METHODS, WIRELESS DEVICE, NETWORK NODE AND RADIO NETWORK NODE FOR HANDLING COMMUNICATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a first radio network node, a second network node, a wireless device and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling communication in a wireless communications network. The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101015956.

BACKGROUND

In a typical wireless communications network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or user equipments (UE), communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, with each service area or cell area being served by radio network node such as an access node, e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. One or more radio network nodes operate on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the wireless devices within range of the radio network node. Respective radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the wireless device and the wireless device communicates over an uplink (UL) to the respective radio network node.

A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and UTRAN specifically, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g., as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, such as 6G networks and development of 5G such as New Radio (NR). The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

With the 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receiveantenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions.

When a wireless device is connected to the network, e.g., E-UTRA or NR, it is typically configured with configurations to measure the signal quality of neighbouring cells to determine whether the connection to the current serving cell deteriorates and the wireless device would be better suited to handover to another cell.

The wireless device may be configured with different measurement objects (MeasObject) which indicate e.g., carrier frequency, cell identifiers (Cellld), offsets, or thresholds. See e.g., TS 38.331 v 16.4.1 section 6.3.2:

MeasObjectNR information element

- ASN1 START

- TAG-MEASOBJECTNR-START MeasObjectNR ::= SEQUENCE { ssbFrequency ARFCN-ValueNR OPTIONAL, - Cond

SSBorAssociatedSSB ssbSubcarrierSpacing SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, - Cond

SSBorAssociatedSSB smtd SSB-MTC OPTIONAL, - Cond

SSBorAssociatedSSB smtc2 SSB-MTC2 OPTIONAL, - Cond

IntraFreqConnected refFreqCSI-RS ARFCN-ValueNR OPTIONAL, - Cond CSI-

RS referenceSignalConfig ReferenceSignalConfig absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation ThresholdNR OPTIONAL, - Need absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation ThresholdNR OPTIONAL, - Need R nrofSS-BlocksToAverage I NTEG ER (2.. maxN rofSS-BlocksT oAverage) OPTIONAL,

-- Need R nrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage INTEGER (2..maxNrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage) OPTIONAL, - Need R quantityConfiglndex INTEGER (1 ..maxNrofQuantityConfig), offsetMO Q-OffsetRangeList, cellsToRemoveList PCI-List OPTIONAL, - Need N cellsToAddModList CellsToAddModList OPTIONAL, - Need N blackCellsToRemoveList PCI-RangelndexList OPTIONAL, - Need N blackCellsToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ..maxNrofPCI-Ranges)) OF PCI-RangeElement

OPTIONAL, - Need N whiteCellsToRemoveList PCI-RangelndexList OPTIONAL, - Need N whiteCellsToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ..maxNrofPCI-Ranges)) OF PCI-RangeElement

OPTIONAL, - Need N

[[ freqBandlndicatorNR FreqBandlndicatorNR OPTIONAL, -- Need R measCycleSCell ENUMERATED {sf160, sf256, sf320, sf512, sf640, sf1024, sf1280}

OPTIONAL - Need R smtc3list-r16 SSB-MTC3List-r16 OPTIONAL, - Need R rmtc-Config-r16 SetupRelease {RMTC-Config-r16} OPTIONAL, -- Need t312-r16 SetupRelease { T312-r16 } OPTIONAL - Need M

]]

SSB-MTC3List-r16::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1 ..4)) OF SSB-MTC3-r16

T312-r16 ::= ENUMERATED { msO, ms50, ms100, ms200, ms300, ms400, ms500, rnsl OOO}

ReferenceSignalConfig::= SEQUENCE { ssb-ConfigMobility SSB-ConfigMobility OPTIONAL, -- Need M csi-rs-ResourceConfigMobility SetupRelease { CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility } OPTIONAL

-- Need M

SSB-ConfigMobility::= SEQUENCE { ssb-ToMeasure SetupRelease { SSB-ToMeasure } OPTIONAL, - Need

M deriveSSB-lndexFromCell BOOLEAN, ss-RSSI-Measurement SS-RSSI-Measurement OPTIONAL, - Need

M

[[ ssb-PositionQCL-Common-r16 SSB-PositionQCL-Relation-r16 OPTIONAL, -

Cond SharedSpectrum ssb-PositionQCL-CellsToAddModList-r16 SSB-PositionQCL-CellsToAddModList-r16

OPTIONAL, - Need N ssb-PositionQCL-CellsToRemoveList-r16 PCI-List OPTIONAL - Need

N

Q-OffsetRangeList ::= SEQUENCE { rsrpOffsetSSB Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO, rsrqOffsetSSB Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO, sinrOffsetSSB Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO, rsrpOffsetCSI-RS Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO, rsrqOffsetCSI-RS Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO, sinrOffsetCSI-RS Q-OffsetRange DEFAULT dBO

ThresholdNR ::= SEQUENCE{ thresholdRSRP RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, - Need R thresholdRSRQ RSRQ-Range OPTIONAL, - Need R thresholdSINR SINR-Range OPTIONAL - Need R

CellsToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ..maxNrofCellMeas)) OF CellsToAddMod

CellsToAddMod ::= SEQUENCE { physCellld PhysCellld, cellindividualoffset Q-OffsetRangeList

RMTC-Config-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { rmtc-Periodicity-r16 ENUMERATED {ms40, ms80, ms160, ms320, ms640}, rmtc-SubframeOffset-r16 INTEGER(0..639) OPTIONAL, - Need M measDurationSymbols-r16 ENUMERATED {sym1 , sym14or12, sym28or24, sym42or36, sym70or60}, rmtc-Frequency-r16 ARFCN-ValueNR, ref-SCS-CP-r16 ENUMERATED {kHz15, kHz30, kHz60-NCP, kHz60-ECP},

}

SSB-PositionQCL-CellsToAddModList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1.. maxNrofCellMeas)) OF SSB-

PositionQCL-CellsToAddMod-r16

SSB-PositionQCL-CellsToAddMod-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { physCellld-r16 PhysCellld, ssb-PositionQCL-r16 SSB-PositionQCL-Relation-r16 - TAG-MEASOBJECTNR-STOP

- ASN1 STOP

In addition, the wireless device may be configured with a report configuration, configuring when and what measurements the wireless device shall report to the network. For this, there are a number of events defined that can be configured, that will trigger the wireless device to send a measurement report to the network:

Event A1 : Serving becomes better than absolute threshold;

Event A2: Serving becomes worse than absolute threshold;

Event A3: Neighbour becomes amount of offset better than primary cell (Pcell) and/or primary secondary cell (PSCell);

Event A4: Neighbour becomes better than absolute threshold;

Event A5: PCell/PSCell becomes worse than absolute threshold 1 AND Neighbour/secondary cell (Scell) becomes better than another absolute threshold2;

Event A6: Neighbour becomes amount of offset better than SCell;

CondEvent A3: Conditional reconfiguration candidate becomes amount of offset better than PCell/PSCell;

CondEvent A5: PCell/PSCell becomes worse than absolute thresholdl AND Conditional reconfiguration candidate becomes better than another absolute threshold2;

For event 11 , measurement reporting event is based on cross link interface (CLI) measurement results, which can either be derived based on sounding reference signal (SRS)-reference signal received power (RSRP) or CLI- Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI).

Event 11 : Interference becomes higher than absolute threshold.

ReportConfigNR information element

- ASN1 START

- TAG-REPORTCONFIGNR-START

ReportConfigNR ::= SEQUENCE { reportType CHOICE { periodical PeriodicalReportConfig, eventTriggered EventTriggerConfig, reportCGI ReportCGI, reportSFTD ReportSFTD-NR, condT riggerConfig-r16 CondTriggerConfig-r16, cli-Periodical-r16 CLI-PeriodicalReportConfig-r16, cli-EventT riggered-r16 CLI-EventT riggerConfig-r16

ReportCGI SEQUENCE { cellForWhichToReportCGI PhysCellld, useAutonomousGaps-r16 ENUMERATED {setup} OPTIONAL -- Need R

ReportSFTD-NR ::= SEQUENCE { reportSFTD-Meas BOOLEAN, reportRSRP BOOLEAN,

[[ reportSFTD-NeighMeas ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, - Need R drx-SFTD-NeighMeas ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, - Need R cellsForWhichToReportSFTD SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ..maxCellSFTD)) OF PhysCellld OPTIONAL -

Need R

CondTriggerConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { condEventld CHOICE { condEventA3 SEQUENCE { a3-Offset MeasT riggerQuantityOffset, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger }, condEventA5 SEQUENCE { a5-Threshold1 MeasT riggerQuantity , a5-Threshold2 MeasT riggerQuantity, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger },

}, rsType-r16 NR-RS-Type, }

EventTriggerConfig::= SEQUENCE { eventld CHOICE { eventAI SEQUENCE { a1-Threshold MeasT riggerQuantity , reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger }, eventA2 SEQUENCE { a2-Threshold MeasT riggerQuantity, reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger }, eventA3 SEQUENCE { a3-Offset MeasT riggerQuantityOffset, reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger, useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN

}, eventA4 SEQUENCE { a4-Threshold MeasT riggerQuantity, reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger, useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN

}, eventA5 SEQUENCE { a5-Threshold1 MeasT riggerQuantity, a5-Threshold2 MeasT riggerQuantity, reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger, useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN }, eventA6 SEQUENCE { a6-Offset MeasT riggerQuantityOffset, reportOnLeave BOOLEAN, hysteresis Hysteresis, timeToTrigger TimeToTrigger, useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN rsType NR-RS-Type, reportinterval Reportinterval, reportAmount ENUMERATED {r1 , r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity}, reportQuantityCell MeasReportQuantity, maxReportCells INTEGER (1..maxCellReport), reportQuantityRS-lndexes MeasReportQuantity OPTIONAL, --

Need R maxN rofRS- 1 nd exesT o Re po rt INTEGER (1 ..maxNroflndexesToReport)

OPTIONAL, - Need R includeBeamMeasurements BOOLEAN, reportAddNeighMeas ENUMERATED {setup} OPTIONAL, -

Need R

[[ measRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 MeasRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 OPTIONAL,

-- Need R useT312-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, - Need M includeCommonLocationlnfo-r16 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -

- Need R includeBT-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {BT-NameList-r16} OPTIONAL, -

Need M includeWLAN-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {WLAN-NameList-r16}

OPTIONAL, - Need M includeSensor-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {Sensor-NameList-r16} OPTIONAL

-- Need M

]]

}

PeriodicalReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { rsType NR-RS-Type, reportinterval Reportinterval, reportAmount ENUMERATED {r1 , r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity}, reportQuantityCell MeasReportQuantity, maxReportCells INTEGER (1..maxCellReport), reportQuantityRS-lndexes MeasReportQuantity OPTIONAL, --

Need R maxN rofRS- 1 nd exesT o Re po rt INTEGER (1 ..maxNroflndexesToReport)

OPTIONAL, - Need R includeBeamMeasurements BOOLEAN, useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN,

[[ measRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 MeasRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 OPTIONAL,

-- Need R includeCommonLocationlnfo-r16 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -

- Need R includeBT-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {BT-NameList-r16} OPTIONAL, -

Need M includeWLAN-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {WLAN-NameList-r16}

OPTIONAL, - Need M includeSensor-Meas-r16 SetupRelease {Sensor-NameList-r16} OPTIONAL,

-- Need M ul-DelayValueConfig-r16 SetupRelease { UL-DelayValueConfig-r16 }

OPTIONAL, - Need M reportAddNeighMeas-r16 ENUMERATED {setup} OPTIONAL -

Need R

]]

}

NR-RS-Type ::= ENUMERATED {ssb, csi-rs}

MeasTriggerQuantity ::= CHOICE { rsrp RSRP-Range, rsrq RSRQ-Range, sinr SINR-Range

}

MeasT riggerQuantityOffset CHOICE { rsrp INTEGER (-30..30), rsrq INTEGER (-30..30), sinr INTEGER (-30..30)

MeasReportQuantity ::= SEQUENCE { rsrp BOOLEAN, rsrq BOOLEAN, sinr BOOLEAN

}

MeasRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { channelOccupancyThreshold-r16 RSSI-Range-r16 OPTIONAL - Need R

CLI-EventTriggerConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { eventld-r16 CHOICE { eventl1-r16 SEQUENCE { H-Threshold-r16 MeasT riggerQuantityCLI-r16, reportOnLeave-r16 BOOLEAN, hysteresis- r16 Hysteresis, timeToTrigger-r16 TimeToTrigger },

}, reportlnterval-r16 Reportinterval, reportAmount-r16 ENUMERATED {r1 , r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity}, maxReportCLI-r16 INTEGER (1..maxCLI-Report-r16),

CLI-PeriodicalReportConfig-r16 SEQUENCE { reportlnterval-r16 Reportinterval, reportAmount-r16 ENUMERATED {r1 , r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity}, reportQuantityCLI-r16 MeasReportQuantityCLI-r16, maxReportCLI-r16 INTEGER (1..maxCLI-Report-r16),

MeasTriggerQuantityCLI-r16 ::= CHOICE { srs-RSRP-r16 SRS-RSRP-Range-r16, cli-RSSI-r16 CLI-RSSI-Range-r16

MeasReportQuantityCLI-r16 ::= ENUMERATED {srs-rsrp, cli-rssi}

- TAG-REPORTCONFIGNR-STOP

- ASN1 STOP

Thus, the wireless device will continuously measure on it’s serving cell, and it may measure on neighbouring cells, on the same or different frequency and/or same or different radio access technology (RAT), e.g. depending on how good the signal quality is of the serving cell. If the wireless device measures on a neighbouring cell and determines the measurement fulfills one of the configured reporting events, e.g., neighbour cell is threshold better than serving, the wireless device will send a measurement report to the network comprising e.g., RSRP, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) and/or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) for the serving and neighbouring cells.

Since the network configured the wireless device to only report measurements if the reporting condition is fulfilled, the network will typically handover the wireless device to the cell with the best signal quality according to the measurement reports.

In the next generation mobile network, also known as the sixth generation (6G), it is envisioned that the network will provide computational capabilities to all nodes and devices which needs it in a so-called Network Compute Fabric.

Apart from connectivity and communication, the network will offer computation and storage of data and information in a flexible manner so that devices and network nodes can offload computations of services, applications, functions, or tasks to another node and receive the computational output. The output could be for instance a data set or an instruction which the device or network node can e.g., forward, display, or act upon.

The benefit of this is that devices and network nodes can be deployed using much simpler processors and memory storages and utilizing the connectivity to the network to access computational resources in the Radio Access Network (RAN), Core Network (CN) or the cloud, see Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows integration of compute and storage capabilities in the edge to support both network and 3rd party applications see for example https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2020/2/distributed-compute- and-storage-technology- trend (accessed 2022-04-07).

In Ericsson White Paper, GFTL-20:001402, November 2020 it is stated that: 6G will bring all physical things into the realm of compute. It will act not only as a connector but also as a controller of physical systems — ranging from simple terminals, complex and performance-sensitive robot control, and augmented reality applications — hosting computing intertwined with communication in a network compute fabric for the highest efficiency.

Service providers can utilize their assets by integrating compute and storage into increasingly virtualized networks to provide applications with maximum performance, reliability, low jitter, and millisecond latencies. The Network Compute Fabric will thus provide tools and services beyond connectivity, such as accelerated compute and data services for customer segments and verticals, including enterprises and industries. Such a system can only be realized via the collaboration of a broad set of actors working in the same federated ecosystem. Network and cloud providers, application developers, service providers, and device and equipment vendors all have a role to play. Much of the interaction between the players will happen in software, where a broker-less marketplace will help the ecosystem to scale, featuring automated contract negotiation and fulfillment supporting sales, delivery, and charging operations. Such an ecosystem can be viewed as a combination of the existing ecosystems around the air interface, the internet, and cloud services.

Applications developed to interact with physical reality need to be highly distributed in order to be close to data sources and data consumers, such as sensors and actuators, in the cases of, for example, radio beamforming, closed-loop control of mission- critical processes, and intelligent aggregation of large amounts of data. This poses several new challenges to computing. New ways of combining, placing, and executing software are needed to meet real-time deadlines even in the face of user mobility or failures. Stringent energy requirements will also have to be met by, for example, exposure and optimal utilization of energy-efficient, specialized computational hardware.

SUMMARY

As part of developing embodiments herein one or more problems have been identified. Wireless devices running, or is intending to run, a function, an application, a program, or a service will always require moderate or significant amount of computation. As long as the application is easy to run, e.g., with low computational complexity, the wireless device can handle this by itself. However, if the wireless device needs to perform very demanding applications, e.g., applications such as extended reality (XR), advanced machine learning (ML) and/or artificial intelligence (Al) evaluations, sensing applications, localization applications, gaming applications etc., the wireless device may experience problems with the wireless device computing processes. For example, computations on the wireless device may take too long time or consume too much energy for the application to operate satisfactorily. For instance, the computation may introduce too large latencies or drain the battery too much to satisfy a quality-of-experience (QoE) criterion.

If the network offers computational offloading to the wireless device, the wireless device can transmit the input parameters for the computation to the network and receive the output results.

However, the wireless device may be connected to a network node which provides quite long end-to-end (E2E) latencies, even if the throughput is acceptable. For instance, in case the wireless device is connected via an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)- node, i.e., the network node the wireless device is connected to, is itself connected wirelessly to another network node, the computational offloading resources may be located in the wired network which would require one or more hops between IAB nodes, where each hop would add to the latency.

Alternatively, if the wireless device is connected via non-terrestrial networks, which also may require multiple hops between Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) nodes, the delays may be very large during the handling of a service at the wireless device.

An object herein is to provide a mechanism to enable communication and handling services at the wireless device in an efficient manner in a wireless communications network. If, for example, the wireless device is within coverage of another cell, with a different network path towards the computational resources, it could be beneficial for the wireless device to handover to that cell, even if the signal quality may be slightly worse.

According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a wireless device for handling a handover process in a wireless communications network. The wireless device triggers a process associated with a handover of the wireless device from a first radio network node to a second network node based on radio signal quality or strength, and an obtained indication of computational capability associated with one or more cells and/or the wireless device in the wireless communications network.

According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a first radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communications network. The first radio network node obtains a computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network. The first radio network node further provides to a wireless device and/or another network node, an indication of the obtained computational capability, wherein the indication is associated with a handover process of the wireless device.

According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a second network node for handling communication in a wireless communications network. The second network node receives a request for computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network; and determines the computational capability associated with the one or more cells. The second network node then transmits a response to said request based on the determination. It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method above, as performed by the first radio network node, the second network node, and the wireless device, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method above, as performed by the first radio network node, the second network node, and the wireless device, respectively.

According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a wireless device for handling a handover process in a wireless communications network. The wireless device is configured to trigger a process associated with a handover of the wireless device from a first radio network node to a second network node based on radio signal quality or strength, and an obtained indication of computational capability associated with one or more cells and/or the wireless device in the wireless communications network.

According to still another aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a first radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communications network. The first radio network node is configured to obtain a computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network. The first radio network node is further configured to provide to a wireless device and/or another network node, an indication of the obtained computational capability, wherein the indication is associated with a handover process of the wireless device.

According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a second network node for handling communication in a wireless communications network- The second network node receives a request for computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network; and determines the computational capability associated with the one or more cells. The second network node then transmits a response to said request based on the determination.

Embodiments herein relate to, e.g., methods for a first radio network node to redirect a wireless device to another network node based on the computational needs of the wireless device. The first radio network node may establish that the wireless device should offload one or more computations to the network, e.g., because the wireless device has requested it, or the first radio network node has determined this based on information from the wireless device’s context or from information for another network node, e.g., based on application layer data. According to embodiments herein a handover criterion may be modified to not only consider the signal quality or signal strength, but also consider computational capability of the serving and/or neighboring cell. This is achieved by introducing an indication such as an offset to the signal quality or signal strength comparisons between cells. This offset is related to computational capability of cells and may either be calculated by a network node, which has knowledge of the computational resources and is signaled to the wireless device, or the offset may be calculated by the wireless device if the first radio network node informs the wireless device of the availability and quality of computational resources in different cells.

Thus, embodiments herein enable a communication, e.g., handle or manage services at the wireless device, in an efficient manner in a wireless communications network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic overview depicting integration of compute and storage capabilities in the edge to support both network and 3rd party applications according to prior art;

Fig. 2 shows a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 3 shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 4 shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a wireless device according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 6 shows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a first network node according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 7 shows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a second network node according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 8 shows a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 9 shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to embodiments herein; Figs. 10a-10b are schematic overviews depicting embodiments of a wireless device according to embodiments herein;

Figs. 11a-11b are schematic overviews depicting embodiments of a first radio network node according to embodiments herein;

Figs. 12a-12b are schematic overviews depicting embodiments of a second network node according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 13 schematically illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer;

Fig. 14 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection; and Figs. 15-18 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments herein relate to wireless communications networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 1. The wireless communications network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communications network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).

In the wireless communications network 1, a wireless device 10 such as a mobile station, a UE, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, and/or a wireless terminal, is comprised communicating via, e.g., one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g., RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “wireless device” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, Internet of things (loT) capable device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node.

The wireless communications network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a wireless device 10 within the area served by the first radio network node 12 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node 12 may be referred to as a serving radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving radio network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device 10 and UL transmissions from the wireless device 10. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

The wireless communications network 1 may further comprise one or more second network nodes 13 such as a second radio network node 14 and/or a control or computing network node 15. Thus, the second network node 13 may be a radio network node providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a second service area 16 or second cell, of a second radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, or similar. The second radio network node 14 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a wireless device within the area served by the radio network node depending e.g. on the second radio access technology and terminology used. The second radio network node 14 may be referred to as a candidate or target radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a candidate, target or neighbouring cell, and the candidate network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device and UL transmissions from the wireless device. The second network node 13 may alternatively or additionally be the control or computing network node 15 providing a controlling role of keeping track of potential computational resources in the wireless communications network 1. Thus, the second network node 13 may be a radio network node comprising computational resources and/or any network node managing and/or providing computational resources.

Embodiments herein disclose a system with a network compute fabric, where the wireless device 10 may want to offload computations of a task of a service at the wireless device 10 to the wireless communications network 1 . However, it may not be the best option to offload via the radio network node which it is currently connected to, such as the first radio network node 12. If a neighboring node, such as the second network node 13, is more suited, e.g., it has more available computational resource, or lower latencies to the computational cloud server, the wireless device 10 may firstly be handover to the second network node 13 before it starts offloading computations.

Thus, a handover criterion may be modified to not only consider the signal quality, but also consider computational capability of the serving cell and/or the neighboring cell. This is achieved by introducing an indication of computational capability associated with one or more cells such as an offset to the signal quality or signal strength comparisons between cells. The triggering of the handover may also consider requirement for offloading computational capacity in the wireless device 10, i.e., the wireless device 10 doesn’t have to care about computational capabilities unless it needs to offload computations. Thus, the indication may also indicate computational capability associated with the wireless device 10.

When the indication comprises the offset, this offset may either be calculated by the network, which has knowledge of the computational resources and may be signaled to the wireless device 10, or the offset may be calculated by the wireless device 10 if the first radio network node 12 informs the wireless device 10 of the availability and quantity of computational resources in different cells.

If the wireless device 10 calculates the offset, the wireless device 10 may also consider its current need or computational offloading and may adjust the computational- related offset accordingly.

An advantage is that embodiments herein enable network and/or wireless devices to flexibly determine how important it is to offload computations to the network, making trade-offs between latency, power consumption and throughput, depending on the capabilities of the network or network nodes.

For instance, if the wireless device 10 is connected via an I AB node, which in itself may be connected via another IAB node in a multi-hop setup, the IAB nodes may be simple nodes unable to provide computational resources, and every hop between the IAB nodes may add delay to the communication and/or service. If the wireless device 10 is within coverage of another node, which is not an I AB node, it could benefit from handover to that other node to offload computations, even if the signal quality is slightly worse than the serving cell.

Fig. 3 shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

Action 301. The first radio network node 12 may request information from the second network node 13 regarding a computational capability of the second network node 13. Computational capability meaning e.g., computational latency, memory capabilities such as speed and/or size of a memory system, etc.

Action 302. The first radio network node 12 may then receive a response from the second network node 13 regarding the computational capability of the second network node 13.

Action 303. The first radio network node 12 may determine an offset of a signal strength or quality based on the obtained computational capability. The offset of the signal strength or quality may, e.g., indicate a difference in signal strength or quality of a cell associated with the first radio network node 12 and a cell associated with the second network node 13.

Action 304. The first radio network node 12 may transmit the indication, being the offset, of the obtained computational capability. Thus, the indication is associated with a handover process of the wireless device 10.

Action 305. The wireless device 10 may then measure on signals of different radio network nodes and select to report an event based on the measurement and the received offset.

Action 306. The wireless device 10 may then report one or more measurements taking the offset into account. For example, the wireless device 10 may report when a signal strength difference of the cells is above a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on the offset, wherein the offset is also taking the computational capability into account.

Action 307. The first radio network node 12 may then initiate a handover (HO) process, requesting to handover the wireless device 10 to the second network node 13.

Action 308. The second network node 13 may confirm the HO.

Action 309. The first radio network node 12 may send to the wireless device a HO complete message.

Action 310. The wireless device 10 may then offload one or more computations of a task of a service at the wireless device 10, to the second network node 13. Fig. 4 shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

Action 401. The first radio network node 12 may request information from the second network node 13 regarding the computational capability of the second network node 13.

Action 402. The first radio network node 12 may then receive a response from the second network node 13 regarding the computational capability of the second network node 13.

Action 403. The first radio network node 12 may inform the wireless device 10 of the obtained computational capability, by transmitting the indication to the wireless device, wherein the indication comprises, or be related to, one or more values related to computational capability such as latency, available computational memory, signal strength, signal quality, and/or processor power of one or more cells.

Action 404. The wireless device 10 may determine a need to offload one or more computations to the wireless communications network.

Action 405. The wireless device 10 may determine the offset of the signal strength or quality based on the obtained indication as in action 403. Thus, the one or more values may be used to determine the offset and are associated with a handover process of the wireless device 10.

Action 406. The wireless device 10 may then select cell based on measured signals of different radio network nodes and the determined offset.

Action 407. The wireless device 10 may then report one or more measurements taking the offset into account since the wireless device 10 may report when a signal strength difference of the cells is above a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on the offset, wherein the offset is also taking the computational capability into account.

Action 408. The first radio network node 12 may then initiate a HO process, requesting to handover the wireless device 10 to the second network node 13.

Action 409. The second network node 13 may confirm the HO.

Action 410. The first radio network node 12 may send to the wireless device 10 a HO complete message.

Action 411. The wireless device 10 may then offload one or more computations of a task of a service at the wireless device 10, to the second network node 13. The method actions performed by the wireless device 10 for handling a handover process in the wireless communications network 1 according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 5. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

Action 501. The wireless device may obtain the indication of computational capability associated with one or more cells and/or the wireless device 10 in the wireless communications network 1. The obtained indication may comprise, or be related to, one or more values related to a latency, available computational memory, signal strength, signal quality, and/or processor power of the one or more cells. Thus, the obtained indication may comprise the offset, or one or more values to determine the offset.

Action 502. The wireless device 10 may determine the offset taking the obtained indication into account and using the determined offset for triggering the process in action 504. For example, the wireless device 10 may receive the offset or the indication of the offset from the first radio network node 12. Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless device 10 may calculate the offset based on the obtained indication. Thus, the wireless device 10 may receive the offset from the network, or calculate the offset based on network (NW) computational capabilities. For example, computational capabilities may be mapped to different offset values, and this mapping may be signalled by the first radio network node 12, or be standardized. Thus, the smaller offset for reporting measurement may be used for cells with high computational capability, and a larger offset may be used for cells with low computational capability. High and low computational capability may be defined relative a pre-set threshold.

Action 503. The wireless device 10 may establish that the wireless device 10 should offload one or more computations of a service of a task at the wireless device 10, to the wireless communications network 1. For example, the wireless device 10 may inform the first radio network node 12 of the wireless device’s capability to offload computations, e.g., transmit capability information to the first radio network node 12. The wireless device 10 may further receive information from the first radio network node 12 of a possibility to offload one or more computations, and determine that a service such as a function, a process, an application, or a program, would benefit from offloading one or more of its computations to the wireless communications network in terms of, e.g., computation time, energy consumption, and/or memory required. To determine that the service would benefit from offloading, the wireless device 10 may determine that the current computational load or performance parameter, such as time to execute, at the wireless device 10 is above a threshold, and/or establish that according to a policy, e.g., standardized, configured, hardwired, one or more computations of a specific service always should be offloaded to the wireless communications network 1.

Action 504. The wireless device 10 triggers a process associated with a HO of the wireless device 10 from the first radio network node 12 to the second network node 13 based on radio signal quality or strength, and the obtained indication of computational capability associated with one or more cells and/or the wireless device 10 in the wireless communications network. For example, the wireless device 10 may trigger the process by reporting a measurement of a cell taking the radio signal quality or strength, and the obtained indication into account. The wireless device 10 may measure radio signal quality or strength on one cell and take the computational capability of the same or a different cell into account. The obtained indication may comprise the offset based on the computational capability associated with the one or more cells. Thus, the wireless device 10 may establish or determine that the first radio network node is not best suited for computational offloading and may trigger a handover to the second network node 13. For example, the wireless device 10 may transmit a message to the first radio network node 12 comprising information about the wireless device requirement for offloaded computations; and may further receive a message from the first radio network node 12, e.g., dedicated message from the first radio network node 12 or a broadcasted message from the first radio network node or the second network node 13 comprising information related to computational offloading to the second network node 13, being an example of the indication. The information related to computational offloading may comprise the offset such as a quality offset (q-offset) that may be applied to different cells related to the capability of the cell to provide computational offloading. Additionally, or alternatively, the information related to computational offloading may comprise computational offload parameters of neighbouring cells and/or network nodes, e.g., round-trip-time latency, computational capacity, and/or memory capacity. The wireless device 10 may then initiate handover to the second network node 13. For example, the wireless device 10 may determine, such as calculate, the offset based on received computational offload parameters of neighbouring cells and the wireless device’s current need for computational offloading. The wireless device 10 may then perform one or more measurements and apply the calculated or received offset related to computational offloading to the measurement results and report them to the first radio network node 12. Following that the wireless device 10 may receive a message from the first radio network node 12, configuring the wireless device 10 to handover to the second network node 13. Action 505. The wireless device 10 may, once handover to the second network node 13, offload the one or more computations of the task of the service at the wireless device 10, to the second network node 13.

Thus, embodiments herein may relate to a method performed by the wireless devices 10 connected to the first radio network node 12 to be handover to the second network node 13 based on one or more requirements for offloading computational resources from the wireless device 10.

The method actions performed by the first radio network node 12 for handling communication in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 6. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features.

Action 601. The first radio network node 12 obtains a computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network 1. For example, the first radio network node 12 may request information from one or more second network nodes 13 regarding computational capabilities of respective second network node, e.g., computational latency, memory capabilities, etc. The first radio network node 12 may then receive response information from the one or more second network nodes 13 regarding the computational capabilities of respective second network node 13.

Action 602. The first radio network node 12 may select the second network node 13, for example, out of the one or more second network nodes, to provide one or more computational resources for the wireless device 10 to handle the task related to the service at the wireless device 10. For example, the first radio network node 12 may comprise information regarding a number of second network nodes and information regarding computational capability of respective second network node. Thus, the computational capability for more than one cells and/or second network node may be obtained and analysed to select the second network node 13.

Action 603. The first radio network node 12 may determine the offset of signal strength or quality based on the obtained computational capability associated with the one or more cells. For example, the first radio network node 12 may determine the offset of the signal strength or quality based on one or more of: computations required; storage required; maximum computational delay; size of computational input data; and expected size of computational output data. Thus, a default offset may be used as an offset for signal strength or quality differences to trigger a measurement report, and the offset may be changed due to the computational capabilities of the different cells. In this way cells with a higher computational capability may be prioritized in a handover process.

Action 604. The first radio network node 12 provides to the wireless device 10 and/or another network node such as the second network node 13, the indication of the obtained computational capability, wherein the indication is associated with a handover process of the wireless device 10. The indication may be the offset of signal strength or signal quality, a priority between cells, and/or comprise, or be related to, one or more values related to a latency, available computational memory, signal strength, signal quality, and/or processor power of the one or more cells. Thus, the indication may be related to the offset based on the computational capability associated with the one or more cells, such as the offset, or one or more values to be used to calculate the offset. The first radio network node 12 may provide the indication to the wireless device 10 and/or the other network node, by transmitting the offset to the wireless device and/or the other network node. Alternatively, or additionally, the first radio network node 12 may provide the indication by transmitting, to the wireless device 10 and/or the other network node, a priority indication of the selected second network node 13, indicating a priority of the one or more cells of the selected second network node 13 relative one or more cells of the first radio network node 12. Thus, the indication may indicate priority relative different cells and/or network nodes, and the first radio network node 12 may determine how the wireless device 10 shall prioritize access to different cells and/or different network nodes based on an offset for the link quality. The first radio network node 12 may further instruct the wireless device 10 of the priorities of accessing different cells and/or different network nodes. Alternatively, the first radio network node 12 may provide the wireless device 10 with information regarding computational resources of different one or more network nodes in order for the wireless device to determine the prioritization of access to different cells and/or different network nodes. For example, the first radio network node 12 may transmit a message to the wireless device 10, providing one or more methods to calculate the offset of neighboring cells; and/or transmit a message to the wireless device 10 comprising information of available computational resources.

As an example of embodiments herein, the first radio network node 12 may reconfigure the wireless device 10 connected to the first radio network node 12, wherein the wireless devices 10 requires computational resources which the first radio network node 12 cannot provide. The first radio network node 12 may determine which second network node shall provide computational resources to the wireless device 10, and may reconfigure the wireless device 10 to prioritize access to the second network node based on characteristics of available computational resources and link qualities to the respective network node such as the first radio network node and the second network node.

Action 605. The first radio network node 12 may obtain an indication of a need to offload one or more computational resources for the wireless device 10 to handle the task related to the service at the wireless device 10.

Action 606. The first radio network node 12 may initiate the handover process from the first radio network node 12 to the second network node 13 based on a radio signal quality or strength at the wireless device 10, and the obtained indication of the need to offload one or more computational resources, and/or the indication of the computational capability associated with the one or more cells. The first radio network node 12 may, for example, receive one or more measurement reports and initiate the handover process.

The method actions performed by the second network node 13, such as the second radio network node 14 or a control network node 15, for handling communication in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 7.

Action 701. The second network node 13 receives a request for computational capability associated with one or more cells in the wireless communications network 1. For example, the second network node 13 may receive from the first radio network node 12 a request asking for an indication of computational capability of one or more cells served by the second network node 13.

Action 702. The second network node 13 determines the computational capability associated with the one or more cells.

Action 703. The second network node 13 furthermore transmits a response to said request based on the determination. Thus, the second network node 13 may respond with computational capability of its own or another network node controlled and/or served by the second network node 13.

The handover criterion may be modified to not only consider the signal quality or signal strength, but also consider computational quality of the serving and neighboring cell. This is achieved by introducing the offset to the radio signal quality or strength comparisons between cells. This offset may either be calculated by the network, e.g., source node in Fig. 8, which has knowledge of the computational resources and is signaled to the wireless device 10, or the offset may be calculated by the wireless device 10 if the network informs the wireless device 10 of the availability and quality of computational resources in different cells.

Embodiments herein also relate to determine which network node is best suited for the wireless device 10 to be connected to for computational offloading.

As said above, the wireless device 10 may be connected to a network node which provides quite long E2E latencies, even if the throughput is acceptable. For example, the wireless device 10 may be connected to:

• An IAB node, which in turn may be connected to several IAB donors and one IAB parent, and where each IAB hop causes an extra delay;

• A cell with high load, which causes rather substantial scheduling delays, e.g., in the order of 10 ms, but the wireless device 10 still has relatively good link quality to said cell;

• NTN nodes, which may require multiple hops between NTN nodes and the signal need to traverse long distances until they reach a ground station and the core networks and internet.

Another aspect is the available computational resources which may be available for the wireless device 10. Different network nodes, e.g., RAN nodes, may have different computational resources available.

This poses a question, how does the serving cell, i.e. , first radio network node 12, decide which cell and/or network node is most suitable for the wireless device 10, fulfilling both the link quality of the connection and the computational requirements of the wireless device 10?

For determining computing latency in the wireless communication network 1, each network node, for example, RAN node, may estimate an average computing latency for wireless device’s connection to computational resources via respective network node. This average computing latency may be stored in the network node and updated on regular basis, e.g., every minute or so, since some cells may have varying load which may cause extra latency. This average computing latency may be shared with other network nodes, and/or the wireless device 10 when the wireless device 10 is requesting computing offload. This is depicted in Fig. 9, actions 901 and 902.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic flowchart depicting some embodiments herein. The wireless device 10 may determine it needs to offload computations, see action 903, and may send a “computational offload request” including required resources, e.g., central processing unit (CPU) capacity, storage, etc., and a maximum delay the wireless device 10 may tolerate to a serving RAN node 12’, see action 904. The serving RAN node 12’, which is an example of the first radio network node 12, may check if the stored latency, the average computing latency for the wireless device’s connection to computational resources, may fulfill the requested maximum delay from the wireless device 10, see action 905. If the serving RAN node 12’ determines that it cannot fulfill the request, the serving RAN node 12’ may send the computational offload request to adjacent network nodes, i.e., second network node 13 in action 906.

If the second network node 13 determines, see action 907, that the second network node 13 may fulfill the delay, by checking its stored computing latency, and resource requirement, the second network node 13 may send an “computational offload ack” to the serving RAN node 12’, see action 908.

Note that the serving RAN node 12’ may request this information from several different second network nodes. These second network nodes are probably adjacent to the serving RAN node 12’, and the wireless device 10, and may be potential target cells for the wireless device 10. The serving RAN node 12’ may then make a “computational prioritization” between the network nodes it received computational offload acknowledgment (ack) from, see action 909. This may be done by using the indications exemplified as the offset, e.g., changing a “q-value” or a quality offset (q-offset) when the wireless device 10 performs measurements of neighboring cells for handover. The q- offset, being an example of the offset mentioned above, is an offset added to the measurements on the neighboring cells, for example on the RSRP or the RSRQ. Thus, the q-offset, i.e., the offset, is an offset weighted with a metric for one or more computational capabilities. The q-offset may be comprised in a RRCreconfiguration message to the wireless device 10, see action 910. The wireless device 10 may perform measurements, see action 911, and take the q-offset into account when reporting the measurements, see action 912.

In some embodiments herein the offset denoted as q-offset may be used to steer the wireless device 10 to RAN nodes, and may in this way fulfill a computational offload request. When the wireless device 10 makes a handover to a new RAN node, see action 913, the wireless device 10 may again send its computational offload request to the new cell, see action 914, which may be determined and responded positively, see actions 915- 916. If the response is positive, the wireless device 10 then sends the parameters and the code to the computational resources of the new RAN node, see action 917. The second network node 13 may further perform the computations, see action 918, and send computational output back to the wireless device 10, see action 919. Using the q-offset the wireless device 10 may both maintain a good link quality and offload the computational resources to the network.

The wireless device 10 may include the computational offload request included required resources, such as CPU, storage, etc., and the maximum delay the wireless device 10 may tolerate. It can also include the application bitrate needs. This may for example be the size of computational output data but may also be the total minimum bitrate the wireless device 10 need during the compute offload.

For example, if the wireless device 10 wants to offload sensing and localization needs, the bitrate needs may be relatively small since it only needs to be updated with a localization of the wireless device 10, or localization of other objects close to the wireless device 10. In this case, the needed link quality of the wireless device 10 does not need to be very high, just enough to have a connection. In this case, the computational resources are most important and the q-offset or q-offsets for the RAN nodes that fulfill the offload requirements can be set high, for example, above a threshold.

However, if the wireless device 10 wants to offload an XR application compute, it is likely it also needs a very good link quality to support this. In this case, the q-offset for RAN nodes that fulfill the offload requirements may be set lower than the q-offset for application requiring low link quality, for example, below the threshold.

Fig. 9 shows signalling to decide which network node the wireless device 10 shall connect to, fulfilling both the link quality of the connection and the computational requirements of the wireless device 10.

An alternative solution is that the second network node 13 in Fig. 9 is a central node in the (core) network (not the RAN nodes). The second network 13 being the control network node 15 may determine whether the computational offload request can be addressed by computational resources in the network and may respond with an ACK and address to the wireless device 10 if the request can be fulfilled. The second network 13 estimates the latency for the wireless devices connected via a certain cell to the computational resources. This means that the second network 13 may keep track of the computing latencies for many RAN nodes, serving such RAN nodes and cells.

Embodiments herein further show how to determine value of the q-offset.

When the network configures the wireless device 10 to perform measurements, the network can configure the wireless device 10 with cell-specific q-offset, which is used by the wireless device 10 to adjust the relative grading of different cells when deciding to report the measurement results.

For instance, for event A3, e.g., Neighbour becomes offset better than special cell (SpCell), which may be considered as Pcell and/or PSCell, has the following condition when to report measurements:

Inequality A3-1 (Entering condition)

Mn + Ofn + Ocn - Hys > Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off

Inequality A3-2 (Leaving condition)

Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys < Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off

The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

Mn is the measurement result of the neighbouring cell, not taking into account any offsets.

Ofn is the measurement object specific offset of the reference signal of the neighbour cell, i.e. , offsetMO as defined within measObjectNR corresponding to the neighbour cell.

Ocn is the cell specific offset of the neighbour cell, i.e., celllndividualOffset as defined within measObjectNR corresponding to the frequency of the neighbour cell, and set to zero if not configured for the neighbour cell.

Mp is the measurement result of the SpCell, not taking into account any offsets.

Ofp is the measurement object specific offset of the SpCell, i.e. offsetMO as defined within measObjectNR corresponding to the SpCell.

Ocp is the cell specific offset of the SpCell, i.e., celllndividualOffset as defined within measObjectNR corresponding to the SpCell, and is set to zero if not configured for the SpCell.

Hys is the hysteresis parameter for this event, i.e., hysteresis as defined within reportConfig NR for this event.

Off is the offset parameter for this event, i.e., a3-Offset as defined within reportConfig NR for this event.

Mn, Mp are expressed in dBm in case of RSRP, or in dB in case of RSRQ and RS-SINR.

Ofn, Ocn, Ofp, Ocp, Hys, Off are expressed in dB.

For instance, if the SpCell Cell A is configured with a cell specific offset (Ocp) of -1 dB, while Cell B does not have a cell specific offset, the wireless device 10 will report the measurements of cell A starting at measurement results which are 1 dB lower than for cell B.

By linking this to the availability of computational resources, the network can configure the wireless device 10 with a larger negative measurement offset, either a cell specific or a measurement object specific, for cells which support computational offloading than cells which does not.

The network, e.g., any suitable (radio) network node, may adjust the existing q- offset parameter and adjusts it when the wireless device 10 requires computational offloading, and then adjusts it back once there is no longer a need for computational offloading.

A new indication may be introduced such as a new q-offset for computational offloading that may be signalled. If the new indication is introduced, the network can also indicate e.g.: for how long this q-offset should be applied, e.g., an expected time for completing one or more computations of the task.

The wireless device 10 may be configured, either through specifications or dedicated/broadcasted signalling, to only apply the q-offset for computational offloading while the wireless device 10 requires computational offloading. This could be signalled e.g., from the application layer to the access stratum in the wireless device 10.

The wireless device 10 may further be configured with large q-offsets for cells which doesn’t support computational offloading so that the wireless device 10 may only consider these if the serving cell becomes very bad and no other cells are available.

The wireless device 10 may further be configured with a formula for how to calculate the q-offset based on the wireless device’s computation needs, as well as the available network computational resources.

For instance, the network, e.g., any suitable (radio) network node, may signal to the wireless device 10 different levels of information related to computational offloading, e.g.:

Broadcast information whether the cell supports offloading or not Perform dedicated signalling of nearby network nodes/cells supporting offloading, e.g., in response to a wireless device request for computational offloading, or in response to information received from another network node, e.g., a CN server/function. Estimate delay, e.g., round trip time, to computational function, e.g., if the computational resources are not located directly in the node which the UE is connected to.

The network, e.g., any suitable (radio) network node, may adjust the existing cell specific offsets Ocp (SpCell) and Ocn (neighbouring cell).

New computational offsets may be introduced, e.g.:

Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys + Occn < Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off + Occp

Occn is the computational cell specific offset of the neighbour cell, and set to zero if not configured for the neighbour cell.

Occp is the computational cell specific offset of the SpCell, and is set to zero if not configured for the SpCell.

The wireless device 10 may determine priorities of cells for handover based on computational needs. Since the wireless device 10 has updated information about its current and estimated future needs for computational offloading, it is the wireless device 10 that may determine when the wireless device 10 should compromise between connectivity/throughput and computational latency and/or an energy consumption.

However, the wireless device 10 may need to have information about latencies and computational resources for the potential network nodes to make the correct handover decision.

As stated above, for the first radio network node 12 to determine the computing latency, each second network node 13 may estimate the average computing latency for wireless device’s connection to computational resources via said second network node. The average computing latency is stored in the second network node 13 and may be updated on regular basis, e.g., every minute or so, since some cells may have varying load which may cause extra latency.

The latency and other computational resources information may be conveyed to the wireless device 10 by the following solutions:

Broadcast the latency and compute values of serving cell

Respond to the wireless device 10 when the wireless device 10 has sent a computational offload request (dedicated message)

The first radio network node 12 controlling the serving cell may in some embodiments only send the latency and compute values of its own serving cell. If the wireless device 10 can measure on adjacent cells, e.g., measure RSRP etc., the wireless device 10 may also be able to receive the latency and other computational resources on the broadcast signal from respective adjacent cell.

Additionally or alternatively, the first radio network node 12 may send a request to share information between adjacent cells regarding the computational resources over e.g. the Xn interface. The first radio network node 12 may then send a list of latency and other computational resources for its serving cell and adjacent cells.

When the wireless device 10 has received a list of latency and other computational resources for the serving cell and adjacent cells by the network via the first radio network node 12 and/or one or more neighboring cells, the wireless device 10 may calculate a relative prioritization of the connectivity to the cells.

For instance, if both the serving cell A and a neighboring cell B both have a signal quality above a certain threshold so that the cells will still provide acceptable connectivity but cell A would provide computational resources with T 1 delay while cell B would provide computational resources with T2 (T2«T1) delay, the wireless device 10 may connect to cell B even if it is slightly worse than cell A.

There may also be multiple signal thresholds, so that if the wireless device 10 has a very small connectivity need, i.e. , only sends small data packets, but very large requirements on computational latencies, it may be beneficial to handover the wireless device 10 to a cell with much worse signal quality compared to the serving cell if the computational performance increases.

The wireless device 10 may consider the following parameters for selecting calculating the q-offset to candidate cells:

• Capability of network node to forward computations, e.g., broadcast SI capability bit. o Different computational services available in different places, E.g., general purpose computations vs. dedicated XR computations.

• Computational latency

• Available memory for computations

• Throughput requirement of the application(s) of the wireless device 10

The table below gives an example how to calculate the offset. The wireless device 10 may sort the different capabilities in for example highest, medium, lowest and assign an offset depending on the outcome. The total sum from all capabilities is the actual offset for the cell.

Since the wireless device 10 may be aware of its current computational needs, the wireless device 10 may adjust the q-offset dynamically.

For example, if the wireless device 10 has very large needs for computational offloading, the wireless device 10 may adjust the q-offset parameter related to the computational resources, so that the q-offset for the available resources is multiplied with e.g., 3, i.e. , Serving cell - Medium (+3 dB), Cell A - Highest (+ 6 dB), Cell B - Lowest (0 dB)).

When the wireless device 10 no longer has any computational offload need, the wireless device 10 may multiply all the parameters related to the computational offloading with e.g., 0, e.g., processing power, latency, and memory are all (0 dB) regardless of the available computational resources. Once the wireless device 10 again has computational offloading requirements, the wireless device 10 may adjust this factor again.

Since the wireless device 10 may run several different services at the same time, e.g., mapped to different quality of service (QoS) flows, with different requirements for e.g., throughput, latency and computations, the wireless device 10 may be configured with priorities and/or weight functions to determine which service takes precedence.

For example, if:

• QoS-flow 1 has high computational requirements but low throughput requirements,

• QoS-flow 2 has high throughput requirements but low computations requirements

• QoS-flow 3 has moderate throughput requirements and no computations requirements

As an example, the wireless device 10 may have a priority, i.e., only consider e.g., QoS-flow 2 when determining the q-offset, or the wireless device 10 may be configured with weights for each QoS-flow, e.g., QoS-flow 1 has weight 0.5, QoS-flow 2 has weight 0.4, QoS-flow 3 has weight 0.1 , wherein the weights may or may not add up to 1.

The q-offset may then be calculated for each QoS-flow considering the importance of each aspect, e.g., latency, throughput, computational requirements, etc., and multiplied with the weight before being added together.

Figs. 10a-10b show schematic overviews depicting embodiments of the wireless device 10 for handling a handover process in the wireless communications network 1 according to embodiments herein.

The wireless device 10 may comprise processing circuitry 1001 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

The wireless device 10 may comprise an obtaining unit 1002, e.g., a receiver or a transceiver. The wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the obtaining unit 1002 may be configured to obtain the indication. The obtained indication may comprise, or be related to, one or more values related to a latency, available computational memory, signal strength, signal quality, and/or processor power of the one or more cells.

The wireless device 10 may comprise a determining unit 1003. The wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the determining unit 1003 may be configured to determine the offset taking the obtained indication into account and using the determined offset for triggering the process. For example, the wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the determining unit 1003 may be configured to receive the offset or an indication of the offset from the first radio network node 12. Additionally, or alternatively, the wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the determining unit 1003 may be configured to calculate the offset based on the obtained indication.

The wireless device 10 may comprise a triggering unit 1004. The wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the triggering unit 1004 is configured to trigger the process associated with the handover of the wireless device 10 from the first radio network node 12 to the second network node 13 based on the radio signal quality or strength, and the obtained indication of computational capability associated with the one or more cells and/or the wireless device 10 in the wireless communications network 1. The wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the triggering unit 1004 may be configured to trigger the process by reporting a measurement of a cell taking the radio signal quality or strength, and the obtained indication into account. The wireless device 10, the processing circuitry 1001 and/or the triggering unit 1004 may be configured to measure strength on one cell and take the capability of the same or a different cell into account. The indication may comprise the offset based on the computational capability associated with the one or more cells.

The wireless device 10 further comprises a memory 1005. The memory 1005 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, configurations, measurements, thresholds, offsets, data related to nodes, and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the wireless device 10 may comprise a communication interface 1008 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver and/or a transceiver, and/or one or more antennas.

The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the wireless device 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1006, see Fig. 10a, or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the wireless device 10. The computer program product 1006 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1007, see Fig. 10a, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1007, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the wireless device 10. In some embodiments, the computer- readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a wireless device 10 for handling communication in a wireless communications network, wherein the wireless device 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said wireless device 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein, see Fig. 10b.

Figs. 11a-11b show schematic overviews depicting embodiments of the first radio network node 12 such as a radio base station, for handling communication in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 1101 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise an obtaining unit 1102, e.g., a receiver or a transceiver. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the obtaining unit 1102 is configured to obtain the computational capability associated with the one or more cells in the wireless communications network. For example, the first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the obtaining unit 1102 may be configured to request information from one or more second network nodes regarding computational capabilities of respective second network node, e.g., computational latency, memory capabilities, etc. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the obtaining unit 1102 may be configured to receive response information from the one or more second network nodes regarding the computational capabilities of respective second network node.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise a selecting unit 1103. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the selecting unit 1103 may be configured to select the second network node 13, for example, out of one or more second network nodes, to provide one or more computational resources for the wireless device to handle a task related to a service at the wireless device 10. For example, the first radio network node 12 may comprise information regarding a number of second network nodes and information regarding computational capability of respective second network node. Thus, the computational capability for more than one cells and/or second network node may be obtained and analysed.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise a determining unit 1104. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the determining unit 1104 may be configured to determine the offset of signal strength or quality based on the obtained computational capability associated with the one or more cells. For example, the first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the determining unit 1104 may be configured to determine the offset of the signal strength or quality based on one or more of: computations required; storage required; maximum computational delay; size of computational input data; and expected size of computational output data.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise a providing unit 1105, e.g., a transmitter or a transceiver. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the providing unit 1105 is configured to provide to the wireless device 10 and/or another network node such as the second network node 13, the indication of the obtained computational capability, wherein the indication is associated with a handover process of the wireless device 10. The indication may be the offset of signal strength, a priority between cells, and/or comprise, or be related to, one or more values related to a latency, available computational memory, signal strength, signal quality, and/or processor power of the one or more cells. Thus, the indication may be related to the offset based on the computational capability associated with the one or more cells, such as the offset, or one or more values to calculate the offset. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the providing unit 1105 may be configured to provide the indication to the wireless device and/or the other network node, by transmitting the offset to the wireless device and/or the other network node. Alternatively, or additionally, the first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the providing unit 1105 may be configured to provide the indication by transmitting, to the wireless device 10 and/or the other network node, the priority indication of the selected second network node, indicating the priority of the one or more cells of the selected second network node relative the one or more cells of the first radio network node.

The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the obtaining unit 1102 may be configured to obtain the indication of the need to offload one or more computational resources for the wireless device 10 to handle the task related to the service at the wireless device 10.

The first radio network node 12 may comprise an initiating unit 1106. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1101 and/or the initiating unit 1106 may be configured to initiate the handover process from the first radio network node 12 to the second network node 13 based on a radio signal quality or strength at the wireless device 10, and the obtained indication of the need to offload one or more computational resources, and/or the indication of the computational capability associated with the one or more cells.

The first radio network node 12 further comprises a memory 1107. The memory 1107 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, computational capabilities, offsets, identities, signal measurements, thresholds, data related to nodes, and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the first radio network node 12 may comprise a communication interface 1108 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver and/or a transceiver, and/or one or more antennas.

The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first radio network node 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1109, see Fig. 11a, or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first radio network node 12. The computer program product 1109 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1110, see Fig. 11a, e g. a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1110, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first radio network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a first radio network node 12 for handling communication in a wireless communications network, wherein the first radio network node 12 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said first radio network node 12 is operative to perform any of the methods herein, see Fig. 11b.

Figs. 12a-12b show schematic overviews depicting embodiments of the second network node 13 such as a radio base station or a central network node, for handling communication in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein.

The second network node 13 may comprise processing circuitry 1201 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

The second network node 13 may comprise a receiving unit 1202, e.g., a receiver or a transceiver. The second network node 13, the processing circuitry 1201 and/or the receiving unit 1202 is configured to receive the request for computational capability associated with the one or more cells in the wireless communications network.

The second network node 13 may comprise a determining unit 1203. The second network node 13, the processing circuitry 1201 and/or the determining unit 1203 is configured to determine the computational capability associated with the one or more cells.

The second network node 13 may comprise a transmitting unit 1204, e.g., a transmitter or a transceiver. The second network node 13, the processing circuitry 1201 and/or the transmitting unit 1204 is configured to transmit the response to said request based on the determination.

The second network node 13 further comprises a memory 1205. The memory 1205 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, computational capabilities, offsets, identities, signal measurements, thresholds, data related to nodes, and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the second network node 13 may comprise a communication interface 1206 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver and/or a transceiver, and/or one or more antennas.

The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second network node 13 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1207, see Fig. 12a, or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 13. The computer program product 1207 may be stored on a computer- readable storage medium 1208, see Fig. 12a, e.g. a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1208, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 13. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a second network node 13 for handling communication in a wireless communications network, wherein the second network node 13 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said second network node 13 is operative to perform any of the methods herein, see Fig. 12b.

In some embodiments a more general term “network node” or “radio network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, master (M)eNB, secondary (S)eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary cell group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, network controller, radio-network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), etc.

In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are loT capable device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

Embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the wireless device receives and/or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. New Radio (NR), Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or circuits may be implemented using digital logic and/or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and/or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware and/or program or application data. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

Fig. 13 shows a Telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments. With reference to Fig. 13, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 3210, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 3211, such as a radio access network, and core network 3214. Access network 3211 comprises a plurality of base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points being examples of the radio network node 12 above, each defining a corresponding coverage area 3213a, 3213b, 3213c. Each base station 3212a, 3212b, 3212c is connectable to core network 3214 over a wired or wireless connection 3215. A first UE 3291 located in coverage area 3213c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 3212c. A second UE 3292 in coverage area 3213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 3212a. While a plurality of UEs 3291 , 3292 are illustrated in this example being examples of the wireless device 10 above, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 3212.

Telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to host computer 3230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 3230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 3221 and 3222 between telecommunication network 3210 and host computer 3230 may extend directly from core network 3214 to host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 3220. Intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 13 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 3291, 3292 and host computer 3230. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 3250. Host computer 3230 and the connected UEs 3291, 3292 are configured to communicate data and/or signalling via OTT connection 3250, using access network 3211, core network 3214, any intermediate network 3220 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 3250 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 3250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 3212 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 3230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 3291. Similarly, base station 3212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 3291 towards the host computer 3230.

Fig. 14 shows a host computer communicating via a base station and with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Fig 14. In communication system 3300, host computer 3310 comprises hardware 3315 including communication interface 3316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 3300. Host computer 3310 further comprises processing circuitry 3318, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 3318 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 3310 further comprises software 3311, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 3310 and executable by processing circuitry 3318. Software 3311 includes host application 3312. Host application 3312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 3330 connecting via OTT connection 3350 terminating at UE 3330 and host computer 3310. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 3312 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 3350.

Communication system 3300 further includes base station 3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325 enabling it to communicate with host computer 3310 and with UE 3330. Hardware 3325 may include communication interface 3326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 3300, as well as radio interface 3327 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 3370 with UE 3330 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig. 14) served by base station 3320. Communication interface 3326 may be configured to facilitate connection 3360 to host computer 3310. Connection 3360 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig 14) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 3325 of base station 3320 further includes processing circuitry 3328, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 3320 further has software 3321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 3300 further includes UE 3330 already referred to. It’s hardware 3333 may include radio interface 3337 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 3370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 3330 is currently located. Hardware 3333 of UE 3330 further includes processing circuitry 3338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 3330 further comprises software 3331, which is stored in or accessible by UE 3330 and executable by processing circuitry 3338.

Software 3331 includes client application 3332. Client application 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 3330, with the support of host computer 3310. In host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 may communicate with the executing client application 3332 via OTT connection 3350 terminating at UE 3330 and host computer 3310. In providing the service to the user, client application 3332 may receive request data from host application 3312 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 3350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330 illustrated in Fig. 14 may be similar or identical to host computer 3230, one of base stations 3212a, 3212b, 3212c and one of UEs 3291, 3292 of Fig. 13, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig. 14 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. 13.

In Fig. 14, OTT connection 3350 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 3310 and UE 3330 via base station 3320, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE 3330 or from the service provider operating host computer 3310, or both. While OTT connection 3350 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 3370 between UE 3330 and base station 3320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 3330 using OTT connection 3350, in which wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments make it possible for handling or managing handover of UEs in an efficient manner resulting in a reduced delay of packet transmissions and a quick responsiveness. 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 3350 between host computer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in software 3311 and hardware 3315 of host computer 3310 or in software 3331 and hardware 3333 of UE 3330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 3350 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 3311, 3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 3320, and itmay be unknown or imperceptible to base station 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalling facilitating host computer 3310’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 3311 and 3331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

Fig. 15 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig. 13 and Fig. 13. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 15 will be included in this section. In step 3410, the host computer provides user data. In substep 3411 (which may be optional) of step 3410, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 3420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 3430 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 3440 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer. Fig. 16 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 16 will be included in this section. In step 3510 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 3520, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 3530 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Fig. 17 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 17 will be included in this section. In step 3610 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 3620, the UE provides user data. In substep 3621 (which may be optional) of step 3620, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 3611 (which may be optional) of step 3610, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 3630 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 3640 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Fig. 18 show methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 18 will be included in this section. In step 3710 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 3720 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 3730 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate actions, 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 processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (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.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.