CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/270,422, which was filed October 21, 2021; and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/297,633, which was filed January 7, 2022.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to a user equipment (UE) switching between networks using measurement gaps.

BACKGROUND

Multi-universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) operations may enable a user equipment (UE) to stay connected in network A while trying to maintain radio resource management (RRM) status in network B at the same time. Enabling UE measurements on network B when staying connected in network A during measurement gaps may avoid data loss or interruptions on network A. The UE may need to request on-demand system information and receive system information (SI), such as system information blocks (SIBs), of network B cell in order to acquire the system information it needs to correctly carry out RRM measurements and other operations on network B in idle mode. However, existing measurement gaps may not be able to cope with the above-mentioned needs efficiently. Embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring for system information (SI) in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates components of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Figures 5, 6, and 7 depict examples of procedures for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

As introduced above, existing measurement gaps may not be able to efficiently cope with a UE switching between networks using MUSIM operations. As the prerequisite to RRM measurements and other operations, system information acquisition may not be addressed well by using the existing measurement gap patterns. Instead of using the existing measurement gaps, techniques herein relate to using new gap patterns to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B, for use cases such as idle mode measurements and system information (SI) acquisitions including on-demand SI requests and acquisitions.

In some embodiments, the UE may carry out SI acquisitions and on-demand SI operations during the new measurement gaps and any operation that is outside the gaps on network B may not be required for the UE to undertake. This means that the network may guarantee that the scheduled system information blocks (SIBs), on-demand SI operations and other necessary operations at network B are properly aligned with the configured gaps dedicated to the feature of Multi-user SIM and related switching between network A and network B.

Various embodiments herein may relate to SI acquisitions and on-demand SI operations and other necessary operations for switching between network A and network B. The feature of the MUSIM operations may enable the UE to stay connected in network A while trying to maintain the RRM status in network B at the same time. The design from 3GPP is to use measurement gaps which are specified already in the specification for legacy releases to enable the UE measurements on network B when staying connected in network A, during measurement gaps.

3GPP has identified 3 main scenarios for this design:

Scenario 1: Periodic switching, including single-sideband (SSB) detection/paging reception, serving cell measurement, neighbouring cell measurement including intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-radio access technology (RAT) measurement;

Scenario 2: SI receiving at network B; and

Scenario 3: Aperiodic (one-shot) switching with both transmission and reception at network B but will not enter RRC-connected state in network B (e.g. no RRC connection Resume/Setup) at network B, including On-demand SI request.

Regarding scenario 1, the UE may make use of the measurement gaps to carry out measurements on network B to maintain the RRM status while connecting to network A. All operations including SSB detection, serving/neighbour cell measurements and reception of paging are coped well with the existing measurement gap framework but there is one thing that is required as the prerequisite: system information of the cell the UE camps on at network B.

In the sense that the system information to the cell in the network B is necessary to all the periodic switching operations, scenario 2 may apply. For scenario 2, the UE needs to receive SIBs of network B cell in order to acquire the system information it needs to correctly carry out RRM measurements on network B in idle mode. However, the SIBs are scheduled with possibly more slots than any of the existing gap pattern can cope with. This means that the existing gap patterns and even the specified framework are not fit for scenario 2.

Scenario 3 implies the operation of a one-shot switching to network B, which may be similar to scenario 2, requiring the UE to carry out on-demand SI request based on either MSG 1/MSG 2 or MSG 3/MSG 4, which all require the UE to transmit and receive. Plus it may also need to read the SIBs after the demand is met by the network and SIBs are scheduled.

To sum up, existing measurement gap patterns and mechanisms may cope well with periodic switching and idle mode RRM measurements described in Scenario 1 but may not cope well with system information acquisition in general.

As mentioned above, acquiring system information may be a prerequisite for all operations described in Scenario 1. But the problem is that the possible window lengths for SIB scheduling are too long for measurement gaps.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a radio access network 2 (RAN2) system performing physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring for SI scheduling. As illustrated in Figure 1, it can be observed that the same SIB-s are scheduled repeatedly across SI periodicities and within one period but between SSB-s. As further shown in Figure 1, the PDCCH occasions for SIB scheduling are categorized into groups and each group corresponds with a certain SSB, within one specific SI window. The UE chooses one of the SSB-s and its corresponding PDCCH occasion (mapping between SSB and the PDCCH occasion is according to the network configuration) by UE implementation to receive the scheduled SIB-s. This means that the SIB-s are repeatedly scheduled within the SI window so that the UE can choose any one of them by the corresponding SSB.

Thus, it may not be necessary to have a gap pattern that is as lengthy as the actual SI window (length can be up to 1280 milliseconds (ms)). Instead, it may only be necessary for the gap pattern to have a length of at most the SSB periodicity. Further, since that the network knows exactly where the gaps and SIB-s are scheduled, it may be guaranteed that the UE will read all the SIB-s it needs within one gap which has a reasonable measurement gap length (MGL), such as 20ms in some embodiments. In some cases, legacy measurement gaps may not meet the need even for 20ms MGL. To be accurate, any SI window length that is longer than 6ms may not be suitable because the longest existing legacy MGL may be 6ms for SSB-based measurements.

Another aspect is the SI periodicity which may be up to 5120ms according to RAN2 spec. But system information is usually static. Once the UE reads it, it is highly likely that the UE will not read it again within quite a long period of time in case nothing special happens. That is to say, it may not be necessary to use measurement gaps which has less periodicity of 5120ms since a candidate SI periodicity may be a divisor to 5120.

Example 1 : The UE uses new gap patterns with longer MGL and measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) for switching between network A and B for the UE to correctly read the SIB-s at network B and it avoids data loss at network A; the new gap patterns are with the combination of MGL and MGRP of (20ms, 5120ms), (40ms, 5120ms), (80ms, 5120ms) and (160ms, 5120ms); the new gap patterns are dedicated to the feature of MUSIM and switching between network A and B.

Example 2: The dedicated gap mentioned in Example 1 is configured to the UE according to network measurement gap configurations; and the gap configurations from the network including MGL, MGRP and gap offset; it is guaranteed that the UE acquires the scheduled SIB-s correctly during the gaps; the UE is not required to acquire any SIB scheduling that is outside the MUSIM gaps.

It is predicted that the control plane delay should not exceed 160ms. This means that the gap patterns we introduce for SIB reading can also be applied for on-demand SI.

Example 3: The new gap patterns the UE uses for SIB acquisitions also apply to on- demand SI; the new gap patterns apply to both SIB acquisitions and on-demand SI operations. Another alternative for SIB acquisition and on-demand SI is to use autonomous gaps and DRX based operations. In the legacy releases, autonomous gaps and DRX based MIB/SIB acquisitions were introduced for CGI reading, the existing mechanisms and requirements may be applicable to SIB acquisitions and on-demand SI operations under MUSIM feature.

Example 4: Apply the mechanisms and requirements of autonomous gaps and DRX based operations specified for CGI reading to MUSIM SIB acquisitions and on-demand SI operations.

In summary: As the prerequisite to RRM measurements and other operations, system information acquisition may not be coped well by using the existing measurement gap patterns. Instead of using the existing measurement gaps, this method uses new gap patterns to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B, for use cases such as idle mode measurements and SI acquisitions including on-demand SI requests and acquisitions. The UE will carry out SI acquisitions and on-demand SI operations during the new measurement gaps and any operation that is outside the gaps on network B is not required for the UE to undertake. This means that the network guarantees that the scheduled SIB- s, on-demand SI operations and other necessary operations at network B are properly aligned with the configured gaps dedicated to the feature of Multi-user SIM and related switching between network A and network B.

UE Switching Between Networks Using One-Shot-Once-a- While (OSOAW) Processing

As noted above, the feature of the multi universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) operations enables a user equipment (UE) to stay connected in network A while trying to maintain the RRM status in network B at the same time. Using measurement gaps to enable the UE measurements on network B when staying connected in network A during measurement gaps may avoid data loss or interruptions on network A. However the UE may need to receive SIBs of network B cell in order to acquire the system information it needs to correctly carry out RRM measurements on network B in idle mode. Further the measurement gaps may not cover the lengths of the SIB scheduling.

Measurement gap cycle and duration value(s) may be sufficient to support all kinds of operations regarding switching between network A and B, including SSB detection, serving/neighbour cell measurements and reception of paging; however, as the prerequisite to these operations, SI acquisition cannot be coped well by using the existing measurement gaps. Instead of using the existing measurement gaps, this method considers using OSOAW (one-shot- once-a- while) manner to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B, for use cases such as idle mode measurements and SI acquisitions including on-demand SI requests and acquisitions. Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to solve the problem of SI acquisitions when switching between two networks (e.g., network A and network B).

The feature of the MUSIM operations may enable the UE to stay connected in a first network (network A) while trying to maintain the RRM status in a second network (network B) at the same time. The design from 3GPP is to use measurement gaps which are specified already in the 3GPP specifications for legacy releases to enable the UE measurements on network B when staying connected in network A, during measurement gaps.

3GPP has identified three main scenarios for this design:

Scenarios 1 : Periodic switching, including SSB detection/paging reception, serving cell measurement, neighbouring cell measurement including intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurement;

Scenarios 2: SI receiving at network B;

Scenarios 3: Aperiodic (one-shot) switching with both transmission and reception at network B but will not enter RRC-connected state in NW B (e.g. no RRC connection Resume/Setup) at network B, including On-demand SI request;

Regarding scenario 1, the UE may makes use of the measurement gaps to carry out measurements on network B to maintain the RRM status while connecting to network A. All operations including SSB detection, serving/neighbour cell measurements and reception of paging are coped well with the existing measurement gap framework but there is one thing that is required as the prerequisite: system information of the cell the UE camps on at network B.

In the sense that the system information to the cell in the network B is necessary to all the periodic switching operations, one may refer to scenario B. For scenario B, the UE may need to receive SIBs of network B cell in order to acquire the system information it needs to correctly carry out RRM measurements on network B in idle mode. However, the SIBs may be scheduled with possibly more slots than any of the existing gap pattern can cope with. This means that the existing gap patterns and even the specified framework may not be desirable for scenario 2.

Scenario 3 implies the operation of a one-shot switching to network B, in our opinion similar to scenario 2, requiring the UE to carry out on-demand SI request based on either MSG 1/MSG 2 or MSG 3/MSG 4, which all require the UE to transmit and receive. Plus it may also need to read the SIBs after the demand is met by the network and SIBs are scheduled.

Summarily, existing measurement gap patterns and mechanisms may cope well with periodic switching and idle mode RRM measurements described in Scenario 1, but may not cope well with system information acquisition in general. As mentioned above, acquiring system information is the prerequisite for all operations described in Scenario 1. But the problem is that the possible window lengths for SIB scheduling may be too long for measurement gaps.

Existing measurement gaps may not meet the need to successfully read all the SIBs scheduled in most of the cases. To be accurate, any SI window length that is longer than 6ms may not be coped with well since the longest existing MGL is 6ms.

System information is usually static. Once the UE reads it, it is highly likely that the UE will not read it again within quite a long period of time in case nothing special happens. That is to say it may not be necessary to use measurement gaps as the way when consider the periodic switching operations. It may be possible make use of something as a one-shot solution to acquire the SI once in a while, then to support the periodic switching with gaps afterwards. System information acquisition may be supported in a one-shot-once-a-while manner.

With regards to OSOAW, embodiments may describe various possible solutions. Firstly one solution may allow the UE to carry out autonomous acquisitions of the SI. But this solution may lead to interruptions on network A during the autonomous gap the UE uses on the acquisition. Another solution may choose to specify a configured one-shot-once-a-while gap for the UE to carry out SIB reading and avoid scheduling anything during this OSOAW gap at network A to get rid of the interruptions. In another solution, it may also be possible to specify the procedure for UE to request at network A to provide the system information of the camped cell at network B sent in the serving cell at network A. But this requires lots of standard work across groups.

In summary to the above analysis, embodiments herein may not use measurement gaps but something in a OSOAW (one-shot-once-a-while) manner to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B.

Embodiment 1 : Use OSOAW (one-shot-once-a-while) manner to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B.

Embodiment 2: Regarding the options for OSOAW solutions, possible ones are listed below:

Opt.l Allow the UE to carry out autonomous acquisitions of the SI

Opt.2 Specify a configured one-shot-once-a-while gap for the UE to carry out SIB reading and avoid scheduling anything during this OSOAW gap at network A to get rid of the interruptions

Opt.3 Specify the procedure for UE to request at network A to provide the system information of the camped cell at network B sent in the serving cell at network A

Example 3: UE capability signaling is used for the UE to indicate to the network, which one(s) of the listed solutions in Example 2 does the UE support in particular. In summary, measurement gap cycle and duration value(s) may be sufficient to support all kinds of operations regarding switching between network A and B, including SSB detection, serving/neighbor cell measurements and reception of paging; however, as the prerequisite to these operations, SI acquisition may not be coped well by using the existing measurement gaps. Instead of using the existing measurement gaps, embodiments may consider using OSOAW (one-shot- once-a- while) manner to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B, for use cases such as idle mode measurements and SI acquisitions including on-demand SI requests and acquisitions.

SYSTEMS AND I PLE ENTATIONS

Figures 2-4 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

Figure 2 illustrates a network 200 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 200 may operate in a manner consistent with 3 GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like.

The network 200 may include a UE 202, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 204 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 202 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 204 by a Uu interface. The UE 202 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electron! c/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

In some embodiments, the network 200 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

In some embodiments, the UE 202 may additionally communicate with an AP 206 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 206 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 204. The connection between the UE 202 and the AP 206 may be consistent with any IEEE 802. 11 protocol, wherein the AP 206 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 202, RAN 204, and AP 206 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 202 being configured by the RAN 204 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 204 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 208. AN 208 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 202 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 208 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 220 and the UE 202. In some embodiments, the AN 208 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 208 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 208 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In embodiments in which the RAN 204 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 204 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 204 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The ANs of the RAN 204 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 202 with an air interface for network access. The UE 202 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 204. For example, the UE 202 and RAN 204 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 202 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

The RAN 204 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

In V2X scenarios the UE 202 or AN 208 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an LTE RAN 210 with eNBs, for example, eNB 212. The LTE RAN 210 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an NG-RAN 214 with gNBs, for example, gNB 216, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 218. The gNB 216 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5GNR interface. The gNB 216 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 218 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 216 and the ng-eNB 218 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 214 and a UPF 248 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN214 and an AMF 244 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 214 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 202 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 202, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 202 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 202 and in some cases at the gNB 216. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 204 is communicatively coupled to CN 220 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 202). The components of the CN 220 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 220 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be an LTE CN 222, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 222 may include MME 224, SGW 226, SGSN 228, HSS 230, PGW 232, and PCRF 234 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 222 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 224 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 202 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 226 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 222. The SGW 226 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 228 may track a location of the UE 202 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 228 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 224; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 224 and the SGSN 228 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 230 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 230 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 230 and the MME 224 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/ authorizing user access to the LTE CN 220.

The PGW 232 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 236 that may include an application/ content server 238. The PGW 232 may route data packets between the LTE CN 222 and the data network 236. The PGW 232 may be coupled with the SGW 226 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 232 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 232 and the data network 236 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 232 may be coupled with a PCRF 234 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 234 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 222. The PCRF 234 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 238 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 232 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be a 5GC 240. The 5GC 240 may include an AUSF 242, AMF 244, SMF 246, UPF 248, NSSF 250, NEF 252, NRF 254, PCF 256, UDM 258, and AF 260 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 240 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 242 may store data for authentication of UE 202 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 242 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 240 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 242 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 244 may allow other functions of the 5GC 240 to communicate with the UE 202 and the RAN 204 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 202. The AMF 244 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 202), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 244 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 202 and the SMF 246, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 244 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 202 and an SMSF. AMF 244 may interact with the AUSF 242 and the UE 202 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 244 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 204 and the AMF 244; and the AMF 244 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 244 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 202 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 246 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 248 and AN 208); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 248 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 244 over N2 to AN 208; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 202 and the data network 236.

The UPF 248 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 236, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 248 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF- to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 248 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 250 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 202. The NSSF 250 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 250 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 202, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 254. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 202 may be triggered by the AMF 244 with which the UE 202 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 250, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 250 may interact with the AMF 244 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 250 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 252 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 260), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 252 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 252 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 260 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 252 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 252 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 252 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 252 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 252 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 254 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 254 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 254 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 256 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 256 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 258. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 256 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 258 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 202. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 258 and the AMF 244. The UDM 258 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 258 and the PCF 256, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 202) for the NEF 252. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 258, PCF 256, and NEF 252 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM- FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 258 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 260 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 240 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3 ^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 202 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 240 may select a UPF 248 close to the UE 202 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 248 to data network 236 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 260. In this way, the AF 260 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 260 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 260 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 260 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

The data network 236 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 238.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a wireless network 300 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 300 may include a UE 302 in wireless communication with an AN 304. The UE 302 and AN 304 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 302 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 304 via connection 306. The connection 306 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5GNR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

The UE 302 may include a host platform 308 coupled with a modem platform 310. The host platform 308 may include application processing circuitry 312, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 314 of the modem platform 310. The application processing circuitry 312 may run various applications for the UE 302 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 312 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations The protocol processing circuitry 314 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 306. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 310 may further include digital baseband circuitry 316 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 314 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

The modem platform 310 may further include transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, and RF front end (RFFE) 324, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 326. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 318 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 320 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 322 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 324 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 326, RFFE 324, RF circuitry 322, receive circuitry 320, digital baseband circuitry 316, and protocol processing circuitry 314. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 326 may receive a transmission from the AN 304 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 326.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 314, digital baseband circuitry 316, transmit circuitry 318, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 304 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 326.

Similar to the UE 302, the AN 304 may include a host platform 328 coupled with a modem platform 330. The host platform 328 may include application processing circuitry 332 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 334 of the modem platform 330. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 336, transmit circuitry 338, receive circuitry 340, RF circuitry 342, RFFE circuitry 344, and antenna panels 346. The components of the AN 304 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 302. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 308 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 4 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 400 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 410, one or more memory /storage devices 420, and one or more communication resources 430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 440 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 400.

The processors 410 may include, for example, a processor 412 and a processor 414. The processors 410 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

The memory /storage devices 420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 420 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 430 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 404 or one or more databases 406 or other network elements via a network 408. For example, the communication resources 430 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 450 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 410 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 450 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 410 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory /storage devices 420, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 450 may be transferred to the hardware resources 400 from any combination of the peripheral devices 404 or the databases 406. Accordingly, the memory of processors 410, the memory /storage devices 420, the peripheral devices 404, and the databases 406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

EXAMPLE PROCEDURES

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figures 2-4, or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in Figure 5, which may be performed by a nextgeneration NodeB (gNB) or portion thereof in some embodiments. For example, the process 500 may include, at 505, determining measurement gap configuration information associated with network switching for a user equipment (UE), wherein the measurement gap configuration information includes a measurement gap pattern having: a measurement gap length (MGL) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and a measurement gap repetition period of 5120ms. The process further includes, at 510, encoding a message for transmission to the UE that includes the measurement gap configuration information.

Another such process is depicted in Figure 6, which may be performed by a UE in some embodiments. In this example, process 600 includes, at 605, receiving, from a next-generation NodeB (gNB), measurement gap configuration information associated with network switching for the UE, wherein the measurement gap configuration information includes a measurement gap pattern having: a measurement gap length (MGL) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and a measurement gap repetition period of 5120ms. The process further includes, at 610, receiving, using the measurement gap configuration information, system information from a first network while connected to a second network.

Another such process is illustrated in Figure 7, which may be performed by a UE in some embodiments. In this example, process 700 includes, at 705, Determining a one-shot-once-a- while (OSOAW) measurement gap for the UE to retrieve system information (SI). The process further includes, at 710, retrieving the SI during the determined OSOAW measurement gap.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include the UE uses new gap patterns with longer MGL and MGRP for switching between network A and B for the UE to correctly read the SIB-s at network B and it avoids data loss at network A; the new gap patterns are with the combination of MGL and MGRP of (20ms, 5120ms), (40ms, 5120ms), (80ms, 5120ms) and (160ms, 5120ms); the new gap patterns are dedicated to the feature of MUSIM and switching between network A and B.

Example 2 may include the dedicated gap mentioned in Example 1 or some other example herein, wherein is configured to the UE according to network measurement gap configurations; and the gap configurations from the network including MGL, MGRP and gap offset; it is guaranteed that the UE acquires the scheduled SIB-s correctly during the gaps; the UE is not required to acquire any SIB scheduling that is outside the MUSIM gaps.

Example 3 may include the new gap patterns the UE uses for SIB acquisitions also apply to on-demand SI; the new gap patterns apply to both SIB acquisitions and on-demand SI operations.

Example 4 may apply the mechanisms and requirements of autonomous gaps and DRX based operations specified for CGI reading to MUSIM SIB acquisitions and on-demand SI operations. Example 5 includes a method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) or a portion thereof, wherein the method comprises: identifying that the UE is to switch from network A to network B; identifying a gap pattern with a measurement gap length (MGL) between 20 milliseconds (ms) and a 160 ms and a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) of 5120 ms; and reading, based on the identified gap pattern, one or more system information blocks (SIBs) of network B.

Example Al may use OSOAW (one-shot-once-a-while) manner to support UE’s switching to network B and reading the system information of the cell it camps at network B.

Example A2 may include regarding the options for OSOAW solutions, possible ones are listed below:

Opt.1 Allow the UE to carry out autonomous acquisitions of the SI

Opt.2 Specify a configured one-shot-once-a-while gap for the UE to carry out SIB reading and avoid scheduling anything during this OSOAW gap at network A to get rid of the interruptions

Opt.3 Specify the procedure for UE to request at network A to provide the system information of the camped cell at network B sent in the serving cell at network A

Example A3 may include UE capability signaling is used for the UE to indicate to the network, which one(s) of the listed solutions in Example 2 does the UE support in particular.

Example XI includes an apparatus comprising: memory to store measurement gap configuration information associated with network switching for a user equipment (UE); and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the measurement gap configuration information from the memory, wherein the measurement gap configuration information includes a measurement gap pattern having: a measurement gap length (MGL) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and a measurement gap repetition period of 5120ms; and encode a message for transmission to the UE that includes the measurement gap configuration information.

Example X2 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is applicable to both a system information block (SIB) acquisition and an on-demand system information (SI) operation by the UE.

Example X3 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is associated with an autonomous gap or a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation. Example X4 includes the apparatus of any of examples XI -X3 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap configuration information is associated with a multiple universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) operation.

Example X5 includes the apparatus of any of examples XI -X4 or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus includes a next-generation NodeB (gNB) or portion thereof.

Example X6 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a next-generation NodeB (gNB) to: determine measurement gap configuration information associated with network switching for a user equipment (UE), wherein the measurement gap configuration information includes a measurement gap pattern having: a measurement gap length (MGL) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and a measurement gap repetition period of 5120ms; and encode a message for transmission to the UE that includes the measurement gap configuration information.

Example X7 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is applicable to both a system information block (SIB) acquisition and an on-demand system information (SI) operation by the UE.

Example X8 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is associated with an autonomous gap or a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation.

Example X9 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples X6- X8 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap configuration information is associated with a multiple universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) operation.

Example XI 0 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a user equipment (UE) to: receive, from a next-generation NodeB (gNB), measurement gap configuration information associated with network switching for the UE, wherein the measurement gap configuration information includes a measurement gap pattern having: a measurement gap length (MGL) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and a measurement gap repetition period of 5120ms; and receive, using the measurement gap configuration information, system information from a first network while connected to a second network.

Example XI 1 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 0 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is applicable to both a system information block (SIB) acquisition and an on-demand system information (SI) operation by the UE.

Example XI 2 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 0 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap pattern is associated with an autonomous gap or a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation.

Example XI 3 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples X10-X12 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement gap configuration information is associated with a multiple universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) operation.

Example XI 4 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a user equipment (UE) to: determine a one-shot-once-a-while (OSOAW) measurement gap for the UE to retrieve system information (SI); and retrieve the SI during the determined OSOAW measurement gap.

Example XI 5 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X14 or some other example herein, wherein the SI is retrieved in conjunction with the UE switching from a first network to a second network.

Example XI 6 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X14 or some other example herein, wherein the memory further stores instructions to configure the UE to encode a message for transmission to a network that includes an indication of the OSOAW measurement gap.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-X16, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions or parts thereof. Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1- X16, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions thereof.

Example Zll may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 6, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments. Abbreviations

Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 V16.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

3GPP Third Generation 35 AP Application BRAS Broadband

Partnership Protocol, Antenna Remote Access

Project Port, Access Point 70 Server

4G Fourth API Application BSS Business

Generation Programming Interface Support System

5G Fifth Generation 40 APN Access Point BS Base Station

5GC 5G Core Name BSR Buffer Status network ARP Allocation and 75 Report

AC Retention Priority BW Bandwidth

Application ARQ Automatic BWP Bandwidth Part

Client 45 Repeat Request C-RNTI Cell

ACR Application AS Access Stratum Radio Network

Context Relocation ASP 80 Temporary

ACK Application Service Identity

Acknowledgeme Provider CA Carrier nt 50 Aggregation,

ACID ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Certification

Application Notation One 85 Authority

Client Identification AUSF Authentication CAPEX CAPital

AF Application Server Function Expenditure

Function 55 AWGN Additive CBRA Contention

AM Acknowledged White Gaussian Based Random

Mode Noise 90 Access

AMBRAggregate BAP Backhaul CC Component

Maximum Bit Rate Adaptation Protocol Carrier, Country

AMF Access and 60 BCH Broadcast Code, Cryptographic

Mobility Channel Checksum

Management BER Bit Error Ratio 95 CCA Clear Channel

Function BFD Beam Assessment

AN Access Network Failure Detection CCE Control Channel

ANR Automatic 65 BLER Block Error Rate Element

Neighbour Relation BPSK Binary Phase CCCH Common

AOA Angle of Shift Keying 100 Control Channel

Arrival CE Coverage

Enhancement CDM Content Delivery CoMP Coordinated Resource Network Multi-Point Indicator

CDMA Code- CORESET Control C-RNTI Cell Division Multiple Resource Set RNTI

Access 40 COTS Commercial Off- 75 CS Circuit Switched

CDR Charging Data The-Shelf CSCF call Request CP Control Plane, session control function

CDR Charging Data Cyclic Prefix, CSAR Cloud Service Response Connection Archive

CFRA Contention Free 45 Point 80 CSI Channel-State Random Access CPD Connection Information CG Cell Group Point Descriptor CSI-IM CSI CGF Charging CPE Customer Interference

Gateway Function Premise Measurement CHF Charging 50 Equipment 85 CSI-RS CSI

Function CPICHCommon Pilot Reference Signal

CI Cell Identity Channel CSI-RSRP CSI CID Cell-ID (e g., CQI Channel Quality reference signal positioning method) Indicator received power CIM Common 55 CPU CSI processing 90 CSI-RSRQ CSI Information Model unit, Central reference signal CIR Carrier to Processing Unit received quality Interference Ratio C/R CSI-SINR CSI CK Cipher Key Command/Resp signal-to-noise and CM Connection 60 onse field bit 95 interference ratio Management, CRAN Cloud Radio CSMA Carrier Sense

Conditional Access Network, Multiple Access Mandatory Cloud RAN CSMA/CA CSMA CM AS Commercial CRB Common with collision Mobile Alert Service 65 Resource Block 100 avoidance CMD Command CRC Cyclic CSS Common Search CMS Cloud Redundancy Check Space, Cell- specific Management System CRI Channel-State Search Space CO Conditional Information Resource CTF Charging Optional 70 Indicator, CSI-RS 105 Trigger Function CTS Clear-to-Send DSL Domain Specific 70 ECSP Edge

CW Codeword Language. Digital Computing Service

CWS Contention Subscriber Line Provider

Window Size DSLAM DSL EDN Edge

D2D Device-to- 40 Access Multiplexer Data Network

Device DwPTS 75 EEC Edge

DC Dual Downlink Pilot Enabler Client

Connectivity, Direct Time Slot EECID Edge

Current E-LAN Ethernet Enabler Client

DCI Downlink 45 Local Area Network Identification

Control E2E End-to-End 80 EES Edge

Information EAS Edge Enabler Server

DF Deployment Application Server EESID Edge

Flavour ECCA extended clear Enabler Server

DL Downlink 50 channel Identification

DMTF Distributed assessment, 85 EHE Edge

Management Task extended CCA Hosting Environment

Force ECCE Enhanced EGMF Exposure

DPDK Data Plane Control Channel Governance

Development Kit 55 Element, Management

DM-RS, DMRS Enhanced CCE 90 Function

Demodulation ED Energy EGPRS

Reference Signal Detection Enhanced GPRS

DN Data network EDGE Enhanced EIR Equipment

DNN Data Network 60 Datarates for GSM Identity Register

Name Evolution (GSM 95 eLAA enhanced

DNAI Data Network Evolution) Licensed Assisted

Access Identifier EAS Edge Access,

Application Server enhanced LAA

DRB Data Radio 65 EASID Edge EM Element

Bearer Application Server 100 Manager

DRS Discovery Identification eMBB Enhanced

Reference Signal ECS Edge Mobile

DRX Discontinuous Configuration Server Broadband

Reception EMS Element E-UTRAN Evolved FDM Frequency

Management System UTRAN Division eNB evolved NodeB, EV2X Enhanced V2X Multiplex E-UTRAN Node B F1AP Fl Application FDM A Frequency EN-DC E- 40 Protocol 75 Division Multiple UTRA-NR Dual Fl-C Fl Control plane Access

Connectivity interface FE Front End

EPC Evolved Packet Fl-U Fl User plane FEC Forward Error Core interface Correction

EPDCCH enhanced 45 FACCH Fast 80 FFS For Further

PDCCH, enhanced Associated Control Study

Physical CHannel FFT Fast Fourier

Downlink Control FACCH/F Fast Transformation

Cannel Associated Control feLAA further enhanced

EPRE Energy per 50 Channel/Full 85 Licensed Assisted resource element rate Access, further EPS Evolved Packet FACCH/H Fast enhanced LAA System Associated Control FN Frame Number

EREG enhanced REG, Channel/Half FPGA Field- enhanced resource 55 rate 90 Programmable Gate element groups FACH Forward Access Array ETSI European Channel FR Frequency

Telecommunicat FAUSCH Fast Range ions Standards Uplink Signalling FQDN Fully Qualified Institute 60 Channel 95 Domain Name

ETWS Earthquake and FB Functional Block G-RNTI GERAN Tsunami Warning FBI Feedback Radio Network System Information Temporary eUICC embedded FCC Federal Identity UICC, embedded 65 Communications 100 GERAN

Universal Commission GSM EDGE

Integrated Circuit FCCH Frequency RAN, GSM EDGE Card Correction CHannel Radio Access

E-UTRA Evolved FDD Frequency Network

UTRA 70 Division Duplex GGSN Gateway GPRS 35 GTP GPRS Tunneling 70 HSS Home Support Node Protocol Subscriber Server GLONASS GTP-UGPRS HSUPA High

GLObal'naya Tunnelling Protocol Speed Uplink Packet

NAvigatsionnay for User Plane Access a Sputnikovaya 40 GTS Go To Sleep 75 HTTP Hyper Text Sistema (Engl.: Signal (related to Transfer Protocol Global Navigation WUS) HTTPS Hyper

Satellite System) GUMMEI Globally Text Transfer Protocol gNB Next Generation Unique MME Identifier Secure (https is NodeB 45 GUTI Globally Unique 80 http/ 1.1 over gNB-CU gNB- Temporary UE SSL, i.e. port 443) centralized unit, Next Identity I-Block

Generation HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Information

NodeB Hybrid Block centralized unit 50 Automatic 85 ICCID Integrated gNB-DU gNB- Repeat Request Circuit Card distributed unit, Next HANDO Handover Identification

Generation HFN HyperFrame IAB Integrated

NodeB Number Access and Backhaul distributed unit 55 HHO Hard Handover 90 ICIC Inter-Cell GNSS Global HLR Home Location Interference Navigation Satellite Register Coordination

System HN Home Network ID Identity,

GPRS General Packet HO Handover identifier Radio Service 60 HPLMN Home 95 IDFT Inverse Discrete

GPSI Generic Public Land Mobile Fourier

Public Subscription Network Transform

Identifier HSDPA High IE Information GSM Global System Speed Downlink element for Mobile 65 Packet Access 100 IBE In-Band

Communications HSN Hopping Emission , Groupe Special Sequence Number IEEE Institute of Mobile HSPA High Speed Electrical and

Packet Access Electronics 35 loT Internet of 70 code, USIM

Engineers Things Individual key

IEI Information IP Internet Protocol kB Kilobyte (1000

Element Identifier Ipsec IP Security, bytes)

IEIDL Information Internet Protocol kbps kilo-bits per

Element Identifier 40 Security 75 second

Data Length IP-CAN IP- Kc Ciphering key

IETF Internet Connectivity Access Ki Individual

Engineering Task Network subscriber

Force IP-M IP Multicast authentication

IF Infrastructure 45 IPv4 Internet Protocol 80 key

IIOT Industrial Version 4 KPI Key

Internet of Things IPv6 Internet Protocol Performance Indicator

IM Interference Version 6 KQI Key Quality

Measurement, IR Infrared Indicator

Intermodulation, 50 IS In Sync 85 KSI Key Set

IP Multimedia IRP Integration Identifier

IMC IMS Credentials Reference Point ksps kilo-symbols per

IMEI International ISDN Integrated second

Mobile Services Digital KVM Kernel Virtual

Equipment 55 Network 90 Machine

Identity ISIM IM Services LI Layer 1

IMGI International Identity Module (physical layer) mobile group identity ISO International Ll-RSRP Layer 1 IMPI IP Multimedia Organisation for reference signal

Private Identity 60 Standardisation 95 received power

IMPU IP Multimedia ISP Internet Service L2 Layer 2 (data

PUblic identity Provider link layer)

IMS IP Multimedia IWF Interworking- L3 Layer 3

Subsystem Function (network layer)

IMSI International 65 I-WLAN 100 LAA Licensed

Mobile Interworking Assisted Access

Subscriber WLAN LAN Local Area

Identity Constraint length Network of the convolutional LADN Local M2M Machine-to- 70 MCG Master Cell

Area Data Network Machine Group

LBT Listen Before MAC Medium Access MCOT Maximum

Talk Control (protocol Channel

LCM LifeCycle 40 layering context) Occupancy Time

Management MAC Message 75 MCS Modulation and

LCR Low Chip Rate authentication code coding scheme

LCS Location (security/encryption MD AF Management

Services context) Data Analytics

LCID Logical 45 MAC-A MAC Function

Channel ID used for 80 MDAS Management

LI Layer Indicator authentication Data Analytics

LLC Logical Link and key Service

Control, Low Layer agreement (TSG MDT Minimization of

Compatibility 50 T WG3 context) Drive Tests

LMF Location MAC -IMAC used for 85 ME Mobile

Management Function data integrity of Equipment

LOS Line of signalling messages MeNB master eNB

Sight (TSG T WG3 context) MER Message Error

LPLMN Local 55 MANO Ratio

PLMN Management and 90 MGL Measurement

LPP LTE Positioning Orchestration Gap Length

Protocol MBMS MGRP Measurement

LSB Least Significant Multimedia Gap Repetition

Bit 60 Broadcast and Multicast Period

LTE Long Term Service 95 MIB Master

Evolution MBSFN Information Block,

LWA LTE-WLAN Multimedia Management aggregation Broadcast multicast Information Base

LWIP LTE/WLAN 65 service Single MIMO Multiple Input

Radio Level Frequency 100 Multiple Output

Integration with Network MLC Mobile Location

IPsec Tunnel MCC Mobile Country Centre

LTE Long Term Code MM Mobility

Evolution Management MME Mobility MSID Mobile Station NE-DC NR-E- Management Entity Identifier UTRA Dual MN Master Node MSIN Mobile Station Connectivity

MNO Mobile Identification NEF Network

Network Operator 40 Number 75 Exposure Function MO Measurement MSISDN Mobile NF Network

Object, Mobile Subscriber ISDN Function

Originated Number NFP Network

MPBCH MTC MT Mobile Forwarding Path

Physical Broadcast 45 Terminated, Mobile 80 NFPD Network CHannel Termination Forwarding Path

MPDCCH MTC MTC Machine-Type Descriptor

Physical Downlink Communications NFV Network

Control CHannel mMTCmassive MTC, Functions

MPDSCH MTC 50 massive Machine- 85 Virtualization

Physical Downlink Type Communications NFVI NFV Shared CHannel MU-MIMO Multi Infrastructure

MPRACH MTC User MIMO NFVO NFV

Physical Random MWUS MTC Orchestrator

Access CHannel 55 wake-up signal, MTC 90 NG Next Generation,

MPUSCH MTC wus Next Gen

Physical Uplink Shared NACKNegative NGEN-DC NG-RAN Channel Acknowledgement E-UTRA-NR Dual

MPLS MultiProtocol NAI Network Access Connectivity

Label Switching 60 Identifier 95 NM Network

MS Mobile Station NAS Non-Access Manager

MSB Most Significant Stratum, Non- Access NMS Network Bit Stratum layer Management System

MSC Mobile NCT Network N-PoP Network Point

Switching Centre 65 Connectivity Topology 100 of Presence

MSI Minimum NC-JT NonNMIB, N-MIB

System coherent Joint Narrowband MIB

Information, Transmission NPBCH MCH Scheduling NEC Network Narrowband Information 70 Capability Exposure 105 Physical Broadcast NSA Non-Standalone 70 OSI Other System

CHannel operation mode Information

NPDCCH NSD Network Service OSS Operations

Narrowband Descriptor Support System

Physical 40 NSR Network Service OTA over-the-air

Downlink Record 75 PAPR Peak-to- Av erage

Control CHannel NSSAINetwork Slice Power Ratio

NPDSCH Selection PAR Peak to Average

Narrowband Assistance Ratio

Physical 45 Information PBCH Physical

Downlink S-NNSAI Single- 80 Broadcast Channel

Shared CHannel NSSAI PC Power Control,

NPRACH NSSF Network Slice Personal

Narrowband Selection Function Computer

Physical Random 50 NW Network PCC Primary

Access CHannel NWUSNarrowband 85 Component Carrier,

NPUSCH wake-up signal, Primary CC

Narrowband Narrowband WUS P-CSCF Proxy

Physical Uplink NZP Non-Zero Power CSCF

Shared CHannel 55 O&M Operation and PCell Primary Cell

NPSS Narrowband Maintenance 90 PCI Physical Cell ID,

Primary ODU2 Optical channel Physical Cell

Synchronization Data Unit - type 2 Identity

Signal OFDM Orthogonal PCEF Policy and

NSSS Narrowband 60 Frequency Division Charging

Secondary Multiplexing 95 Enforcement

Synchronization OFDMA Function

Signal Orthogonal PCF Policy Control

NR New Radio, Frequency Division Function

Neighbour Relation 65 Multiple Access PCRF Policy Control

NRF NF Repository OOB Out-of-band 100 and Charging Rules

Function OOS Out of Sync Function

NRS Narrowband OPEX OPerating PDCP Packet Data

Reference Signal EXpense Convergence Protocol,

NS Network Service Packet Data Convergence PNFD Physical 70 PSCCH Physical Protocol layer Network Function Sidelink Control PDCCH Physical Descriptor Channel Downlink Control PNFR Physical PSSCH Physical Channel 40 Network Function Sidelink Shared PDCP Packet Data Record 75 Channel Convergence Protocol POC PTT over PSCell Primary SCell PDN Packet Data Cellular PSS Primary Network, Public PP, PTP Point-to- Synchronization

Data Network 45 Point Signal PDSCH Physical PPP Point-to-Point 80 PSTN Public Switched

Downlink Shared Protocol Telephone Network Channel PRACH Physical PT-RS Phase-tracking PDU Protocol Data RACH reference signal Unit 50 PRB Physical PTT Push-to-Talk PEI Permanent resource block 85 PUCCH Physical Equipment PRG Physical Uplink Control

Identifiers resource block Channel PFD Packet Flow group PUSCH Physical Description 55 ProSe Proximity Uplink Shared P-GW PDN Gateway Services, 90 Channel PHICH Physical Proximity-Based QAM Quadrature hybrid-ARQ indicator Service Amplitude channel PRS Positioning Modulation PHY Physical layer 60 Reference Signal QCI QoS class of PLMN Public Land PRR Packet 95 identifier Mobile Network Reception Radio QCL Quasi coPIN Personal PS Packet Services location Identification Number PSBCH Physical QFI QoS Flow ID, PM Performance 65 Sidelink Broadcast QoS Flow Identifier Measurement Channel 100 QoS Quality of PMI Precoding PSDCH Physical Service Matrix Indicator Sidelink Downlink QPSK Quadrature PNF Physical Channel (Quaternary) Phase Network Function Shift Keying QZSS Quasi-Zenith RL Radio Link 70 RRC Radio Resource

Satellite System RLC Radio Link Control, Radio

RA-RNTI Random Control, Radio Resource Control

Access RNTI Link Control layer

RAB Radio Access 40 layer RRM Radio Resource

Bearer, Random RLC AM RLC 75 Management

Access Burst Acknowledged Mode RS Reference Signal

RACH Random Access RLC UM RLC RSRP Reference Signal

Channel Unacknowledged Mode Received Power

RADIUS Remote 45 RLF Radio Link RSRQ Reference Signal

Authentication Dial In Failure 80 Received Quality

User Service RLM Radio Link RS SI Received Signal

RAN Radio Access Monitoring Strength Indicator

Network RLM-RS RSU Road Side Unit

RANDRANDom 50 Reference Signal RSTD Reference Signal number (used for for RLM 85 Time difference authentication) RM Registration RTP Real Time

RAR Random Access Management Protocol

Response RMC Reference RTS Ready-To-Send

RAT Radio Access 55 Measurement Channel RTT Round Trip

Technology RMSI Remaining MSI, 90 Time

RAU Routing Area Remaining Rx Reception,

Update Minimum Receiving, Receiver

RB Resource block, System S1AP SI Application

Radio Bearer 60 Information Protocol

RBG Resource block RN Relay Node 95 SI -MME SI for group RNC Radio Network the control plane

REG Resource Controller Sl-U SI for the user

Element Group RNL Radio Network plane

Rel Release 65 Layer S-CSCF serving

REQ REQuest RNTI Radio Network 100 CSCF

RF Radio Frequency Temporary Identifier S-GW Serving Gateway

RI Rank Indicator ROHC RObust Header S-RNTI SRNC

RIV Resource Compression Radio Network indicator value Temporary SCTP Stream Control SgNB Secondary gNB Identity 35 Transmission 70 SGSN Serving GPRS

S-TMSI SAE Protocol Support Node Temporary Mobile SDAP Service Data S-GW Serving Gateway

Station Identifier Adaptation Protocol, SI System

SA Standalone Service Data Information operation mode 40 Adaptation 75 SI-RNTI System SAE System Protocol layer Information RNTI Architecture SDL Supplementary SIB System

Evolution Downlink Information Block

SAP Service Access SDNF Structured Data SIM Subscriber Point 45 Storage Network 80 Identity Module

SAPD Service Access Function SIP Session Initiated Point Descriptor SDP Session Protocol SAPI Service Access Description Protocol SiP System in Point Identifier SDSF Structured Data Package SCC Secondary 50 Storage Function 85 SL Sidelink Component Carrier, SDT Small Data SLA Service Level Secondary CC Transmission Agreement

SCell Secondary Cell SDU Service Data SM Session

SCEF Service Unit Management

Capability Exposure 55 SEAF Security Anchor 90 SMF Session Function Function Management Function

SC-FDMA Single SeNB secondary eNB SMS Short Message Carrier Frequency SEPP Security Edge Service Division Protection Proxy SMSF SMS Function

Multiple Access 60 SFI Slot format 95 SMTC SSB-based

SCG Secondary Cell indication Measurement Timing Group SFTD Space- Configuration

SCM Security Context Frequency Time SN Secondary Node, Management Diversity, SFN Sequence Number

SCS Subcarrier 65 and frame timing 100 SoC System on Chip Spacing difference SON Self-Organizing

SFN System Frame Network Number SpCell Special Cell SP-CSI-RNTISemi- Reference Signal TCI Transmission

Persistent CSI RNTI Received Quality Configuration Indicator

SPS Semi-Persistent SS-SINR TCP Transmission

Scheduling Synchronization Communication

SQN Sequence 40 Signal based Signal to 75 Protocol number Noise and Interference TDD Time Division

SR Scheduling Ratio Duplex

Request SSS Secondary TDM Time Division

SRB Signalling Radio Synchronization Multiplexing

Bearer 45 Signal 80 TDMATime Division

SRS Sounding SSSG Search Space Set Multiple Access

Reference Signal Group TE Terminal

SS Synchronization SSSIF Search Space Set Equipment

Signal Indicator TEID Tunnel End

SSB Synchronization 50 SST Slice/Service 85 Point Identifier

Signal Block Types TFT Traffic Flow

SSID Service Set SU-MIMO Single Template

Identifier User MIMO TMSI Temporary

SS/PBCH Block SUL Supplementary Mobile

SSBRI SS/PBCH Block 55 Uplink 90 Subscriber

Resource Indicator, TA Timing Identity

Synchronization Advance, Tracking TNL Transport

Signal Block Area Network Layer

Resource Indicator TAC Tracking Area TPC Transmit Power

SSC Session and 60 Code 95 Control

Service TAG Timing Advance TPMI Transmitted

Continuity Group Precoding Matrix

SS-RSRP TAI Tracking Indicator

Synchronization Area Identity TR Technical Report

Signal based 65 TAU Tracking Area 100 TRP, TRxP

Reference Signal Update Transmission

Received Power TB Transport Block Reception Point

SS-RSRQ TBS Transport Block TRS Tracking

Synchronization Size Reference Signal Signal based 70 TBD To Be Defined 105 TRx Transceiver TS Technical 35 UML Unified 70 V2V Vehicle-to-

Specifications, Modelling Language Vehicle

Technical UMTS Universal V2X Vehicle-to-

Standard Mobile every thing

TTI Transmission Telecommunicat VIM Virtualized

Time Interval 40 ions System 75 Infrastructure Manager

Tx Transmission, UP User Plane VL Virtual Link,

Transmitting, UPF User Plane VLAN Virtual LAN,

Transmitter Function Virtual Local Area

U-RNTI UTRAN URI Uniform Network

Radio Network 45 Resource Identifier 80 VM Virtual Machine

Temporary URL Uniform VNF Virtualized

Identity Resource Locator Network Function

UART Universal URLLC UltraVNFFG VNF

Asynchronous Reliable and Low Forwarding Graph

Receiver and 50 Latency 85 VNFFGD VNF

Transmitter USB Universal Serial Forwarding Graph

UCI Uplink Control Bus Descriptor Information USIM Universal VNFMVNF Manager

UE User Equipment Subscriber Identity VoIP Voice-over-IP,

UDM Unified Data 55 Module 90 Voice-over- Internet

Management USS UE-specific Protocol

UDP User Datagram search space VPLMN Visited

Protocol UTRA UMTS Public Land Mobile

UDSF Unstructured Terrestrial Radio Network

Data Storage Network 60 Access 95 VPN Virtual Private

Function UTRAN Universal Network

UICC Universal Terrestrial Radio VRB Virtual Resource

Integrated Circuit Access Network Block

Card UwPTS Uplink WiMAX

UL Uplink 65 Pilot Time Slot 100 Worldwide

UM V2I Vehicle-to- Interoperability

Unacknowledge Infrastruction for Microwave d Mode V2P Vehicle-to- Access Pedestrian WLANWireless Local Area Network

WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network WPANWireless Personal Area Network

X2-C X2-Control plane X2-U X2-User plane XML extensible Markup

Language XRES EXpected user RESponse XOR exclusive OR ZC Zadoff-Chu

ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computerexecutable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like. The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConflguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block. The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC. The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.