U.S. patent application number 17/172773 was filed with the patent office on 2021-06-03 for optimization of user equipment radio capability signaling.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Brian Clarke BANISTER, Aziz GHOLMIEH, Gavin Bernard HORN, Masato KITAZOE, Haris ZISIMOPOULOS.
Application Number | 20210168586 17/172773 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005389566 |
Filed Date | 2021-06-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210168586 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HORN; Gavin Bernard ; et
al. |
June 3, 2021 |
OPTIMIZATION OF USER EQUIPMENT RADIO CAPABILITY SIGNALING
Abstract
Techniques for optimizing user equipment radio capability
signaling for wireless communications are described. In one
technique, a type of network to access for communications is
determined. A capability identifier(s) associated with a set(s) of
user equipment (UE) radio capabilities is determined based, at
least in part, on the type of network. The capability identifier(s)
is sent to the network. Upon receiving an indication of the
capability identifier(s), the set(s) of UE radio capabilities
associated with the capability identifier(s) is identified and
stored.
Inventors: |
HORN; Gavin Bernard; (La
Jolla, CA) ; ZISIMOPOULOS; Haris; (London, GB)
; KITAZOE; Masato; (Hachiouji-shi, JP) ; GHOLMIEH;
Aziz; (Del Mar, CA) ; BANISTER; Brian Clarke;
(San Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005389566 |
Appl. No.: |
17/172773 |
Filed: |
February 10, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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16373451 |
Apr 2, 2019 |
10939280 |
|
|
17172773 |
|
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|
62653367 |
Apr 5, 2018 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 5/14 20130101; H04W
8/20 20130101; H04W 8/08 20130101; H04W 88/10 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 8/20 20060101
H04W008/20; H04W 8/08 20060101 H04W008/08; H04L 5/14 20060101
H04L005/14 |
Claims
1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE),
the method comprising: determining a type of a network to access
for communications; determining, based at least in part on the type
of the network, at least one capability identifier associated with
at least one set of UE radio capabilities for the type of the
network; and sending the at least one capability identifier to the
network.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 16/373,451 filed Apr. 2, 2019, which claims
the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application
No. 62/653,367, filed Apr. 5, 2018, both of which are assigned to
the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference
herein.
BACKGROUND
Field of the Disclosure
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless
communication systems, and more particularly, to methods and
apparatus for optimizing user equipment (UE) radio capability
signaling for wireless communications.
II. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to
provide various telecommunication services such as telephony,
video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless
communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies
capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing
available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power).
Examples of such multiple-access technologies include Long Term
Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code
division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple
access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)
systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access
(SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division
multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
[0004] In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication
system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously
supporting communication for multiple communication devices,
otherwise known as user equipment (UEs). In LTE or LTE-A network, a
set of one or more base stations may define an evolved Node B
(eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next generation or 5G
network), a wireless multiple access communication system may
include a number of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units
(EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads
(SRHs), transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in
communication with a number of central units (CUs) (e.g., central
nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of
one or more distributed units, in communication with a central
unit, may define an access node (e.g., a new radio base station (NR
BS), a new radio BS (NR NB), a network node, 5G NB, eNB, a Next
Generation NB (gNB), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set
of UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or
to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to
a BS or DU).
[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in
various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol
that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a
municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of
an emerging telecommunication standard is new radio (NR), for
example, 5G radio access. NR is a set of enhancements to the LTE
mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet
access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving
services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with
other open standards using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the
downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL) as well as support
beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna
technology, and carrier aggregation.
[0006] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues
to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in NR
technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to
other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards
that employ these technologies.
SUMMARY
[0007] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each
have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible
for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this
disclosure as expressed by the claims which follow, some features
will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion,
and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed
Description" one will understand how the features of this
disclosure provide advantages that include improved communications
between access points and stations in a wireless network.
[0008] Certain aspects provide a method for optimizing UE radio
capability signaling for wireless communications that may be
performed, for example, by a UE. The method generally includes
determining a type of a network to access for communications. The
method also includes determining, based at least in part on the
type of the network, at least one capability identifier associated
with at least one set of UE radio capabilities for the type of the
network. The method further includes sending the at least one
capability identifier to the network.
[0009] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an
apparatus, such as a UE, for optimizing UE radio capability
signaling for wireless communications. The apparatus includes means
for determining a type of a network to access for communications.
The apparatus also includes means for determining, based at least
in part on the type of the network, at least one capability
identifier associated with at least one set of UE radio
capabilities for the type of the network. The apparatus further
includes means for sending the at least one capability identifier
to the network.
[0010] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an
apparatus, such as a UE, for optimizing UE radio capability
signaling for wireless communications. The apparatus includes a
transmitter, at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the at
least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to
determine a type of a network to access for communications, and
determine, based at least in part on the type of the network, at
least one capability identifier associated with at least one set of
UE radio capabilities for the type of the network. The transmitter
is configured to transmit the at least one capability identifier to
the network.
[0011] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer
readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon for
optimizing UE radio capability signaling for wireless
communications. The computer executable code generally includes
code for determining a type of a network to access for
communications. The computer executable code also includes code for
determining, based at least in part on the type of the network, at
least one capability identifier associated with at least one set of
UE radio capabilities for the type of the network. The computer
executable code further includes code for sending the at least one
capability identifier to the network.
[0012] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method
for optimizing UE radio capability signaling for wireless
communications that may be performed, for example, by a network
entity. The method generally includes receiving an indication of at
least one capability identifier from a UE. The at least one
capability identifier is associated with at least one set of UE
radio capabilities. The method also includes identifying the at
least one set of UE radio capabilities associated with the at least
one capability identifier. The method further includes storing the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities associated with the at
least one capability identifier.
[0013] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an
apparatus, such as a network entity, for optimizing UE radio
capability signaling for wireless communications. The apparatus
generally includes means for receiving an indication of at least
one capability identifier from a UE. The at least one capability
identifier is associated with at least one set of UE radio
capabilities. The apparatus also includes means for identifying the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities associated with the at
least one capability identifier. The apparatus further includes
means for storing the at least one set of UE radio capabilities
associated with the at least one capability identifier.
[0014] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an
apparatus, such as a network entity, for optimizing UE radio
capability signaling for wireless communications. The apparatus
generally includes a receiver, at least one processor and a memory
coupled to the at least one processor. The receiver is configured
to receive an indication of at least one capability identifier from
a UE. The at least one capability identifier is associated with at
least one set of UE radio capabilities. The at least one processor
is configured to identify the at least one set of UE radio
capabilities associated with the at least one capability
identifier, and store the at least one set of UE radio capabilities
associated with the at least one capability identifier.
[0015] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer
readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon for
optimizing UE radio capability signaling for wireless
communications. The computer executable code generally includes
code for receiving an indication of at least one capability
identifier from a UE. The at least one capability identifier is
associated with at least one set of UE radio capabilities. The
computer executable code also includes code for identifying the at
least one set of UE radio capabilities associated with the at least
one capability identifier. The computer executable code further
includes code for storing the at least one set of UE radio
capabilities associated with the at least one capability
identifier.
[0016] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the
one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully
described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following
description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain
illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features
are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which
the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this
description is intended to include all such aspects and their
equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] So that the manner in which the above-recited features of
the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more
particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by
reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended
drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings
illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are
therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the
description may admit to other equally effective aspects.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an
example telecommunications system, in accordance with certain
aspects of the present disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example
architecture of a distributed radio access network (RAN), in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates an example system architecture for
interworking between a 5G System (5GS) and an evolved universal
mobile telecommunication system network (E-UTRAN) system, in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 4 is an example call flow for retrieving UE radio
capabilities, in accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0022] FIGS. 5-6 illustrate example call flows for UE capability
signaling procedures, in accordance with certain aspects of the
present disclosure.
[0023] FIGS. 7-8 illustrate example call flows for modifying UE
capability identifiers, in accordance with certain aspects of the
present disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 9 illustrates example operations for wireless
communications, for example, for optimizing UE radio capability
signaling, in accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 10 illustrates example operations for wireless
communications, for example, for optimizing UE radio capability
signaling, in accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 11 illustrates a communications device that may include
various components configured to perform operations for the
techniques disclosed herein, in accordance with aspects of the
present disclosure.
[0027] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals
have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements
that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements
disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other
aspects without specific recitation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus,
methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for
optimizing UE radio capability signaling within a wireless
communication system (e.g., LTE system, NR system, etc.), e.g., to
increase network throughput, improve efficiency, etc.
[0029] Wireless communication systems may support the exchange of
UE capability information in the network, e.g., in order to provide
the UE with communication services. The UE capability information
may include information indicative of the radio access technologies
(RATs) that the UE supports. Such information can include, for
example, the power class, frequency bands, carrier aggregation (CA)
band combinations, duplexing mode, traffic profile (e.g., voice
centric, data centric, etc.), radio bearers, etc., supported by the
UE.
[0030] In LTE, UE radio capabilities may be retrieved by the eNB
using a UE capability enquiry procedure. However, during this
procedure, the UE may send all of the UE radio capabilities,
regardless of whether the UE has previously sent such capabilities
and regardless of whether the UE may share the same set of
capabilities with several other UEs. As the size of the UE
capability information increases, this manner of sending UE
capability information can significantly reduce network efficiency
and impact network communications. In LTE, for example, the size of
the UE capability information can be significantly large (e.g.,
greater than 50 octets). As UEs in NR may be expected to support
different (and/or additional) capabilities (relative to LTE), the
UE capability information is further expected to significantly
increase in size (e.g., relative to LTE). Thus, it may be desirable
for wireless communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, to
optimize how UE radio capabilities are signaled in the network.
[0031] Aspects presented herein provide techniques and apparatus
for optimizing the UE radio capability signaling (e.g., by reducing
the size of UE radio capability signaling) for wireless
communications.
[0032] In some aspects, a UE may determine a type of a network
(e.g., radio access network (RAN), core network, etc.) to access
for communications. For example, the UE may determine a type of RAT
supported by the network, whether the network supports frequency
division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), whether
the network is a voice centric or data centric network, frequency
band combinations supported by the network, etc. The UE may
determine, based at least in part on the type of the network, at
least one capability identifier associated with at least one set of
UE radio capabilities for the type of the network. The UE may send
the at least one capability identifier during a registration
procedure with the network.
[0033] In this manner, the techniques presented herein can optimize
the UE radio capability signaling in the network by enabling the UE
to send a capability identifier that is associated with a
particular set of UE radio capabilities, as opposed to sending the
actual set of UE radio capabilities. This, in turn, can
significantly reduce the size of the UE radio capability signaling
in the network.
[0034] The following description provides examples, and is not
limiting of the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the
claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of
elements discussed without departing from the scope of the
disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various
procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods
described may be performed in an order different from that
described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined.
Also, features described with respect to some examples may be
combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be
implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the
aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure
is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced
using other structure, functionality, or structure and
functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of
the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any
aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or
more elements of a claim. The word "exemplary" is used herein to
mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect
described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed
as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.
[0035] The techniques described herein may be used for various
wireless communication networks such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA,
OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms "network" and "system"
are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a
radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA),
cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other
variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856
standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5G RA), Evolved UTRA
(E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE
802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are
part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP LTE
and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS,
LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization
named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB
are described in documents from an organization named "3rd
Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2).
[0036] New Radio (NR) is an emerging wireless communications
technology under development in conjunction with the 5G Technology
Forum (5GTF). NR access (e.g., 5G NR) may support various wireless
communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)
targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or beyond), millimeter wave
(mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 25 GHz or beyond),
massive machine type communications MTC (mMTC) targeting
non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical
targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). These
services may include latency and reliability requirements. These
services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTI)
to meet respective quality of service (QoS) requirements. In
addition, these services may co-exist in the same subframe.
[0037] NR introduces the concept of network slicing. For example, a
network may have multiple slices, which may support different
services, for example, internet of everything (IoE), URLLC, eMBB,
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, etc. A slice may be
defined as a complete logical network that comprises of a set of
network functions and corresponding resources necessary to provide
certain network capabilities and network characteristics.
[0038] The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless
networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other
wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, while
aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly
associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, aspects of the
present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based
communication systems, such as 5G and later, including NR
technologies.
[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network
100, such as a NR or 5G network, in which aspects of the present
disclosure may be performed, e.g., for optimizing UE radio
capability signaling. As illustrated, a UE 120a includes a
capability configuration component 160, which is configured to
implement one or more techniques described herein for optimizing UE
radio capability signaling. Using the capability configuration
component 160, the UE 120a may determine a type of a network to
access for communications and determine, based at least in part on
the type of the network, at least one capability identifier
associated with at least one set of UE radio capabilities for the
type of the network. The UE 120a may send the at least one
capability identifier during a registration procedure with the
network.
[0040] As also illustrated, a BS 110a (e.g., network node) includes
a capability configuration component 170, which is configured to
implement one or more techniques described herein for optimizing UE
radio capability signaling. Using the capability configuration
component 170, the BS 110a may receive the at least one capability
identifier from the UE and determine whether the BS 110a has the
corresponding set of UE radio capabilities associated with the
capability identifier. If the BS 110a determines that the
corresponding set of UE radio capabilities have been stored, the BS
110a may retrieve the set of UE radio capabilities. If the BS 110a
determines that the corresponding set of UE radio capabilities have
not been stored, the BS 110a may trigger a procedure to obtain the
corresponding set of UE radio capabilities (e.g., from the UE)) and
store the corresponding set of UE radio capabilities associated
with the capability identifier.
[0041] Note that FIG. 1 uses the BS 110a as a reference example of
a network node that may use the capability configuration component
170 to implement one or more techniques described herein. In some
aspects, the capability configuration component 170 may be used by
any network node in the wireless communication network 100. In one
example, the network node can include a radio access network (RAN)
node, such as an eNB, gNB, etc. In another example, the network
node can include a core network node, such as an access and
mobility function (AMF), mobility management entity (MME), etc.
[0042] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless communication network
100 may include a number of BSs 110 and other network entities. A
BS may be a station that communicates with UEs. Each BS 110 may
provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In
3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB)
and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the
context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term "cell"
and eNB, NB, 5G NB, gNB, gNodeB, access point (AP), BS, NR BS, 5G
BS, DU, carrier, or transmission reception point (TRP) may be used
interchangeably. The NR system may also support eLTE eNBs, which
are configured to provide connectivity (for UEs) to a 5G core
network via a LTE RAN. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily
be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move
according to the location of a mobile BS. In some examples, the BSs
may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other
BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless communication
network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a
direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like using
any suitable transport network.
[0043] In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed
in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a
particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or
more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio
technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred
to as a carrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each
frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in
order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different
RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.
[0044] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a
pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell
may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several
kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with
service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small
geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with
service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small
geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by
UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed
Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.). A BS for
a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell
may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be
referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in
FIG. 1, the BSs 110a, 110b and 110c may be macro BSs for the macro
cells 102a, 102b and 102c, respectively. The BS 110x may be a pico
BS for a pico cell 102x. The BSs 110y and 110z may be femto BS for
the femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS may support one
or multiple (e.g., three) cells.
[0045] Wireless communication network 100 may also include relay
stations. A relay station is a station that receives a transmission
of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a
BS or a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other
information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay
station may also be a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs.
In the example shown in FIG. 1, a relay station 110r may
communicate with the BS 110a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate
communication between the BS 110a and the UE 120r. A relay station
may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay, etc.
[0046] Wireless communication network 100 may be a heterogeneous
network that includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico
BS, femto BS, relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have
different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and
different impact on interference in the wireless communication
network 100. For example, macro BS may have a high transmit power
level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico BS, femto BS, and relays may
have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).
[0047] Wireless communication network 100 may support synchronous
or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may
have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may
be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the
BSs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from
different BSs may not be aligned in time. The techniques described
herein may be used for both synchronous and asynchronous
operation.
[0048] A network controller 130 may be coupled to a set of BSs and
provide coordination and control for these BSs. The network
controller 130 may communicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The
BSs 110 may also communicate with one another (e.g., directly or
indirectly) via wireless or wireline backhaul.
[0049] The UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed
throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE may
be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile
station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a
station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a
smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem,
a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop
computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a
tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an
ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric
sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart
clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a
smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g.,
a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a
vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial
manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any
other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a
wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered evolved or
machine-type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC)
devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones,
remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc.,
that may communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., remote
device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for
example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area
network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or
wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered
Internet-of-Things (IoT) or narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices. Some
UEs may also be considered as eLTE UEs, which are able to connect
to a 5G core network via an eLTE eNB in a LTE RAN.
[0050] Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and
single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the
uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into
multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly
referred to as tones, bins, subbands, etc. Each subcarrier may be
modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the
frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The
spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total
number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth.
For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the
minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block" (RB)) may be
12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may
be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 for system bandwidth of
1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system
bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a
subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 RBs), and there may be 1, 2, 4,
8 or 16 subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20
MHz, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmission time interval
(TTI) or packet duration is the 1 ms subframe. In NR, a subframe is
still 1 ms, but the basic TTI is referred to as a slot. A subframe
contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . .
slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The NR RB is 12
consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR may support a base subcarrier
spacing of 15 KHz and other subcarrier spacing may be defined with
respect to the base subcarrier spacing, for example, 30 kHz, 60
kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slot lengths scale with
the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the
subcarrier spacing.
[0051] NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and
include support for half-duplex operation using time division
duplex (TDD). Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may
be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may
also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to
8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to 8
streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions with
up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple
cells may be supported with up to 8 serving cells.
[0052] In some examples, access to the air interface may be
scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for
communication among some or all devices and equipment within its
service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed
further below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for
scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for
one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled
communication, subordinate entities utilize resources allocated by
the scheduling entity. BSs are not the only entities that may
function as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE
may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one
or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). In this
example, the UE is functioning as a scheduling entity, and other
UEs utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wireless
communication. A UE may function as a scheduling entity in a
peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh
network example, UEs may optionally communicate directly with one
another in addition to communicating with the scheduling
entity.
[0053] In some examples, two or more subordinate entities (e.g.,
UEs) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals.
Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include
public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relaying,
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything
(IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh,
and/or various other suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink
signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate
entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2)
without relaying that communication through the scheduling entity
(e.g., UE or BS), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized
for scheduling and/or control purposes. In some examples, the
sidelink signals may be communicated using a licensed spectrum
(unlike wireless local area networks, which may use an unlicensed
spectrum).
[0054] In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desired
transmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS
designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely
dashed line with double arrows indicates interfering transmissions
between a UE and a BS.
[0055] FIG. 2 illustrates example components of BS 110 and UE 120
(e.g., in the wireless communication network 100 of FIG. 1), which
may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For
example, antennas 252, processors 266, 258, 264, and/or
controller/processor 280 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 234,
processors 220, 230, 238, and/or controller/processor 240 of the BS
110 may be used to perform the various techniques and methods
described herein. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller/processor 240
of the BS 110 has a capability configuration component 170 that may
be configured for optimizing UE radio capability signaling for
wireless communications, according to aspects described herein.
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 2, the controller/processor 280 of the
UE 120 has a capability configuration component 160 that may be
configured for optimizing UE radio capability signaling for
wireless communications, according to aspects described herein.
[0056] At the BS 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data
from a data source 212 and control information from a
controller/processor 240. The control information may be for the
physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format
indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel
(PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common
PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physical downlink
shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 220 may process (e.g.,
encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain
data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit
processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for the
primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization
signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A transmit
(TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may
perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols,
the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable,
and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs)
232a-232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output
symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample
stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to
analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to
obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators
232a-232t may be transmitted via the antennas 234a-234t,
respectively.
[0057] At the UE 120, the antennas 252a-252r may receive the
downlink signals from the BS 110 and may provide received signals
to the demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r,
respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter,
amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to
obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the
input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A
MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all the
demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on
the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A
receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave,
and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE
120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to
a controller/processor 280.
[0058] On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may
receive and process data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared
channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 262 and control information
(e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) from the
controller/processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also
generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the
sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit
processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if
applicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers
254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base
station 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 may
be received by the antennas 234, processed by the modulators 232,
detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further
processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and
control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238
may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded
control information to the controller/processor 240.
[0059] The controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the
operation at the BS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The
controller/processor 240 and/or other processors and modules at the
BS 110 may perform or direct the execution of the functional blocks
illustrated in FIG. 10, operations of gNB (and/or AMF) described in
FIGS. 5-8 for optimizing UE radio capability signaling for wireless
communications, and/or various processes for the techniques
described herein. The controller/processor 280 and/or other
processors and modules at the UE 120 may perform or direct the
execution of the functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 9,
operations of UE described in FIGS. 5-8 for optimizing UE radio
capability signaling for wireless communications, and/or various
processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 242 and
282 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120,
respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data
transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.
[0060] FIG. 3 illustrates an example system architecture 300 for
interworking between a 5G System (5GS) and E-UTRAN-EPC, in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown
in FIG. 3, the UE 120 may be served by separate RANs 304A (e.g.,
E-UTRAN) and 304B (e.g., NR RAN) controlled by separate core
networks (CNs) 306A (e.g., EPC) and 306B (e.g., 5GC), where the RAN
304A provides E-UTRA services and RAN 304B provides 5G NR services.
The UE 120 may operate under only one RAN/CN or both RANs/CNs at a
time.
[0061] The RANs/CNs in the system architecture 300 may include one
or more network nodes that are configured to implement the
techniques described herein for optimizing UE radio capability
signaling. For example, the RANs/CNs may include network nodes that
are configured with the capability configuration component 170. In
RAN 304A, the network node(s) may include eNB(s), for example. In
RAN 304B, the network nodes(s) may include gNB(s), for example. In
CN 306A, the network node(s) may include MME(s), for example. In CN
306B, the network node(s) may include AMF(s), for example.
[0062] In some aspects, the set of UE radio capabilities may depend
in part on the RAN/CN(s) the UE 120 is operating under. For
example, at least one of the power class, frequency bands, band
combinations, traffic profile, etc., may be different between RAN
304A/CN 306A and RAN 304B/CN306B. In some aspects, the capability
configuration component 160 and/or the capability configuration
component 170 may be configured to determine the capability
identifier to use for signaling a set of UE radio capabilities
based, at least in part, under which RAN/CN(s) the UE 120 is
operating under.
[0063] In general, the UE 120 may perform a registration procedure
(also referred to as network attachment) in order to access and
receive services from a core network (e.g., CN 306A, CN 306B,
etc.). The UE 120 may initiate the registration procedure by
sending a registration request/attach request to the core network,
e.g., via a non-access stratum (NAS) message. The registration
request/attach request may include one or more parameters, such as
the registration type, a UE identity (e.g., 5G globally unique
temporary identity (5G-GUTI)), tracking area identity (TAI),
requested network slice (e.g., requested network slice selection
assistance information (NSSAI)), UE capabilities, etc. In some
cases, the UE may participate in an exchange of NAS identity
request/response messages with the core network, e.g., to inform
the core network of the UE identity and other requested
information.
[0064] As part of the registration procedure, the UE 120 may
perform NAS level authentication and initiate ciphering for NAS
messages with the core network, complete an access stratum (AS)
security procedure with the RAN, and receive radio resource control
(RRC) reconfiguration from the RAN. For example, the UE may receive
an RRC reconfiguration message indicating a status of the
registration procedure, a protocol data unit (PDU) session status,
etc. The RRC reconfiguration message may also set up radio bearers
for the UE, setup a secondary cell for the UE, initiate UE
measurements, etc. The UE may confirm the successful completion of
an RRC connection reconfiguration by sending an RRC reconfiguration
complete message, and signal the completion of the registration
procedure by sending a registration complete message to the core
network, e.g., via a NAS message.
[0065] Example Optimization of UE Radio Capability Signaling
[0066] As noted, the UE radio capability information may include
information regarding RATs supported by the UE. Such information
can include, but is not limited to, power class, frequency bands,
duplexing mode, traffic profile (e.g., voice centric, data centric,
etc.), radio bearers, etc., supported by the UE. In general, the UE
may report its UE radio access capabilities (which may be static)
when requested by the network. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the
BS 110 may send a UE Capability Enquiry message to the UE 120 (402)
and the UE 120, in response, may send a UE Capability Information
message to the BS 110 (404). In some cases, the BS 110 can request
what capabilities for the UE to report (e.g., similar to band and
band combination requests in LTE). In the procedure 400 illustrated
in FIG. 4, the size of the UE Capability Information message can be
significantly large (e.g., greater than 50 octets) for some
communication networks (e.g., LTE, NR). Sending UE capability
information of such a large size can reduce network throughput and
efficiency of network communications.
[0067] In addition, there may be some situations in which the UE
participates in multiple procedures 400 to inform the network of
its UE radio capabilities. For example, in some cases, the UE may
change some of its UE radio capabilities. The change of UE radio
capabilities may be to, temporarily (e.g., under network control),
limit the availability of some capabilities, e.g., due to hardware
sharing, interference or overheating. The temporary capability
restriction may be transparent to the core network (e.g., NextGen
(5G) Core). That is, the core network may just store the UE's
static capabilities. The UE may signal the temporary capability
restriction request to the BS. As the UE changes its UE radio
capabilities, it may participate in additional procedures 400 to
inform the network. This can lead to repeated signaling of the UE
Capability Information message, which can reduce network
throughput.
[0068] Compared to LTE, UEs in 5G NR systems may support different
and/or additional capabilities. As a result, the size of the UE
capability information message (e.g., in procedure 400) is further
expected to significantly increase in size (e.g., relative to LTE).
Thus, it may be desirable to reduce the size of the UE capability
signaling, due in part, to the significant size of the UE radio
capability information.
[0069] There may be drawbacks, however, to certain techniques for
reducing the UE capability signaling. For example, some techniques
may define an identifier (associated with a set of UE radio
capabilities) by computing (using) a hash function over the set of
UE radio capabilities. However, using a hash function to determine
a capability identifier may not be viable for 5G networks due to
extra complexities introduced in cases of collisions. As a
reference example, it may be possible for the hash function to
produce a same identifier for two different UE sets of
capabilities. In such situations, the UE and/or network may have to
send additional signaling in order to resolve the collision.
[0070] Additionally, some certain techniques may define an
identifier (associated with a set of UE radio capabilities) based
on a permanent device ID, such as the international mobile
equipment identity (IMEI). As a reference example, the identifier
may be based on the IMEI software version (IMEI-SV), which includes
the type allocation code (TAC) and software version number (SVN).
However, there may be situations in which different TAC+SVN
identifiers indicate the same UE radio capabilities. Thus, using
identifiers based on permanent device IDs may reduce the gain of
using identifiers to associate with different sets of UE radio
capabilities. Moreover, using identifiers based on permanent device
IDs may reduce the flexibility of the UE capability signaling in
the network, e.g., by reducing (or preventing) the ability of the
network and/or the device to change identifiers associated with a
given device. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide improved
techniques for optimizing UE radio capability signaling in a
network.
[0071] Aspects presented herein provide techniques for using a
(new) capability identifier (e.g., not based on a hash function or
tied to a permanent device ID) to identify the UE radio
capabilities which the network can store along with the
capabilities. By allowing the UE to report the capability
identifier (e.g., during a registration procedure), as opposed to
the actual UE radio capabilities, the techniques presented herein
can significantly reduce the size of the UE capability signaling in
the network.
[0072] In some aspects, the capability identifier may be a
standardized capability identifier assigned by an administrative
body of a standard, administrative body for a group of mobile
network operators, etc. For example, original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) may register their devices' capabilities with
an administrative body, such as the Global System for Mobile
Communications Association (GSMA). The administrative body may
assign the OEMs with a capability identifier for each group of
devices having a corresponding (same) set of capabilities. The OEMs
may then specify the devices' capabilities with an associated
capability identifier, which mobile network operators can retrieve
out of band into their local operations, administration and
maintenance (OAM). Standardized capability identifiers may not be
unique per public land mobility network (PLMN), but may be globally
unique.
[0073] To manage standardized capability identifiers, there may be
a "device settings database," where operators can specify their
device (UE) radio capabilities and receive an associated capability
identifier. A similar database can be used where OEMs specify the
capabilities with an associated capability identifier, and
operators can retrieve the capability identifier out of band into
their local OAM.
[0074] In some aspects, the capability identifier may be a
capability identifier specific to a mobile network operator. For
example, the capability identifier can be preconfigured by
operators as part of device certification or assigned by the
operator (e.g., serving operator network) the first time that any
UE reports capabilities on the network. Non-standardized (e.g.,
operator specific) capability identifiers may be unique per
PLMN.
[0075] In some aspects, the capability identifier may be a
capability identifier that is specific to a UE manufacturer. For
example, the capability identifier can be assigned to a given type
of UE by the manufacturer of the UE.
[0076] In some aspects, a network (e.g., 5G network) may support
different types of capability identifiers, e.g., the standardized
capability identifier, the manufacturer specific capability
identifier, and/or the operator specific capability identifier. For
example, in some cases, a first one or more of the types of
capability identifiers may be considered as mandatory, while a
second one or more other types of capability identifiers may be
considered as optional. In general, at least one of the
standardized capability identifier, the manufacturer specific
capability identifier, or the operator specific capability
identifier may be considered as optional or mandatory.
[0077] In some aspects, the capability identifier (e.g.,
standardized, manufacturer-specific, and/or operator specific) may
be semi-statically associated with a UE. Since a UE may have
certain features upgraded (e.g., due to a new software (SW)
release), allowing the capability identifier to be semi-statically
defined (and not associated with a permanent device ID such as
IMEI) may provide a more flexible approach to signaling UE radio
capabilities in the network. In some aspects, the network may also
choose to remap a capability identifier of one type (e.g.,
standardized capability identifier) to another type (e.g., an
operator specific capability identifier, manufacturer-specific
capability identifier), e.g., as part of OAM procedures.
[0078] In general, however, the network and/or the UE may change
the capability identifier associated with a set of UE radio
capabilities. For example, the UE may be configured to change the
capability identifier due to a SW upgrade enabling new capabilities
on the device side. Similarly, the network may be configured to
change the capability identifier due to remapping (of UE radio
capabilities) or OAM procedures in the network side.
[0079] In some aspects, the UE may determine and/or report a
particular capability identifier (associated with a set of UE radio
capabilities) based on network capabilities requested by the UE.
For example, the UE may be configured with multiple capability
identifiers, each associated with a (different) set of UE radio
capabilities. The UE may choose to reveal a certain set of UE radio
capabilities based on the type of network the UE is attempting to
use. For example, if the UE is attempting to connect to a data
centric network, the UE may report the capability identifier that
is associated with UE radio capabilities relevant to data centric
networks. In some cases, the selection of the capability identifier
may be based on capabilities of the particular 5G network slice
requested by the UE.
[0080] Note that, in some cases, a first set of UE radio
capabilities associated with a first capability identifier may be
entirely different from a second set of UE radio capabilities
associated with a second capability identifier. In some cases, a
first set of UE radio capabilities associated with a first
capability identifier may include some UE radio capabilities that
overlap with some UE radio capabilities in a second set of UE radio
capabilities associated with a second capability identifier.
[0081] In LTE, the MME may store the UE radio capabilities that are
forwarded by the eNB in the S1-AP: UE CAPABILITY INFO INDICATION
message. When a UE establishes a connection, the MME may include
the last received UE radio capabilities as part of the S1-AP:
INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message sent to the eNB.
Additionally, during handover preparation, the source RAN node may
transfer both the UE source RAT capabilities and the target RAT
capabilities to the target RAN node, in order to minimize
interruptions. UE radio capabilities may not be transferred during
inter-MME idle mode mobility and/or mobility to/from GPRS.
[0082] There may be some situations in which a UE arrives at a 5G
core network via an evolved packet core (EPC) (or 4G core network),
LTE RAN node, etc. Thus, in some aspects, to enable compatibility
(and inter-RAT mobility) with EPC, the procedure for UE capability
retrieval in NR may be designed to co-exist with the UE capability
enquiry procedure in LTE. In some aspects, to maintain backwards
compatibility to LTE/EPS (and potentially NR Rel-15 in case of
roaming), the UE radio capabilities and capability identifiers may
be stored in the AMF and provided to the RAN when the UE moves to
connected mode as part of the UE context. In some aspects, further
optimizations in UE capability signaling may be achieved if
capabilities are stored in the RAN. For example, the core network
node may provide only the capability identifier (as opposed to the
actual UE radio capabilities) to the RAN as part of the INITIAL
CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST to reduce S1 signaling.
[0083] FIGS. 5-6 illustrate example respective call flows 500, 600
for UE capability signaling procedures based on the capability
identifiers described herein, in accordance with various aspects of
the present disclosure. Note that while FIGS. 5-6 illustrate UE
capability signaling procedures for a 5G system, the techniques
described herein may also be applied to EPS (e.g., LTE/EPC). For
example, the gNB and AMF entities (for a 5G system) in FIGS. 5-6
may be interchangeable with eNB and MME (for EPS),
respectively.
[0084] FIG. 5, in particular, depicts a call flow 500 where the UE
provides a capability identifier as part of the registration
procedure for the case where the network has the corresponding UE
radio capabilities (e.g., stored in a database), in accordance with
certain aspects of the present disclosure. During the registration
procedure, the UE may send the capability identifier (associated
with a particular set of UE radio capabilities) via a NAS message
to the AMF. The NAS message may include a Registration message
(option A) or an Identity Response message (option B).
[0085] In option A, the UE (at 502) may send a Registration message
that includes the capability identifier, e.g., as part of RRC
connection establishment. The gNB may encapsulate the Registration
message into a container (e.g., Initial UE message) (but not parse
the NAS--Registration message) and send the Initial UE message to
the AMF. In option B, the AMF (at 504) may request, via an Identity
Request message, the capability identifier, and the UE (at 506) may
return the capability identifier in an Identity Response
message.
[0086] Once the capability identifier is received, the AMF (at 508)
may determine if UE radio capabilities associated with the
capability identifier are stored in the core network. Note, that
the UE radio capabilities may be stored in the AMF, or elsewhere in
the core network (e.g., a database). When determining whether the
UE radio capabilities have been stored, the AMF may perform a hash
function on different sets of UE radio capabilities (associated
with different capability identifiers) that are stored in the
database, and determine if the resulting hash occurs in a
distributed hash table in the database. If the resulting hash is
present, the AMF may determine that the UE radio capabilities
associated with the capability identifier have been stored.
Otherwise, the AMF may determine that the corresponding UE radio
capabilities have not been stored.
[0087] As shown in the reference example in FIG. 5, the AMF
determines (at 508) that the corresponding UE radio capabilities
for the capability identifier are stored, and retrieves the
corresponding UE radio capabilities. The AMF then pushes the
corresponding UE radio capabilities to the RAN. For example, the
AMF (at 510) sends an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST with the UE
radio capabilities to the gNB. The gNB (at 512) then stores the UE
radio capabilities. Although not shown, in some aspects, the AMF
may push the corresponding UE radio capabilities to the RAN by
sending the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST with the capability
identifier (e.g., instead of the actual UE radio capabilities),
assuming the UE radio capabilities have also been stored in the RAN
(e.g., at the gNB, in a database, etc.).
[0088] FIG. 6 depicts a call flow 600 where (1) the UE does not
provide a capability identifier as part of the registration
procedure or (2) the network does not have the corresponding UE
radio capabilities (e.g., stored in a database), in accordance with
certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0089] As shown, at 602, the AMF determines that it does not have
UE radio capabilities associated with a device (UE) that is
attempting the registration procedure. As noted, this can be due to
either (1) the UE not providing a capability identifier to the AMF
in option A (502) or option B (504 and 506); or (2) determining
that the corresponding UE radio capabilities have not been stored
for a capability identifier received in option A (502) or option B
(504 and 506).
[0090] Once the AMF determines that corresponding UE radio
capabilities are not available, the AMF may interact with the gNB
and/or UE to retrieve the corresponding UE radio capabilities. In
one aspect, the AMF triggers a procedure to retrieve the
corresponding UE radio capabilities from the UE. As shown, the AMF
(at 604) sends an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST (without a
capability identifier and without UE radio capabilities) to the
gNB. The receipt of this message triggers the gNB to perform a UE
capability enquiry procedure with the UE. The UE capability enquiry
procedure may be similar to the procedure 400 depicted in FIG. 4.
In this procedure, the gNB (at 606) sends a UE capability enquiry
message requesting the UE radio capabilities from the UE, and the
UE returns (at 608) the requested UE radio capabilities in a UE
capability information message. The gNB then sends (at 610) the
received UE capability information to the AMF.
[0091] At 612, the AMF can assign a capability identifier for the
received UE radio capabilities, and store the corresponding UE
radio capabilities with an indication of the assigned capability
identifier. In some cases, if the AMF received a capability
identifier but was unable to locate corresponding UE radio
capabilities, the AMF can assign the received capability identifier
to the UE radio capabilities received from the gNB. In this manner,
if the AMF receives the same capability identifier in a subsequent
registration procedure (with the same or different UE), the AMF can
locate the corresponding UE radio capabilities and provide them to
the gNB, e.g., using similar procedures described in FIG. 5.
[0092] As noted above, aspects presented herein enable the UE
and/or network node to change/update capability identifiers for a
given set of UE radio capabilities.
[0093] For example, the UE capability reporting may initially
include possible pre-configured capability identifiers as part of
an initial registration procedure. If the UE is not configured with
a capability identifier, it may not report any capability
identifier(s) at initial registration and may wait for one to be
allocated by the AMF when the UE radio capabilities are
successfully retrieved.
[0094] In some aspects, the UE may be configured to support
multiple capability identifiers simultaneously. However, the UE may
be configured to use a single capability identifier at a time. That
is, the UE may be configured to support multiple capability
identifiers (where each capability identifier is associated with a
set of UE radio capabilities) and select a particular capability
identifier with each connection establishment. For example, the
selected capability identifier may be associated with one or more
UE attributes, such as a voice centric or data centric profile, a
change in UE radio capabilities after an OTA SW upgrade, a
particular geographical region or area frequently visited by the UE
(e.g., the UE may switch between two capability profiles optimized
for two different regions), etc. In some cases, the capability
identifiers may be common across several UEs, and thus, there may
not be an increase in memory/resource usage in the network when
such capability profiles are already saved in the network.
[0095] In some aspects, when the UE radio capabilities change, the
UE can re-register the capabilities with the AMF, indicating to the
AMF that the radio capabilities have changed. This process may
trigger the AMF to delete any previously stored capabilities. Note
that, in some cases, the UE may update the capability identifier
(associated with radio capabilities) by performing a detach
procedure and a re-attach procedure with an updated capability
identifier. In some cases, the UE may update the capability
identifier without performing a detach and re-attach procedure. In
cases where the update procedure does not involve a re-attach
procedure, the techniques presented herein enable the UE to
simplify what is being communicated to the network. That is, since
the UE may be aware that its frequently used profiles are saved in
the network, the UE may just communicate the new capability
identifier (instead of the actual updated capabilities).
Additionally, in some cases, the UE can be configured to report
multiple capability identifiers and the network may select which is
the preferred profile to use based on the UE subscription and
services active.
[0096] FIGS. 7-8 illustrate example respective call flows 700, 800
for modifying UE capability identifiers, in accordance with various
aspects of the present disclosure. Note that while FIGS. 7-8
illustrate techniques for modifying UE capability identifiers for a
5G system, the techniques described herein may also be applied to
EPS (e.g., LTE/EPC). For example, the gNB and AMF entities (for a
5G system) in FIGS. 7-8 may be interchangeable with eNB and MME
(for EPS), respectively.
[0097] FIG. 7, in particular, depicts a call flow 700 where the
network modifies the capability identifier for a given set of UE
radio capabilities, in accordance with certain aspects of the
present disclosure. As noted above, the AMF may modify (update) the
capability identifier associated with an existing set of UE radio
capabilities (e.g., due to remapping, OAM procedures, switching
from a standardized identifier to a non-standardized identifier,
etc.).
[0098] As shown, once the AMF determines (at 702) a new capability
identifier, the AMF sends (at 704) a UE Configuration Update
message that includes the old capability identifier and the new
capability identifier. The UE sends (at 705) a UE Configuration
Update Acknowledgment (e.g., indicating successful receipt of the
UE Configuration Update message). The UE may then use the new
capability identifier in subsequent registration procedures.
Although not shown, in some aspects, the UE may send a message
(e.g., negative Acknowledgement (NACK)) to the AMF indicating the
UE Configuration Update message was not received. The NACK message
may trigger the AMF to send another UE Configuration Update
message.
[0099] FIG. 8 depicts a call flow 800 where the UE modifies the set
of UE radio capabilities and the corresponding capability
identifier, in accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure. Note, this reference example may assume that
detach/reattach is not used. In some aspects, however, the UE may
perform a detach/reattach in order to modify a set of UE radio
capabilities and the corresponding capability identifier.
[0100] As noted above, the UE may determine to update the
capability identifier after receiving a new (or different) set of
capabilities in a SW upgrade (which may not have a capability
identifier). The UE may modify/update the capability identifier via
a NAS message as part of the registration procedure. For example,
as shown, the UE may send (at 802) the Registration Request message
with the updated capability identifier. At 804, the AMF may
determine if corresponding UE radio capabilities for the capability
identifier are stored in the network, and follow procedures in FIG.
5 or FIG. 6 based on the determination.
[0101] Note that while FIGS. 5-8 describe various network
operations from the perspective of the AMF, the gNB may be
configured to perform same or similar operations as the AMF. For
example, the UE may be configured to send the capability identifier
to the gNB via a RRC message (e.g., as opposed to a NAS message).
The gNB may perform similar procedures as the AMF to determine if
corresponding UE radio capabilities have been stored for the
capability identifier, and interact with the UE (e.g., in a
capability enquiry procedure) to obtain the UE radio capabilities
if it is determined that the corresponding UE radio capabilities
have not been stored. On the other hand, if the UE radio
capabilities have been stored, the gNB can retrieve the UE radio
capabilities, and send an indication of the UE radio capabilities
(e.g., the actual UE radio capabilities and/or the UE capability
identifier) to the AMF.
[0102] FIG. 9 illustrates example operations 900 for wireless
communications, in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure. Operations 900 may be performed, for example, by a UE,
such as UE 120 shown in FIG. 1. Operations 900 may be implemented
as software components (e.g., capability configuration component
160) that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g.,
processor 280 of FIG. 2). Further, the communicating (e.g.,
transmission and/or reception of signals) by the UE in operations
900 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g.,
antennas 252 of FIG. 2). In certain aspects, the communicating
(e.g., transmission and/or reception of signals) by the UE may be
implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g.,
processor 280) obtaining and/or outputting signals.
[0103] Operations 900 begin, at 902, where the UE determines a type
of a network (e.g., RAN, core network, etc.) to access for
communications. For example, the UE may determine to access RAN
304A/CN 306A and/or RAN 304B/CN 306B. The UE may determine the type
of the network based on signaling received from the network, a
predefined (or previous) configuration, cell/network that the UE is
camping on, etc. In some aspects, determining the type of the
network may include determining one or more capabilities supported
by the network. For example, the network capabilities may include
at least one of a type of duplexing (e.g., FDD, TDD, etc.)
supported by the network, frequency band(s)/band combinations
supported by the network, a type of traffic (e.g., voice centric,
data centric, etc.) supported by the network, radio bearers
supported by the network, etc.
[0104] At 904, the UE determines, based at least in part on the
type of the network, at least one capability identifier associated
with at least one set of UE radio capabilities for the type of the
network. As noted, the UE may determine different types of
capability identifiers. In one aspect, for example, the at least
one capability identifier is an operator specific capability
identifier assigned by a serving operator network. In one aspect,
the at least one capability identifier is a standardized capability
identifier assigned by an administrative body of a standard. In one
aspect, the at least one capability identifier is a manufacturer
specific capability identifier assigned by a UE manufacturer (e.g.
manufacturer of the UE). In some aspects, for a given type of
capability identifier (e.g., standardized, manufacturer-specific,
operator-specific, etc.), the at least one capability identifier
may be based on a software version of the UE and/or be
semi-statically associated with the UE.
[0105] In some aspects, the UE (at 904) may determine a plurality
of capability identifiers. Each capability identifier may be
associated with a set of UE radio capabilities. In one aspect, at
least one of the UE radio capabilities within a set of UE radio
capabilities may differ from the UE radio capabilities within
another set of UE radio capabilities. The UE (at 904) may determine
the at least one capability identifier from the plurality of
capability identifiers.
[0106] In some aspects, the UE (at 904) may determine the at least
one capability identifier further based on one or more UE
attributes. For example, as noted, the UE may support multiple
capability identifiers. Each capability identifier may be
associated with one or more UE attributes, including, e.g., a voice
centric or data centric profile, a particular geographical region,
a SW version, etc. The UE (at 904) may determine the at least one
capability identifier based on the UE attribute(s).
[0107] At 906, the UE sends the at least one capability identifier
to the network. In one aspect, the UE may send the at least one
capability identifier during a registration procedure with the
network. In one example, the UE may send the at least one
capability identifier via a RRC message. In another example, the UE
may send the at least one capability identifier via a NAS message
(e.g., 502 in FIG. 5, 506 in FIG. 5). The NAS message may include a
Registration message (e.g., 502 in FIG. 5) or an Identity Response
message (e.g., 506 in FIG. 5).
[0108] In some aspects, after sending the at least one capability
identifier at 906, the UE (as part of operations 900) may receive
an updated capability identifier from the network (e.g., 704 in
FIG. 7), where the updated capability identifier is associated with
the at least one set of UE radio capabilities.
[0109] In some aspects, after sending the at least one capability
identifier at 906, the UE (as part of operations 900) may determine
at least another capability identifier (e.g., 802 in FIG. 8). The
other capability identifier(s) may be associated with the at least
one set of UE radio capabilities or with a different set of UE
radio capabilities. The UE may send the other capability
identifier(s) to the network (e.g., 802 in FIG. 8, 502 in FIG. 5,
506 in FIG. 5). The UE may send the other capability identifier(s)
as part of another registration procedure with the network or
without performing another registration procedure with the network
(e.g., without performing network detach/reattach).
[0110] FIG. 10 illustrates example operations 1000 for wireless
communications, in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure. Operations 1000 may be performed by a network
node/entity, such as a gNB/eNB (e.g., BS 110 shown in FIG. 1), AMF,
MME, etc. Operations 1000 may be implemented as software components
(e.g., capability configuration component 170) that are executed
and run on one or more processors (e.g., processor 240 of FIG. 2).
Further, the communicating (e.g., transmission and/or reception of
signals) by the network node in operations 1000 may be enabled, for
example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas 234 of FIG. 2). In
certain aspects, the communicating (e.g., transmission and/or
reception of signals) by the network node may be implemented via a
bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., processor 240)
obtaining and/or outputting signals. Some of the operations 1000
may be complementary to operations 900 performed by the UE, e.g.,
for optimizing UE radio capability signaling.
[0111] Operations 1000 begin, at 1002, where the network node
receives an indication of at least one capability identifier from
the UE (e.g., 502 in FIG. 5, 506 in FIG. 5). In one aspect, the at
least one capability identifier may be received during a
registration procedure with the UE. The at least one capability
identifier is associated with at least one set of UE radio
capabilities. The indication of the at least one capability
identifier may be received via a RRC message or a NAS message
(e.g., 502 in FIG. 5, 506 in FIG. 5). The NAS message may include a
Registration message or an Identity Response message.
[0112] At 1004, the network node identifies the at least one set of
UE radio capabilities associated with the at least one capability
identifier. In one aspect, the UE (at 1004) may identify the at
least one set of UE radio capabilities by determining whether the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities have been stored in a
network and interacting with at least one of the UE or another
network node based on the determination (e.g., 508 in FIG. 5, 602
in FIG. 6). At 1006, the network node stores the at least one set
of UE radio capabilities associated with the at least one
capability identifier (e.g., 512 in FIG. 5, 612 in FIG. 6).
[0113] In some aspects, the network node (at 1004) may interact
with at least one of the UE or the other network node by retrieving
the at least one set of UE radio capabilities from the UE if the
determination is that the at least one set of UE radio capabilities
have not been stored in the network. For example, the network node
may send a UE capability enquiry message to the UE (e.g., 606 in
FIG. 6) and receive, in response to the UE capability enquiry
message, an indication of the at least one set of UE radio
capabilities from the UE (e.g., 608 in FIG. 6). In these aspects,
the network node may be a gNB or eNB.
[0114] In some aspects, the network node (at 1004) may interact
with at least one of the UE or the other network node by retrieving
the at least one set of UE radio capabilities if the network node
determines that the at least one set of UE radio capabilities have
been stored in the network (e.g., 508 in FIG. 5), and sending a
message (e.g., an initial context setup message) that includes the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities to the other network node
(e.g., 510 in FIG. 5). In these aspects, the network node may be an
AMF/MME and the other network node may be a gNB/eNB.
[0115] In some aspects, the network node (at 1004) may interact
with at least one of the UE or the other network node by retrieving
the at least one set of UE radio capabilities if the network node
determines that the at least one set of UE radio capabilities have
been stored in the network, and sending a message that includes the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities to the other network
node. In these aspects, the network node may be a gNB/eNB and the
other network node may be an AMF/MME.
[0116] In some aspects, the network node (at 1004) may interact
with at least one of the UE or the other network node by sending a
message (e.g., an initial context setup message) that does not
include the at least one set of UE radio capabilities to the other
network node if the determination is that the at least one set of
UE radio capabilities have not been stored in the network (e.g.,
602 and 604 in FIG. 6). After sending the message, the network node
may receive an indication of the at least one set of UE radio
capabilities from the other network node (e.g., 610 in FIG. 6). In
these aspects, the network node may be an AMF/MME and the other
network node may be a gNB/eNB.
[0117] In some aspects, the network node (at 1004) may interact
with at least one of the UE or the other network node by sending a
message (e.g., to the UE) requesting the UE radio capabilities
(e.g., 606 in FIG. 6), if the determination is that the at least
one set of UE radio capabilities have not been stored in the
network. After sending the message, the network node may receive an
indication of the at least one set of UE radio capabilities from
the UE (e.g., 608 in FIG. 6) and send an indication of the at least
one set of UE radio capabilities to the other network node (e.g.,
610 in FIG. 6). In these aspects, the network node may be a gNB/eNB
and the other network node may be an AMF/MME.
[0118] In some aspects, the network node (as part of operations
1000) may determine an updated capability identifier for the at
least one set of UE radio capabilities (e.g., 702 in FIG. 7) and
send an indication of the updated capability identifier to the UE
(e.g., 704 in FIG. 7). Additionally, or alternatively, in some
aspects, the network node (as part of operations 1000) may receive
at least another capability identifier from the UE (e.g., 802 in
FIG. 8). The other capability identifier may be associated with the
at least one set of UE radio capabilities or may be associated with
a different set of UE radio capabilities.
[0119] FIG. 11 illustrates a communications device 1100 that may
include various components (e.g., corresponding to
means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations
for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations
illustrated in FIGS. 5-10. The communications device 1100 includes
a processing system 1114 coupled to a transceiver 1112. The
transceiver 1112 is configured to transmit and receive signals for
the communications device 1100 via an antenna 1120, such as the
various signal described herein. The processing system 1114 may be
configured to perform processing functions for the communications
device 1100, including processing signals received and/or to be
transmitted by the communications device 1100.
[0120] The processing system 1114 includes a processor 1108 coupled
to a computer-readable medium/memory 1110 via a bus 1124. In
certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1110 is
configured to store instructions that when executed by processor
1108, cause the processor 1108 to perform the operations
illustrated in FIGS. 5-10 and/or other operations for performing
the various techniques discussed herein.
[0121] In certain aspects, the processing system 1114 further
includes a communicating component 1102 for performing the
operations illustrated at 906 in FIG. 9, operations illustrated at
1002 in FIG. 10, and/or operations depicted in FIGS. 5-8.
Additionally, the processing system 1114 includes a capability
configuration component 160 for performing the operations
illustrated at 902 and 904 in FIG. 9 and/or operations depicted in
FIGS. 5-8. The processing system 1114 further includes a capability
configuration component 170 for performing the operations
illustrated at 1004 and 1006 in FIG. 10 and/or operations depicted
in FIGS. 5-8. The communicating component 1102 and capability
configuration components 160, 170 may be coupled to the processor
1108 via bus 1124. In certain aspects, the communicating component
1102 and capability configuration components 160, 170 may be
hardware circuits. In certain aspects, the communicating component
1102 and capability configuration components 160, 170 may be
software components that are executed and run on processor
1108.
[0122] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or
actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or
actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from
the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of
steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific
steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the
scope of the claims.
[0123] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a
list of items refers to any combination of those items, including
single members. As an example, "at least one of: a, b, or c" is
intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any
combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a,
a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or
any other ordering of a, b, and c).
[0124] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide
variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include
calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating,
looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data
structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, "determining" may
include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g.,
accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, "determining" may
include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the
like.
[0125] The previous description is provided to enable any person
skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described
herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily
apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles
defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims
are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is
to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims,
wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to
mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather
"one or more." Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term
"some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional
equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described
throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known
to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated
herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the
claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be
dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is
explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be
construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112, sixth
paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase
"means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is
recited using the phrase "step for."
[0126] The various operations of methods described above may be
performed by any suitable means capable of performing the
corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware
and/or software component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not
limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit
(ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations
illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding
counterpart means-plus-function components with similar
numbering.
[0127] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and
circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be
implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a
digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic,
discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed
to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose
processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor may be any commercially available processor, controller,
microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration.
[0128] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware
configuration may comprise a processing system in a wireless node.
The processing system may be implemented with a bus architecture.
The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges
depending on the specific application of the processing system and
the overall design constraints. The bus may link together various
circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and a bus
interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network
adapter, among other things, to the processing system via the bus.
The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing
functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a UE 120 (see FIG. 1), a
user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may
also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other
circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,
power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in
the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. The
processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose
and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include
microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other
circuitry that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will
recognize how best to implement the described functionality for the
processing system depending on the particular application and the
overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.
[0129] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or
transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer
readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean
instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to
as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description
language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media include both
computer storage media and communication media including any medium
that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to
another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and
general processing, including the execution of software modules
stored on the machine-readable storage media. A computer-readable
storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that the
processor can read information from, and write information to, the
storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be
integral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable
media may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by
data, and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions
stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be
accessed by the processor through the bus interface. Alternatively,
or in addition, the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof,
may be integrated into the processor, such as the case may be with
cache and/or general register files. Examples of machine-readable
storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access
Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable
Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory),
EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory),
registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other
suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The
machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer-program
product.
[0130] A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many
instructions, and may be distributed over several different code
segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage
media. The computer-readable media may comprise a number of
software modules. The software modules include instructions that,
when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the
processing system to perform various functions. The software
modules may include a transmission module and a receiving module.
Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be
distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a
software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a
triggering event occurs. During execution of the software module,
the processor may load some of the instructions into cache to
increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded
into a general register file for execution by the processor. When
referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will
be understood that such functionality is implemented by the
processor when executing instructions from that software
module.
[0131] Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable
medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,
server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic
cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless
technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, then the
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless
technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in
the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include
compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc
(DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray.RTM. disc where disks usually
reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically
with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media may
comprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible
media). In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may
comprise transitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal).
Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope
of computer-readable media.
[0132] Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program
product for performing the operations presented herein. For
example, such a computer program product may comprise a
computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or
encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more
processors to perform the operations described herein. For example,
the instructions may include instructions for performing the
operations described herein and illustrated in FIGS. 5-10.
[0133] Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other
appropriate means for performing the methods and techniques
described herein can be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a
user terminal and/or base station as applicable. For example, such
a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of
means for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively,
various methods described herein can be provided via storage means
(e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc
(CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a user terminal and/or base
station can obtain the various methods upon coupling or providing
the storage means to the device. Moreover, any other suitable
technique for providing the methods and techniques described herein
to a device can be utilized.
[0134] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to
the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various
modifications, changes and variations may be made in the
arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus
described above without departing from the scope of the claims.
* * * * *