COVERAGE CLASS CONFIGURATION

Related Application

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/238,073 filed October 6, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications and more specifically to coverage class update and maintain transmissions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0003] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0004] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state machine for coverage class estimation consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0005] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for coverage class estimation consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0006] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating data values over time for coverage class estimation consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0007] FIG. 5 is block diagram illustrating electronic device circuitry consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0008] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS) device consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a computing system consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Detailed Description

[0010] A detailed description of systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure is provided below. While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to any one embodiment, but instead encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure.

[0011] Techniques, apparatus and methods are disclosed that enable a semi-static adaptive coverage class (CC) update and maintain mechanism to improve the performance and/or efficiency of stationary extended coverage global system for mobile communications (EC- GSM) devices. A period of a coverage class update and maintain mechanism can be dynamically selected based on a determined mobility of a device. For example, a device can be placed in a mobility category of no mobility (stationary), medium mobility or high mobility.

[0012] For EC-GSM and other technologies using coverage classes, a coverage class (CC) reflects a coverage/signal level/signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a mobile station (MS), such as a cellular internet of things (CIoT) device. An MS determines and/or is assigned a coverage class when communicating over a wireless network (such as with a base transceiver station (BTS) or Node Bs (also commonly denoted as evolved Node Bs, enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs)). Configurations, such as repetition number, spreading number, and/or modulation coding scheme, are based on this CC. The coverage class can include a signal level/SNR, quality indicator or other indicator.

[0013] CIoT devices or other MSs can significantly reduce a frequency of CC updates.

Fewer CC updates can translate to less power consumption of the CIoT devices, which can increase battery life. Fewer CC updates can result in less radio resource consumption, allowing for an increase in cell capacity. For stationary CIoT devices, a long-term CC is used which can provide higher accuracy. This can help to avoid overestimated CC, which can save radio resource use and avoids underestimated CC to save retransmission costs.

[0014] EC-GSM includes support for a Maximum Coupling Loss (MCL) of 164 dB, which is 20dB larger than a legacy general packet radio service (GPRS) solution. Using EC-GSM can reduce a complexity of a device and limit its energy consumption to enable up to ten years' battery lifetime.

[0015] Since most of the CIoT devices are stationary (e.g., gas, water or other smart meters), a CC maintain and update mechanism can be optimized for this special case to improve the system performance and/or efficiency while aiding ultra-low cost and complexity targets of the CIoT devices.

[0016] EC-GSM devices can be classified in two types, stationary and non-stationary. By classifying the EC-GSM devices, the CC update and maintain mechanism can be improved for EC-GSM devices in a stationary scenario.

[0017] EC-GSM devices can include many stationary devices, such as smart meter-like devices. Stationary devices are likely to have a long-term stable wireless propagation condition between BTS and the device, including Building Penetration Loss (BPL). For these stationary usages, a largest eDRX cycle, which can be around 52 minutes in EC-GSM, has a very high probability to be used. This long eDRX cycle allows the EC-GSM devices to use a long-term CC, as it can be more suitable for these stationary EC-GSM devices. In some embodiments, EC-GSM devices do not have a capability to track short-term CC.

[0018] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi. In 3 GPP radio access networks (RANs) in LTE systems, the base station can include Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node Bs (also commonly denoted as evolved Node Bs, enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs) and/or Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) in an E-UTRAN, which communicate with a wireless communication device, known as user equipment (UE).

[0019] A communication system can provide wireless communication services to a UE, MS, CIoT or other mobile wireless device. The system can include a plurality of RANs through which the MS may access IP services or other data services, such as voice services or the Internet. In some embodiments, the system includes a global system for mobile

communications (GSM) enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), a UTRAN, and an E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services through a core network. Each of the RANs operates according to a specific 3 GPP RAT. For example, the GERAN implements GSM and/or EDGE RAT, the UTRAN implements universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) RAT or other 3 GPP RAT, and the E-UTRAN

implements LTE RAT. [0020] Each of the RANs includes one or more base stations or other infrastructure for wirelessly communicating with the UE and providing access to communication services. For example, the E-UTRAN includes one or more e Bs, which are configured to wirelessly communicate with the UE.

[0021] It should be recognized that while EC-GSM is recited in many of the embodiments, other RATs can be used with CC and mobility determinations, including LTE, GSM, etc.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure. To support a mobility classification, extra signaling between the BTS and EC-GSM device can be used to negotiate the mobility states, such as stationary and non- stationary states. FIG. 1 shows an

embodiment of a signaling procedure for downlink (DL) stationary update and maintain. However, other signaling procedures can be used to provide a stationary capability report and mobility state update procedure. In some embodiments, this exchange occurs as a part of or in addition to an eDRX cycle.

[0023] In the embodiment shown, an MS uses the extended coverage random access channel (EC-RACH) to provide 102 a BTS with MS mobility status data regarding the MS mobility status. This data can include a device flag (indicating a stationary or non- stationary setup), mobility state of the MS (including stationary, non-stationary or semi-stationary) and/or an estimated DL CC. The BTS can respond 104 using the extended coverage access grant channel (EC-AGCH) and/or extended coverage packet associated control channel (EC- PACCH) to transmit BTS mobility status data. The BTS mobility status data can include CC update periods for mobility states (including different CC update periods for each of a stationary state, a non- stationary state and a semi-stationary state), a DL CC and/or an uplink (UL) CC. These transmissions can repeat, such as shown in transmission 106) periodically according to the CC update period given by the BTS and selected by the MS. In some embodiments, the device flag is only sent once at a beginning of the cycle.

[0024] For example, a CIoT device can be preconfigured as stationary or non-stationary (e.g., set one stationary flag and report it to the network when the devices camp on). In another example, a mobility is self-determined rather than pre-configured. A state machine can be used to determine a mobility state by using a long-term CC and a short-term CC. In other embodiments a signal level, S R, CRC result, or other quality indicators can be used instead of one or both of long-term CC and short-term CC.

[0025] In one embodiment, stationary EC-GSM devices use the long-term CC for the DL. When the short-term CC shows there is a large CC change in the DL (e.g., exceeding a threshold), the device switches to the short-term CC and creates a new long-term CC while updating the old long-term CC. If the short-term CC aligns with the old long-term CC (e.g., is below a threshold difference), the device discards the new long-term CC and returns back to using the old long-term CC. If the short-term CC deviates from the old long-term CC longer than a pre-defined period of time, the device discards the old long-term CC and uses the new long-term CC in its place. The short-term CC, new long-term CC and old long-term CC (or long-term CC) are stored and maintained in MS. This allows the MS to reduce the report frequency and respond quickly if the short-term CC has a large change (e.g., exceeds a stationary threshold or a semi-stationary threshold). With UL CC, these states can be stored in the BTS. In other embodiments, one or multiple DL CCs can be stored in the BTS.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a state machine 200 for coverage class estimation using a mobility determination. In the figure, CC _S and CC _l are the short-term CC and long-term CC, and K _Q and K ₂ are thresholds. The device states 202, 204 and 206 of an EC-GSM device are classified to three mobility states: non- stationary 206, stationary 202 and semi-stationary 204.

[0027] A non-stationary state 206 is an initial state, including a pre-defined stationary EC- GSM device. As there is no prior knowledge of a CC, the non- stationary state 206 allows creation of a short-term CC and a long-term CC for determining changes in CC over time. Devices in this state use the short-term signal CC (CC _S ) to determine the repetition number and use a high report frequency. When there are enough samples to determine a long-term CC (CCi), the EC-GSM devices can go to a stationary 202 or semi-stationary state 204. When the CC _S does not deviate from the CC _X too much (e.g., less than K _Q ), the device should enter the stationary state 202. In some embodiments, when the CC _S seriously deviates from the CCi ( ^e -g-; greater than K ₂ ), the device should switch to a semi -stationary state 204 and create one new long-term CC {CC _{l new} ).

[0028] A stationary state 202 is used when the EC-GSM device has determined that it is in a stable environment. In this stationary state 202, an EC-GSM device uses the CC _X and uses a very low report frequency to save power and radio resources. When the CC _S does not deviate from the CC too much, the device remains in the stationary state 202. When the CC _S seriously deviates from the CC (e.g., greater than K ₀ ), the device should switch to a semi- stationary state 024 and create one new long-term CC (CC _{l new} ).

[0029] A semi -stationary state 204 is a transient state between the stationary state and 202 non- stationary state 206. In this state, an EC-GSM device uses the CC _S and uses a moderate report frequency. If the CC _{X new} is available (e.g., has filtered enough samples), it can be used to compare with the old long-term CC (CQ).

[0030] If the difference between the new long-term signal CC (CQ _new ) and the old long- term signal CC (CQ) is less than one threshold ||CC _{i new} — CCi \\ < the device should discard the CC _{i new} and keep using the CQ . If the CC _S does not deviate from the C too much (e.g., less than K ₀ ), the device enters the stationary state 202. If the CC _S seriously deviates from the C (e.g., greater than K ₀ , but less than K ₂ ), the device should stay in the semi -stationary state 204 and create CC _{l new} .

[0031] If the CC _{l new} shows a significant difference (e.g., larger than a threshold) from the CC the device should replace C with CC _{i new} and discard the CC _{i new} . If the CC _S does not deviate from the CC _l too much (e.g., less than K _Q ), the device should enter to the stationary state 202. If the CC _S serious deviates from the CC _l (e.g., greater than K _Q , but less than K ₂ ), the device should stay in the semi-stationary state 204 and create CC _{i new} .

[0032] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for coverage class estimation. A state machine uses stationary and non-stationary determination to aid in coverage class estimation. In the figure, CC _S , CC and CC _{i new} are the short-term CC, long-term CC and new long-term CC, and K _Q , K and K ₂ are thresholds. In block 302, the MS is powered on. In block 304, if the stationary detection is not enabled, the MS uses a normal CC update schedule in block 306. If stationary detection is enabled in block 304, then in block 308 a short-term CC and long-term CC are updated and a new long-term CC is updated if it exists. If the new long- term CC is valid in block 310, then the magnitude of the difference between the short-term CC and long-term CC is tested in block 312. If the magnitude of the difference between the short-term CC and the long-term CC is less than K ₀ in block 312, then the state machine enters the stationary state in block 314 and returns to block 308. Otherwise, if the magnitude of the difference between the short-term CC and the long-term CC is more than K ₀ in block 312, a new long-term CC is created in block 328 and the state machine enters into a semi- stationary state in block 326 and returns to block 308.

[0033] If the new long-term CC is valid in block 310, then the short-term CC is compared with the long-term CC in block 316. If the magnitude of difference between the short-term CC and the long-term CC is more than K ₂ , then the state machine enters a non- stationary state in block 318 and returns to block 308. If the magnitude of difference between the short- term CC and the long-term CC is less than K ₂ , then the new long-term CC is compared with the long-term CC in block 320. If the magnitude of the difference between the new long- term CC and the long-term CC is more than K , then the new long-term CC is copied to the long-term CC and the new long-term CC is discarded in block 322. The process then returns to block 308.

[0034] If the magnitude of the difference between the new long-term CC and the long-term CC is less than K _t in block 320, then the short-term CC and the long-term CC are compared in block 324. In block 324, if the magnitude of the difference between the short-term CC and the long-term CC is less than ft^then the state machine enters into a stationary state in block 314 and returns to block 308. However, if the magnitude of the difference between the short- term CC and the long-term CC is more than K ₀ in block 324, then the state machine enters the semi-stationary state in block 326 and returns to block 308.

[0035] In FIG. 4, a diagram 400 shows the EC-GSM device receiveing the paging channel (PCH) 406 each eDRX cycle 402 from power on 404 and resynchronizes to the network, if needed. The EC-GSM device measures the instant signal level and CC, which are fed into two infinite impulse response (IIR) filters 408 and 410. A short-term IIR filter 408 with a relatively larger forgetting factor is used to estimate the short-term signal level/CC. A long- term IIR filter 410 with a relatively smaller forgetting factor is used to estimate the long-term signal level/CC.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating electronic device circuitry 500 that may be eNB circuitry, UE circuitry, network node circuitry, or some other type of circuitry in accordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 500 may be, or may be incorporated into or otherwise a part of, an eNB, a UE, a mobile station (MS), a BTS, a network node, or some other type of electronic device. In embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 500 may include radio transmit circuitry 510 and receive circuitry 512 coupled to control circuitry 514. In embodiments, the transmit circuitry 510 and/or receive circuitry 512 may be elements or modules of transceiver circuitry, as shown. The electronic device circuitry 500 may be coupled with one or more antenna elements 516 of one or more antennas. The electronic device circuitry 500 and/or the components of the electronic device circuitry 500 may be configured to perform operations similar to those described elsewhere in this disclosure.

[0037] In embodiments where the electronic device circuitry 500 is or is incorporated into or otherwise part of an MS, the transmit circuitry 510 can transmit an update and maintain transmission as part of an eDRX cycle as shown in FIG. 1. The receive circuitry 512 can receive an update and maintain transmission as part of the eDRX cycle as shown in FIG. 1. CC data and information can be exchanged as part of the update and maintain mechanism.

[0038] In embodiments where the electronic device circuitry 500 is an e B, a BTS and/or a network node, or is incorporated into or is otherwise part of an eNB, a BTS and/or a network node, the transmit circuitry 510 can transmit an update and maintain transmission as part of an eDRX cycle as shown in FIG. 1. The receive circuitry 512 can receive an update and maintain transmission as part of the eDRX cycle as shown in FIG. 1. CC data and

information can be exchanged as part of the update and maintain mechanism.

[0039] In certain embodiments, the electronic device circuitry 500 shown in FIG. 5 is operable to perform one or more methods, such as the methods shown in FIG. 3.

[0040] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware

components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.

[0041] Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating,

for one embodiment, example components of a user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS) device 600. In some embodiments, the MS device 600 may include application circuitry 602, baseband circuitry 604, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 606, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 608, and one or more antennas 610, coupled together at least as shown in FIG. 6.

[0042] The application circuitry 602 may include one or more application processors. By way of non-limiting example, the application circuitry 602 may include one or more single- core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general- purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors,

application processors, etc.). The processor(s) may be operably coupled and/or include memory/storage, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the mem ory /storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[0043] By way of non-limiting example, the baseband circuitry 604 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 604 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic. The baseband circuitry 604 may be configured to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 606. The baseband circuitry 604 may also be configured to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 606. The baseband processing circuitry 604 may interface with the application circuitry 602 for generation and processing of the baseband signals, and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 606.

[0044] By way of non-limiting example, the baseband circuitry 604 may include at least one of a second generation (2G) baseband processor 604 A, a third generation (3G) baseband processor 604B, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 604C, other baseband processor(s) 604D for other existing generations, and generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 604 (e.g., at least one of baseband processors 604A-604D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 606. By way of non-limiting example, the radio control functions may include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, other functions, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may be programmed to perform Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, constellation mapping/demapping functions, other functions, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may be programmed to perform convolutions, tail-biting convolutions, turbo, Viterbi, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functions, other functions, and combinations thereof. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions.

[0045] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may include elements of a protocol stack. By way of non-limiting example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 604E of the baseband circuitry 604 may be programmed to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 604F. The audio DSP(s) 604F may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation. The audio DSP(s) 604F may also include other suitable processing elements. [0046] The baseband circuitry 604 may further include memory/storage 604G. The memory/storage 604G may include data and/or instructions for operations performed by the processors of the baseband circuitry 604 stored thereon. In some embodiments, the memory/storage 604G may include any combination of suitable volatile memory and/or nonvolatile memory. The memory/storage 604G may also include any combination of various levels of memory/storage including, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) having embedded software instructions (e.g., firmware), random access memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), cache, buffers, etc. In some embodiments, the

memory/storage 604G may be shared among the various processors or dedicated to particular processors.

[0047] Components of the baseband circuitry 604 may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 604 and the application circuitry 602 may be implemented together, such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0048] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may provide for

communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 604 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 604 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0049] The RF circuitry 606 may enable communication with wireless networks

using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. The RF circuitry 606 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 608, and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 604. The RF circuitry 606 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 604, and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 608 for transmission.

[0050] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 606 may include mixer circuitry 606A, amplifier circuitry 606B, and filter circuitry 606C. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 606 may include filter circuitry 606C and mixer circuitry 606A. The RF circuitry 606 may further include synthesizer circuitry 606D configured to synthesize a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 608 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 606D. The amplifier circuitry 606B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals.

[0051] The filter circuitry 606C may include a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 604 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may include zero- frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0052] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 606D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 608. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 604 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 606C. The filter circuitry 606C may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0053] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers, and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0054] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In such embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 604 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 606.

[0055] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0056] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606D may include one or more of a fractional -N synthesizer and a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 606D may include a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider, other synthesizers and combinations thereof.

[0057] The synthesizer circuitry 606D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606A of the RF circuitry 606 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606D may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0058] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 604 or the application processor 602 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the application processor 602.

[0059] The synthesizer circuitry 606D of the RF circuitry 606 may include a divider, a delay- locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may include a dual modulus divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may include a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry-out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements; a phase detector; a charge pump; and a D-type flip-flop. In such embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL may provide negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle. [0060] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency, etc.) and used in conjunction with a quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 606 may include an IQ/polar converter.

[0061] The FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 610, amplify the received signals, and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 606 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 608 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 606 for transmission by at least one of the one or more antennas 610.

[0062] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 608 may include a TX/RX switch configured to switch between a transmit mode and a receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 606). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 608 may include a power amplifier (PA) configured to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 606), and one or more filters configured to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 610.

[0063] In some embodiments, the MS device 600 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, a display, a camera, one of more sensors, an input/output (I/O) interface, other elements, and combinations thereof.

[0064] In some embodiments, the MS device 600 may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, and/or methods as described herein, or portions thereof.

[0065] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a computing system 700. An MS, such as an IoT device, can be a computing system that includes one or more of the components shown in FIG. 7. The computing system 700 can be viewed as an information passing bus that connects various components. In the embodiment shown, the computing system 700 includes a processor 702 having logic for processing instructions. Instructions can be stored in and/or retrieved from memory 706 and a storage device 708 that includes a computer-readable storage medium. Instructions and/or data can arrive from a network interface 710 that can include wired 714 or wireless 712 capabilities. Instructions and/or data can also come from an I/O interface 716 that can include such things as expansion cards, secondary buses (e.g., USB, etc.), devices, etc. A user can interact with the computing system 700 through user interface devices 718 and a rendering interface 704 that allows the computing system 700 to receive and provide feedback to the user.

Examples

[0066] Example 1 is a mobile station for updating and maintaining coverage class

configuration using extended coverage global system for mobile communications (EC-GSM). The mobile station includes a network interface design to communicate using EC-GSM, storage, and a baseband processor. The storage stores a short-term coverage class, a long- term coverage class, a new long-term coverage class and a mobility state. The coverage class defines a repetition number and/or a spreading number of a modulation coding scheme, and includes an indicator of signal quality. The baseband processor is designed to perform, using the network interface, a downlink (DL) update and maintain transmission with a base transceiver station (BTS) based in part on a DL update and maintain transmission cycle. Performing the DL update and maintain transmission involves setting the mobility state to a non- stationary state on initialization, using the short-term coverage class and a high report frequency for the DL update and maintain transmission cycle, and determining that a threshold number of samples are collected to form the long-term coverage class indicator. When a short-term coverage class indicator deviates less than a first threshold from the long- term coverage class indicator, it updates the mobility state to a stationary state. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates less than or equal to a third threshold from the long-term coverage class indicator, it updates the mobility state to a semi-stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class.

[0067] Example 2 includes the mobile station of Example 1, where performing the DL update and maintaining the transmission further includes, in the stationary state, the use of the long- term coverage class and a low report frequency. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state is kept in the stationary state. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to a semi-stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class. [0068] Example 3 includes the mobile station of Example 2, where performing the DL update and maintaining the transmission also includes, in the semi -stationary state, the use of the short-term coverage class and a moderate report frequency. The mobile station then determines the threshold number of samples collected to form the new long-term coverage class indicator. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than the third threshold, the mobility state is updated to the non- stationary state. When the new long-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than a second threshold, it discards the new long- term coverage class indicator and keeps the long-term coverage class DL update and maintains the transmission cycle. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to the stationary state. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to the semi -stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class. When the new long-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the second threshold, the mobility state replaces the long-term coverage class with the new long-term coverage class and discards the long-term coverage class. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to the stationary state. Finally, when the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state is kept in the semi-stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class.

[0069] Example 4 includes the mobile station of Example 3, where the high report frequency is greater than the moderate report frequency, and the moderate report frequency is greater than the low report frequency.

[0070] Example 5 includes the mobile station of any of Examples 1-3, where the DL update and maintaining the transmission cycle is part of an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle.

[0071] Example 6 includes the mobile station of any of Examples 1-3, where the short-term coverage class indicator is a signal quality metric.

[0072] Example 7 includes the mobile station of Example 6, where the signal quality metric is based in part on a signal level, a signal to noise ratio, or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result. [0073] Example 8 includes the mobile station of any of Examples 1-3, where the long-term coverage class indicator and the new long-term coverage class indicator are a signal quality metric over time.

[0074] Example 9 includes the mobile station of Example 8, where the signal quality metric is based at least in part on a signal level, a signal to noise ratio or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result.

[0075] Example 10 includes the mobile station of any of Examples 1-3, where the baseband processor is designed to perform a signal quality measurement, input the signal quality measurement into a first filter designed with a larger forgetting factor to form the short-term coverage class indicator, and input the signal quality measurement into a second filter designed with a smaller forgetting factor to form the long-term coverage class indicator.

[0076] Example 11 includes the mobile station of Example 10, where the first filter is an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter.

[0077] Example 12 includes the mobile station of Example 10, where the signal quality measurement is performed on a received transmission in the paging channel (PCH) during an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle.

[0078] Example 13 is an apparatus for a UE designed to communicate using a wireless medium. The device is arranged to determine a coverage class downlink (DL) update and maintain the cycle, measure a signal quality indicator, and update a short-term coverage class indicator and a long-term coverage class indicator based in part on the signal quality indicator. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than a first threshold, the device uses a long-term coverage class. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than the first threshold and a new long-term coverage class has not been created, the device switches to use a short-term coverage class which creates a new long-term coverage class and continues to update the long-term coverage class indicator. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold and a new long-term coverage class exists, the device discards a new long-term coverage class and uses the long-term coverage class. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than a first threshold for longer than a time threshold, the device replaces the long-term coverage class with the new long-term coverage class, uses the replaced long-term coverage class, and discards the new long-term coverage class. [0079] Example 14 includes the apparatus of Example 13, where determining that the coverage class downlink (DL) update and maintaining the cycle is due also includes receiving the paging channel from a base transceiver station (BTS) during an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle.

[0080] Example 15 includes the apparatus of Example 13, where a coverage class includes a coverage class indicator, a frequency of updates, and a transmission scheme.

[0081] Example 16 includes the apparatus of Example 15, where the coverage class indicator is a signal level, a signal to noise ratio, or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result.

[0082] Example 17 includes the apparatus of Example 15, where the coverage class indicator is a combination metric which includes a signal level, a signal to noise ratio, or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result.

[0083] Example 18 includes the apparatus of Example 15, where the frequency of updates is less frequent when a long-term coverage class is used than when a short-term coverage class is used.

[0084] Example 19 includes the apparatus of Example 15, where the transmission scheme includes a repetition number, a spreading number, or a modulation coding scheme.

[0085] Example 20 includes the apparatus of Example 13, where the coverage class downlink (DL) update and maintaining the cycle is an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle.

[0086] Example 21 is at least one computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method. The method determines whether a periodic signal quality indicator update is due, performs a signal quality measurement, and calculates a short-term signal quality indicator and a long-term signal quality indicator based in part on the signal quality measurement. When the short-term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by less than a first threshold, the program selects a long-term transmission scheme. When a new long-term transmission scheme exists, the program discards the new long-term transmission scheme. When the short-term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by more than the first threshold, the program selects the long-term transmission scheme and continues to update the long-term transmission scheme. When the new long-term transmission scheme has not been created, the program creates a new long-term transmission scheme. When the short-term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by more than the first threshold for longer than a time threshold, the program replaces the long-term transmission scheme with the new long-term transmission scheme, selects the replaced long-term transmission scheme, and discards the new long-term transmission scheme.

[0087] Example 22 includes the computer readable storage medium of Example 21, where the short-term signal quality indicator is based in part on a measurement of a signal level or a signal to noise ratio.

[0088] Example 23 includes the computer readable storage medium of Example 21, where the long-term signal quality indicator is based in part on a measurement over time of a signal level or a signal to noise ratio.

[0089] Example 24 includes the computer readable storage medium of Example 21, where the long-term transmission scheme includes a first repetition number, a first spreading number, or a first modulation coding scheme.

[0090] Example 25 includes the computer readable storage medium of Example 21, where calculating the short-term signal quality indicator and the long-term signal quality indicator also includes inputting the signal quality measurement into a first infinite impulse response (IIR) filter designed with a larger forgetting factor to form the short-term signal quality indicator, and inputting the signal quality measurement into a second infinite impulse response (IIR) filter designed with a smaller forgetting factor to form the long-term signal quality indicator.

[0091] Example 26 includes the computer readable storage medium of Example 21, where the periodic signal quality indicator update is an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle, the short-term signal quality indicator and a short-term signal transmission scheme are contained in a short-term coverage class, the long-term signal quality indicator and the long- term signal transmission scheme are contained in a long-term coverage class, and the signal quality measurement is a measure of a paging channel (PCH) transmission of a base transceiver station (BTS) using extended coverage global system for mobile communications (EC-GSM).

[0092] Example 27 is a mobile station for updating and maintaining coverage class configuration using an extended coverage global system for mobile communications (EC- GSM). The mobile station includes a network interface configured to communicate using EC-GSM, storage for storing a short-term coverage class, a long-term coverage class, a new long-term coverage class, a mobility state, and a baseband processor. The coverage class defines a repetition number and/or a spreading number of a modulation coding scheme, and includes an indicator of signal quality. The baseband processor is designed to perform, using the network interface, a downlink (DL) update and maintain transmission with a base transceiver station (BTS) based in part on a DL update and maintain transmission cycle. The processor sets the mobility state to non-stationary on initialization. When the mobility state is non-stationary, the processor uses the short-term coverage class and a high report frequency for the DL update and maintains transmission cycle. When a threshold number of samples are collected to form the long-term coverage class indicator, the short-term coverage class indicator deviates less than a first threshold from the long-term coverage class indicator, updating the mobility state to a stationary state, and when the short-term coverage class indicator deviates more than or equal to a third threshold from the long-term coverage class indicator, the mobility state is updated to a semi-stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class. When the mobility state is stationary, the processor uses a long-term coverage class and a low report frequency for the DL update and maintains transmission cycle. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state of the processor is kept in the stationary state. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state of the processor is kept to a semi-stationary state and creates a new long-term coverage class.

When the mobility state is semi-stationary, the processor uses the short-term coverage class and a moderate report frequency for the DL update and maintains transmission cycle. When the threshold number of samples are collected to form the new long-term coverage class indicator, when the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than a third threshold, the mobility state of the processor is updated to the non-stationary state. When the new long-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than a second threshold, the processor discards the new long-term coverage class, keeps the long-term DL update, and maintains the coverage class transmission cycle. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to the stationary state. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state is kept as semi -stationary and creates a new long-term coverage class. When the new long-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to a second threshold, the processor replaces the long-term coverage class with the new long-term coverage class and discards the long-term coverage class. When the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by less than the first threshold, the mobility state is updated to the stationary state. Finally, when the short-term coverage class indicator deviates from the long-term coverage class indicator by more than or equal to the first threshold, the mobility state is kept as semi-stationary and creates a new long-term coverage class, where the high report frequency is greater than the moderate report frequency, and the moderate report frequency is greater than the low report frequency.

[0093] Example 28 is a method for updating and maintaining coverage class design. The method includes determining whether a periodic signal quality indicator update is due, performing a signal quality measurement, and calculating a short-term signal quality indicator and a long-term signal quality indicator based in part on the signal quality measurement. When the short-term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by less than a first threshold, the method includes selecting a long-term transmission scheme. When a new long-term transmission scheme exists, the method includes discarding the new long-term transmission scheme. When the short-term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by more than the first threshold, the method includes selecting the long-term transmission scheme and continuing to update the long-term transmission scheme. When a new long-term transmission scheme has not been created, the method includes creating a new long-term transmission scheme. When the short- term signal quality indicator deviates from the long-term signal quality indicator by more than the first threshold for longer than a time threshold, the method includes replacing the long-term transmission scheme with the new long-term transmission scheme, selecting the replaced long-term transmission scheme, and discarding the new long-term transmission scheme.

[0094] Example 29 includes the method of Example 28, where the short-term signal quality indicator is based in part on a measurement of a signal level or a signal to noise ratio.

[0095] Example 30 includes the method of Example 28, where the long-term signal quality indicator is based in part on a measurement over time of a signal level or a signal to noise ratio.

[0096] Example 31 includes the method of Example 28, where the long-term transmission scheme includes a first repetition number, a first spreading number, or a first modulation coding scheme.

[0097] Example 32 includes the method of Example 28, where calculating the short-term signal quality indicator and the long-term signal quality indicator includes inputting the signal quality measurement into a first infinite impulse response (IIR) filter designed with a larger forgetting factor to form the short-term signal quality indicator, and inputting the signal quality measurement into a second infinite impulse response (IIR) filter designed with a smaller forgetting factor to form the long-term signal quality indicator.

[0098] Example 33 includes the method of Example 28, where the periodic signal quality indicator update is an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle, the short-term signal quality indicator and a short-term signal transmission scheme are contained in a short-term coverage class, the long-term signal quality indicator and the long-term signal transmission scheme are contained in a long-term coverage class, and the signal quality measurement is a measure of a paging channel (PCH) transmission of a base transceiver station (BTS) using extended coverage global system for mobile communications (EC-GSM).

[0099] Example 34 is an apparatus designed to perform a method as shown in any of

Examples 28-33.

[0100] Example 35 is a machine-readable storage including machine-readable instructions, which, when executed, implement a method or realize an apparatus as shown in any of Examples 28-33.

[0101] Example 36 is a machine-readable medium including code, which, when executed, causes a machine to perform the method of any one of Examples 28-33.

[0102] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general- purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic for performing the operations or may include a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

[0103] Computer systems and the computers in a computer system may be connected via a network. Suitable networks for configuration and/or use as described herein include one or more local area networks, wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, and/or Internet or IP networks, such as the World Wide Web, a private Internet, a secure Internet, a value-added network, a virtual private network, an extranet, an intranet, or even stand-alone machines which communicate with other machines by physical transport of media. In particular, a suitable network may be formed from parts or entireties of two or more other networks, including networks using disparate hardware and network communication technologies.

[0104] One suitable network includes a server and one or more clients; other suitable networks may contain other combinations of servers, clients, and/or peer-to-peer nodes, and a given computer system may function both as a client and as a server. Each network includes at least two computers or computer systems, such as the server and/or clients. A computer system may include a workstation, laptop computer, disconnectable mobile computer, server, mainframe, cluster, so-called "network computer" or "thin client," tablet, smart phone, personal digital assistant or other hand-held computing device, "smart" consumer electronics device or appliance, medical device, or combination thereof.

[0105] Suitable networks may include communications or networking software, such as the software available from Novell®, Microsoft®, and other vendors, and may operate using TCP/IP, SPX, IPX, and other protocols over twisted pair, coaxial, or optical fiber cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, microwave relays, modulated AC power lines, physical media transfer, and/or other data transmission "wires" known to those of skill in the art. The network may encompass smaller networks and/or be connectable to other networks through a gateway or similar mechanism.

[0106] Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD- ROMs, hard drives, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, a nontransitory computer-readable storage medium, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements may be a RAM, an EPROM, a flash drive, an optical drive, a magnetic hard drive, or another medium for storing electronic data. The eNB, BTS (or other base station) and UE (or other mobile station) may also include a transceiver component, a counter component, a processing component, and/or a clock component or timer component. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high-level procedural or an object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

[0107] Each computer system includes one or more processors and/or memory; computer systems may also include various input devices and/or output devices. The processor may include a general-purpose device, such as an Intel®, AMD®, or other "off-the-shelf microprocessor. The processor may include a special-purpose processing device, such as ASIC, SoC, SiP, FPGA, PAL, PLA, FPLA, PLD, or other customized or programmable device. The memory may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flash memory, one or more flip-flops, ROM, CD-ROM, DVD, disk, tape, or magnetic, optical, or other computer storage medium. The input device(s) may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, light pen, tablet, microphone, sensor, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software. The output device(s) may include a monitor or other display, printer, speech or text synthesizer, switch, signal line, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software.

[0108] It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification may be implemented as one or more components, which is a term used to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a component may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, or off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A component may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, or the like.

[0109] Components may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified component of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, a procedure, or a function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified component need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations that, when joined logically together, comprise the component and achieve the stated purpose for the component.

[0110] Indeed, a component of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within components, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The components may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

[0111] Several aspects of the embodiments described will be illustrated as software modules or components. As used herein, a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer-executable code located within a memory device. A software module may, for instance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may be organized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure, etc., that perform one or more tasks or implement particular data types. It is appreciated that a software module may be implemented in hardware and/or firmware instead of or in addition to software. One or more of the functional modules described herein may be separated into sub-modules and/or combined into a single or smaller number of modules.

[0112] In certain embodiments, a particular software module may include disparate instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, different memory devices, or different computers, which together implement the described functionality of the module. Indeed, a module may include a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environment where tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. In addition, data being tied or rendered together in a database record may be resident in the same memory device, or across several memory devices, and may be linked together in fields of a record in a database across a network.

[0113] Reference throughout this specification to "an example" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosed embodiments. Thus, appearances of the phrase "in an example" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0114] As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on its presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and examples of the disclosed embodiments may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de facto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the disclosed embodiments. [0115] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of materials, frequencies, sizes, lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the embodiments.

[0116] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into single systems, partially combined into other systems, split into multiple systems or divided or combined in other ways. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. The parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. are merely described in one or more embodiments for clarity, and it is recognized that the parameters/attributes/aspects /etc. can be combined with or substituted for

parameters/attributes/etc. of another embodiment unless specifically disclaimed herein.

[0117] Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles thereof. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosed embodiments are not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

[0118] Those having skill in the art will appreciate that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the disclosed embodiments. The scope should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.