TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments pertain to wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to firmware/software over the air (FOTA) updates and Internet of Things (IoT). Some embodiments relate to a FOTA update for IoT over common channels.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Firmware/software over the air (FOTA) updates are provided in mobile communication systems. Bug fixes or feature upgrades are provided directly to connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices from a certain vendor or group via a network connection. Oftentimes, in the context of massive IoT deployments, millions of devices are getting the same update file via a dedicated connection for each device. This adds a huge load on the bandwidth accessible to the IoT devices, which may already be limited. Thereby, the FOTA deployment may reduce the overall performance and increase the duration of the update for the IoT devices. As the foregoing illustrates, new approaches for providing FOTA updates to IoT devices may be desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0004] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an example method for providing a firmware/ software over the air (FOTA) update for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0005] FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram of providing a firmware/ software over the air (FOTA) update for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, in accordance with some embodiments. [0006] FIG. 4 illustrates components of a communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0008] FIG. 6 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0009] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0010] FIG. 1 shows an example of a portion of an end-to-end network architecture of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network 100 with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, an LTE network refers to both LTE and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as other versions of LTE networks to be developed. The network 100 may comprise a radio access network (RAN) (e.g., as depicted, the E-UTRAN or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network) 101 and core network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an SI interface 115. For convenience and brevity, only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, is shown in the example. The network 100 includes the UE 102, which is configured to select an eNB Tx beam in a 5G eNB based on BRS measurements; transmit a PRACH or SR on a dedicated resource allocated by a LTE eNB; transmit a report indicating the selected eNB Tx beam in the 5G eNB via a PUSCH or PUCCH in the LTE eNB; receive a PDCCH order from the LTE eNB or a xPDCCH order from the 5G eNB for triggering a xPRACH transmission in the 5G eNB; and transmit xPRACH on a resource indicated in the received PDCCH or xPDCCH order in the 5G eNB.

[0011] The core network 120 may include a mobility management entity

(MME) 122, serving gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data network gateway (PDN GW) 126. The RAN 101 may include evolved node Bs (eNBs) 104 (which may operate as base stations) for communicating with user equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs 104 may include macro eNBs 104a and low power (LP) eNBs 104b. The UEs 102 may correspond to the UE 120, the transmitter 510 or the receiver 520. The eNBs 104 may correspond to the eNB 60, the transmitter 510 or the receiver 520.

[0012] The MME 122 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW 124 may terminate the interface toward the RAN 101, and route data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. In addition, the serving GW 124 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes.

[0013] The PDN GW 126 may terminate a SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126 may route data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and may perform policy enforcement and charging data collection. The PDN GW 126 may also provide an anchor point for mobility devices with non-LTE access. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes.

[0014] The eNBs 104 (macro and micro) may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE 102. In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 101 including, but not limited to, RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer

management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In accordance with embodiments, UEs 102 may be configured to communicate orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB 104 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an OFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0015] The SI interface 115 may be the interface that separates the RAN 101 and the EPC 120. It may be split into two parts: the Sl-U, which may carry traffic data between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the Sl-MME, which may be a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface may be the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface may comprise two parts, the X2- C and X2-U. The X2-C may be the control plane interface between the eNBs 104, while the X2-U may be the user plane interface between the eNBs 104.

[0016] With cellular networks, LP cells 104b may be typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with dense usage. In particular, it may be desirable to enhance the coverage of a wireless communication system using cells of different sizes, macrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells, to boost system performance. The cells of different sizes may operate on the same frequency band, or may operate on different frequency bands with each cell operating in a different frequency band or only cells of different sizes operating on different frequency bands. As used herein, the term LP eNB refers to any suitable relatively LP eNB for implementing a smaller cell (smaller than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell.

Femtocell eNBs may be typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell may be typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connect to a broadband line. The femtocell may connect to the mobile operator's mobile network and provide extra coverage in a range of typically 30 to 50 meters. Thus, a LP eNB 104b might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126. Similarly, a picocell may be a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in- building (offices, shopping malls, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB may generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNB may be implemented with a picocell eNB since it may be coupled to a macro eNB 104a via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs LP eNB 104b may incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB LP eNB 104a. In some cases, this may be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell.

[0017] In some embodiments, the UE 102 may communicate with an access point (AP) 104c. The AP 104c may use only the unlicensed spectrum (e.g., WiFi bands) to communicate with the UE 102. The AP 104c may communicate with the macro eNB 104A (or LP eNB 104B) through an Xw interface. In some embodiments, the AP 104c may communicate with the UE 102 independent of communication between the UE 102 and the macro eNB 104 A. In other embodiments, the AP 104c may be controlled by the macro eNB 104A and use LWA, as described in more detail below.

[0018] Communication over an LTE network may be split up into 5ms frames, each of which may contain ten 1ms subframes. Each subframe of the frame, in turn, may contain two slots of 0.5ms. Each subframe may be used for uplink (UL) communications from the UE to the eNB or downlink (DL) communications from the eNB to the UE. In one embodiment, the eNB may allocate a greater number of DL communications than UL communications in a particular frame. The eNB may schedule transmissions over a variety of frequency bands (fi and f ₂ ). The allocation of resources in subframes used in one frequency band and may differ from those in another frequency band. Each slot of the subframe may contain 6-7 OFDM symbols, depending on the system used. In one embodiment, the subframe may contain 12 subcarriers. A downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from an eNB to a UE, while an uplink resource grid may be used for uplink transmissions from a UE to an eNB or from a UE to another UE. The resource grid may be a time- frequency grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid may be denoted as a resource element (RE). Each column and each row of the resource grid may correspond to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The resource grid may contain resource blocks (RBs) that describe the mapping of physical channels to resource elements and physical RBs (PRBs). A PRB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. A resource block may be 180 kHz wide in frequency and 1 slot long in time. In frequency, resource blocks may be either 12 x 15 kHz subcarriers or 24 x 7.5 kHz subcarriers wide. For most channels and signals, 12 subcarriers may be used per resource block, dependent on the system bandwidth. In Frequency

Division Duplexed (FDD) mode, both the uplink and downlink frames may be 5ms and frequency (full-duplex) or time (half-duplex) separated. In Time Division

Duplexed (TDD), the uplink and downlink subframes may be transmitted on the same frequency and are multiplexed in the time domain. The duration of the resource grid 400 in the time domain corresponds to one subframe or two resource blocks. Each resource grid may comprise 12 (subcarriers) * 14 (symbols) =168 resource elements. [0019] Each OFDM symbol may contain a cyclic prefix (CP) which may be used to effectively eliminate Inter Symbol Interference (ISI), and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) period. The duration of the CP may be determined by the highest anticipated degree of delay spread. Although distortion from the preceding OFDM symbol may exist within the CP, with a CP of sufficient duration, preceding OFDM symbols do not enter the FFT period. Once the FFT period signal is received and digitized, the receiver may ignore the signal in the CP.

[0020] There may be several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks, including the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Each subframe may be partitioned into the PDCCH and the PDSCH. The PDCCH may normally occupy the first two symbols of each subframe and carries, among other things, information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, as well as H-ARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. The PDSCH may carry user data and higher layer signaling to a UE and occupy the remainder of the subframe. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs within a cell) may be performed at the eNB based on channel quality information provided from the UEs to the eNB, and then the downlink resource assignment information may be sent to each UE on the PDCCH used for (assigned to) the UE. The PDCCH may contain downlink control information (DCI) in one of a number of formats that indicate to the UE how to find and decode data, transmitted on PDSCH in the same subframe, from the resource grid. The DCI format may provide details such as number of resource blocks, resource allocation type, modulation scheme, transport block, redundancy version, coding rate etc. Each DCI format may have a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) and be scrambled with a

Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that identifies the target UE for which the PDSCH is intended. Use of the UE-specific RNTI may limit decoding of the DCI format (and hence the corresponding PDSCH) to only the intended UE.

[0021] As discussed above, firmware/software over the air (FOTA) updates are provided in mobile communication systems. Bug fixes or feature upgrades are provided directly to connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices from a certain vendor or group via a network connection. Oftentimes, in the context of massive IoT deployments, millions of devices are getting the same update file via a dedicated connection for each device. This adds a huge load on the bandwidth accessible to the IoT devices, which may already be limited. For example, Category M (CATM) and narrowband IoT ( B-IoT) devices typically have limited bandwidth. Thereby, the FOTA deployment may reduce the overall performance and increase the duration of the update for the IoT devices. As the foregoing illustrates, new approaches for providing FOTA updates to IoT devices may be desirable.

[0022] Some aspects of the subject technology provide a mechanism for doing a firmware/ software update over the air via an enhanced mechanism over common channels. In a first operation, a synchronizing of all relevant IoT devices in a cell/ network is completed. In a second operation, a common channel is used to push the updates to all the IoT devices simultaneously, while reducing the overall capacity of the cell as little as possible. The additional activity time for each IoT device, according to some aspects, is limited by the overall available bandwidth for the common channel, but not by the additional overhead of monitoring or listening to the common channel .

[0023] Some aspects of the subject technology are directed to a three operation approach for pushing software/ firmware update(s) to all IoT devices in parallel. In a first operation, a synchronization of the IoT devices (e.g., paging and scheduling information for the update) is done. In a second operation, the update is pushed via common channels (e.g., system information (SI) blocks) for all devices simultaneously. In a third operation, feedback about the successful/ unsuccessful update is sent back to the network to trigger further activities, for example, common channel resending or dedicated sending of the software/ firmware update(s).

[0024] In some schemes, a FOTA update is realized via dedicated connections to all UEs. In the context of massive IoT deployments, this may use a lot of bandwidth for transmitting the same information to multiple different devices. In some cases, in the IoT context, MBMS (multimedia broadcast/ multicast service) channels are used for FOTA. However, this solution has several drawbacks. One solution addresses IoT devices by MBMS region instead of by cell. This causes additional pushing of data to devices or cells that do not include the devices to be updated, or MBMS might not be available in a cell that includes a device to be updated. Furthermore, MBMS causes devices to listen to the control channel for possible transmissions. The repetition period for the control channels is typically shorter than PSM (power saving mode) cycles that are typically used for IoT devices. Thus, aspects of the subject technology may significantly increase the battery life of IoT devices compared to MBMS. Furthermore, it should be noted that MBMS is not supported by CATM and B-IoT devices.

[0025] Another mechanism discussed in 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership

Program) is the usage of a SC-PTM (single-cell point-to-multipoint) mechanism. This includes using a one-to-many relationship to push the same data. However, synchronization of the devices without degrading battery life is not addressed.

[0026] Aspects of the subject technology ensure the fastest update of all IoT devices while reducing the overall capacity of the cell as little as possible. The additional activity time for the IoT device in the proposed approach is only limited by the overall available bandwidth for the common channel, but not by additional overhead for monitoring or listening to the common channels when they are not being used for the update.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an example method 200 for providing a FOTA update for IoT devices.

[0028] At operation 210, a decision to have a FOTA update is made, and the

FOTA update is scheduled for a time in the future. The operation 210 may be implemented at an e B.

[0029] At operation 220.1, a first IoT device (IoT 1) is paged and informed of the update and the scheduled time. At operations 220.2-N, this is repeated for the other IoT devices (IoT 2-N). N may be any positive integer.

[0030] At operation 230, the eNB sends the FOTA update via common channels. The FOTA update is received, via the common channels, in parallel by all relevant IoT devices.

[0031] At operation 240, the eNB receives, from the IoT devices, IoT feedback on the FOTA update. The IoT feedback may indicate whether the update was successfully received or successfully implemented at the IoT devices.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram 300 of providing a FOTA update for IoT devices. The data flow diagram 300 includes a network 305 and an IoT device 310.

The network 305 includes a FOTA server 315 and an eNB 320. The IoT device 310 includes a FOTA client 325. [0033] At operation 330, the FOTA server 315 requests that the eNB 320 forward a FOTA update to multiple IoT devices, including the IoT device 310.

Meanwhile, the FOTA client 325 alternates between inactive periods with no paging reception at operation 335 and active periods with paging reception at operation 340.

[0034] At operation 345, the eNB 320 pages the FOTA client 325 to indicate the time of the FOTA update. The FOTA client 325 accesses the paging during the active period of operation 340.

[0035] At operation 350, the FOTA client 325 of the IoT device 310 fetches the FOTA start time from common or dedicated channels and goes to the normal deep sleep/PSM procedure. At operation 355, the normal PSM mode alteration (between active and inactive) continues until the FOTA update time.

[0036] At operation 360, at the FOTA update time, the network 305, by operation of the eNB 320, sends the update to the FOTA client 325 of the IoT device 310. At operation 365, all of the multiple IoT devices, including the IoT device 310, simultaneously wake up and receive the update.

[0037] At operation 370, the FOTA client 325 of the IoT device 310 evaluates the update and attempts to update the firmware/ software of the IoT device 310 accordingly.

[0038] At operation 375, the FOTA client 325 sends, to the FOTA server 315, feedback on the FOTA update. In some cases, the feedback indicates whether the FOTA update was successfully received or installed at the IoT device 310.

[0039] As illustrated in FIGS. 2-3, the starting point for the FOTA update procedure is the request to launch a FOTA update for a certain set of IoT devices. The FOTA server 315 signals the intent to send the FOTA update to the eNB 320 and sends the associated data. In the context of IoT devices, only a very limited amount of data is required for a delta software/ firmware image (e.g., 0.1 kilobyte). Even in these cases, the transfer of the image, especially in the NB-IoT case, consumes a significant amount of time, and is not avoided due to limited bandwidth. However, the overall utilization of time and network resources may be minimized using some of the approaches described herein.

[0040] Following this request, the network 305 checks which cells and IoT devices are affected by the update. In some aspects, it is assumed that IoT devices typically use PSM to reach a minimum power consumption, so they cannot be paged directly in a small time window.

[0041] According to some aspects, the eNB 320 determines after which point in time all IoT devices could be paged at least once to inform them about the upcoming FOTA update. The eNB 320 calculates a time for the sending of the FOTA updates via the common channels a reasonable amount of time after the last IoT device could be paged, after each of the IoT devices has been paged. The eNB 320 schedules the sending of the FOTA update for the calculated time and also schedules the paging of the IoT devices according to their PSM configuration.

[0042] From the perspective of the IoT device 310, the IoT device 310 wakes up following its normal PSM procedure. The IoT device 310 is paged by the eNB 320 indicating that a FOTA update is to be received, at the IoT device 310, via common channels. The FOTA update may include a system information (SI) update, and the common channels may include BCCH (broadcast control channel).

[0043] The IoT device 310 reads the SI scheduling information. In some cases, a new SI information element is added that contains an indication of the FOTA update. The SI information element has a repetition period of one with a starting point in the future. The current scheduling mechanism or frame number may be enhanced as the point in time when the FOTA update is scheduled may be in the order of days from the current time (due to the PSM configuration and the requirement to reach all IoT devices in the cell). In some cases, the segmentation of the SI is enhanced to account for the limited bandwidth in NB-IoT/ CATM scenarios.

[0044] The IoT device 310 then enters the normal PSM behavior (alternating between active and inactive states) until the FOTA update time is reached. At the FOTA update time, there is an exception to the normal PSM behavior (ignoring timers other than PSM, RAU (routing area update), and TAU (tracking area update)) and the IoT device 310 enters the active state.

[0045] At the point in time when the FOTA update is scheduled, the IoT device 310 wakes up, enters the active state, and receives the FOTA update (e.g., decodes the received SI blocks following the C-RNTI (cell-radio network temporary identifier)). In some cases, due to the long scheduling times, a wake-up ahead of time might be required to acquire the network synchronization and SFN (system frame number) and possible repetitions of the SIBs (system information blocks). Extended coverage for IoT devices are handled by the network. For normal SIB scheduling, no special extensions are required. However, download duration may be prolonged.

[0046] The IoT device 310 decodes the FOTA SIB and updates its internal code. The IoT device 310 then establishes a link to the FOTA server 315 issuing the FOTA update (via the network 305) in order to signal the successful or unsuccessful handling of the FOTA update. Based on this feedback, the FOTA server 315 may request to schedule the transmission of the FOTA SIB again or may push the FOTA update directly to the IoT devices that did not successfully handle the FOTA update.

[0047] Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a

system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 4 illustrates components of a UE in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the components shown may be used in an eNB or MME, for example, such as the UE 102 or eNB 104 shown in FIG. 1. The UE 400 and other components may be configured to use the synchronization signals as described herein. The UE 400 may be one of the UEs 402 shown in FIG. 1 and may be a stationary, non-mobile device or may be a mobile device. In some embodiments, the UE 400 may include application circuitry 402, baseband circuitry 404, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 408 and one or more antennas 410, coupled together at least as shown. At least some of the baseband circuitry 404, RF circuitry 406, and FEM circuitry 408 may form a transceiver. In some embodiments, other network elements, such as the eNB may contain some or all of the components shown in FIG. 4. Other of the network elements, such as the MME, may contain an interface, such as the SI interface, to communicate with the eNB over a wired connection regarding the UE.

[0048] The application or processing circuitry 402 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 402 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core

processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[0049] The baseband circuitry 404 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 404 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406. Baseband processing circuity 404 may interface with the application circuitry 402 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 406. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 404a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 404b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 404c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 404d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 404 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 404a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 406. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include FFT, precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)

encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0050] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 404e of the baseband circuitry 404 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 404f. The audio DSP(s) 404f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 404 and the application circuitry 402 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0051] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 404 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. In some embodiments, the device can be configured to operate in accordance with

communication standards or other protocols or standards, including Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 102.16 wireless technology (WiMax), IEEE 102.11 wireless technology (WiFi) including IEEE 102.11 ad, which operates in the 60 GHz millimeter wave spectrum, various other wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), UMTS terrestrial radio access network

(UTRAN), or other 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed.

[0052] RF circuitry 406 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 404. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 408 for transmission. [0053] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include mixer circuitry 406a, amplifier circuitry 406b and filter circuitry 406c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406c and mixer circuitry 406a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 406d. The amplifier circuitry 406b may be configured to amplify the down- converted signals and the filter circuitry 406c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or bandpass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 404 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0054] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 408. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 406c. The filter circuitry 406c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0055] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0056] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 404 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 406.

[0057] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0058] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0059] The synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the RF circuitry 406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0060] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 404 or the applications processor 402 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 402.

[0061] Synthesizer circuitry 406d of the RF circuitry 406 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0062] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fix)). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polar converter.

[0063] FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 410, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 406 for further processing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 410.

[0064] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 410. [0065] In some embodiments, the UE 400 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface as described in more detail below. In some embodiments, the UE 400 described herein may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE 400 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. For example, the UE 400 may include one or more of a keyboard, a keypad, a touchpad, a display, a sensor, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supply interface, one or more antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, a microphone, and other I/O components. The display may be an LCD or LED screen including a touch screen. The sensor may include a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.

[0066] The antennas 410 may comprise one or more directional or

omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple- output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 410 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0067] Although the UE 400 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0068] Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM), random- access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash- memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

[0069] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. The device may be a UE or eNB, for example, such as the UE 102 or eNB 104 shown in FIG. 1. The physical layer circuitry 502 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. The communication device 500 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 504 for controlling access to the wireless medium. The communication device 500 may also include processing circuitry 506, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors, and memory 508 arranged to perform the operations described herein. The physical layer circuitry 502, MAC circuitry 504 and processing circuitry 506 may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks compatible with one or more radio technologies. The radio control functions may include signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. For example, similar to the device shown in FIG. 2, in some

embodiments, communication may be enabled with one or more of a WMAN, a

WLAN, and a WPAN. In some embodiments, the communication device 500 can be configured to operate in accordance with 3 GPP standards or other protocols or standards, including WiMax, WiFi, WiGig, GSM, EDGE, GERAN, UMTS, UTRAN, or other 3G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed. The communication device 500 may include transceiver circuitry 512 to enable communication with other external devices wirelessly and interfaces 514 to enable wired communication with other external devices. As another example, the transceiver circuitry 512 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0070] The antennas 501 may comprise one or more directional or

omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MTMO embodiments, the antennas 501 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0071] Although the communication device 500 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including DSPs, and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, RFICs and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein.

[0072] FIG. 6 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device

600 in accordance with some embodiments. The communication device 600 may correspond to the UE 102 or the eNB 104. In alternative embodiments, the

communication device 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device 600 may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the communication device 600 may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The communication device 600 may be a UE, e B, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term "communication device" shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0073] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0074] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general -purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time. [0075] Communication device (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608. The communication device 600 may further include a display unit 610, an alphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 610, input device 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The communication device 600 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The communication device 600 may include an output controller 628, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[0076] The storage device 616 may include a communication device readable medium 622 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 during execution thereof by the communication device 600. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, the static memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute communication device readable media.

[0077] While the communication device readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "communication device readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 624.

[0078] The term "communication device readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 600 and that cause the communication device 600 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device readable media may include non-transitory communication device readable media. In some examples, communication device readable media may include communication device readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[0079] The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 626 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 620 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of

Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 102.1 1 family of standards known as Wi- Fi®, IEEE 102.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 102.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SFMO), MFMO, or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MFMO techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 600, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0080] The subject technology is described below in conjunction with various examples.

[0081] Example 1 is an apparatus of an IoT (Internet of Things) device, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry and memory; the processing circuitry to: configure the IoT device to operate in PSM (power saving mode), the PSM comprising inactive and active periods; decode a message indicating a FOTA

(firmware update over the air) start time, during an active period of the PSM;

configure the IoT device to enter the active period at the FOTA start time to decode a FOTA message at the FOTA start time, the FOTA message being received via a dedicated common channel, the FOTA message being configured for updating multiple IoT devices; and update the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[0082] Example 2 is the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: encode for transmission of a message indicating successful or unsuccessful updating of the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[0083] Example 3 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the message indicating the FOTA start time is received over BCCH (broadcast control channel).

[0084] Example 4 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry is to enter into the active period of the PSM at the FOTA start time regardless of a PSM timer indicating an active or an inactive period.

[0085] Example 5 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry is to decode one or more SIBs (system information blocks) from the FOTA message to update the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[0086] Example 6 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry is to decode the FOTA message at the FOTA start time by decoding a received SIB (system information block) following a C-RNTI (cell-radio network temporary identifier) in the FOTA message.

[0087] Example 7 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry comprises a baseband processor. [0088] Example 8 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, further comprising transceiver circuitry to: receive the message indicating the FOTA start time; and receive the FOTA message at the FOTA start time.

[0089] Example 9 is the apparatus of Example 8, further comprising: an antenna coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[0090] Example 10 is the apparatus of any of Examples 1-2, wherein the dedicated common channel comprises a broadcast downlink shared channel (BDSCH) or a broadcast random access channel (BRACH).

[0091] Example 11 is an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (e B), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry and memory; the processing circuitry to: select a

FOTA (firmware update over the air) start time based on a PSM (power saving mode) cycle of a plurality of IoT (Internet of things) devices; encode a message for the plurality of IoT devices, the message indicating the FOTA start time; and encode for transmission, to the plurality of IoT devices, of a FOTA update message at the FOTA start time, the FOTA update message being encoded for transmission via a dedicated common channel for broadcasting from the eNB to the plurality of IoT devices.

[0092] Example 12 is the apparatus of Example 11, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: decode a response to the FOTA update message from one of the plurality of IoT devices, the response indicating successful or unsuccessful updating of the one of the plurality of IoT devices based on the FOTA message.

[0093] Example 13 is the apparatus of Example 11, wherein the FOTA update time is selected based on a longest PSM cycle period of the plurality of IoT devices, to ensure that the message indicating the FOTA start time is accessed by each of the plurality of IoT devices prior to the FOTA start time.

[0094] Example 14 is the apparatus of Example 11, wherein the message indicating the FOTA start time is encoded for transmission over BCCH (broadcast control channel).

[0095] Example 15 is the apparatus of Example 11, wherein the FOTA update message comprises one or more SIBs (system information blocks) for updating at least one of the plurality of IoT devices based on the FOTA message.

[0096] Example 16 is the apparatus of Example 11, wherein the one or more

SIBs follow a C-RNTI (cell-radio network temporary identifier) in the FOTA message. [0097] Example 17 is a machine-readable medium storing instructions for execution by processing circuitry of an IoT (Internet of Things) device to cause the IoT device to undergo a FOTA (firmware update over the air), the instructions causing the processing circuitry to: configure the IoT device to operate in PSM (power saving mode), the PSM comprising inactive and active periods; decode a message indicating a FOTA (firmware update over the air) start time, during an active period of the PSM; configure the IoT device to enter the active period at the FOTA start time to decode a FOTA message at the FOTA start time, the FOTA message being received via a dedicated common channel, the FOTA message being configured for updating multiple IoT devices; and update the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[0098] Example 18 is the machine-readable medium of Example 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to: encode for transmission of a message indicating successful or unsuccessful updating of the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[0099] Example 19 is the machine-readable medium of Example 17, wherein the message indicating the FOTA start time is received over BCCH (broadcast control channel).

[00100] Example 20 is the machine-readable medium of Example 17, wherein the instructions cause the processing circuitry to enter into the active period of the PSM at the FOTA start time regardless of a PSM timer indicating an active or an inactive period.

[00101] Example 21 is the machine-readable medium of Example 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to decode one or more SIBs (system information blocks) from the FOTA message to update the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[00102] Example 22 is the machine-readable medium of Example 17, wherein the instructions further cause the processing circuitry to decode the FOTA message at the FOTA start time by decoding a received SIB (system information block) following a C-RNTI (cell-radio network temporary identifier) in the FOTA message.

[00103] Example 23 is an apparatus of an IoT (Internet of Things) device, the apparatus comprising: means for configuring the IoT device to operate in PSM

(power saving mode), the PSM comprising inactive and active periods; means for decoding a message indicating a FOTA (firmware update over the air) start time, during an active period of the PSM; means for configuring the IoT device to enter the active period at the FOTA start time to decode a FOTA message at the FOTA start time, the FOTA message being received via a dedicated common channel, the FOTA message being configured for broadcasting from an evolved NodeB (e B) to multiple IoT devices; and means for updating the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[00104] Example 24 is the apparatus of Example 23, further comprising: means for encoding for transmission of a message indicating successful or unsuccessful updating of the IoT device based on the FOTA message.

[00105] Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[00106] Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.

Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

[00107] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of "at least one" or "one or more." In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that "A or B" includes "A but not B," "B but not A," and "A and B," unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein." Also, in the following claims, the terms

"including" and "comprising" are open-ended, that is, a system, UE, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

[00108] The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.