WO2025060437A1

WO2025060437A1 - Random access for a-iot device

Info

Publication number: WO2025060437A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/091881
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jie Hu; Jing HAN; Haiming Wang; Luning Liu
Original assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Current assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Priority date: 2024-05-09
Filing date: 2024-05-09
Publication date: 2025-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-09

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, processors, and computer readable medium for random access of the A-IoT device. In the solution, a first device, such as the A-IoT device, may determine a random access type based on information associated with at least one random access configuration from a second device. The A-IoT device may further initiate the random access procedure based on the determined random access type. As such, a random access procedure for an A-IoT device is enabled, for supporting variety of use cases.

Description

RANDOM ACCESS FOR A-IOT DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to devices, methods, apparatuses, processors, and computer readable medium for random access of an ambient internet of things (ambient-IoT or A-IoT) device.

BACKGROUND

A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may be otherwise known as an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. Each network communication devices, such as a base station may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) , or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) . Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G) ) .

Ambient-IoT (A-IoT) is recommended to open new market within 3GPP systems to address the uses cases and scenario that cannot be fulfilled by existing 3GPP Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) IoT technologies, whose number of connections and/or device density can be orders of magnitude higher than existing 3GPP IoT technologies, which relies on ultra-low complexity devices with ultra-low power consumption for the very-low end IoT applications. According to the general scope defined for A-IoT, the basic procedures for an A-IoT device to enable data transmission includes e.g., paging, random access, data transmission, etc., it is proposed that the A-IoT devices can perform a random access-like procedure, but details of which are still for further study.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to devices, methods, apparatuses, processors, and computer readable medium for random access of an A-IoT device. According to embodiments in the present disclosure, the A-IoT device can determine a random access type and further initiate the random access procedure based on the determined random access type.

In some implementations, there is provided a first device, such as an A-IoT device. The first device comprises at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first device to: receive, from a second device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; determine a first random access type based on the first message; and transmit, to the second device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure based on the first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration.

In some implementations, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the second device to: transmit, to a first device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; and receive, from the first device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure which is based on a first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration, wherein the first random access type is determined by the first device based on the first message.

In some implementations, there is provided a method performed by the first device. The method comprises: receiving, from a second device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; determining a first random access type based on the first message; and transmitting, to the second device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure based on the first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration.

In some implementations, there is provided a method performed by the second device. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; and receiving, from the first device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure which is based on a first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration, wherein the first random access type is determined by the first device based on the first message.

In some implementations, there is provided a processor for wireless communication. The processor comprises at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive, from a second device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; determine a first random access type based on the first message; and transmit, to the second device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure based on the first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration.

In some implementations, there is provided a processor for wireless communication. The processor comprises at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: transmit, to a first device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; and receive, from the first device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure which is based on a first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration, wherein the first random access type is determined by the first device based on the first message.

In some implementations of the methods and the first device described herein, the information comprises an indication of multiple random access types, further comprising: selecting the first random access type from the multiple random access types based on a predefined condition.

In some implementations of the methods and the first device described herein, further comprising: determining that the first random access type is a type of contention free random access (CFRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of: an identifier (ID) of the first device and a dedicated resource for the first device, or a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices and dedicated resources for the plurality of first devices respectively.

In some implementations of the methods and the first device described herein, further comprising: determining that the first random access type is a type of contention based random access (CBRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of: a group ID of a group of first devices, filter information for the group of first devices, a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices, filter information for the plurality of first devices, or contention resolution related parameters; and determining that the first random access type is a first type or a second type based on a predefined condition.

In some implementations of the methods and the first device described herein, further comprising: determining that the first random access type is the first type based on one of: the device energy storage of the first device satisfies a first energy threshold, the measurement result indicating that a channel quality satisfies a first quality threshold, or the device capability or the device type indicates independent signal generation.

In some implementations of the methods and the first device described herein, further comprising: determining that the first random access type is the second type based on one of: the device energy storage of the first device satisfies a second energy threshold, the measurement result indicating that a channel quality satisfies a second quality threshold, or the device capability or the device type without indicates an independent signal generation.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the information comprises an indication of the first random access type.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the predefined condition is associated with one of: a device energy storage of the first device, a measurement result for at least the first message, a device capability of the first device, or a device type of the first device.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the at least one random access configuration in the first message comprises: a first resource configuration for a first type of random access procedure, and a second resource configuration for a second type of random access procedure.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the first message comprises a first configuration index associated with the first resource configuration and a second configuration index associated with the second resource configuration.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the information in the first message is used for a specific access occasion or a specific access round.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the first random access type is determined based on: a detected measurement result of a previous transmission from the first device, or service information received from a core network entity or a server.

In some implementations of the methods, the first device, and the second device described herein, the random access procedure of the first device is performed in parallel with a further random access procedure of a further first device during a same access occasion or a same access round, and wherein the first random access type is different.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic of a 4-step like random access procedure for an A-IoT device;

FIG. 2B illustrates an example schematic of a 2-step like random access procedure for an A-IoT device;

FIG. 2C illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 3 illustrates a signalling chart illustrating communication process in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a processor that is suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a first device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a second device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below. In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “some embodiments, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment (s) described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment (s) . Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” or the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element could also be termed as a second element, and similarly, a second element could also be termed as a first element, without departing from the scope of embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms. In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatuses are referred to as “best, ” “lowest, ” “highest, ” “minimum, ” “maximum, ” or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises, ” “comprising, ” “has, ” “having, ” “includes” and/or “including, ” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, components and/or the like, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. For example, the term “includes” and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean “includes, but is not limited to. ” The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on. ” The term “one embodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least one embodiment. ” The term “another embodiment” is to be read as “at least one other embodiment. ” The use of an expression such as “A and/or B” can mean either “only A” or “only B” or “both A and B. ” Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more network entities 102 (also referred to as network equipment (NE) ) , one or more UEs 104, a core network (CN) 106, and a packet data network 108. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as a long term evolution (LTE) network or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 5G network, such as a new radio (NR) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , or code division multiple access (CDMA) , etc.

The one or more network entities 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the network entities 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a radio access network (RAN) , a base transceiver station, an access point, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. A network entity 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link 110, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, a network entity 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

A network entity 102 may provide a geographic coverage area 112 for which the network entity 102 may support services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, message, broadcast, etc. ) for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area 112. For example, a network entity 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. ) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, a network entity 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network. In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas 112 associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 112 may be associated with different network entities 102. Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The one or more UEs 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a remote unit, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (IoE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be stationary in the wireless communications system 100. In some other implementations, a UE 104 may be mobile in the wireless communications system 100.

The one or more UEs 104 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some examples of UEs 104 are illustrated in FIG. 1. A UE 104 may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as the network entities 102, other UEs 104, or network equipment (e.g., the CN 106, the packet data network 108, a relay device, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, or another network equipment) , as shown in FIG. 1. Additionally, or alternatively, a UE 104 may support communication with other network entities 102 or UEs 104, which may act as relays in the wireless communications system 100.

A UE 104 may also be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link 114. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link 114 may be referred to as a sidelink (SL) . For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.

A network entity 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another network entity 102, or both. For example, a network entity 102 may interface with the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or another network interface) . The network entities 102 may communicate with each other over the backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or another network interface) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 may communicate with each other directly (e.g., between the network entities 102) . In some other implementations, the network entities 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106) . In some implementations, one or more network entities 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC) . An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs) .

In some implementations, a network entity 102 may be configured in a disaggregated architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed among two or more network entities 102, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 102 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) , a distributed unit (DU) , a radio unit (RU) , a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, or any combination thereof.

An RU may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 102 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 102 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some implementations, one or more network entities 102 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .

Split of functionality between a CU, a DU, and an RU may be flexible and may support different functionalities depending upon which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, radio frequency functions, and any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU, a DU, or an RU. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU and a DU such that the CU may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some implementations, the CU may host upper protocol layer (e.g., a layer 3 (L3) , a layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) , service data adaption protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU may be connected to one or more DUs or RUs, and the one or more DUs or RUs may host lower protocol layers, such as a layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or an L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU.

Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU and an RU such that the DU may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs) . In some implementations, a functional split between a CU and a DU, or between a DU and an RU may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU, a DU, or an RU, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU, the DU, or the RU) .

A CU may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU may be connected to one or more DUs via a midhaul communication link (e.g., F1, F1-C, F1-U) , and a DU may be connected to one or more RUs via a fronthaul communication link (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some implementations, a midhaul communication link or a fronthaul communication link may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 102 that are in communication via such communication links.

The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) , or a 5G core (5GC) , which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management functions (AMF) ) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc. ) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more network entities 102 associated with the CN 106.

The CN 106 may communicate with the packet data network 108 over one or more backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or another network interface) . The packet data network 108 may include an application server 118. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server 118. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via a network entity 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server 118 using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session) . The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106) .

In the wireless communications system 100, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) ) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures) . The network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.

One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., μ=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., μ=1) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., μ=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., μ=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames) . Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., μ=0, μ=1, μ=2, μ=3, μ=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols) . In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing) , a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) , FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) , FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the network entities 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data) . In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the network entities 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies) . For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) , which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., μ=1) , which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies) . For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) , which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

A study item on Ambient IoT in Rel-18 provides a terminological and scoping framework for further discussions of Ambient IoT. It has defined representative use cases, deployment scenarios, connectivity topologies, Ambient IoT devices, design targets, and required functionalities; it also conducted a preliminary feasibility assessment and gave recommendations for down-selection in setting the scope of Rel-19 RAN WG level study. The third generation partner project (3GPP) Rel-19 A-IoT study targets a further assessment at RAN WG-level of Ambient IoT, a new 3GPP IoT technology, suitable for deployment in a 3GPP system, which relies on ultra-low complexity devices with ultra-low power consumption for the very-low end IoT applications.

Ambient IoT devices are characterized according to their energy storage capacity, and capability of generating RF signals for their transmissions. The A-IoT device has either: no energy storage at all, or limited energy storage. Relying on these storage capacities, the Ambient IoT devices can be categorized to:

- Device A: No energy storage, no independent signal generation/amplification, i.e. backscattering transmission.

- Device B: Has energy storage, no independent signal generation, i.e. backscattering transmission. Use of stored energy can include amplification for reflected signals.

- Device C: Has energy storage, has independent signal generation, i.e., active RF components for transmission.

A limited energy storage can be different among implementations within Device B or implementations within Device C, and different between Device B and Device C. Such storage is expected to be order (s) of magnitude smaller than an NB-IoT device would typically include. Relying on the power peak power consumption and DL/UL amplification in the device, Device B and device C can be further categorized to:

- Device 1: ～1 μW peak power consumption, has energy storage, initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) up to 10^X ppm, neither DL nor UL amplification in the device. The device’s UL transmission is backscattered on a carrier wave provided externally.

- Device 2a: ≤ a few hundred μW peak power consumption, has energy storage, initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) up to 10^X ppm, both DL and/or UL amplification in the device. The device’s UL transmission is backscattered on a carrier wave provided externally.

- Device 2b: ≤ a few hundred μW peak power consumption, has energy storage, initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) up to 10^X ppm, both DL and/or UL amplification in the device. The device’s UL transmission is generated internally by the device.

Device A, B, and C are able to demodulate control, data, etc. from the relevant entity in RAN according to connectivity topology.

According to the general scope defined for A-IoT, the basic procedures for an A-IoT device to enable device-originated --device-terminated triggered (DO-DTT) and device-terminated (DT) data transmission includes e.g., paging, random access, data transmission, etc. It has been approved that the baseline procedure for an Ambient-IoT device to support the inventory and command use cases includes: Step A: Based on the service request, the reader sends the Initial Trigger Message indicating device (s) that need to respond; Step B: Triggered device (s) performs the random access-like procedure, if needed; Step C: The device may perform the data communication with the reader as needed.

Regarding the random-access like procedure, it can be used to trigger the access for a single A-IoT device, a group of A-IoT devices, or all A-IoT devices. Both the solutions related to contention-based and contention-free access procedure, 2-step like random access procedures and 4-step like random access procedures are under discussion. FIGS. 2A-2B illustrates examples of 4-step like random access and 2-step like random access respectively.

For contention-based and contention-free access procedures: the A-IoT device (s) may determine whether contention resolution is needed during the random-access procedures. For contention-based access procedure, devices need to perform contention resolution during the procedure, while for contention-free access procedure, the reader schedules dedicate resources for the uplink transmission directly. For the first type and the second type like random access like procedure: the A-IoT device (s) may determine whether to include both device ID and data in the first step message from the A-IoT device to the reader. For the first type random access like procedure, devices include both device ID and data information in the first message, i.e., MsgA to the reader, and RACH procedure is considered as completed after receiving the confirmation from the reader in the second message, i.e., MsgB. The first type random access like procedure can be referred as 2-step like random access like procedure with MsgA transmission; For the second type random access like procedure, devices include only device ID information in the first step message, i.e., Msg1 to the reader, the second type random access like procedure can also be referred as 4-step like random access procedure or 2-step like random access procedure with Msg1 transmission. For 4-step like random access procedure, device includes only device ID information in the first step message, i.e., Msg1 to the reader, and the data is transmitted in Msg3 after receiving the confirm massage from the reader in Msg2, RACH procedure is considered as completed after receiving the confirmation from the reader in Msg4. For 2-step like random access procedure with MSG1 transmission, devices include only device ID information in the first step message, i.e., Msg1, and RACH procedure is considered as completed after receiving the confirmation from the reader in Msg2.

Since the A-IoT device may not support a measurement as the UE does, the random access procedure by a UE may not be applied to the A-IoT device directly.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for a random access procedure of an A-IoT device. In the solution, the A-IoT device may determine a random access type based on information associated with at least one random access configuration. The A-IoT device may further initiate the random access procedure based on the determined random access type. As such, a random access procedure for an A-IoT device is enabled, for supporting variety of use cases. Principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the figures.

FIG. 2C illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network 200 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 2C, the communication network 200 may include an A-IoT device 210, a BS 220-1, a UE 220-2, and a CN entity 230. With reference to FIG. 1, the BS 220-1 may be the network entity 102, and the UE 220-2 may be the UE 104.

For ease of description, the A-IoT device 210 may be referred to as a first device, and the BS 220-1 and the UE 220-2 may be collectively or separately referred to as a communication device 220 or a second device. In some examples, the communication device 220 may be referred to as a reader for the A-IoT device 210. It is to be noted that although a BS and/or a UE is illustrated as a reader, the device type of the reader can be in a different type which is not limited for this aspect.

The CN entity 230 may be a network function (NF) in CN, such as a 5GC or a 6G core network. For example, the CN entity 230 may be implemented as an A-IoT function (AIF) or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of a 5GC.

It is to be understood that the numbers of communication devices or A-IoT devices shown in FIG. 2C are only for the purpose of illustration. The communication network 200 may include any suitable number of devices.

FIG. 3 illustrates a signalling chart illustrating communication process 300 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 300 may involve an A-IoT device 210, a communication device 220, and a CN entity 230 as discussed with reference to FIG. 2C. It would be appreciated that the process 300 may be applied to other communication scenarios, which will not be described in detail. The process 300 may be regarded as a random access procedure or a random access like procedure for the A-IoT device 210.

At 310, the communication device 220 transmits, and the A-IoT device 210 receives, a first message which may be an initial trigger message or an access trigger message including information associated with at least one random access configuration. In the present disclosure, the term “initial trigger message” may be interchangeably used with “A-IoT paging message” or a message with a different name, the present disclosure does not limit for this aspect.

In some implementations, the communication device 220 may transmit an initial trigger message to the A-IoT device 210, and in addition transmits an access trigger message (Msg0) to the A-IoT device 210. In some implementations, the information associated with at least one random access configuration may be included in the initial trigger message and/or the access trigger message (Msg0) . In some examples, the initial trigger message and the access trigger message may be transmitted separately, which may include different information. In some examples, the initial trigger message and the access trigger message may be combined or implemented as a signal message, such as a trigger message or a message with another name. In some examples, one of the initial trigger message and the access trigger message may be omitted, and the other one of the initial trigger message and the access trigger message may be transmitted.

In some embodiments, the communication device 220 may receive service information (e.g. in a service request) from a CN entity 230 at 305, and may further generate the information based on the service information.

In some implementations, the information may explicitly or implicitly indicate a specific random access type (such as a first random access type) . In some embodiments, the communication device 220 may determine the specific random access type for the A-IoT device 210, e.g., based on service information from the CN entity 230 (or a server which is not illustrated in FIG. 2C) or based on a detected measurement result of a previous transmission from the A-IoT device 210.

For example, the service information may indicate a service type (e.g., inventory, command, or both inventory and command) , a service ID (e.g., a device ID of the A-IoT device 210, a group ID of a group of A-IoT devices, or multiple device IDs of multiple A-IoT devices) , or a service requirement (e.g., QoS requirements) for the A-IoT device 210, and the communication device 220 may determine the specific random access type based on the service information.

For example, the communication device 220 may determine a measurement result (e.g., detected layer 1 measurement value) based on any previous device to reader (D2R) transmission from the A-IoT device 210, and then determine the specific random access type based on the measurement result.

At 320, the A-IoT device 210 determines a first random access type based on the first message. Specifically, the first random access type is determined based on the information associated with at least one random access configuration. In some implementations, the first random access type may be one of: a CFRA (or 2-step CFRA) , a CBRA, a first type, or a second type. In some embodiments, the first type may be represented as RACH type 1, which devices include both device ID and data information in the second message (e.g., at 330) from the device the reader, and the second type may be represented as RACH type 2, which devices include only device ID information in the second message (e.g., at 330) from the device to the reader. In some examples, the first type may be a 2-step CBRA, and the second type may be a 4-step CBRA. In some examples, the first type may be a 2-step with MsgA, and the second type may be a 2-step with Msg1.

In the present disclosure, the first random access type may also be referred to as a specific random access type or a target random access type to be used by the A-IoT device 210 for initiating a random access channel (RACH) procedure.

In some implementations, the information may explicitly indicate the first random access type. In some embodiments, the information includes an indication of the first random access type. In some embodiments, the information may further indicate whether the first random access type is applied per access occasion or per access round. In this case, the A-IoT device 210 can directly use the first random access type that indicated by the information.

In some implementations, the information may explicitly indicate multiple random access types (e.g., allowed random access types) . In some embodiments, the information includes an indication of the multiple random access types. For example, the information may include multiple random access types for multiple device types respectively. In some embodiments, the information may further indicate whether the multiple random access types are applied per access occasion or per access round. In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may select the first random access type from the multiple random access types. In some examples, a predefined condition may be used for the selection, detail on the predefined condition will be discussed below.

In some implementations, the information may implicitly indicate the first random access type. In some examples, the A-IoT device 210 may determine to use CBRA or CFRA firstly. In case CBRA is determined to be used, then 2-step CBRA or 4-step CBRA may be further determined. In case CFRA is determined to be used, then 2-step RACH is adopted accordingly.

In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is CFRA, e.g., based on the information including an ID targeted to the A-IoT device 210 and dedicated resource for the A-IoT device 210, or e.g., based on the information including a plurality of IDs for a plurality of A-IoT devices and dedicated resources for the plurality of A-IoT devices respectively. In some examples, if the information includes an explicit ID or a permanent ID targeted to the A-IoT device 210 (e.g., the specific or target A-IoT device 210) , the A-IoT device 210 may determine the first random access type is CFRA. In some examples, if the information includes explicit or permanent IDs for a plurality of A-IoT devices (including the A-IoT device 210) and dedicated resources for Msg1 of each device, the A-IoT device 210 may determine the first random access type is CFRA. In some instances, the A-IoT device 210 may initiate the CFRA procedure.

In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is based on CBRA, and further determine the first random access type is a first type or a second type, e.g., based on a predefined condition. In some examples, if the information includes a group ID of a group of A-IoT devices or filter information for a group of A-IoT devices, and the group of A-IoT devices includes multiple A-IoT devices (which include the A-IoT device 210) , the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is based on CBRA. In some examples, if the information includes a plurality of IDs of a plurality of A-IoT devices or filter information for a plurality of A-IoT devices, and the plurality of A-IoT devices include the A-IoT device 210, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is based on CBRA. In some examples, if the information includes contention resolution related parameters (such as Q related parameter) , the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is based on CBRA.

In some implementations, the predefined condition may be referred to as a criterion which is used by the A-IoT device 210 for determining the first random access type. In some implementations, the predefined condition may be associated with one or multiple of the following: a device energy storage of the A-IoT device, a measurement result for at least the first message, a device capability of the A-IoT device, or a device type of the A-IoT device. In some embodiments, the information may include indication information of the predefined condition, and accordingly the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type or the second type based on the indication information. For instance, the indication information may indicate a device energy storage. It is to be understood that there may be other instance for the indication information, details of which will not be listed for brevity.

In some embodiments, the predefined condition may be associated with the device energy storage. In some examples, if the device energy storage (e.g. energy status) of the A-IoT device 210 satisfies a first energy threshold, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type. In some examples, if the device energy storage (e.g. energy status) of the A-IoT device 210 satisfies a second energy threshold, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the second type. In some instances, the device energy storage may be the energy status at a time when receiving the initial trigger message or the access trigger message.

In some instances, the first and second energy thresholds may be configured to the A-IoT device 210. For example, the second energy threshold may be greater than the first energy threshold. For example, the device energy storage satisfying the first energy threshold may mean that the device energy storage is less than the first energy threshold, or that the device energy storage exceeds the first energy threshold and is less than the second energy threshold. For example, the device energy storage satisfying the second energy threshold may mean that the device energy storage exceeds the first energy threshold and is less than the second energy threshold, or that the device energy storage exceeds the second energy threshold. It is to be noted that some other examples may also be applied in some cases, and the present disclosure does not limit for this aspect.

In some embodiments, the predefined condition may be associated with the measurement result, e.g., layer 1 measurement result values. In some examples, if the measurement result indicates a channel quality satisfies a first quality threshold, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type. In some examples, if the measurement result indicates a channel quality satisfies a second quality threshold, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the second type. In some instances, the A-IoT device 210 may perform L1 measurement on the received initial trigger message or access trigger message to obtain the measurement result, such as reference signal received power (RSRP) , reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , or the like.

In some instances, the first and second quality thresholds may be configured to the A-IoT device 210. For example, the first quality threshold may be greater than the second quality threshold. For example, if the channel quality between the A-IoT device 210 and the communication device 220 is better enough (e.g., exceeds the first quality threshold) , the first type (such as 2-step CBRA) may be used. For example, if the channel quality between the A-IoT device 210 and the communication device 220 is worse (e.g., lower than the second quality threshold, or lower than the first quality threshold but exceeds the second quality threshold) , the second type (such as 4-step CBRA) may be used.

In some embodiments, the predefined condition may be associated with the device capability or device type, for example, different devices types may be corresponding to different device capabilities. In some examples, if the device capability or the device type indicates independent signal generation, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type; otherwise, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the second type.

In some instances, if the device type is device C or device 2b, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type. In some instances, if the capability indicates an active UL transmission capability, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the first type.

In some instances, if the device type is device A, device B, device 1, or device 2a, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the first random access type is the second type.

At 330, the A-IoT device 210 transmits, and the communication device 220 receives, a second message which is based on the first random access type. In some implementations, the second message may be a response to the access trigger message (Msg0) , for example, the second message may be Msg1.

In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may initiate the CFRA procedure if the first random access type is CFRA. In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may initiate the CBRA procedure if the first random access type is the first type or the second type.

In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the second message includes an ID, if the first random access type is CFRA or the first type. In some embodiments, the A-IoT device 210 may determine that the second message includes an ID and data, if the first random access type is the second type. It is to be understood that the determination of 2-step or 4-step may be used for determining whether to include the data in the second message (Msg1) .

In some implementations, corresponding configuration may be used by the A-IoT device 210 for the random access procedure. In some embodiments, dedicated resource configurations (e.g., two sets of resource configurations) for a first type of random access procedure and a second type of random access procedure respectively. For example, a first resource configuration (or be called as a first set of resource configuration) and a second resource configuration (or be called as a second set of resource configuration) are provided by the communication device 220, and are used for the first type of random access procedure and the second type of random access procedure respectively. In some examples, each set of resource configuration may include one or more of the following: Q related parameter, or contention resolution related parameters.

Accordingly, if the first random access type is CFRA or the first type, the first resource configuration can be used; if the first random access type is the second type, the second resource configuration can be sued.

In some instances, the first set of resource configuration and the second set of resource configuration may be included in the initial trigger message. For example, the access trigger message may include a configuration index for the first type of random access procedure or for the second type of random access procedure. For instance, a supported or activated configuration index may be included in the access trigger message for each access occasion or each access round.

In some instances, the first set of resource configuration and the second set of resource configuration may be included in the access trigger message, e.g., for each access occasion or each access round. For example, the first set of resource configuration, the second set of resource configuration, or both may be included in the access trigger message, e.g., based on allowed or determined random access type.

According to some embodiments discussed above, a solution for random access of an A-IoT device is provided. It should be appreciated that although only one A-IoT device 210 is discussed with reference to FIG. 3, the present disclosure may be applied to any number of A-IoT devices. In some embodiments, different A-IoT devices may determine different random access types based on respective information from the communication device 220, for example, the A-IoT device 210 determines a first random access type and another A-IoT device determines a second random access type. In some embodiments, different A-IoT devices may initiate respective random access procedure in parallel, e.g. for a same access occasion or a same access round. For instance, A-IoT devices to initiate a first type of RACH and other A-IoT devices to initiate a second type of RACH can be operated in parallel for the same access occasion/round.

According to some embodiments in the present disclosure, a solution for determining a random access type for an A-IoT device may be provided. Specifically, the communication device (i.e. the reader) may indicate the random access type and corresponding resource configuration in an explicit or implicit way. In some cases, the communication device (i.e. the reader) may indicate a predefined condition for the A-IoT device to determine the first random access type. As such, the random access procedure for the A-IoT device is enabled.

It is to be understood that the process 300 in FIG. 3 is discussed only for illustration without any limitations. In some examples, some steps may be removed, combined, or modified. In some examples, some additional steps may be further included, for example, some steps after Msg1 that are shown in FIG. 2A or 2B may further be included for the random access procedure. It should be noted that some other embodiments are still within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a device 400 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 400 may be an example of a UE or a BS as described herein. The device 400 may support wireless communication with an A-IoT device 210, a communication device 220, or any combination thereof. The device 400 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a processor 402, a memory 404, a transceiver 406, and, optionally, an I/O controller 408. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 402, the memory 404, the transceiver 406, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. For example, the processor 402, the memory 404, the transceiver 406, or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the operations described herein.

In some implementations, the processor 402, the memory 404, the transceiver 406, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some implementations, the processor 402 and the memory 404 coupled with the processor 402 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 402, instructions stored in the memory 404) .

For example, the processor 402 may support wireless communication at the device 400 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 402 may be configured to operable to support a means for operations discussed above.

The processor 402 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 402 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other implementations, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 402. The processor 402 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 404) to cause the device 400 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 404 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 404 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 402 cause the device 400 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some implementations, the code may not be directly executable by the processor 402 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some implementations, the memory 404 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The I/O controller 408 may manage input and output signals for the device 400. The I/O controller 408 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 400. In some implementations, the I/O controller 408 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some implementations, the I/O controller 408 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. In some implementations, the I/O controller 408 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as the processor 402. In some implementations, a user may interact with the device 400 via the I/O controller 408 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 408.

In some implementations, the device 400 may include a single antenna 410. However, in some other implementations, the device 400 may have more than one antenna 410 (i.e., multiple antennas) , including multiple antenna panels or antenna arrays, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 406 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 410, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 406 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 406 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 410 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 410. The transceiver 406 may include one or more transmit chains, one or more receive chains, or a combination thereof.

A transmit chain may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmit chain may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmit chain may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmit chain may also include one or more antennas 410 for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

A receive chain may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receive chain may include one or more antennas 410 for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receive chain may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receive chain may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receive chain may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a processor 500 that is suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 500 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 500 may include a controller 502 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 500 may optionally include at least one memory 504, such as L1/L2/L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 500 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 506. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 500 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 502 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 500 to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 502 may operate as a control unit of the processor 500, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 500. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 502 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 504 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 502 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 504. The controller 502 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 502 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 500 to cause the processor 500 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 502 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 500. The controller 502 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 500.

The memory 504 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 500 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 504 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 500) . In some other implementations, the memory 504 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 500) .

The memory 504 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 500, cause the processor 500 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 502 and/or the processor 500 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 504 to cause the processor 500 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 500 and/or the controller 502 may be coupled with or to the memory 504, the processor 500, the controller 502, and the memory 504 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 500 may include multiple processors and the memory 504 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 506 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 506 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 506 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 500) . One or more ALUs 506 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 506 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 506 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 506 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 506 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 500 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 500 may be configured to or operable to support a means for operations described in some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 performed by a first device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 600 may be implemented by a device or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 600 may be performed by the A-IoT device 210 in FIG. 2C. In some implementations, the device may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 610, the method may include receiving, from a second device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration. The operations of 610 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 610 may be performed by the A-IoT device 210 as described with reference to FIG. 2C.

At 620, the method may include determining a first random access type based on the first message. The operations of 620 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 620 may be performed by the A-IoT device 210 as described with reference to FIG. 2C.

At 630, the method may include transmitting, to the second device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure based on the first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration. The operations of 630 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 630 may be performed by the A-IoT device 210 as described with reference to FIG. 2C.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method 700 performed by a second device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 700 may be implemented by a device or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 700 may be performed by the communication device 220 in FIG. 2C. In some implementations, the device may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 710, the method may include transmitting, to a first device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration. The operations of 710 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 710 may be performed by the communication device 220 as described with reference to FIG. 2C.

At 720, the method may include receiving, from the first device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure which is based on a first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration, wherein the first random access type is determined by the first device based on the first message. The operations of 720 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 720 may be performed by the communication device 220 as described with reference to FIG. 2C.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describes possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor.

As used herein, including in the claims, an article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” or “one or both of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A first device comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first device to:

receive, from a second device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration;

determine a first random access type based on the first message; and

transmit, to the second device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure based on the first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the information comprises an indication of the first random access type.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the information comprises an indication of multiple random access types, and wherein the first device is configured to:

select the first random access type from the multiple random access types based on a predefined condition.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to:

determine that the first random access type is a type of contention free random access (CFRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of:

an identifier (ID) of the first device and a dedicated resource for the first device, or

a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices and dedicated resources for the plurality of first devices respectively.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to:

determine that the first random access type is a type related to contention based random access (CBRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of:

a group ID of a group of first devices,

filter information for the group of first devices,

a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices,

filter information for the plurality of first devices, or

contention resolution related parameters; and

determine that the first random access type is a first type or a second type based on a predefined condition.
The first device of claim 3 or 5, wherein the predefined condition is associated with one of:

a device energy storage of the first device,

a measurement result for at least the first message,

a device capability of the first device, or

a device type of the first device.
The first device of claim 6, wherein the first device is configured to:

determine that the first random access type is the first type based on one of:

the device energy storage of the first device satisfies a first energy threshold,

the measurement result indicating that a channel quality satisfies a first quality threshold, or

the device capability or the device type indicates independent signal generation.
The first device of claim 6, wherein the first device is configured to:

determine that the first random access type is the second type based on one of:

the device energy storage of the first device satisfies a second energy threshold,

the measurement result indicating that a channel quality satisfies a second quality threshold, or

the device capability or the device type without indicates an independent signal generation.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one random access configuration in the first message comprises:

a first resource configuration for a first type of random access procedure, and

a second resource configuration for a second type of random access procedure.
The first device of claim 9, wherein the first message comprises a first configuration index associated with the first resource configuration and a second configuration index associated with the second resource configuration.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the information in the first message is used for a specific access occasion or a specific access round.
A second device comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the second device to:

transmit, to a first device, a first message which is an initial trigger message or an access trigger message, wherein the first message comprises information associated with at least one random access configuration; and

receive, from the first device, a second message for initiating a random access procedure which is based on a first random access type and corresponding configuration in the at least one random access configuration, wherein the first random access type is determined by the first device based on the first message.
The second device of claim 12, wherein the information comprises an indication of the first random access type.
The second device of claim 13, wherein the first random access type is determined based on: a detected measurement result of a previous transmission from the first device, or service information received from a core network entity or a server.
The second device of claim 12, wherein the information comprises an indication of multiple random access types, and wherein the first random access type is selected by the first device from the multiple random access types based on a predefined condition.
The second device of claim 12, wherein the information indicates that the first random access type is a type of contention free random access (CFRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of:

an identifier (ID) of the first device and a dedicated resource for the first device, or

a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices and dedicated resources for the plurality of first devices respectively.
The second device of claim 12, wherein the information indicates that the first random access type is a type related to contention based random access (CBRA) based on determining that the information comprises one of:

a group ID of a group of first devices,

filter information for the group of first devices,

a plurality of IDs of a plurality of first devices,

filter information for the plurality of first devices, or

contention resolution related parameters; and

and wherein the information further indicates that the first random access type is a first type or a second type based on a predefined condition.
The second device of claim 15 or 17, wherein the predefined condition is associated with one of:

a device energy storage of the first device,

a measurement result for at least the first message,

a device capability of the first device, or

a device type of the first device.
The second device of claim 12, wherein the information in the first message is used for a specific access occasion or a specific access round.
The second device of claim 19, wherein the random access procedure of the first device is performed in parallel with a further random access procedure of a further device during a same access occasion or a same access round, and wherein the first random access type is different.