

Terminology

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

The term “application” may refer to a complete and deployable package, environment to achieve a certain function in an operational environment. The term “AI/ML application” or the like may be an application that contains some AI/ML models and application-level descriptions.

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. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

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 single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computerexecutable 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/systems 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 single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

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.

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.

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.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block. The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.

The term “machine learning” or “ML” refers to the use of computer systems implementing algorithms and/or statistical models to perform specific task(s) without using explicit instructions, but instead relying on patterns and inferences. ML algorithms build or estimate mathematical model(s) (referred to as “ML models” or the like) based on sample data (referred to as “training data,” “model training information,” or the like) in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform such tasks. Generally, an ML algorithm is a computer program that learns from experience with respect to some task and some performance measure, and an ML model may be any object or data structure created after an ML algorithm is trained with one or more training datasets. After training, an ML model may be used to make predictions on new datasets. Although the term “ML algorithm” refers to different concepts than the term “ML model,” these terms as discussed herein may be used interchangeably for the purposes of the present disclosure.

The term “machine learning model,” “ML model,” or the like may also refer to ML methods and concepts used by an ML-assisted solution. An “ML-assisted solution” is a solution that addresses a specific use case using ML algorithms during operation. ML models include supervised learning (e.g., linear regression, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), descision tree algorithms, support machine vectors, Bayesian algorithm, ensemble algorithms, etc.) unsupervised learning (e.g., K-means clustering, principle component analysis (PCA), etc.), reinforcement learning (e.g., Q-learning, multi-armed bandit learning, deep RL, etc.), neural networks, and the like. Depending on the implementation a specific ML model could have many sub-models as components and the ML model may train all sub-models together. Separately trained ML models can also be chained together in an ML pipeline during inference. An “ML pipeline” is a set of functionalities, functions, or functional entities specific for an ML-assisted solution; an ML pipeline may include one or several data sources in a data pipeline, a model training pipeline, a model evaluation pipeline, and an actor. The “actor” is an entity that hosts an ML assisted solution using the output of the ML model inference). The term “ML training host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the training of the model. The term “ML inference host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts model during inference mode (which includes both the model execution as well as any online learning if applicable). The ML-host informs the actor about the output of the ML algorithm, and the actor takes a decision for an action (an “action” is performed by an actor as a result of the output of an ML assisted solution). The term “model inference information” refers to information used as an input to the ML model for determining inference(s); the data used to train an ML model and the data used to determine inferences may overlap, however, “training data” and “inference data” refer to different concepts.