COLLECTION OF MEASUREMENTS RELATED TO EXTENDED COVERAGE OF A RADIO ACCESS NETWORK (RAN)

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclose relates generally to wireless communication networks, and more specifically to techniques for a wireless network to obtain measurements from user equipment (UEs) operating in cells of a radio access network (RAN), particularly measurements that can be used for optimizing and/or tuning of extended coverage of the cells.

BACKGROUND

Currently the fifth generation (“5G”) of cellular systems, also referred to as New Radio (NR), is being standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is developed for maximum flexibility to support multiple and substantially different use cases. These include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), side-link device-to-device (D2D), and several other use cases.

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary high-level view of the 5G network architecture, consisting of a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 199 and a 5G Core (5GC) 198. NG-RAN 199 can include a set of gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 100, 150 connected via interfaces 102, 152, respectively. In addition, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 140 between gNBs 100 and 150. With respect the NR interface to UEs, each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.

NG-RAN 199 is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, including the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (NG, Xn, Fl) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport.

The NG RAN logical nodes shown in Figure 1 include a central (or centralized) unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more distributed (or decentralized) units (DU or gNB-DU). For example, gNB 100 includes gNB-CU 110 and gNB-DUs 120 and 130. CUs (e.g., gNB-CU 110) are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. Each DU is a logical node that hosts lower-layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split, various subsets of the gNB functions. As such, each CU and DU can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, transceiver circuitry (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuitry. A gNB-CU connects to gNB-DUs over respective Fl logical interfaces, such as interfaces 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. In other words, the Fl interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU.

In addition to providing coverage via cells as in LTE, NR networks (e.g., gNBs) also provide coverage via “beams.” In general, a downlink (DL, i.e., network to UE) beam is a coverage area of a network-transmitted reference signal (RS) that may be measured or monitored by a UE.

Certain UEs can operate in a so-called “extended coverage area” of an NR or LTE network. For example, such UEs can transmit the same UL message (e.g., as part of a random access procedure) multiple times so that a network node can successfully receive the message by accumulating energy from multiple repetitions. Likewise, a network node can transmit the same DL message (e.g., as part of a random access procedure) multiple times so that a UE with the appropriate capability can successfully receive the message by accumulating energy from multiple repetitions. In contrast, UEs operating in a “normal coverage area” can communicate with the network without transmitting/receiving multiple repetitions of the same message.

SUMMARY

Currently, however, a network node does not know in advance whether a UE is in a normal coverage area or an extended coverage area of a cell served by the network node. Also, network nodes cannot explicitly collect UE measurements that can be used for optimization and/or tuning of coverage extension parameters. This can cause various problems, issues, and/or difficulties.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide specific improvements to coverage extensions in a wireless network, such as by providing, enabling, and/or facilitating solutions to exemplary problems summarized above and described in more detail below.

Embodiments include methods e.g., procedures) for a UE (e.g., wireless device) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN). These exemplary methods can include, while performing one or more operations in the RAN, logging one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. These exemplary methods can also include subsequently reporting the logged measurements to the RAN.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include receiving from the RAN a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. The one or more measurements are logged in accordance with the logging configuration.

In some embodiments, performing the one or more operations can include transmitting or receiving a plurality of messages during a random access (RA) procedure towards a cell of the RAN. In such case, the one or more measurements are related to repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during the RA procedure. The plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) transmitted by the UE, a second message (msg2) received by the UE responsive to the first message, and a third message (msg3) transmitted by the UE responsive to the second message. In various embodiments, the one or more measurements can include one or more particular measurements related to repetitions of these messages, with specific examples being discussed below. In some of these embodiments, the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following:

• an indication of whether the UE used repetitions for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and/or for dynamic PUCCH transmissions; and

• information about the UE’s transmission of Transport Blocks over Multiple Slots (TBoMS) in association with the RA procedure.

In some embodiments, when the RA procedure is completed successfully the logged measurements are reported in a RA report. In some embodiments, when the RA procedure is not completed successfully the logged measurements are reported in a radio link failure (RLF) report. In some embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure to establish or resume a connection with the RAN, and the logged measurements are reported in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report. In some embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell, the logging configuration is included in a successful handover report (SHR) configuration, and the logged measurements are reported in a SHR.

In other embodiments, performing the one or more operations can include camping in a non-connected state in a cell of the RAN and the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a RA procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the logging configuration is included a minimization of drive testing (MDT) configuration, and includes one of the following:

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information while in a non-connected state;

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information when the UE transmits repetitions of a message, during the RA procedure, using multiple uplink (UL) beams; or

• an indication that the UE should log MDT measurements while in extended coverage of the RAN.

In some of these embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include determining that the UE is in extended coverage in the cell when measured DL RSRP is less than a DL RSRP threshold associated with a condition under which the UE can transmit repetitions of a message during the RA procedure. In such case, the one or more measurements can also include one or more of the following:

• a location at which the DL RSRP was measured by the UE; and

• an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

In some embodiments, logging the measurements can include storing the measurements in a UE memory. In such embodiments, reporting the logged measurements can include receiving, from the RAN, a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; retrieving the logged measurements from memory; and sending the logged measurements to the RAN in response to the request. In some of these embodiments, reporting the logged measurements can include sending, to the RAN, an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available. The request is received in response to the indication.

Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.) configured to communicate with UEs. These exemplary methods can include sending to a UE a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. These exemplary methods can also include receiving from the UE one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN, in accordance with the logging configuration.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include performing one or more operations with the UE after sending the logging configuration. In some of these embodiments, performing the one or more operations can include transmitting or receiving a plurality of messages during the UE’ s RA procedure towards a cell served by the RAN node. The plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) received by the RAN node from the UE, a second message (msg2) transmitted by the RAN node in response to the first message, and a third message (msg3) received by the RAN node from the UE in response to the second message.

In various embodiments, the one or more measurements can include any of the information summarized above in relation to the UE embodiments and described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, when the RA procedure is completed successfully the one or more measurements are received in a RA report. In some embodiments, when the RA procedure is not completed successfully the one or more measurements are received in an RLF report. In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure to establish or resume a connection with the RAN and the one or more measurements are received in a CEF report. In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell, the logging configuration is included in a SHR configuration, and the one or more measurements are received in a SHR.

In other embodiments, the UE is camping in a non-connected state in a cell served by the RAN node and the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a RA procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure. In some of these embodiments, the logging configuration is included an MDT configuration, and includes one of the indications summarized above in relation to UE embodiments. In such case, the one or more measurements can also include one or more of the following:

• a location at which the UE measured DL RSRP for determining that the UE was in extended coverage of the RAN; and

• an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

In some embodiments, receiving the one or more measurements can include sending to the UE a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN and receiving the one or more measurements from the UE in response to the request. In some of these embodiments, receiving the one or more measurements can also include receiving from the UE an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available. The request is sent in response to the indication.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include performing one or more of the following based on the received measurements:

• creating a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas and normal coverage areas served by the RAN node; and

• optimizing extended coverage-related parameters for one or more cells served by the RAN node.

Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices) and RAN nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc. and units/functions thereof, such as CUs and DUs) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure such UEs and RAN nodes to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.

These and other embodiments described herein enable a UE to inform the network about measurements and/or parameters related to extended coverage in the network. Based on this information, the network can create a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas and normal coverage areas. Also, based on this information, the network can optimize the configuration of extended coverage-related parameters such as maximum number of RA message repetitions, RSRP threshold for RA message repetitions, etc. These optimizations can result in improved network coverage and/or more efficient use of network resources to provide improved coverage.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates a high-level views of an exemplary 5G/NR network architecture.

Figure 2 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks.

Figure 3 illustrates another high-level views of an exemplary 5G/NR network architecture.

Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure.

Figure 5 shows an exemplary time- and frequency-multiplexing of PRACH, PUSCH, and PUCCH physical channels.

Figure 6 shows contents of an exemplary random-access response (RAR) message.

Figure 7 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE (e.g., wireless device), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 9 shows a communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 10 shows a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 11 shows a network node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 12 shows host computing system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 13 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized.

Figure 14 illustrates communication between a host computing system, a network node, and a UE via multiple connections, at least one of which is wireless, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods and/or procedures disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments can apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:

• Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio network node,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., gNB in a 3 GPP 5G/NR network or an enhanced or eNB in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node.

• Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a PDN Gateway (P-GW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a Charging Function (CHF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a location management function (LMF), or the like. • Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that is capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. Unless otherwise noted, the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with the term “user equipment” (or “UE” for short), with both of these terms having a different meaning than the term “network node”.

• Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” can be either a “radio access node” (or equivalent term) or a “wireless device.”

• Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network (c.g, a radio access node or equivalent term) or of the core network (c.g, a core network node discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the cellular communications network.

• Base station: As used herein, a “base station” may comprise a physical or a logical node transmitting or controlling the transmission of radio signals, e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en- gNB, centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU), transmitting radio network node, transmission point (TP), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio head (RRH), remote radio unit (RRU), Distributed Antenna System (DAS), relay, etc.

• Node: As used herein, the term “node” (without prefix) can be any type of node that can in or with a wireless network (including RAN and/or core network), including a radio access node (or equivalent term), core network node, or wireless device. However, the term “node” may be limited to a particular type (e.g., radio access node) based on its specific characteristics in any given context.

The above definitions are not meant to be exclusive. In other words, various ones of the above terms may be explained and/or described elsewhere in the present disclosure using the same or similar terminology. Nevertheless, to the extent that such other explanations and/or descriptions conflict with the above definitions, the above definitions should control.

Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3 GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system. Furthermore, although the term “cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G NR) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.

Figure 2 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks between a UE (210), a gNB (220), and an access and mobility management function (AMF, 230) in the 5GC. Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers between the UE and the gNB are common to UP and CP. The PDCP layer provides ciphering/deciphering, integrity protection, sequence numbering, reordering, and duplicate detection for both CP and UP. In addition, PDCP provides header compression and retransmission for UP data.

On the UP side, Internet protocol (IP) packets arrive to the PDCP layer as service data units (SDUs), and PDCP creates protocol data units (PDUs) to deliver to RLC. The Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer handles quality-of-service (QoS) including mapping between QoS flows and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and marking QoS flow identifiers (QFI) in UL and DL packets. RLC transfers PDCP PDUs to the MAC through logical channels (LCH). RLC provides error detection/correction, concatenation, segmentation/reassembly, sequence numbering, and reordering of data transferred to/from the upper layers. MAC provides mapping between LCHs and PHY transport channels, LCH prioritization, multiplexing into or demultiplexing from transport blocks (TBs), hybrid ARQ (HARQ) error correction, and dynamic scheduling (on gNB side). PHY provides transport channel services to MAC and handles transfer over the NR radio interface, e.g., via modulation, coding, antenna mapping, and beam forming.

On CP side, the non-access stratum (NAS) layer is between UE and AMF and handles UE/gNB authentication, mobility management, and security control. RRC sits below NAS in the UE but terminates in the gNB rather than the AMF. RRC controls communications between UE and gNB at the radio interface as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the NG-RAN. RRC also broadcasts system information (SI) and performs establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of DRBs and Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and used by UEs. RRC also controls addition, modification, and release of carrier aggregation (CA) and dual -connectivity (DC) configurations for UEs. RRC also performs various security functions such as key management.

After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur). The UE returns to RRC__IDLE after the connection with the network is released. In RRC IDLE, the UE’s radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers. During DRX active periods (also referred to as “DRX On durations”), an RRC IDLE UE receives SI broadcast in the cell where the UE is camping. performs measurements of neighbor cells to support ceil reselection, and monitors a paging channel on a physical DL control channel (PDCCH) for pages from 5GC via gNB. An RRC EDLE UE is not known to the gNB serving the ceil where the UE is camping, but NR RRC includes an RRC_INACTIVE state in which a UE is known (e.g., via UE context) by the serving gNB.

Figure 3 shows another high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including a NG-RAN 399 and 5GC 398. As shown in the figure, NG-RAN 399 can include gNBs (e.g., 310a,b) and ng-eNBs (e.g., 320a, b) that are interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces. The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via the NG interfaces to 5GC 398, more specifically to the access and mobility management functions (AMFs, e.g., 330a, b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to the user plane functions (UPFs, e.g., 340a, b) via respective NG-U interfaces. Moreover, the AMFs can communicate with one or more policy control functions (PCFs, e.g., 250a, b) and network exposure functions (NEFs, e.g., 360a, b).

Each of the gNBs can support the NR radio interface including frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof. Each of ng-eNBs can support the LTE radio interface but, unlike conventional LTE eNBs, connect to the 5GC via the NG interface. Each of the gNBs and ng-eNBs can serve a geographic coverage area including one more cells, such as cells 31 la-b and 321a-b shown in Figure 3. Depending on the cell in which it is located, a UE 305 can communicate with the gNB or ng-eNB serving that cell via the NR or LTE radio interface, respectively. Although Figure 3 shows gNBs and ng-eNBs separately, it is also possible that a single NG-RAN node provides both types of functionality.

In addition to providing coverage via cells as in LTE, NR networks also provide coverage via “beams.” In general, a DL “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted RS that may be measured or monitored by a UE. NR. RS can include any of the following: synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB), channel state information RS (CSLRS), tertiary reference signals (or any other sync signal), positioning RS (PRS), demodulation RS (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS), etc. In general, SSB is available to all UEs regardless of the state of their connection with the network, while other RS (e.g., CSLRS, DM-RS, PTRS) are associated with specific UEs that have a network connection.

Self-optimization is a process in which UE and network measurements are used to autotune the RAN. This occurs when RAN nodes are in an operational state, which generally refers to the time when the RAN node’s RF transmitter interface switched on. Self-configuration and selfoptimization features for LTE networks are described in 3GPP TS 36.300 (vl6.5.0) section 22.2. Self-configuration and self-optimization features for NR. networks are described in 3 GPP TS 38.300 (v!6.5.0) section 15. These include dynamic configuration, automatic neighbor relations (ANR), mobility load balancing (MLB), mobility robustness optimization (MRO), RACH optimization, capacity and coverage optimization (CCO), and mobility settings change.

MLB involves coordination between two or more network nodes to optimize the traffic loads of their respective cells, thereby enabling a better use of radio resources available in a geographic area among served UEs. MLB can involve load-based handover of UEs between cells served by different nodes, thereby achieving “load balancing”. CCO involves coordination between two or more network nodes to optimize the coverage and/or capacity offered by their respective cells. For example, a reduced coverage and/or capacity in a cell served by a first RAN node can be compensated by an increase in the coverage and/or capacity of neighboring cell served by a second RAN node.

CCO use cases can be divided into ones related to coverage problems and others related to capacity problems. For example, coverage problems generally related to scenarios where the coverage of RS is sub-optimal (e.g., a coverage hole or UL/DL disparity), which leaves the UE exposed to risk of failure or reduced performance. In contrast, capacity problems generally relate to scenarios where capacity of a cell or beam is saturated, which also leaves one or more UEs exposed to risk of failure or reduced performance. There are various reasons for these capacity problems, such as demand of services exceeding available resources in the cell/beam, poor radio conditions affecting a large portion of served UEs (e.g., a large portion of UEs are at cell edge, causing high interference to other UEs and consuming large amounts of resources), etc.

MLB addresses excess load (re)distribution via mobility operations, primarily via interfrequency mobility where cross cell interference is not an issue. In contrast, CCO should address cases where the root cause of the capacity problem is serving UEs near edge of a cell/beam adjacent to another cell/beam that uses the same (or at least overlapping) resources.

In both LTE and NR, a UE can perform a random-access (RA) procedure towards the network (e.g., gNB) in any of the following scenarios, events, and/or conditions:

• Initial access to establish a connection from RRC IDLE state;

• During an RRC connection re-establishment procedure;

• During handover (i.e., change in serving cell while in RRC CONNECTED state);

• Upon arrival of DL data while in RRC CONNECTED state (as needed); and

• Upon arrival of uplink (UL) data while in RRC CONNECTED state (as needed, e.g., when the UE’s UL is non-synchronized with the network and/or there are no physical UL control channel, PUCCH, resources available for transmitting a scheduling request, SR).

Conventionally, UEs perform contention-based RA (CBRA) in which initial transmissions (also referred to as “preambles,” “sequences,” or “msgl”) via a random access channel (RACH) can collide with initial transmissions from other UEs attempting to access the same cell via the same RACH. Note that RACH is an UL transport layer channel that is based on a physical RACH (PRACH) provided by the PHY. When collisions occur, the network may not correctly receive a UE’s RA preamble transmissions, causing the UE to attempt retransmission at a higher power level. One way to avoid collisions is by contention-free RA (CFRA), in which the UE uses PRACH resources previously assigned to the UE by the gNB serving the cell.

RACH configuration impacts user experience and overall network performance. For example, RACH configuration often affects collision probability, which in turn affects access setup delays, delays in resuming from UL unsynchronized state, handover delays, transition delays from RRC INACTIVE, and beam failure recovery delays. In addition, the UE performing RA on the most suitable DL beam will avoid unnecessary power ramping and failed RACH attempts. In turn, this reduces unnecessary interference in the network as well as delay and energy consumption as experience by UEs.

The process of RACH optimization is important to maintain good user experience and overall network performance. A RACH configuration often affects RA collision probability, which in turn affects access setup delays, delays in resuming from UL unsynchronized state, handover delays, transition delays from RRC INACTIVE, and beam failure recovery delays. In addition, performing RACH on the most suitable DL beam is also important and will avoid unnecessary power ramping and failed RACH attempts. Consequently, this avoids unnecessary interference in the network and reduces delay and energy consumption as experience by UEs.

Figure 4 illustrates the steps (i.e., operations) in an exemplary CBRA procedure. In step 1, the UE randomly selects one random-access preamble (or sequence) from a known set of preambles indicated by the RAN (i.e., the serving RAN node, such as eNB or gNB) via broadcast system information (SI, e.g., SIB2). The purpose of random preamble selection is to avoid collisions by separating the preambles in a code domain.

Even so, random preamble selection may result in more than one UE simultaneously transmitting the same preamble, leading to a need for a subsequent contention resolution process. For some use cases of random access (e.g., handovers), the RAN (e.g., eNB or gNB) can prevent contention by allocating a dedicated preamble to a UE, resulting in contention-free random access (CFRA) that is faster than CBRA. This can be particularly important for time- critical handover even though RAN reservation of RA resources can be inefficient. In LTE, a fixed number of 64 preambles is available in each LTE cell, which must be partitioned between CBRA and CFRA usage. In LTE, the UE may obtain RACH configuration in broadcast SIB2, in RRC information element (IE) RadioResourceConfigCommonSIB when it transitions from RRC IDLE to RRC CONNECTED, or in RRC IE RadioResourceConfigCommon when it is handed over to another cell. The UE randomly selects one of the preambles available for CBRA, which is 64 minus the number of preambles reserved for CFRA. The number of available CBRA preambles is indicated by the field numberO RA-Preambles in the RRC RACH-ConfigCommon IE. The available CBRA preambles are further divided into two groups, which allows the UE to signal whether it needs radio resources for a small or large message (data package). That is, using a preamble selected from one group can indicate that the UE needs resources for a small amount of data, while a using a preamble selected from the other group indicates that the UE needs resources for a larger amount of data.

The UE transmits the selected RA preamble (also referred to as “msgl”) only on certain UL time/frequency resources, which are also made known to all UEs via the broadcast SI. From a Ll/PHY perspective, the preamble is transmitted in PRACH, which is time- and frequency- multiplexed with Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) as shown in Figure 5. PRACH time-frequency resources are semi-statically allocated within the PUSCH region and repeat periodically, shown in Figure 5.

At the network side, these resources are monitored by the RAN node serving the cell to detect any RACH attempts by UEs in the cell. The RAN node detects all non-colliding preambles transmitted by UEs in these resources and estimates the roundtrip time (RTT) for each UE. The RTT is needed to achieve time and frequency synchronization in both DL and UL for the UE in the LIE or NR OFDM-based systems.

In step 2, the RA response (RAR, also referred to as “msg2”) from the RAN (e.g., eNB or gNB) carries the RTT (in the form of a “timing advance command”), a temporary UE identity (e.g., C-RNTI), and UL grant of resources for the UE to use in step 3. Figure 6 shows an exemplary RAR message in which these parameters are arranged into six (6) eight-bit octets. In some instances, the RAR can also include a “backoff indicator,” by which the RAN node can instruct the UE to back off for some time before retrying a RACH attempt. As mentioned above, the UE can use the received RTT to adjust its transmission window in order to obtain UL synchronization. The RAR is scheduled on a DL shared channel (e.g., PDSCH) and is indicated on a DL control channel (e.g., PDCCH) using an identity reserved for RARs. All UEs that transmitted a RA preamble monitor PDCCH for RAR scheduling within a time window after their preamble transmissions.

To detect and decode the RAR, UE monitors its SpCell PDCCH based on a RA-RNTI, rather than a C-RNTI (e.g., included in the RAR) that is typically used on PDCCH/PDSCH for RRC CONNECTED UEs. The exact RA-RNTI value monitored by the UE is derived from the selected preamble, i.e., the RA-RNTI used by the network in msg2/RAR is uniquely associated with the time-frequency resource used by the UE to transmit the RACH preamble for msgl. Hence, if multiple UEs collided by selecting the same preamble in the same time-frequency resource in msg2, they would each receive the RAR with the same RA-RNTI. In other words, the RAN node will detect the presence of a particular preamble but not how many UEs concurrently transmitted that particular preamble.

If the UE does not detect a RAR within the time window, it declares a failed attempt and repeats step 1 using an increased transmission power level for the preamble (or msgl). This continues until the UE succeeds or until a maximum number of attempts is reached, upon which the UE declares a RACH failure.

The received UL grant to be used in Step 3 is essentially a pointer (e.g., to a location on the UL time/frequency resource grid) that informs the UE exactly which subframes (time) to transmit in and what resource blocks (frequency) to use. The higher layers indicate the 20-bit UL Grant to the PHY, as defined in 3 GPP TS 36.321 and 36.213. In the LTE PHY, this is referred to the RAR Grant and is carried on the PDCCH by a specific format of downlink control information (DCI). The RAR Grant size is intended to balance between minimizing number of bits to convey the resource assignment while providing some resource assignment flexibility for the RAN node scheduler. In general, the length of the PHY message depends on the system bandwidth.

In step 3, upon correct reception of the RAR in step 2, the UE is time synchronized with the RAN node. Before any transmission can take place, a unique identity C-RNTI is assigned. The UE transmission in this step (referred to as “msg3”) uses the UL channel radio resources assigned in step 2. Additional message exchange might also be needed depending on the UE state, as indicated in Figure 6 by the arrows drawn with dashed lines. In particular, if the UE is not known in the RAN node, then some signaling is needed between the RAN node and the core network.

The msg 3 is the UE’s first scheduled uplink transmission on the PUSCH. It conveys an actual RRC procedural message, such as an RRCConnectionRequest, and RRCResumeRequest, etc. It is addressed to the temporary C-RNTI allocated in RAR during step 2 and carries the C- RNTI or an initial UE identity.

In case of a preamble collision having occurred at step 1, the colliding UEs will receive the same temporary C-RNTI through the RAR and will also transmit colliding msg3’s that use the same UL time-frequency resources obtained via the UL grant. This may result in interference such that none of the colliding msg3’s can be decoded, which results in HARQ negative feedback (e.g., NACK) from the RAN node and a retransmission by the UE. The colliding UEs restart the RACH procedure after reaching the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, which may avoid the need of contention resolution (unless they select again the same preamble, which is unlikely). However, if at least one UE msg3 is successfully decoded and acknowledged by positive HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK), the contention remains unresolved for the other UEs at this step. Even so, the MAC downlink msg4 (in step 4) allows a quick resolution of this contention.

In step 4, the RAN node sends msg4 via RRC to possibly solve contention. The contention resolution message is addressed to the C-RNTI included in msg3 or, in none is included, to the temporary C-RNTI (e.g., sent in msg2). In the latter case, msg4 also echoes the UE identity contained in the RRC message (e.g., resume identifier, s-TMSI, etc.). The reason to distinguish these two cases is that if the UE is performing RACH during handover with CBRA, the target cell will allocate a C-RNTI in the handover command (prepared by target) which should be a unique C-RNTI. Hence, as an indication that the target cell detected msg3 (e.g., an RRCConfigurationComplete message), msg4 is sent to the same C-RNTI. The assumption is that the C-RNTI allocated by the target cell is unique and there is no source of confusion, i.e., other UEs that receive this msg4 recognize a different C-RNTI and understand that a collision has happened.

In the other case, when the UE does not have a C-RNTI allocated by the target, msg4 uses the temporary C-RNTI. In such case, the msg4 may be received by different UEs, so the RAN node needs to indicate the UE for which the RAN node decoded msg3 and resolved contention. That is done by the echoing back the UE identifier included the RRC message (e.g., resume identifier, S-TMSI, etc.), which is very unlikely to also be identical between contending UEs.

In case of a collision followed by successful decoding of msg3 by the UE, HARQ feedback is transmitted by the UE only which detects its own UE identity (or C-RNTI); other UEs understand there was a collision, transmit no HARQ feedback, and can quickly exit the current RACH procedure and start another one.

The setting of RACH configuration parameters depends on a multitude of factors, including but not limited to the following:

• UL inter-cell interference from PUSCH;

• RACH load in a cell, which includes call arrival rate, handover (HO) rate, tracking area updates, RRC INACTIVE transition rate, requests for other SI, beam failure recovery (BFR), UE population and traffic patterns under the cell coverage, UE UL synchronization states, etc.;

• UL and DL imbalances;

• UL and supplementary UL (SUL) imbalances;

• PUSCH load;

• cubic metric of the preambles allocated to a cell; and

• whether or not the cell is in high-speed mode. RACH optimization can include, but are not limited to, the following performance goals and/or targets:

• minimize access delays for UEs under the coverage of popular SSBs;

• minimize delays for UEs to request the other Sis;

• minimize imbalance of UE access delays on UL and SUL;

• minimize BFR delays for the UEs in RRC CONNECTED state;

• minimize failed and/or unnecessary RACH attempts before successful RA.

To achieve these goals and/or targets, RACH optimization will attempt to automatically set several RACH performance-related parameters, based on RACH information reports collected from UEs by gNBs and by gNBs exchanging RACH parameter settings. The mechanism and content of this information reporting and exchange for NR can be like those currently used in LTE, augmented by new NR features such as beams, SUL carriers, etc. Based on this information, the following RACH parameters can be optimized:

• RACH configuration (resource unit allocation);

• RACH preamble split (among dedicated, group A, group B);

• RACH backoff parameter value; and/or

• RACH transmission power control parameters.

For the split CU-DU architecture such as illustrated in Figure 1, a gNB-DU should be allowed to report its RACH configuration per cell to the gNB-CU, and the gNB-CU should be allowed to signal the RACH configuration per served cell to neighbor NG-RAN nodes (e.g., that serve neighbor cells). This allows NG-RAN nodes to identify whether RACH configurations of neighbor cells are optimal or whether changes are needed to achieve a better RACH coordination among neighbor cells.

Upon receiving an RRC message (e.g., UEInformationRequesf) from an NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB-CU of current serving cell) requesting a RACH information report, a UE reports RACH-related information for a cell in a UEInformationResponse RRC message. These messages are part of a UE Information procedure defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 (vl6.7.0) section 5.7.10.3, which can be used when a UE’s RA procedure is successful. The content of the RACH information report is defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 (vl6.7.0) section 5.7.10.5.

The gNB-CU and gNB-DU serving the cell consider the RACH information report and other information to determine an improved and/or optimized RACH configuration for the serving cell. For example, the RACH information report can include one or more of the following:

• SSB indices and number of RACH preambles sent on the corresponding SSBs, listed in chronological order of attempts; • frequency (e.g., NR ARFCN) of SSBs on which RACH preambles were transmitted;

• beam quality of each SSB on which RACH preambles were transmitted, i.e., beam level measurement such as BRSRP, BRSRQ, BSINR made during RACH attempts;

• relations of these SSB beam qualities to a configured threshold (e.g., above or below rsrp- ThresholdSSB);

• elapsed time between last beam quality measurement and selection of the beam for RA attempt;

• number of RACH preambles sent on SUL;

• number of RACH preambles sent on normal UL;

• total number of fallbacks between CBRA and CFRA; and

• contention detection indication.

When the UE is in multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC) with a mater node (MN) and a secondary node (SN), the RACH information report should include the above information for both MN and SN.

In both LTE and NR, the network can indicate to a UE that there are additional spectrum emission requirements applicable for a particular cell. This can be indicated by a field broadcast in SI, from which UEs in the cell can determine the additional emission requirements applicable in the cell. In NR, this field is called AdditionalSpectrumEmission and is further defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 (V16.7.0).

As mentioned above, certain UEs can operate in a so-called “extended coverage area” of an NR or LTE network. Such UEs can transmit the same UL message (e.g., as part of a RA procedure) multiple times so that a network node can successfully receive the message by accumulating the energy of the multiple repetitions. Likewise, a network node can transmit the same DL message (e.g., as part of a RA procedure) multiple times so that a UE (having the appropriate capability) can successfully receive the message by accumulating the energy of the multiple repetitions.

In contrast, UEs operating in a “normal coverage area” can communicate with the network without transmitting/receiving multiple repetitions of the same message. Also, the number of repetitions supported by the UE and the network node is related to the degree of extension of cell coverage, e.g., more repetitions lead to greater extended coverage.

However, existing self-optimizing network (SON) reporting mechanisms - such as for RACH optimization discussed above - do not inform a network node about whether a UE is in a normal coverage area or an extended coverage area for a cell. Also, network nodes cannot explicitly collect UE measurements that can be used for optimization and/or tuning of coverage extension parameters. These deficiencies leave a “gap” in the network’s ability to improve network performance by self-optimizing network parameters.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide flexible and efficient techniques whereby a UE can inform the network about measurements and/or parameters related to extended coverage in the network. Based on this information, the network can create a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas (e.g., where coverage is obtained via RA message repetitions) and normal coverage areas (e.g., where RA repetitions are not used/needed). Also, based on this information, the network can optimize the configuration of extended coverage-related parameters such as maximum number of RA message (e.g., msgl, msg3) repetitions, RSRP threshold for RA message repetitions, etc. These optimizations can result in improved coverage and/or more efficient use of network resources to provide the improved coverage.

Embodiments can be summarized as follows. In some embodiments, a UE can log one or more of the following measurements and report such logged measurements to a network node:

• Number of msg3 repetitions used by the UE (e.g., for successful transmission);

• Maximum allowed number of msg3 repetition (e.g., as configured by the network);

• Modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for msg3 transmission;

• Reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold configured for msg3 repetition;

• Measured DL S SB RSRP;

• Number of msgl repetitions used by the UE (e.g., for successful transmission);

• Maximum allowed number of msgl repetition (e.g., as configured by the network);

• RSRP threshold configured for msgl repetitions;

• Number of msg2 repetitions received by the UE (e.g., for successful reception);

• Number of SSB repetitions needed for the UE to detect synchronization signals;

• UE power class or output power used by the UE (e.g., for successful transmission);

• PRACH/preamble format used by the UE;

• Beam(s) used by the UE for the RA procedure; and

• In case the UE does not actually perform the RA procedure (e.g., remains camping in the cell), an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of msgl and/or msg3, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

In some embodiments, the UE can store such logged measurements and report them upon request (e.g., UEInformationRequest message) from a network node. Other embodiments include techniques whereby a network can configure the UE to log and report any of the above- listed measurements. The configuration can be provided by the network node that requests and/or receives the logged measurements, or by a different network node.

In some embodiments, the UE logs a flag indicating that the UE transmitted a msg3- repetiti on-specific preamble (i.e., in msgl) as a request for msg3 repetition. In some embodiments, the UE logs the specific preamble index used for msgl that requested msg3 repetition.

In some embodiments, the UE logs the actual number of msg3 repetitions used/needed for successful transmission, i.e., until msg4 is received from the network side. In some embodiments, the UE logs a difference between the actual number of msg3 repetitions used and the maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions as configured by the network node. In some embodiments, the UE logs both the actual number of msg3 repetitions and the maximum allowed number of allowed msg3 repetitions.

In some embodiments, the UE logs the MCS used for msg3 transmission. In some embodiments, the UE also logs the configured MCS values that can be used by the UE for msg3 transmission. In some embodiments, the UE logs the maximum and minimum MCS values configured by the network for msg3 transmission.

In some embodiments, the UE logs the DL RSRP that it measured and compared against a network-configured RSRP threshold, to decide whether the UE is allowed to msg3 repetitionspecific preamble transmission. In some embodiments, the UE includes the actual measured DL RSRP value. In some other embodiments, the UE includes a difference between the measured DL RSRP value and the configured RSRP threshold. In some embodiments, the UE also logs the DL SSB indices used for DL RSRP measurement.

In some embodiments, the UE logs the actual number of msgl repetitions used/needed for successful msgl transmission, i.e., the number of msgl repetitions sent until msg2 is received from the network side. In some embodiments, the UE logs a difference between the actual number of msgl repetitions and the maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions as configured by the network node. In some embodiments, the UE logs both the actual number of msgl repetitions and the maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions.

In some embodiments, the UE logs an indication of the cell’s RA resources used for the msg3 and/or msgl repetitions. For example, the UE can log indications of time resources, frequency resources, RACH occasion(s), and/or SSB dimension.

In some embodiments, the UE logs whether it used msg3 -based repetition, msgl -based repetition, or both.

In some embodiments, when the UE does not actually perform a RA procedure (i.e., remains camping) in the cell, the UE can log an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of msgl and/or msg3, in order to access the cell by a RA procedure. For example, the UE can compare measured DL RSRP values against the network-configured RSRP threshold used to determine whether the UE is allowed to use a msg3 -repetition-specific preamble during msgl transmission. If the measured DL RSRP is below the configured threshold, then the UE sets the indication to TRUE and if the measured DL RSRP is above the configured threshold, then the UE sets the indication to FALSE. In some variants, the UE can also log location information associated with the DL RSRP measurement (i.e., location at which measurement was performed).

In some embodiments, the UE logs whether it has accessed or camped on a specific cell based on a (re-)selection threshold that has been extended to account for extended coverage camping by UEs. In some embodiments, the UE logs its use of repetitions for PUSCH and/or dynamic PUCCH. In some embodiments, the UE logs its use of TBoMS (Transport Block over Multiple Slots). For example, the UE logs the number of slots that are occupied by a TB and how many repetitions of those slots that the UE used. As another example, the UE can log a flag indicating that the UE used TBoMS.

In some embodiments, the UE logs an indication of an output power used by the UE during the RA procedure. For example, this indication can correspond to the UE power class. Another relevant parameter relating to the output power of the UE is a network parameter which alters, e.g., limits, the output power of the UE. For example, the UE can log the value of a network signaling (NS) parameter such the AdditionalSpectrumEmission field discussed above.

In some scenarios the UE may reduce the output power for other reasons. For example, when close to a human body, the UE may be required to reduce the output power so that the UE complies with emitted energy regulatory requirements. In some embodiments, the UE can log this information and subsequently report it to the network.

In some embodiments, the UE logs a preamble format used by the UE for msgl transmission. A preamble transmission can have several formats with different durations, e.g., long and short preamble formats. The UE can log (and potentially subsequently reports) one or more indications related to the preamble format that was used.

In some embodiments, the UE logs information related to which beams were used in the RA procedure. This may be information related to which beams were used during the transmission/repetition of the preambles during the RA procedure. This may be referred to that the UE performs PRACH transmissions with different beams, or referred to as PRACH (beam) sweeping, etc. With such sweeping, it may be possible that a UE changes which beams are used during the transmissions of preambles, for example, if the UE identifies that there are four beams used for a cell, the UE may be configured to transmit preambles in these four different beams, e.g., first perform a preamble transmission in beam 1, then one preamble transmission in beam 2, and so on. In some embodiments, the UE logs a chronological order of beams in which a RA preamble (e.g., msgl) was repeated by the UE. This information may be an indication of whether the UE used PRACH sweeping. In one version of this embodiment the information is logs an indication of which beams were used during the sweeping. The information about which beams were used could be an explicit indication of which beams were used (e.g., by identifiers of the beams, e.g., indices). In another variant, the UE logs a beam pattern, which can be a list of beams and (optionally) an order in which the beams of the list were used by the UE. The beam pattern may be logged in terms of a beam patter identifier or index.

The UE can log various ones of the extended coverage-related measurements described above in various situations and/or scenarios, according to various embodiments described below.

In some embodiments, the UE logs the extended coverage-related measurements whenever the UE successfully performs a RA procedure based on msgl and/or msg3 repetition. In such embodiments, the UE can log the extended coverage-related measurements in the RA report.

In some embodiments, a UE in a non-connected state (e.g., RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE) can log extended coverage-related measurements whenever the UE tries to perform connection establishment (as described in 3GPP TS 38.331 (vl6.7.0) section 5.3.3) or connection resume (as described in 3GPP TS 38.331 (vl6.7.0) section 5.3.13) using msgl and/or msg3 repetitions, but fails to establish or resume the connection. This failure can be due, for example, to expiry of timer T300 for connection establishment or and expiry of time T319 for connection resume. In such embodiments, the UE can log the extended coverage-related measurements in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report.

In some embodiments, a UE can log extended coverage-related measurements whenever the UE tries to perform a RA procedure (while in RRC CONNECTED state) using msgl and/or msg3 repetitions but fails to successfully complete the RA procedure (as described in 3GPP TS 38.321 (vl6.7.0) section 5.1). In such embodiments, the UE can log the extended coverage-related measurements in a radio link failure (RLF) report.

In both LTE and NR networks, UEs can be configured to perform and report measurements to support minimization of drive tests (MDT), which is intended to reduce and/or minimize the requirements for manual testing of actual network performance (i.e., by driving around the coverage area of the network). The MDT feature was first studied in LTE Rel-9 and first standardized in Rel-10. MDT supports various network performance improvements such as coverage optimization, capacity optimization, mobility optimization, quality-of-service (QoS) verification, and parameterization for common channels (e.g., PDSCH, RACH, etc.).

In general, a UE can be configured by the network to perform logged MDT and/or immediate MDT measurements. More specifically, a UE in RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE state can be configured to periodically perform and log MDT-related measurements, and report these to the network upon return to RRC CONNECTED state. Likewise, a UE can be configured to perform and report immediate MDT measurements while in RRC CONNECTED state.

In some embodiments, a UE can be configured with a logged MDT configuration that includes an indication to log extended coverage-related information. For example, the logged MDT configuration can include a flag that, when set to true, indicates that the UE should log extended coverage-related measurements while the UE is in RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE state. For example, when the flag is set to true, the UE at least logs the indication of whether it could have accessed a cell (e.g., on which the UE was camping) using msgl/msg3 repetition-based procedures, as discussed above.

In some embodiments, the network configures the UE to log MDT measurements when the UE is in extended coverage. For example, the network can configure event-driven MDT logging, with the event being the UE’s measured DL RSRP value is less than an RSRP threshold broadcast in the cell in which the UE is camping. As discussed above, this threshold is used by the UE to determine whether it is allowed to transmit a msg3 repetition-specific preamble (i.e., in msgl). In such case, the UE starts to log MDT measurements when the UE is in a location where the measured DL RSRP of the camping cell’s SSB is less than the RSRP threshold broadcast in the camping cell. As another example, the event can be when the UE accesses the cell using extended cell access thresholds.

In some embodiments, there could be additional triggers and/or events for extended coverage-related MDT logging that can be applied individually or in combination. For example, a combination trigger can be that the UE performs msgl or msg3 repetition over multiple beams. Another example combination trigger is that the UE performs msgl repetition or msg3 repetition. Other combinations are also possible.

Successful handover reporting (SHR) is described in the 3GPP TR 37.816 (vl6.0.0) and is being specified for Rel-17. For example, 3GPP has defined an SHR configuration that a UE applies when it in RRC CONNECTED state to report information (e.g., measurements) about a successful handover under some network-configured conditions. In this way, additional knowledge available at the UE about the radio conditions, failure possibilities, etc. can be provided to the network, which can facilitate tuning handover parameters.

In some embodiments, the SHR configuration can be enhanced to include an additional flag indicating that the UE should log SHR-related measurements and/or extended coverage- related measurements when the UE uses RA procedure based on msgl and/or msg3 repetition to access a handover target cell.

Various features of the embodiments described above correspond to various operations illustrated in Figures 7-8, which show exemplary methods e.g., procedures) for a UE and a RAN node, respectively. In other words, various features of the operations described below correspond to various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the exemplary methods shown in Figures 7-8 can be used cooperatively to provide various benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein. Although Figures 7-8 show specific blocks in particular orders, the operations of the exemplary methods can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines.

In particular, Figure 7 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a UE (e.g., wireless device) such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of blocks 730-740, where while performing one or more operations in the RAN, the UE can log one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 750, where the UE can subsequently report the logged measurements to the RAN.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 710, where the UE can receive, from the RAN, a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. The one or more measurements are logged (e.g., in block 740) in accordance with the logging configuration.

In some embodiments, performing the one or more operations in block 730 includes the operations of sub-block 731, where the UE can transmit or receive a plurality of messages during a RA procedure towards a cell of the RAN. In such case, the one or more measurements are related to repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) transmitted by the UE, a second message (msg2) received by the UE responsive to the first message, and a third message (msg3) transmitted by the UE responsive to the second message. In some of these embodiments, the one or more measurements include one or more of the following:

• number of msg3 repetitions used by the UE (e.g., for successful transmission);

• maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions;

• difference between the number of msg3 repetitions used and the maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions;

• modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used by the UE for msg3 transmission; • set of allowed MCS for msg3 transmission;

• downlink (DL) reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for msg3 repetition;

• measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msg3 repetition;

• difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msg3 repetition;

• number of msgl repetitions by the UE (e.g., for successful transmission);

• maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions;

• difference between the number of msgl repetitions used and the maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions;

• DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition;

• measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msgl repetition;

• difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition;

• number of msg2 repetitions received by the UE (e.g., for successful reception);

• number of SSB repetitions needed for the UE to detect synchronization signals;

• indication of output power used by the UE for successful msgl or msg3 transmission;

• information about preambles used by the UE for msgl transmission;

• cell RA-related resources that were used by the UE for the RA procedure; and

• information about one or more beams used by the UE for the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the information about the one or more beams used by the UE for the RA procedure includes one or more of the following: an indication of whether the UE used beam sweeping during the RA procedure; a list of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure; a chronological order of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the information about preambles used by the UE for msgl transmission includes one or more of the following: an indication that the UE transmitted a msg3- repetiti on-specific preamble, in msgl, as a request for msg3 repetition; and an indication of a preamble format used for msgl transmission.

In some of these embodiments, the indication of output power used by the UE comprises one or more of the following: UE power class, a network-configured parameter that alters the UE output power, and an output power reduction applied by the UE to comply with regulatory emissions requirements.

In some of these embodiments, the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following:

• an indication of whether the UE used repetitions for PUSCH transmissions and/or for dynamic PUCCH transmissions; and • information about the UE’s transmission of Transport Blocks over Multiple Slots (TBoMS) in association with the RA procedure.

In some embodiments, the RA procedure is completed successfully, and the logged measurements are reported in a RA report.

In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure to establish or resume a connection with the RAN, and the logged measurements are reported in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report.

In other embodiments, the RA procedure is not completed successfully, and the logged measurements are reported in a radio link failure (RLF) report.

In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell, the logging configuration is included in a successful handover report (SHR) configuration, and the logged measurements are reported in a SHR.

In other embodiments, performing the one or more operations in block 730 includes the operations of sub-block 732, where the UE can camp in a non-connected state in a cell of the RAN. In such case, the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a RA procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the logging configuration is included a minimization of drive testing (MDT) configuration, and includes one of the following:

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information while in a non-connected state;

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information when the UE transmits repetitions of a message, during the RA procedure, using multiple uplink (UL) beams; or

• an indication that the UE should log MDT measurements while in extended coverage of the RAN.

In some of these embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 720, where the UE can determine that it (i.e., the UE) is in extended coverage in the cell when measured DL RSRP is less than a DL RSRP threshold associated with a condition under which the UE can transmit repetitions of a message during the RA procedure. In such case, the one or more measurements can also include one or more of the following:

• a location at which the DL RSRP was measured by the UE; and

• an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

In some embodiments, logging the measurements in block 740 includes the operations of sub-block 741, where the UE store the measurements in a UE memory. In such embodiments, reporting the logged measurements in block 750 includes the operations of sub-blocks 752-754, where the UE can receive from the RAN a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; retrieve the logged measurements from memory; and send the logged measurements to the RAN in response to the request.

In some of these embodiments, the request is included in an RRC UEInformationRequest message, and the response is included in an RRC UEInformationResponse message. In some of these embodiments, reporting the logged measurements in block 750 includes the operations of sub-block 751, where the UE can send to the RAN an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available. The request is received (e.g., sub-block 752) in response to the indication.

In addition, Figure 8 shows another exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a RAN node configured to communicate with UEs, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc. or component thereof such as CU or DU) such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of block 810, where the RAN node can send to a UE a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 830, where the RAN node can receive from the UE one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN, in accordance with the logging configuration.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 820, where the RAN node can perform one or more operations with the UE after sending the logging configuration (e.g., in block 810). In some embodiments, performing the one or more operations in block 820 includes the operations of sub-block 821, where the RAN node can transmit or receive a plurality of messages during the UE’s RA procedure towards a cell served by the RAN node. In some of these embodiments, the plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) received by the RAN node from the UE, a second message (msg2) transmitted by the RAN node in response to the first message, and a third message (msg3) received by the RAN node from the UE in response to the second message.

In various embodiments, the one or more measurements can include any of the information described above in relation to the UE embodiments illustrated by Figure 7.

In some embodiments, the RA procedure is completed successfully, and the one or more measurements are received in a RA report. In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure to establish or resume a connection with the RAN, and the one or more measurements are received in a CEF report. In other embodiments, the RA procedure is not completed successfully, and the one or more measurements are received in an RLF report. In other embodiments, the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell, the logging configuration is included in a SHR configuration, and the one or more measurements are received in a SHR.

In other embodiments, the UE is camping in a non-connected state in a cell served by the RAN node. In such case, the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a RA procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

In some of these embodiments, the logging configuration is included an MDT configuration, and includes one of the following:

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information while in a non-connected state;

• an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information when the UE transmits repetitions of a message, during the RA procedure, using multiple UL beams;

• an indication that the UE should log MDT measurements while in extended coverage of the RAN.

In such case, the one or more measurements can also include one or more of the following:

• a location at which the UE measured DL RSRP for determining that the UE was in extended coverage of the RAN; and

• an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

In some embodiments, receiving the one or more measurements in block 830 includes the operations of sub-blocks 832-833, where the RAN node can send, to the UE, a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN and receive the one or more measurements from the UE in response to the request. In some of these embodiments, the request is included in an RRC UEInformationRe quest message, and the response is included in an RRC UEInformationResponse message. In some of these embodiments, receiving the one or more measurements in block 830 includes the operations of sub-block 831, where the RAN node can receive from the UE an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available. The request is sent (e.g., sub-block 832) in response to the indication.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 840, where the RAN node can perform one or more of the following operations based on the received measurements (e.g., in block 830):

• creating a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas and normal coverage areas served by the RAN node; and • optimizing extended coverage-related parameters for one or more cells served by the RAN node.

Although various embodiments are described above in terms of methods, techniques, and/or procedures, the person of ordinary skill will readily comprehend that such methods, techniques, and/or procedures can be embodied by various combinations of hardware and software in various systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, computer program products, etc.

Figure 9 shows an example of a communication system 900 in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, communication system 900 includes a telecommunication network 902 that includes an access network 904, such as a RAN, and a core network 906, which includes one or more core network nodes 908. Access network 904 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 910a-b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 910), or any other similar 3 GPP access node or non-3GPP access point. Network nodes 910 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 912a-d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 912) to core network 906 over one or more wireless connections.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, communication system 900 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 900 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

UEs 912 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes 910 and other communication devices. Similarly, network nodes 910 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UEs 912 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in telecommunication network 902 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in telecommunication network 902.

In the depicted example, core network 906 connects network nodes 910 to one or more hosts, such as host 916. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 906 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 908) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 908. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

Host 916 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of access network 904 and/or telecommunication network 902, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Host 916 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, communication system 900 of Figure 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, telecommunication network 902 is a cellular network that implements 3 GPP standardized features. Accordingly, telecommunications network 902 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to telecommunication network 902. For example, telecommunications network 902 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, UEs 912 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to access network 904 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from access network 904. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e., being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

In the example, hub 914 communicates with access network 904 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 910b). In some examples, hub 914 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, hub 914 may be a broadband router enabling access to core network 906 for the UEs. As another example, hub 914 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 910, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in hub 914. As another example, hub 914 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, hub 914 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, hub 914 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which hub 914 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, hub 914 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

Hub 914 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 910b. Hub 914 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between hub 914 and UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d), and between hub 914 and core network 906. In other examples, hub 914 is connected to core network 906 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, hub 914 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over access network 904 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with network nodes 910 while still connected via hub 914 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 914 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 910b. In other embodiments, hub 914 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 910b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Figure 10 shows a UE 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3 GPP, including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

UE 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input/output interface 1006, a power source 1008, a memory 1010, a communication interface 1012, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

Processing circuitry 1002 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in memory 1010. Processing circuitry 1002 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general -purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry 1002 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

In the example, input/output interface 1006 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into UE 1000. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, power source 1008 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. Power source 1008 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from power source 1008 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of UE 1000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of power source 1008. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 1008 to make the power suitable for the respective components of UE 1000 to which power is supplied.

Memory 1010 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, memory 1010 includes one or more application programs 1014, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1016. Memory 1010 may store, for use by UE 1000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Memory 1010 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ Memory 1010 may allow UE 1000 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non- transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 1010, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

Processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 1012. Communication interface 1012 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1022. Communication interface 1012 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1018 and/or a receiver 1020 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, transmitter 1018 and receiver 1020 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., 1022) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of communication interface 1012 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1012, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., an alert is sent when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to UE 1000 shown in Figure 10.

As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Figure 11 shows a network node 1100 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (e.g., radio access points) and base stations (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs, etc.).

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

Network node 1100 includes a processing circuitry 1102, a memory 1104, a communication interface 1106, and a power source 1108. Network node 1100 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1100 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 1100 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1104 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1110 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 1100 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1100, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z- wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1100.

Processing circuitry 1102 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1100 components, such as memory 1104, to provide network node 1100 functionality.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1102 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1102 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and the baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

Memory 1104 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1102. Memory 1104 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1104a) capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1102 and utilized by network node 1100. Memory 1104 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1102 and/or any data received via communication interface 1106. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1102 and memory 1104 is integrated.

Communication interface 1106 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, communication interface 1106 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1116 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. Communication interface 1106 also includes radio frontend circuitry 1118 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1110. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 comprises filters 1120 and amplifiers 1122. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 may be connected to an antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1120 and/or amplifiers 1122. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1110. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1110 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 1118. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1102. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1100 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1118, instead, processing circuitry 1102 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 1110. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 is part of communication interface 1106. In still other embodiments, communication interface 1106 includes one or more ports or terminals 1116, radio front-end circuitry 1118, and RF transceiver circuitry 1112, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 1106 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 1114, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 1110 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1110 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 1118 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, antenna 1110 is separate from network node 1100 and connectable to network node 1100 through an interface or port.

Antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and/or processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and/or processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Power source 1108 provides power to the various components of network node 1100 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1108 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of network node 1100 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, network node 1100 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of power source 1108. As a further example, power source 1108 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

Embodiments of network node 1100 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 1100 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 1100 and to allow output of information from network node 1100. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1100.

Figure 12 is a block diagram of a host 1200, which may be an embodiment of host 916 of Figure 9, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, host 1200 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 1200 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

Host 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 to an input/output interface 1206, a network interface 1208, a power source 1210, and a memory 1212. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 10 and 11, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1200.

Memory 1212 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1214 and data 1216, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for host 1200 or data generated by host 1200 for a UE. Embodiments of host 1200 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. Host application programs 1214 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). Host application programs 1214 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, host 1200 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. Host application programs 1214 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real- Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications 1302 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1300 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Hardware 1304 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1304a) executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1306 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1308a-b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1308), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1306 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1308. VMs 1308 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1306. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1302 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1308, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, a VM 1308 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1308, and that part of hardware 1304 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1308 on top of the hardware 1304 and corresponds to the application 1302.

Hardware 1304 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1304 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1304 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1310, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1302. In some embodiments, hardware 1304 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1312 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Figure 14 shows a communication diagram of a host 1402 communicating via a network node 1404 with a UE 1406 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 912a of Figure 9 and/or UE 1000 of Figure 10), network node (such as network node 910a of Figure 9 and/or network node 1100 of Figure 11), and host (such as host 916 of Figure 9 and/or host 1200 of Figure 12) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 14. Like host 1200, embodiments of host 1402 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 1402 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by host 1402 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 1406 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1450 extending between UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1450.

Network node 1404 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with host 1402 and UE 1406. Connection 1460 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 906 of Figure 9) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

UE 1406 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1406 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1406 with the support of host 1402. In host 1402, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via OTT connection 1450 terminating at UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1450 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through OTT connection 1450.

OTT connection 1450 may extend via a connection 1460 between host 1402 and network node 1404 and via a wireless connection 1470 between network node 1404 and UE 1406 to provide the connection between host 1402 and UE 1406. Connection 1460 and wireless connection 1470, over which OTT connection 1450 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host 1402 and UE 1406 via network node 1404, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via OTT connection 1450, in step 1408, host 1402 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with UE 1406. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1406 that shares data with host 1402 without explicit human interaction. In step 1410, host 1402 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards UE 1406. Host 1402 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by UE 1406. The request may be caused by human interaction with UE 1406 or by operation of the client application executing on UE 1406. The transmission may pass via network node 1404, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1412, network node 1404 transmits to UE 1406 the user data that was carried in the transmission that host 1402 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1414, UE 1406 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on UE 1406 associated with the host application executed by host 1402.

In some examples, UE 1406 executes a client application which provides user data to host 1402. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from host 1402. Accordingly, in step 1416, UE 1406 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of UE 1406. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, UE 1406 initiates, in step 1418, transmission of the user data towards host 1402 via network node 1404. In step 1420, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 1404 receives user data from UE 1406 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards host 1402. In step 1422, host 1402 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 1406.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1406 using OTT connection 1450, in which wireless connection 1470 forms the last segment. More precisely, embodiments can enable a UE to inform the network about measurements and/or parameters related to extended coverage in the network. Based on this information, the network can create a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas and normal coverage areas. Also, based on this information, the network can optimize and/or improve the configuration of extended coverage-related parameters such as maximum number of RA message repetitions, RSRP threshold for RA message repetitions, etc. These optimizations can result in improved coverage and/or more efficient use of network resources to provide the improved coverage. Accordingly, OTT services will experience improved performance when delivered via a RAN enhanced in this manner, which increases the value of such OTT services to end users and service providers.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by host 1402. As another example, host 1402 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, host 1402 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host 1402 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, host 1402 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, host 1402 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.

In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1450 between host 1402 and UE 1406, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of host 1402 and/or UE 1406. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which OTT connection 1450 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1450 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of network node 1404. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by host 1402. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1450 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

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

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As described herein, device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification and drawings, can be used synonymously in certain instances (e.g., “data” and “information”). It should be understood, that although these terms (and/or other terms that can be synonymous to one another) can be used synonymously herein, there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously.

Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein also include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:

Al . A method for a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: while performing one or more operations in the RAN, logging one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; and subsequently reporting the logged measurements to the RAN.

A2. The method of embodiment Al, further comprising receiving, from the RAN, a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN, wherein the one or more measurements are logged in accordance with the logging configuration.

A3. The method of embodiment A2, wherein: performing the one or more operations includes transmitting or receiving a plurality of messages during a random access (RA) procedure towards a cell of the RAN; and the one or more measurements are related to repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during the RA procedure.

A4. The method of embodiment A3, wherein the plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) transmitted by the UE, a second message (msg2) received by the UE responsive to the first message, and a third message (msg3) transmitted by the UE responsive to the second message.

A5. The method of embodiment A4, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more of the following: number of msg3 repetitions needed for successful transmission; maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions; difference between the number of msg3 repetitions needed and the maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions; modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for successful msg3 transmission; set of allowed MCS for msg3 transmission; downlink (DL) reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for msg3 repetition; measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msg3 repetition; difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msg3 repetition; number of msgl repetitions needed for successful transmission; maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions; difference between the number of msgl repetitions needed and the maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions;

DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition; measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msgl repetition; difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition; number of msg2 repetitions needed for successful reception; number of synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB) repetitions needed for successful detection of synchronization signals; indication of output power used by the UE for successful msgl or msg3 transmission; information about preambles used for msgl transmission; cell RA-related resources that were used by the UE for the RA procedure; and information about one or more beams used for the RA procedure.

A6. The method of embodiment A5, wherein the information about the one or more beams used for the RA procedure includes one or more of the following: an indication of whether the UE used beam sweeping during the RA procedure; a list of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure; a chronological order of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure.

A7. The method of any of embodiments A5-A6, wherein the information about preambles used for msgl transmission includes one or more of the following: an indication that the UE transmitted a msg3 -repetition-specific preamble, in msgl, as a request for msg3 repetition; and an indication of a preamble format used for msgl transmission.

A8. The method of any of embodiments A5-A7, wherein the indication of output power used by the UE comprises one or more of the following: UE power class, a network-configured parameter that alters the UE output power, and an output power reduction applied by the UE to comply with regulatory emissions requirements.

A9. The method of any of embodiments A5-A8, wherein the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following: an indication of whether the UE used repetitions for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and/or for dynamic physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions; and information about the UE’s transmission of Transport Blocks over Multiple Slots (TBoMS) in association with the RA procedure

A10. The method of any of embodiments A3-A9, wherein the RA procedure is completed successfully, and the logged measurements are reported in a RA report.

Al l. The method of any of embodiments A3-A9, wherein the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure to establish or resume a connection with the RAN, and the logged measurements are reported in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report.

A12. The method of any of embodiments A3-A9, wherein the RA procedure is not completed successfully, and the logged measurements are reported in a radio link failure (RLF) report.

A13. The method of any of embodiments A3-A9, wherein: the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell; the logging configuration is included in a successful handover report (SHR) configuration; and the logged measurements are reported in a SHR.

A14. The method of embodiment A2, wherein: performing the one or more operations comprises camping in a non-connected state in a cell of the RAN; and the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a random access (RA) procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

A15. The method of embodiment A14, wherein the logging configuration is included a minimization of drive testing (MDT) configuration, and includes one of the following: an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information while in a non-connected state; an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information when the UE transmits repetitions of a message, during the RA procedure, using multiple uplink (UL) beams; or an indication that the UE should log MDT measurements while in extended coverage of the RAN.

Al 6. The method of embodiment Al 5, further comprising determining that the UE is in extended coverage in the cell when measured downlink (DL) reference signal received power (RSRP) is less than a DL RSRP threshold associated with a condition under which the UE can transmit repetitions of a message during the RA procedure.

A17. The method of embodiment A16, wherein the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following: a location at which the DL RSRP was measured by the UE; and an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

Al 8. The method of any of embodiments Al -Al 7, wherein: logging the measurements comprises storing the measurements in a UE memory; and reporting the logged measurements comprises: receiving, from the RAN, a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; retrieving the logged measurements from memory; and sending the logged measurements to the RAN in response to the request.

Al 9. The method of embodiment Al 8, wherein the request is included in a radio resource control (RRC) UEInformationRe quest message, and the response is included in an RRC UEInformationResponse message.

A20. The method of any of embodiments Al 8-Al 9, wherein: reporting the logged measurements further comprises sending, to the RAN, an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available; and the request is received in response to the indication. Bl. A method for a radio access network (RAN) node configured to communicate with user equipment (UEs), the method comprising: sending, to a UE, a logging configuration for UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; and receiving, from the UE, one or more measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN, in accordance with the logging configuration.

B2. The method of embodiment Bl, further comprising performing one or more operations with the UE after sending the logging configuration.

B3. The method of embodiment B2, wherein: performing the one or more operations includes transmitting or receiving a plurality of messages during the UE’s random access (RA) procedure towards a cell served by the RAN node; and the one or more measurements are related to repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during the RA procedures.

B4. The method of embodiment B3, wherein the plurality of messages include the following: a first message (msgl) received by the RAN node from the UE, a second message (msg2) transmitted by the RAN node in response to the first message, and a third message (msg3) received by the RAN node from the UE in response to the second message.

B5. The method of embodiment B4, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more of the following: number of msg3 repetitions needed for successful transmission; maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions; difference between the number of msg3 repetitions needed and the maximum allowed number of msg3 repetitions; modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for successful msg3 transmission; set of allowed MCS for msg3 transmission; downlink (DL) reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for msg3 repetition; measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msg3 repetition; difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msg3 repetition; number of msgl repetitions needed for successful transmission; maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions; difference between the number of msgl repetitions needed and the maximum allowed number of msgl repetitions;

DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition; measured DL RSRP compared against DL RSRP threshold to trigger msgl repetition; difference between measured DL RSRP and DL RSRP threshold for msgl repetition; number of msg2 repetitions needed for successful reception; number of synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB) repetitions needed for successful detection of synchronization signals; indication of output power used by the UE for successful msgl or msg3 transmission; information about preambles used for msgl transmission; cell RA-related resources that were used by the UE for the RA procedure; and information about one or more beams used for the RA procedure.

B6. The method of embodiment B5, wherein the information about the one or more beams used for the RA procedure includes one or more of the following: an indication of whether the UE used beam sweeping during the RA procedure; a list of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure; a chronological order of beams used by the UE during the RA procedure

B7. The method of any of embodiments B5-B6, wherein the information about preambles used for msgl transmission includes one or more of the following: an indication that the UE transmitted a msg3 -repetition-specific preamble, in msgl, as a request for msg3 repetition; and an indication of a preamble format used for msgl transmission.

B8. The method of any of embodiments B5-B7, wherein the indication of output power used by the UE comprises one or more of the following: UE power class, a network-configured parameter that alters the UE output power, and an output power reduction applied by the UE to comply with regulatory emissions requirements.

B9. The method of any of embodiments B5-B8, wherein the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following: an indication of whether the UE used repetitions for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and/or for dynamic physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions; and information about the UE’s transmission of Transport Blocks over Multiple Slots (TBoMS) in association with the RA procedure BIO. The method of any of embodiments B3-B9, wherein the RA procedure is completed successfully, and the logged measurements are received in a RA report.

Bl l . The method of any of embodiments B3-B9, wherein the RA procedure is performed during an unsuccessful procedure by the UE to establish or resume a connection with the RAN, and the logged measurements are received in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report.

B12. The method of any of embodiments B3-B9, wherein the RA procedure is not completed successfully, and the logged measurements are received in a radio link failure (RLF) report.

B13. The method of any of embodiments B3-B9, wherein: the RA procedure is performed during a successful handover to the cell; the logging configuration is included in a successful handover report (SHR) configuration; and the logged measurements are received in a SHR.

B14. The method of embodiment Bl, wherein: the UE is camping in a non-connected state in a cell served by the RAN node; and the one or more measurements include an indication of whether the UE would have required repetitions of at least one of the messages transmitted or received during a random access (RA) procedure, in order to access the cell by the RA procedure.

B15. The method of embodiment Bl 4, wherein the logging configuration is included a minimization of drive testing (MDT) configuration, and includes one of the following: an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information while in a non-connected state; an indication that the UE should log extended coverage-related information when the UE transmits repetitions of a message, during the RA procedure, using multiple uplink (UL) beams; or an indication that the UE should log MDT measurements while in extended coverage of the RAN.

Bl 6. The method of embodiment Bl 5, wherein the one or more measurements also include one or more of the following: a location at which the UE measured downlink (DL) reference signal received power (RSRP) for determining that the UE was in extended coverage of the RAN; and an indication of whether the UE camped on the cell based on a selection or reselection threshold that accounts for extended coverage camping by UEs.

Bl 7. The method of any of embodiments Bl -Bl 6, wherein receiving the logged measurements comprises: sending, to the UE, a request for logged UE measurements related to extended coverage of the RAN; and receiving the logged measurements from the UE in response to the request.

Bl 8. The method of embodiment Bl 7, wherein the request is included in a radio resource control (RRC) UEInformationRe quest message, and the response is included in an RRC UEInformationResponse message.

Bl 9. The method of any of embodiments B17-B18, further comprising receiving, from the UE, an indication that logged measurements related to extended coverage are available, wherein the request is sent in response to the indication.

B20. The method of any of embodiments Bl -Bl 9, further comprising performing one or more of the following based on the received measurements: creating a coverage map that differentiates between extended coverage areas and normal coverage areas served by the RAN node; and optimizing extended coverage-related parameters for one or more cells served by the RAN node.

Cl . A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with RAN nodes; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A20.

C2. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), the UE being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A20.

C3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A20.

C4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A20.

DI . A radio access network (RAN) node configured to communicate with user equipment (UEs), the RAN node comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with the UEs; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B20.

D2. A radio access network (RAN) node configured to communicate with user equipment (UEs), the RAN node being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B20.

D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a radio access network (RAN) node configured to communicate with user equipment (UEs), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B20.

D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a radio access network (RAN) node configured to communicate with user equipment (UEs), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B20.