(12) United States Patent
`US 10,484,915 132
`(10) Patent No.:
`Peisa et al.
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Nov. 19, 2019
`
`US010484915B2
`
`IDENTIFYING A BEAM FOR ACCESSING A
`TARGET CELL OF A WIRELESS
`HANDOVER
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2011/0310845 A1* 12/2011 Jung ................... H04W 36/385
`370/331
`5/2012 Wu ................... H04W 36/0022
`455/437
`
`2012/0122459 A1*
`
`(Continued)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`WO
`
`2016043502 Al
`
`3/2016
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
`(E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification
`(Release 14), 3GPP TS 36.331 V14.0.0 (Sep. 2016).
`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner 7 Jay P Patel
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`In accordance with particular embodiments, there is dis-
`closed herein a method performed by a wireless device for
`handover. The method comprises receiving a first handover
`message from a source network node associated with a
`source cell. The first handover message comprises an iden-
`tification of a target cell and access information associated
`with the target cell. The target cell is different than the source
`cell and comprises one or more beams. The method also
`includes identifying at least one beam from among the one
`or more beams of the target cell. The at least one beam is
`identified based on the identification of the target cell and the
`access information from the first handover message. The
`method further includes accessing the target cell using the
`identified at least one beam.
`
`15 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`(54)
`
`(71)
`
`(72)
`
`(73)
`
`Applicant: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM
`ERICSSON (PUBL), Stockholm (SE)
`
`Inventors: Janne Peisa, Espoo (FI); Icaro L. J.
`Da Silva, Solna (SE)
`
`Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM
`ERICSSON (PUBL), Stockholm (SE)
`
`(*)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. No.: 16/211,399
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Dec. 6, 2018
`
`(65)
`
`(63)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2019/0110234 A1
`
`Apr. 11, 2019
`
`Related US. Application Data
`
`application
`of
`Continuation
`PCT/IB2017/056880, filed on Nov. 3, 2017.
`(Continued)
`
`No.
`
`Int. Cl.
`
`(51)
`
`H04L 12/24
`H04W36/00
`
`(52)
`
`US. Cl.
`
`CPC
`
`(2006.01)
`(2009.01)
`(Continued)
`
`(58)
`
`H04W 36/0072 (201 3 .01); H04W 36/0077
`(2013.01); H04W 36/08 (2013.01); H04W
`74/0833 (2013.01)
`
`Field of Classification Search
`CPC ........... H04W 36/0072; H04W 36/077; H04W
`36/08; H04W 74/0833
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`
`19"
`(‘3UE
`
`
`
`
`51°”
`SewingNude
`
`
`
`
`5103”
`D’
`TargetNode
`
`
`
`
`User Data
`1—P
`
`Active mode RS resource pre—
`configuration and H0 preparation
`1—P
`
`Data
`
`
`
`Early H0 Command‘sag
`Active mode RS beam/s (DL T-F sync)
`
`Active mode RS beam/s (DL T-F sync)
`Measurement of
`Active mode RS
`
`User
`
`H0 Confirm
`
`
`
`1
`
`SAMSUNG 1001
`
`SAMSUNG 1001
`
`1
`
`

`

`US 10,484,915 B2
` Page 2
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 62/417,714, filed on Nov.
`4, 2016.
`
`(51)
`
`(56)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04W 36/08
`H04W 74/08
`
`(2009.01)
`(2009.01)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2014/0228032 A1*
`
`2015/0071250 A1*
`
`2015/0079945 A1*
`
`3/2015 Dai
`
`8/2014 Jung ....................... H04W 8/02
`455/436
`....................... H04W36/38
`370/331
`3/2015 Rubin ................... H04W 12/08
`455/411
`
`2016/0381699 A1* 12/2016 Rubin ................. H04L 67/2809
`370/329
`9/2017 Ryoo .................... H04W 16/28
`2017/0257780 A1*
`2017/0331577 A1* 11/2017 Parkvall
`H04J11/0079
`2017/0331670 A1* 11/2017 Parkvall .
`. H04W 52/0274
`...... H04B 7/043
`2018/0034515 A1*
`2/2018 Guo
`
`.. H04W48/16
`2018/0035470 A1*
`2/2018 Chen ..
`
`2018/0359785 A1* 12/2018 Chen ..................... H04W48/16
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group
`Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
`(E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Net-
`work (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 14), 3GPP
`TS 36.300 V14.0.0 (Sep. 2016).
`Ericsson, Inter-cell Handover in NR, R2-168730, 3GPP TSG-RAN
`WG2 Meeting #96, Reno, Nevada, USA, Nov. 14-18, 2016.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19,2019
`
`Sheet 1 017
`
`US 10,484,915 132
`
`1 ‘
`
`_ ............................. -1
`
`1. Measurement Reports
`1
`H
`i ,—
`\‘1
`eNB makes HO
`1’
`decision to move UE l
`, to a Cell in Target eNB,»3
`1 M
`2. Context Data (UE RAN Context)
`
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`1
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`L3 signalling
`———>
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`User Data
`——————— +
`____ __
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`/’
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`1
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`1“ —————————————————— 1— ————————————————————
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`packet data
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`Figure 1
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`(prior art)
`
`3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
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`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`NOV. 19, 2019
`
`Sheet 3 of 7
`
`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`m83mm
`
`850m5261
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`
`5
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19,2019
`
`Sheet 4 017
`
`US 10,484,915 132
`
`DA "-
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`UEj
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`l
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`
`6
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19, 2019
`
`Sheet 5 of 7
`
`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`
`
`5
`
`User Data
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`
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`
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`
`Measurement of
`Active mode RS
`
`
`User Data
`
`HO Confirm
`
`Figure 5
`
`7
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19, 2019
`
`Sheet 6 of 7
`
`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`
`
`/
`
`START
`
`Determine access information
`
`60 ’
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`
`END
`
`\_
`
`8
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 19, 2019
`
`Sheet 7 of 7
`
`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`
`
`
`
`‘712
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`
`9
`
`

`

`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`1
`IDENTIFYING A BEAM FOR ACCESSING A
`TARGET CELL OF A WIRELESS
`HANDOVER
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation of International Appli-
`cation No. PCT/162017/056880, filed Nov. 3, 2017, which
`claims the benefit of US. Application No. 62/417,714, filed
`Nov. 4, 2016, the disclosures of which are fully incorporated
`herein by reference.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`Embodiments presented herein relate to wireless han-
`dover, and in particular to methods, network nodes, wireless
`devices, computer programs, or computer program products
`for wireless handover.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`One of the design goals of the New Radio (NR) for 5G
`wireless communication is to support operation on high
`frequencies (e.g., 28 GHZ), where massive beamforming is
`needed to maintain adequate radio coverage. This has an
`impact on a number of system functions, including mobility
`procedures such as handover (H0). The HO procedure used
`in legacy long term evolution (LTE)
`(e.g., 4G wireless
`communication) is depicted in FIG. 1.
`the user
`In legacy wireless communication systems,
`equipment (UE) has been configured with event based report
`triggering criteria. Once a triggering criterion has been met,
`the UE sends a measurement report to the source eNB (the
`eNB to which the UE is currently connected) via radio
`resource control (RRC). The measurement reporting param-
`eters provided by the network aim to minimize both ping-
`pong as well as handover failures. For intra-frequency
`mobility this is typically achieved by configuring an A3
`measurement event so that a report is triggered when a
`neighbour cell is found to be a few dB better than the serving
`cell. Due to measurement errors in bad radio conditions and
`
`due to the necessary filtering, the actual difference in signal
`strength may be worse than anticipated by the configured
`event threshold. A consequence of this is that many mea-
`surement reports and the subsequent mobility related RRC
`signalling are exchanged in challenging radio conditions and
`are hence error prone.
`The mechanisms designed in LTE for mobility do not
`provide sufficient mechanisms for mobility in beam based
`systems. In particular, in a beam-based system like NR, and
`especially in higher frequency bands, the serving radio link
`to the UE may become impaired much more rapidly than in
`conventional LTE deployments. As the UE is moving out of
`the current serving beam coverage area,
`it may not be
`possible to conduct RRC signalling via the serving node to
`complete the HO procedure.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`An object of embodiments herein is to provide mobility
`mechanisms, such as handover, that support beam based
`systems. According to certain embodiments, a method per-
`formed by a wireless device for handover includes receiving
`a first handover message from a source network node
`associated with a source cell. The first handover message
`includes an identification of a target cell and access infor-
`mation associated with the target cell. The target cell
`is
`
`2
`
`different than the source cell and comprises one or more
`beams. The access information includes beam related infor-
`
`mation. The method also includes identifying at least one
`beam from among the one or more beams of the target cell
`based on the identification of the target cell and the access
`information from the first handover message. The method
`additionally includes accessing the target cell using the
`identified at least one beam.
`
`In some embodiments, the target cell is associated with a
`second network node that is different than the source net-
`work node. In certain embodiments, the access information
`comprises Random Access Channel (RACH) information. In
`particular embodiments the target cell has at
`least
`two
`beams. In such embodiments, the access information may
`comprise an indication of allowed beams associated with the
`target cell. The allowed beams may be fewer than all of the
`beams of the target cell. In some embodiments, the access
`information may include a random access preamble that is
`mapped to each of the allowed beams of the target cell. In
`certain embodiments, the access information includes com-
`mon random access configuration information and dedicated
`random access resources for the allowed beams. In certain
`
`embodiments, accessing the target cell using the identified at
`least one beam may comprise accessing the target cell using
`a contention based random access procedure. In particular
`embodiments, accessing the target cell using the identified at
`least one beam may comprise accessing the target cell
`without first reading system information associated with the
`target cell.
`According to certain embodiments, a wireless device for
`handover includes a wireless interface configured to receive
`a first handover message from a source network node. The
`source network node is associated with a source cell. The
`
`first handover message includes an identification of a target
`cell and access information associated with the target cell.
`The target cell is different than the source cell and comprises
`one or more beams. The wireless device also includes
`
`processing circuitry configured to identify at least one beam
`from among the one or more beams of the target cell based
`on the identification of the target cell and the access infor-
`mation from the first handover message. The wireless device
`also includes an input and output interface that is configured
`to receive input information and provide output information.
`The wireless device further includes a power source that is
`configured to provide power to the wireless interface, pro-
`cessing circuitry and input and output interface. The wireless
`interface is further configured to access the target cell using
`the identified at least one beam.
`In accordance with certain embodiments, a wireless com-
`munication system for handover includes at least two net-
`work nodes. The wireless communication system also
`includes at least one wireless device wirelessly connected to
`a first of the at least two network nodes. The first network
`
`node is configured to determine access information associ-
`ated with a second of the at least two network nodes for the
`at least one wireless device. The first network node is also
`
`configured to prepare the access information associated with
`the second network node to be transmitted to the at least one
`
`wireless device. The at least one wireless device is config-
`ured to receive a handover message from the first network
`node. The handover message comprising an identification
`associated with the second network node and the access
`information associated with the second network node. The at
`
`least one wireless device is also configured to identify and
`select at least one beam from the second network node. The
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`at least one wireless device is further configured to access
`10
`
`10
`
`

`

`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`3
`the second network node using the identified and selected at
`least one beam based on the access information from the
`
`handover message.
`In accordance with certain embodiments, a wireless
`device for handover comprises a processor and computer
`readable storage media. The storage media contains instruc-
`tions that are executable by the processor. When the instruc-
`tions are executed, the wireless device is operative to receive
`a first handover message from a source network node
`associated with a source cell. The first handover message
`comprises an identification of a target cell and access
`information associated with the target cell. The target cell is
`different than the source cell and comprises one or more
`beams. The wireless device is also operative to identify at
`least one beam from among the one or more beams of the
`target cell based on the identification of the target cell and
`the access information from the first handover message. The
`wireless device is additionally operative to access the target
`cell using the identified at least one beam.
`In accordance with some embodiments, a wireless device
`for handover comprises a receiver unit configured to receive
`a first handover message from a source network node
`associated with a source cell. The first handover message
`comprises an identification of a target cell and access
`information associated with the target cell. The target cell is
`different than the source cell and comprises one or more
`beams. The wireless device also comprises an identification
`unit configured to identify at least one beam from among the
`one or more beams of the target cell based on the identifi-
`cation of the target cell and the access information from the
`first handover message. The wireless device further includes
`an access unit configured to access the target cell using the
`identified at least one beam.
`
`Advantageously one or more embodiments provide addi-
`tional information in the contents of the handover command
`
`related to target beams in neighbouring cells. Additionally,
`one or more embodiments provide an extension of the
`synchronization and random access procedure to allow for
`the selection of a beam in the target cell. Certain embodi-
`ments further provide the ability to associate the handover
`command with a condition (e.g., RRCConnectionRecon-
`figuration with mobilityControlInfo). As soon as the UE
`determines the condition to be fulfilled,
`it executes the
`handover in accordance with the handover command.
`
`Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be inter-
`preted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical
`field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All refer-
`ences to “a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means,
`step, etc.” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least
`one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,
`step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any
`method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the
`exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.
`It is to be noted that any feature of any of the above
`embodiments may be applied to any other embodiment,
`wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the
`embodiments herein may apply to the other embodiments,
`and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of
`the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the fol-
`lowing detailed disclosure, attached claims, and drawings.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Particular embodiments are now described, by way of
`example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
`which:
`
`4
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates a signalling diagram for active mode
`mobility in legacy LTE wireless communication systems;
`FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a wireless network
`in accordance with particular embodiments;
`FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment in
`accordance with particular embodiments;
`FIG. 4 illustrates a signalling diagram of a handover in
`accordance with particular embodiments;
`FIG. 5 illustrates a signalling diagram of a conditional
`handover execution based on downlink received signal
`measurements, in accordance with particular embodiments;
`FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method for wireless
`
`handover, in accordance with particular embodiments; and
`FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of the functional units
`of a wireless device and a network node, in accordance with
`particular embodiments.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`Some of the embodiments contemplated by the claims
`will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference
`to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, how-
`ever, are contained within the scope of the claims and the
`claims should not be construed as limited to only the
`embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are
`provided by way of example so that this disclosure will
`assist in conveying the inventive concept to those skilled in
`the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the
`description.
`Although the embodiments described herein may be
`implemented in any appropriate type of system using any
`suitable components, particular embodiments described
`herein may be implemented in a wireless network such as
`the example wireless communication network illustrated in
`FIG. 2. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the
`wireless communication network provides communication
`and other types of services to one or more wireless devices.
`In the illustrated embodiment, the wireless communication
`network includes network nodes 220 and 220a that facilitate
`wireless device 210’s access to and/or use of the services
`
`provided by and through the wireless communication net-
`work. The wireless communication network may further
`include any additional elements suitable to support commu-
`nication between wireless devices or between a wireless
`device and another communication device, such as a land-
`line telephone.
`Network 250 may comprise one or more backbone net-
`works, IP networks, public switched telephone networks
`(PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area
`networks (WANs),
`local area networks (LANs), wireless
`local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless
`networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to
`enable communication between devices.
`
`The wireless communication network may represent any
`type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular,
`and/or radio network or other type of system. In particular
`embodiments, the wireless communication network may be
`configured to operate according to specific standards or
`other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particu-
`lar embodiments of the wireless communication network
`
`may implement communication standards, such as Global
`System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal
`Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term
`Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G
`standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards,
`such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appro-
`priate wireless communication standard, such as the World-
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`US 10,484,915 B2
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`5
`wide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Blu-
`etooth, and/or ZigBee standards.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless network comprising a more
`detailed view of network node 220 and wireless device
`
`(WD) 210, in accordance with a particular embodiment. For
`simplicity, FIG. 2 only depicts network 250, network nodes
`220 and 22011, and WD 210. The detailed view of network
`node 220 comprises the hardware components of interface
`221, antenna 221a (may be referred to collectively as an
`interface or a wireless interface), processor 222, and storage
`223. Similarly, the detailed view of WD 210 comprises the
`hardware components of interface 211 and antenna 211a
`(may be referred to collectively as interface or wireless
`interface) processor 212, and storage 213. These compo-
`nents may work together in order to provide network node
`and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wire-
`less connections in a wireless network and/or facilitating in
`the handover of wireless connections in a beam based
`network. In different embodiments, the wireless network
`may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks,
`network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices,
`relay stations, and/or any other components that may facili-
`tate or participate in the communication of data and/or
`signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
`A network node may refer to equipment capable, config-
`ured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or
`indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other equip-
`ment in the wireless communication network that enable
`
`and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device or
`which provide some service to a wireless device that has
`accessed the wireless communication network. Examples of
`network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points
`(APs), in particular radio access points, and base stations
`(BSs), such as radio base stations. Particular examples of
`radio base stations include Node Bs, and evolved Node Bs
`(eNBs). Base stations may be categorized based on the
`amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their
`transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as
`femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations,
`or macro base stations. Anetwork node may also include one
`or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such
`as centralized digital units and/or
`remote radio units
`(RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads
`(RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be
`integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
`Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred
`to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). As a
`particular non-limiting example, a base station may be a
`relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay node.
`Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-
`standard radio (MSR) radio equipment such as MSR BSs,
`network controllers
`such as
`radio network controllers
`
`(RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver
`stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes,
`Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), core
`network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, 088
`nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs),
`and/or MDTs.
`
`the components of network node 220 are
`In FIG. 2,
`depicted as single boxes located within a single larger box.
`In practice however, a network node may comprise multiple
`different physical components that make up a single illus-
`trated component (e.g., interface 221 may comprise termi-
`nals for coupling wires for a wired connection and a radio
`transceiver for a wireless connection). As another example,
`network node 220 may be a virtual network node in which
`multiple different physically separate components interact to
`
`6
`provide the functionality of network node 220 (e.g., proces-
`sor 222 may comprise three separate processors located in
`three separate enclosures, where each processor is respon-
`sible for a different function for a particular instance of
`network node 220). Similarly, network node 220 may be
`composed of multiple physically separate components (e. g.,
`a NodeB component and a RNC component, a BTS com-
`ponent and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have
`their own respective processor, storage, and interface com-
`ponents. In certain scenarios in which network node 220
`comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and
`BSC components), one or more of the separate components
`may be shared among several network nodes. For example,
`a single RNC may control multiple NodeB’s. In such a
`scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be con-
`sidered a separate network node. In some embodiments,
`network node 220 may be configured to support multiple
`radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments,
`some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate storage
`223 for the different RATs) and some components may be
`reused (e.g., the same antenna 221a may be shared by the
`RATs).
`Processor 222 may be a combination of one or more of a
`microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central process-
`ing unit, digital signal processor, application specific inte-
`grated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other
`suitable computing device, resource, or combination of
`hardware and software and/or encoded logic operable to
`provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network
`node 220 components, such as storage 223, network node
`220 functionality. For example, processor 222 may execute
`instructions stored in storage 223. Such functionality may
`include providing various wireless features discussed herein
`to a wireless device, such as WD 210, including any of the
`features or benefits disclosed herein.
`
`Storage 223 may comprise any form of non-transitory
`volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory includ-
`ing, without
`limitation, persistent
`storage,
`solid state
`memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, opti-
`cal media,
`random access memory (RAM),
`read-only
`memory (ROM), removable media, or any other suitable
`local or remote memory component. Storage 223 may store
`any suitable instructions, data or information,
`including
`software and/or encoded logic, utilized by network node
`220. Storage 223 may be used to store any calculations made
`by processor 222 and/or any data received via interface 221.
`Network node 220 also comprises interface 221 which
`may be used in the wired or wireless communication of
`signalling and/or data between network node 220, network
`250, and/or WD 210. For example,
`interface 221 may
`perform any formatting, coding, or translating that may be
`needed to allow network node 220 to send and receive data
`from network 250 over a wired connection. Interface 221
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`may also include a radio transmitter and/or receiver that may
`be coupled to or a part of antenna 22111. The radio may
`receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network
`nodes or WDs via wireless connections. The radio may
`convert
`the digital data into a radio signal having the
`appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio
`signal may then be transmitted via antenna 221a to the
`appropriate recipient (e.g., WD 210). The radio signal may
`comprise one or more beams.
`Antenna 221a may be any type of antenna capable of
`transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In
`some embodiments, antenna 221a may comprise one or
`more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to
`transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 1 GHz
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`US 10,484,915 B2
`
`7
`and 100 GHZ. An omni-directional antenna may be used to
`transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector
`antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from
`devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be
`a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals
`in a relatively straight line.
`A wireless device (WD) may refer to a device capable,
`configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wire-
`lessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices.
`Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or
`receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic signals,
`radio waves, infrared signals, and/or other types of signals
`suitable for conveying information through air. In particular
`embodiments, a wireless device may be configured to trans-
`mit and/or receive information without direct human inter-
`
`action. For instance, a wireless device may be designed to
`transmit information to a network on a predetermined sched-
`ule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in
`response to requests from the network. Examples of wireless
`devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE)
`such as smart phones. Further examples include wireless
`cameras, wireless-enabled tablet computers, laptop-embed-
`ded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME),
`USB dongles, and/or wireless customer-premises equipment
`(CPE). In some embodiments, a wireless device may support
`device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by
`implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication,
`and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication
`device.
`
`As one specific example, a wireless device may represent
`a UE configured for communication in accordance with one
`or more communication standards promulgated by the 3rd
`Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s
`GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. A UE may not
`necessarily have a “user” in the sense of a human user who
`owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may
`represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation
`by, a human user but that may not initially be associated with
`a specific human user, such as smart sensors or smart meters.
`The features, functionality, steps, and benefits described
`with respect to a WD may be equally applicable to a UE and
`vice versa.
`
`As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things
`(IoT) scenario, a wireless device may represent a machine or
`other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements,
`and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or mea-
`surements to another wireless device and/or a network node.
`
`The wireless device may in this case be a machine-to-
`machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be
`referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) device.
`As one particular example, the wireless device may be a UE
`implementing the 3GPP narrow band intemet of things
`(NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or
`devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters,
`industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances, e.g.
`refrigerators,
`televisions, personal wearables
`such as
`watches etc. In other scenarios, a wireless device may
`represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of
`monitoring and/or reporting on its operational st