WO2025010522A1

WO2025010522A1 - Remote interference management (rim)

Info

Publication number: WO2025010522A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/106238
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yi Wang; Alexander Langereis
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2023-07-07
Filing date: 2023-07-07
Publication date: 2025-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 2026-01-07

Abstract

The present disclosure is related to network nodes and methods for RIM. A method at a first network node for RIM comprises: detecting whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended. A method at a second network node for RIM comprises: suspending one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the second network node during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

Description

REMOTE INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT (RIM)

Technical Field

The present disclosure is related to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to network nodes and methods for Remote Interference Management (RIM) .

Background

With the development of the electronic and telecommunication technologies, mobile devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones, laptops, tablets, vehicle mounted devices, become an important part of our daily lives. To support a numerous number of mobile devices, a highly efficient radio access network (RAN) , such as a 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5^th Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) RAN, will be required.

However, a RAN may sometimes have a degraded performance due to unexpected interference. For example, the atmospheric ducting phenomenon, caused by lower densities at higher altitudes in the Earth′s atmosphere, causes a reduced refractive index, causing the signals to bend back towards the Earth. A signal trapped in the atmospheric duct can reach distances far greater than normal. In Time Division Duplex (TDD) networks with the same Uplink (UL) /Downlink (DL) slot configuration, and in the absence of atmospheric ducting, a guard period (GP) is used to avoid the interference between UL and DL transmissions in different cells. However, when the atmospheric ducting phenomenon happens, radio signals can travel a relatively long distance, and the propagation delay exceeds the guard period. Consequently, the DL signals of an aggressor cell can interfere with the UL signals of a victim cell that is far away from the aggressor. Such interference is termed as remote interference (RI) . The further the aggressor is to the victim, the more UL symbols of the victim will be impacted.

Summary

The framework and reference signals defined in 3GPP for RIM will cause a large cost. Signaling and complex configurations are required and it also needs a lot of coordination with operators and other vendors that may deliver network equipments to the operator. Many parameters need to be aligned according to 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 28.541, V18.4.1. The logic to coordinate the RIM detection, location and mitigation will also be complex.

Many base station vendors try to find shortcuts due to the cost and complexity of the frameworks defined by 3GPP, but this can cause problems. For example, with some shortcut solution, the victim base station does not know if the remote interference really disappears or it disappears due to mitigation from the aggressor base station. For another example, the victim base station does not know when to stop sending its RIM-RS since no RIM-Reference Signal (RIM-RS) is sent out from the aggressor base station in some cases. Further, these shortcut solutions cannot be used between different vendors since these solutions are not specified in 3GPP.

Therefore, to address or at least partially alleviate one or more of the above issues, some embodiments of the present disclosure are provided.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a first network node for RIM is provided. The method comprises: detecting whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: determining whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the detection of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least one of: continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period; and stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped is further based on at least whether or not RI from the one or more second network nodes is detected during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least one of: continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period; continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period; and stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period.

In some embodiments, when the at least one first time period comprises more than one first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period comprises: detecting RI levels during all the first time periods within the RIM detection period; calculating, at the end of the RIM detection period, a filtered RI value based on at least the detected RI levels; and detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the filtered RI value. In some embodiments, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the filtered RI value comprises at least one of: detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the filtered RI value is higher than a first threshold; and detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the filtered RI value is lower than a second threshold. In some embodiments, the filtered RI value is at least one of: an average value of the detected RI levels; and a maximum value of the detected RI levels.

In some embodiments, when the at least one first time period comprises only a single first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period comprises: detecting an RI level during the single first time period; and detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the RI level. In some embodiments, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the RI level comprises at least one of: detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the RI level is higher than a first threshold; and detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the RI level is lower than a second threshold. In some embodiments, the first threshold is higher than or equal to the second threshold.

In some embodiments, the at least one first time period is at least one frame. In some embodiments, at least one of the first network node and the one or more second network nodes is a base station. In some embodiments, the first network node is configured to perform any of the methods of the second aspect.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a second network node for RIM is provided. The method comprises: suspending one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the second network node during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: determining whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period; and determining whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least one of: continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects an RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period; and stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: determining whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed, wherein the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped is further based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the second time period. In some embodiments, the method further comprises at least one of: continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the second time period; continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the second time period; and stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the second time period.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: generating pseudo downlink traffic when there is no downlink traffic to be transmitted during the at least one first time period; and transmitting the pseudo downlink traffic during the at least one first time period. In some embodiments, the pseudo downlink traffic is generated with padding. In some embodiments, the pseudo downlink traffic is scrambled with a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that is not able to be descrambled by any terminal device.

In some embodiments, the at least one first time period is at least one frame. In some embodiments, at least one of the first network node and the second network node is a base station. In some embodiments, the first network node is configured to perform any of the methods of the first aspect.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a first network node is provided. The first network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the first network node to: detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the first network node to perform any of the methods of the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a second network node is provided. The second network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the second network node to: suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the second network node to perform any of the methods of the second aspect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a first network node is provided. The first network node comprises: a detecting module configured to detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended. In some embodiments, the first network node comprises one or more further modules, each of which performs any of the steps of any of the methods of the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a second network node is provided. The second network node comprises: a suspending module configured to suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period. In some embodiments, the second network node comprises one or more further modules, each of which performs any of the steps of any of the methods of the second aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program comprising instructions is provided. The instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods of the first aspect and/or the second aspect.

According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a carrier containing the computer program of the seventh aspect is provided. In some embodiments, the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

According to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a telecommunication system is provided. The telecommunication system comprises: one or more first network nodes, each of which comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the corresponding first network node to: detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIN mitigation at the one or more first network nodes and the one or more second network nodes are suspended. The telecommunication system further comprises the one or more second network nodes, each of which comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the corresponding second network node to: suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the corresponding second network node during the at least one first time period, such that the one or more first network nodes are able to detect whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the instructions stored in the memory of the corresponding first network node, when executed by the processor of the corresponding first network node, further cause the corresponding first network node to perform any of the methods of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the instructions stored in the memory of the corresponding second network node, when executed by the processor of the corresponding second network node, further cause the corresponding second network node to perform any of the methods of the second aspect.

With some embodiments of the present disclosure, an alternative solution for improving the performance of the network node (e.g. base station) by properly starting/continuing or stopping the RIM mitigation without the use of the RIM framework as defined by 3GPP (without the RIM reference signals) , is provided. The use of RIM RS signaling may result in transmission of many signals (one for every base station that is affected by remote interference) which can exceed the RIM RS detection capacity in the base station. The solution is less complex than the standardized solution and provides reduced development costs. Further, the use of RIM RS signaling over the air interface can be avoided, which may for example, reduce the cost and effort for tuning the parameters defined for RIM RS signaling.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network in which RIM may be applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for RIM.

Fig. 3A is a diagram illustrating another exemplary procedure for RIM.

Fig. 3B is a diagram illustrating yet another exemplary procedure for RIM.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of probe System Frame Number (SFN) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating exemplary RI detection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a first network node for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a second network node for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement which may be used in network nodes according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of an exemplary first network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary second network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14 shows an exemplary User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 15 shows an exemplary network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram of an exemplary host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Fig. 13, in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Fig. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

Fig. 18 shows a communication diagram of an exemplary host communicating via an exemplary network node with an exemplary UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the present disclosure is described with reference to embodiments shown in the attached drawings. However, it is to be understood that those descriptions are just provided for illustrative purpose, rather than limiting the present disclosure. Further, in the following, descriptions of known structures and techniques are omitted so as not to unnecessarily obscure the concept of the present disclosure.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "illustrative, " or "serving as an example, " and is not intended to imply that a particular embodiment is preferred over another or that a particular feature is essential. Likewise, the terms "first" , "second" , "third" , "fourth, " and similar terms, are used simply to distinguish one particular instance of an item or feature from another, and do not indicate a particular order or arrangement, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the term "step, " as used herein, is meant to be synonymous with "operation" or "action. " Any description herein of a sequence of steps does not imply that these operations must be carried out in a particular order, or even that these operations are carried out in any order at all, unless the context or the details of the described operation clearly indicates otherwise.

Conditional language used herein, such as "can, " "might, " "may, " "e.g., " and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. Also, the term "or" is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term "or" means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. Further, the term "each, " as used herein, in addition to having its ordinary meaning, can mean any subset of a set of elements to which the term "each" is applied.

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. " Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below. In addition, language such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y and Z, " unless specifically stated otherwise, is to be understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z, or a combination thereof.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limitation of example 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, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. It will be also understood that the terms "connect (s) , " "connecting" , "connected" , etc. when used herein, just mean that there is an electrical or communicative connection between two elements and they can be connected either directly or indirectly, unless explicitly stated to the contrary.

Of course, the present disclosure may be carried out in other specific ways than those set forth herein without departing from the scope and essential characteristics of the disclosure. One or more of the specific processes discussed below may be carried out in any electronic device comprising one or more appropriately configured processing circuits, which may in some embodiments be embodied in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) . In some embodiments, these processing circuits may comprise one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, and/or digital signal processors programmed with appropriate software and/or firmware to carry out one or more of the operations described above, or variants thereof. In some embodiments, these processing circuits may comprise customized hardware to carry out one or more of the functions described above. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Although multiple embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the following Detailed Description, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but instead is also capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing from the present disclosure that as will be set forth and defined within the claims.

Further, please note that although the following description of some embodiments of the present disclosure is given in the context of 5G NR, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In fact, as long as Remote Interference Management (RIM) is involved, the inventive concept of the present disclosure may be applicable to any appropriate communication architecture, for example, to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) /General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) , Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) , Time Division -Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) , CDMA2000, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) , Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) , 4^th Generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advance (LTE-A) , or 5G NR, 6th generation (6G) mobile system standard, etc. Therefore, one skilled in the arts could readily understand that the terms used herein may also refer to their equivalents in any other infrastructure. For example, the term "terminal device" used herein may refer to a UE, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, a user device, a user terminal, a wireless device, a wireless terminal, or any other equivalents. For another example, the term "network node" used herein may refer to a transmission reception point (TRP) , a base station, a base transceiver station, an access point, a hot spot, a NodeB, an Evolved NodeB (eNB) , a gNB, a network element, a satellite, an aircraft, or any other equivalents.

Further, the term "aggressor" , "aggressor cell" , "aggressor base station" , and "aggressor BS" will sometimes be used interchangeably, and may refer to a network node that causes interference to other nodes. Furthermore, the term "victim" , "victim cell" , "victim base station" , and "victim BS" will sometimes be used interchangeably, and may refer to a network node that is subject to the interference from other nodes.

As mentioned above, atmospheric ducting is a nature phenomenon that happens seasonally and mainly depends on the atmosphere conditions. It occurs mostly in middle or lower latitude areas, such as warm and damp coastal areas. A horizontal layer in the lower atmosphere ducts the radio signals, to follow the earth curve, with less attenuation on the signals.

In TDD networks, a guard period (GP) protects against cross-link interference between uplink and downlink with good radio frame time alignment among base stations. During the switch from downlink to uplink, the DL transmissions are received by the UE during the GP and the DL transmissions can then not interfere with the following uplink transmissions after the GP. This means that the duration of the GP limits the distance between base radio transmitters. The GP is part of the special sub frame. Several configurations are defined in 3GPP. If for example a GP with 4 symbols is configured, for mid-band, the maximum distance between transmitters is 4 *10.7 =42.8 km. Atmospheric ducting can allow radio transmissions to reach several hundreds of km. As a result, downlink transmissions from one base station (i.e., the aggressor) will be received in uplink slots of another base station (i.e. the victim) .

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary network 10 in which RIM may be applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, the network 10 may comprise multiple base stations, which serve multiple cells 110, 120, and 130. As mentioned above, an atmospheric duct may be formed between the cell1 (and its corresponding base station) 110 and the cell2 (and its corresponding base station) 120, and therefore their DL signals may interfere with UL signals of the other cell, as indicated by the double arrow 115. Further, although only two cells/base stations that are interfered with each other are shown in Fig. 1, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, more than two cells/base stations may be subject to the remote interference, and some of them may be aggressors, some of them may be victims, and some of them may be both the aggressors and the victims.

To handle such remote interference, 3GPP has proposed several frameworks for RIM. The 3GPP RIM framework may include 3 steps:

- RIM detection, used to establish that victim cell (e.g., the cell 120) is affected by RI (Remote Interference) .

- RIM location, used to locate where RI is coming from and to determine if ducting is persisting.

- RIM mitigation, used to do actions at the aggressor cell (e.g., the cell 110) and/or the victim cell (e.g., the cell 120) to reduce the remote interference impact.

Several RIM Frameworks have been specified by 3GPP. Fig. 2 shows how the distributed RIM Framework 1 works. This framework provides autonomous RIM, without the need for steering from an external node, like for example an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) system.

In order to coordinate the above 3 steps, the reference signals are defined in 3GPP to transmit between the victim base station (e.g., the cell 120) and the aggressor base station (e.g., the cell 110) :

- RS-1 is transmitted by the victim 120 to let the aggressor 110 know there is a victim cell being impacted and to assist the aggressor 110 to identify how many UL Orthogonal Frequency Divisional Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols at the victim cell 120 are impacted. It is monitored by the aggressor cell 110 to know when to apply mitigation and trigger RS-2 transmission.

- The application of mitigation in the aggressor cell 110 will most often result in the RI mitigation in the victim cell 120. Therefore RS-2 is transmitted by the aggressor cell 110 to allow the victim cell 120 to determine if RI persists. The absence of RS-2 indicates that the atmospheric ducting has disappeared and then RI mitigation can be stopped.

Referring to Fig. 2, the victim 120 may detect the remote interference at step S205. Further, as indicated by the dotted arrow at step S205a, the victim 120 may cause the RI to the aggressor 110 as well, for example, due to reciprocity of the atmospheric ducting. In other words, a victim BS/cell may also be an aggressor BS/cell, and vice versa.

At step S210a, upon detection of the remote interference, the victim 120 may start monitoring RIM-RS from other base stations/cells, while the victim 120 may also transmit its own RIM-RS (that is, RS-1) , for example, to notify other BSs/cells (e.g., the aggressor 110) of the presence of the RI at the victim 120.

Meanwhile or at a different time point (earlier or later than the steps S210a and/or S210b) , the aggressor 110 may start monitoring RIM-RS from other base stations/cells at step S210c, for example, upon the detection of RI caused by the victim 120 at step S205a, or upon another trigger event.

No matter how the aggressor 110 starts its RS monitoring, it may detect the RS-1 transmitted from the victim 120 or otherwise detect its remote interference with the victim 120. Upon the detection, the aggressor 110 may apply one or more RI mitigation schemes at step S215a and transmit its own RIM-RS (that is, RS-2) at step S215b. In such a case, the victim 120 may determine whether or not the atmospheric ducting is still present by determining whether or not the RS-2 can be detected at the victim 120.

After a while, the atmospheric ducting disappears, and therefore the RS-2 cannot be detected at the victim 120 at step S220. In such a case, the victim 120 may stop transmitting the RS-1 at step S225, and therefore the aggressor 110 cannot detect the RS-1 at step S230. After that, at step S235, the aggressor 110 may stop monitoring the RIM-RS, and restore its original configuration, for example, stopping the RIM mitigation schemes and stopping the RS-2 transmission.

However, as mentioned above, such a framework and reference signals defined in 3GPP will cause a large cost. For example, signalling and complex configurations are required and it also needs a lot of coordination with operators and other vendors that may deliver network equipments to the operator. Further, many parameters need to be aligned according to 3GPP TS 28.541. Furthermore, the logic to coordinate the RIM detection, location, and mitigation will also be complex.

Therefore, many base station vendors try to find shortcuts due to the cost and complexity of the frameworks defined by 3GPP, but this can cause problems as described in the examples shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B below.

Fig. 3A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary shortcut solution for RIM. As shown in Fig. 3A, the base stations only support RIM detection + RIM mitigation, i.e. RIM RS are not used. In such a shortcut solution, when RI is detected at step S310, the base stations (e.g., the cell A 110 and the cell B 120) will do blind DL and/or UL mitigation. Since there is no RIM RS1 and RIM RS2 to coordinate between the aggressor BS and the victim BS, the victim base station (e.g., the cell B 120) does not know if the remote interference really disappears or it disappears due to mitigation from the aggressor BS (e.g., the cell A 110) .

Fig. 3B is a diagram illustrating another exemplary shortcut solution for RIM. As shown in Fig. 3B, the base stations support RIM detection + RIM location (only RS1) +RIM mitigation. In such a shortcut solution, when remote interference is detected at step S350, the victim base station (e.g., the cell B 120) will send RS1 to the aggressor base station (e.g., the cell A 110) at step S360. As shown in 3B, the aggressor base station will do mitigation based on the reception of RS1. Further, the victim base station does not know when to stop sending RS1 since no RS2 is sent out from the aggressor base station. Further, when the cell A 110 is also a victim, it may send RS1 to the cell B 120 as well, as indicated by the arrow pointing from the cell A 110 to the cell B 120 at step S360.

Further, as mentioned above, these shortcut solutions cannot be used between base stations from different vendors since these solutions are not specified in 3GPP.

From above, it is clear that the whole RIM framework including RIM RS transmission and reception is costly, and the shortcut solutions for cost reduction cannot detect whether the remote interference is really gone or not. To address or at least partially alleviate the issues, some embodiments of the present disclosure propose using a simple and efficiency probe detection method to check if the remote interference still exists, and therefore can automatically start/stop the mitigation based on the probe result.

In some embodiments, all base stations may suspend or stop RIM mitigation in a same specific probe SFN, or more generally, a specific frame for probing. In some embodiments, all base stations may detect and count the remote interference level on this specific probe SFN. In some embodiments, the base station may decide whether the remote interference disappears based on the probe RIM detection result. In some embodiments, the base station may stop or re-start the RIM mitigation based on the remote interference detection result.

In some embodiments, a probe method is proposed, which can determine the presence of remote interference, without the use of the RIM frameworks that are defined in 3GPP, by a time coordinated measurement in a network of base stations.

In some embodiments, no RIM RS as defined by 3GPP for determination of the presence of remote interference is needed. In some embodiments, the method may utilize a new network coordinated measurement that allows base stations to make decisions for RIM, utilizing legacy measurements in the base station.

With some embodiments of the present disclosure, an alternative solution for a part of the RIM framework as defined by 3GPP is provided. The solution is less complex than the standardized solution and provides reduced development costs. With the solution, a base station can be commercially used in a real network and works for different vendors. Further, the use of RIM RS signaling over the air interface can be avoided, which may for example, reduce the cost and effort for tuning the parameters defined for RIM RS signaling. The reception of these signals requires a minimum SINR which will in general not be met in all scenarios. The use of RIM RS signaling can result in transmission of many signals (one for every base station that is affected by remote interference) which can exceed the RIM RS detection capacity in the base station. Furthermore, the solution is a simple solution to reduce a lot of complexity in base station side.

Next, a detailed description of the procedure for RIM will be given below with reference to Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 4, the procedure may be roughly divided into two parts, a "legacy" part and a "RIM probe" part. In some embodiments, one of them can be performed independently of the other. In other words, the legacy part may be omitted in some embodiments. In some other embodiments, they can be performed together in a coordinated manner, such that less effort can be made in upgrading the existing base station hardware/software.

As shown in Fig. 4, the RIM probe part (e.g., the steps S430a through S440a and the steps S430b through S440b) may be performed by an aggressor 110 and a victim 120, respectively, for managing remote interference. In some embodiments, in addition to the RIM probe part, the legacy part (e.g., the solution shown in Fig. 3A) may be performed by the aggressor 110 and the victim 120 as well. In other words, the aggressor 110 and the victim 120 may perform both parts together, or perform the RIM probe part only.

Similar to that shown in Fig. 3A, remote interference may occur at the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120 at step S405, e.g., due to the atmospheric ducting. In such a case, the aggressor 110 may detect the remote interference, if any, at step S410a. Further, the victim 120 may also detect the remote interference, if any, at step S410b. In some embodiments, a shortcut legacy solution as shown in Fig. 3A may be used at the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120. For example, at step S415a, the aggressor 110 may perform one or more RIM mitigation procedures/measures to reduce or eliminate possible remote interference detected at the victim 120 and/or at the aggressor 110 itself. For another example, at step S415b, the victim 120 may perform one or more RIM mitigation procedures/measures to reduce or eliminate possible remote interference detected at the aggressor 110 and/or at the victim 120 itself.

As described above with reference to Fig. 3A, without the RIM RS transmitted between the aggressor 110 and the victim 120, the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120 cannot determine whether and when the remote interference disappears. For example, as shown at step S420, even if the remote interference is gone, the aggressor 110 and the victim 120 will not stop the RIM mitigation procedures since it has no knowledge of the information that the remote interference is gone.

This is where the RIM probe comes. Referring to the "RIM probe" part of Fig. 4, the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120 may acquire such information by the following procedure. At step S430a, the aggressor 110 may suspend or stop its RIM mitigation on one or more probe SFNs. Similarly, at step S430b, the victim 120 may also suspend or stop its RIM mitigation on the same one or more probe SFNs. In some embodiments, any BS that is involved in the RIM (which includes but not limited to the aggressor 110 and the victim 120) may stop its RIM mitigation on the same one or more probe SFNs. With the probe SFN, the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120 may detect whether the atmospheric ducting is still there or gone.

Although only SFN or frame is used in Fig. 4 as a time period for probing, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, a probing time period during which the RIM mitigation is suspended or stopped may be different from an SFN or frame. For example, the probing time period may be a half-frame, a subframe, a slot, or a time period of a different length in the time domain. In other words, as long as the probing time period is long enough for the involved BSs to detect remote interference, the probing time period could have any length in the time domain.

In some embodiments, one or more fixed SFNs of each system frame period may be selected to detect whether atmospheric ducting is present. In some embodiments, RIM mitigation can be done in many ways. For example, the base station may suspend or stop all RIM Mitigation to be able to check the presence of atmospheric ducting at the Probe SFN, i.e., the SFN used in the network for detection of atmospheric ducting.

At step S435a, the aggressor 110 may detect the remote interference on each probe SFN and may calculate the remote interference level at the end of RIM detection, which will be explained in detail with reference to Fig. 6. Similarly, at step S435b, the victim 120 may also detect the remote interference on each probe SFN and may calculate the remote interference level at the end of RIM detection. In some embodiments, the remote interference detected on the probe SFN may be recorded. In some embodiments, the interference level may be used to determine the RIM detection result.

At step S440a, the aggressor 110 may use the probe-based RIM detection result or use both of the probe-based RIM detection result and the legacy RIM detection result to determine whether stop or continue the RIM mitigation. Similarly, at step S440b, the victim 120 may also use the probe-based RIM detection result or use both of the probe-based RIM detection result and the legacy RIM detection result to determine whether stop or continue the RIM mitigation. In some embodiments, the legacy RIM detection result may be a result that is determined based on the one or more RI levels detected on one or more non-probe SFNs. If atmospheric ducting is detected, then RIM mitigation may continue at the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120. If atmospheric ducting is not detected, then RIM mitigation may be stopped at the aggressor 110 and/or the victim 120.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of probe SFN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, to simplify the base station implementation, one or more fixed SFN numbers may be defined as the probe SFN number. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, the probe SFN is selected as SFN1023. In other words, RIM mitigation may be suspended or stopped on SFN1023. Further, SFN0 through SFN1022 may be non-probe SFNs, and during these SNFs, RIM mitigation will be active.

However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, in each system frame period, more than one SFN may be selected as the probe SFNs. For example, both of SFN 511 and SFN1023 may be selected as the probe SFNs. For another example, SFN 123, SFN511, SFN789, and SFN1023 may be selected as the probe SFNs. For yet another example, any appropriate number of SFNs may be selected as the probe SFNs as long as there is no significant performance degradation caused by the selection.

Further, it is shown in Fig. 5 that all SFN1023 in different system frame periods are selected as the probe SFNs. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the probe SFNs may not be periodically selected. For example, in a system frame period, SFN1023 may be selected, while in another system frame period, SFN511 may be selected instead of SFN1023 or in addition to SFN1023. For another example, some of the probe SFNs may be periodically selected while others of the probe SFNs may be not (e.g., they may be selected once or twice only) .

In some embodiments, the selection of the probe SFNs may be determined by the base station itself, for example, in a hard-coded manner. In some other embodiments, the selection of the probe SFNs may be provisioned by another network node (e.g., OAM) , and is persistent or semi-persistent. In some yet other embodiments, the selection of the probe SFNs may be dynamically configured by another network node (e.g., OAM) , and can be changed from time to time as required by the operator. In some embodiments, the selection of the probe SFNs may be any appropriate combination of the above described embodiments. For example, some of the probe SFNs may be determined in a hard-coded manner, while the others may be determined by a dynamic configuration from OAM.

In some embodiments, the remote interference as measured during one probe SFN may not accurately reflect the remote interference level. Therefore, a RIM detection period may be defined, containing a number of probe SFNs (e.g., as shown in Fig. 6) , and the base station may calculate the probe RIM detection result at the end of the RIM detection period.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating exemplary RI detection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 6, on the probe SFN (e.g., SFN1023) , the base station may detect the probe remote interference and stores it. In some embodiments where the RIM detection period is 10 minutes, at the end of the RIM detection period (i.e., SFN607) , the base station may calculate the remote interference level for this period. In some embodiments, this can for example be done by calculating the average value of Interference-Plus-Noise (IpN) (which is one of the conditions to check if RIM exists, also with other possible conditions) on all stored probe SFNs. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, another filtered value of the IpNs detected on the probe SFNs may be used. For example, the maximum value of the detected IpNs may be determined as the RI value/level used for determining whether there is remote interference or not.

In some embodiments, if the aggressor base station does not have downlink traffic on the probe SNF, the victim base station is not able to detect if the atmospheric ducting is present. Therefore the aggressor base station may generate the DL traffic load on the probe SFN as follows:

- On the probe SNF, if there is no downlink traffic:

- The base station may generate a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) traffic with padding.

- The PDSCH padding load can vary, and it does not need to be on the complete available bandwidth.

- The RNTI of this PDSCH padding traffic may be chosen to be a value that cannot be decoded/descrambled by any UE.

In some embodiments, at the end of RIM detection period:

- If the base station does not detect remote interference in both normal method (for example, the legacy part shown in Fig. 4) and probe method:

- the base station may determine that the atmospheric duct is no longer present.

- the base station may determine that RIM mitigation may be stopped.

- If the base station does not detect remote interference in normal detection method but detects it in the probe method:

- the base station may determine that the atmospheric duct is still present.

- the base station may determine that all RIM mitigation methods may be kept being enabled.

In some embodiments, to simplify the algorithm complexity, two configurable thresholds may be used to determine whether remote interference is detected with the probe method. In some embodiments, if the probe RIM detection result value is greater than the probe mitigation threshold (for example, -105 dbm) , then the remote interference is detected. In some embodiments, if the probe RIM detection result value is less than the probe mitigation fallback threshold (for example, -115 dbm) , then the remote interference disappears.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may start at step S710 where a base station may detect whether or not there is RIM from other base stations. If no, then the base station may keep detecting periodically and/or in response to an event (e.g., an explicit instruction from its operator) . If yes, the base station may start its RIM mitigation measures at step S720. At step S730, the base station may stop the RIM mitigation measures on each probe SFN, such that all the base stations in the network or the base stations involved in the RIM including the base station itself may detect whether or not there is RI at step S740, for example, by measuring RI level from other base stations and/or providing DL traffic (e.g., the PDSCH transmission with padding as described above) . The base station may store its measurement results at step S750, and process the latest result and/or the previous results at the end of the RIM detection period at step S760. At step S770, the base station may determine whether the process result indicates RI or not. If yes, which means the remote interference is still there, then the base station may continue its RIM mitigation measures and go back to step S730, repeating steps for the probe-based RI detection. If no, which means the remote interference is gone, then the base station may stop its RIM mitigation measures since there is no remote interference any more.

With the embodiments described above, an alternative solution for a part of the RIM framework as defined by 3GPP is provided. The solution is less complex than the standardized solution and provides reduced development costs. With the solution, a base station can be commercially used in a real network and works for different vendors. Further, the use of RIM RS signaling over the air interface can be avoided, which may for example, reduce the cost and effort for tuning the parameters defined for RIM RS signaling. The reception of these signals requires a minimum SINR which will in general not be met in all scenarios. The use of RIM RS signaling can result in transmission of many signals (one for every base station that is affected by remote interference) which can exceed the RIM RS detection capacity in the base station. Furthermore, the solution is a simple solution to reduce a lot of complexity in base station side.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 800 at a first network node for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 800 may be performed at a base station (e.g., the victim 120) . The method 800 may comprise a step S810. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the method 800 may comprise more steps, different steps, or any combination thereof. Further the steps of the method 800 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved. Further, in some embodiments, a step in the method 800 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and/or multiple steps in the method 800 may be combined into a single step.

The method 800 may begin at step S810 where the first network node may detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended.

In some embodiments, the method 800 may further comprise: determining whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the detection of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes. In some embodiments, the method 800 may further comprise at least one of: continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period; and stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped may be further based on at least whether or not RI from the one or more second network nodes is detected during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed. In some embodiments, the method 800 may further comprise at least one of: continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period; continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period; and stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes during the second time period.

In some embodiments, when the at least one first time period comprises more than one first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period may comprise: detecting RI levels during all the first time periods within the RIM detection period; calculating, at the end of the RIM detection period, a filtered RI value based on at least the detected RI levels; and detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the filtered RI value. In some embodiments, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the filtered RI value may comprise at least one of:detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the filtered RI value is higher than a first threshold; and detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the filtered RI value is lower than a second threshold. In some embodiments, the filtered RI value may be at least one of: an average value of the detected RI levels; and a maximum value of the detected RI levels.

In some embodiments, when the at least one first time period comprises only a single first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes during the at least one first time period may comprise: detecting an RI level during the single first time period; and detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the RI level. In some embodiments, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes based on at least the RI level may comprise at least one of: detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the RI level is higher than a first threshold; and detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes in response to determining that the RI level is lower than a second threshold. In some embodiments, the first threshold may be higher than or equal to the second threshold.

In some embodiments, the at least one first time period may be at least one frame. In some embodiments, at least one of the first network node and the one or more second network nodes may be a base station. In some embodiments, the first network node may be configured to perform any of the methods described with reference to Fig. 9.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 900 at a second network node for RIM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 900 may be performed at a base station (e.g., the aggressor 110) . The method 900 may comprise a step S910. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the method 900 may comprise more steps, different steps, or any combination thereof. Further the steps of the method 900 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved. Further, in some embodiments, a step in the method 900 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and/or multiple steps in the method 900 may be combined into a single step.

The method 900 may begin at step S910 where the second network node may suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the second network node during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period; and determining whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node. In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise at least one of: continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects an RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period; and stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise: determining whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed, wherein the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped is further based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the second time period. In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise at least one of: continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the second time period; continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the second time period; and stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node detects no RI from the second network node during the second time period.

In some embodiments, the method 900 may further comprise: generating pseudo downlink traffic when there is no downlink traffic to be transmitted during the at least one first time period; and transmitting the pseudo downlink traffic during the at least one first time period. In some embodiments, the pseudo downlink traffic may be generated with padding. In some embodiments, the pseudo downlink traffic may be scrambled with a RNTI that is not able to be descrambled by any terminal device.

In some embodiments, the at least one first time period may be at least one frame. In some embodiments, at least one of the first network node and the second network node may be a base station. In some embodiments, the first network node may be configured to perform any of the methods described with reference to Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement 1000 which may be used in network nodes (e.g., the aggressor BS 110 and/or the victim BS 120) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Comprised in the arrangement 1000 are a processing unit 1006, e.g., with a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or a Central Processing Unit (CPU) . The processing unit 1006 may be a single unit or a plurality of units to perform different actions of procedures described herein. The arrangement 1000 may also comprise an input unit 1002 for receiving signals from other entities, and an output unit 1004 for providing signal (s) to other entities. The input unit 1002 and the output unit 1004 may be arranged as an integrated entity or as separate entities.

Furthermore, the arrangement 1000 may comprise at least one computer program product 1008 in the form of a non-volatile or volatile memory, e.g., an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) , a flash memory and/or a hard drive. The computer program product 1008 comprises a computer program 1010, which comprises code/computer readable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit 1006 in the arrangement 1000 causes the arrangement 1000 and/or the terminal device/network node in which it is comprised to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with Fig. 4 through Fig. 9 or any other variant.

The computer program 1010 may be configured as a computer program code structured in a computer program module 1010A. Hence, in an exemplifying embodiment when the arrangement 1000 is used in a first network node for RIM, the code in the computer program of the arrangement 1000 includes: a module 1010A configured to detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended.

Additionally or alternatively, the computer program 1010 may be further configured as a computer program code structured in a computer program module 1010B. Hence, in an exemplifying embodiment when the arrangement 1000 is used in a second network node for RIM, the code in the computer program of the arrangement 1000 includes: a module 1010B configured to suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the second network node during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

The computer program modules could essentially perform the actions of the flow illustrated in Fig. 4 through Fig. 9, to emulate the network nodes. In other words, when the different computer program modules are executed in the processing unit 1006, they may correspond to different modules in the network nodes.

Although the code means in the embodiments disclosed above in conjunction with Fig. 10 are implemented as computer program modules which when executed in the processing unit causes the arrangement to perform the actions described above in conjunction with the figures mentioned above, at least one of the code means may in alternative embodiments be implemented at least partly as hardware circuits.

The processor may be a single CPU (Central processing unit) , but could also comprise two or more processing units. For example, the processor may include general purpose microprocessors; instruction set processors and/or related chips sets and/or special purpose microprocessors such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs) . The processor may also comprise board memory for caching purposes. The computer program may be carried by a computer program product connected to the processor. The computer program product may comprise a computer readable medium on which the computer program is stored. For example, the computer program product may be a flash memory, a Random-access memory (RAM) , a Read-Only Memory (ROM) , or an EEPROM, and the computer program modules described above could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories within the network nodes.

Correspondingly to the method 800 as described above, an exemplary first network node for RIM is provided. Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a first network node 1100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The first network node 1100 may be, e.g., the victim 120 in some embodiments.

The first network node 1100 may be configured to perform the method 800 as described above in connection with Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 11, the first network node 1100 may comprise: a detecting module 1110 configured to detect whether or not there is RI from one or more second network nodes during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node and the one or more second network nodes are suspended.

The above module 1110 may be implemented as a pure hardware solution or as a combination of software and hardware, e.g., by one or more of: a processor or a micro-processor and adequate software and memory for storing of the software, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or other electronic component (s) or processing circuitry configured to perform the actions described above, and illustrated, e.g., in Fig. 8. Further, the first network node 1100 may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of the method 800 described with reference to Fig. 8.

Correspondingly to the method 900 as described above, an exemplary second network node for RIM is provided. Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a second network node 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The second network node 1200 may be, e.g., the aggressor 110 in some embodiments.

The second network node 1200 may be configured to perform the method 900 as described above in connection with Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 12, the second network node 1200 may comprise: a suspending module 1210 configured to suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation during at least one first time period, such that a first network node is able to detect whether or not there is RI from the second network node during the at least one first time period.

The above module 1210 may be implemented as a pure hardware solution or as a combination of software and hardware, e.g., by one or more of: a processor or a micro-processor and adequate software and memory for storing of the software, a PLD or other electronic component (s) or processing circuitry configured to perform the actions described above, and illustrated, e.g., in Fig. 9. Further, the second network node 1200 may comprise one or more further modules, each of which may perform any of the steps of the method 900 described with reference to Fig. 9.

Fig. 13 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN) , and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110) , or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE) , such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) , Mobility Management Entity (MME) , Home Subscriber Server (HSS) , Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) , Session Management Function (SMF) , Authentication Server Function (AUSF) , Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF) , Unified Data Management (UDM) , Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP) , Network Exposure Function (NEF) , and/or a User Plane Function (UPF) .

The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and/or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Fig. 13 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) ; Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) ; Long Term Evolution (LTE) , and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G) ; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi) ; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) , Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any ow-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) /Massive IoT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single-or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) , such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio -Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) .

In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b) . In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.

The hub QQ114 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) , and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub -that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub -that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Fig. 14 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA) , wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) , vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) , including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) , vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) , vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) , or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) . In other examples, 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 which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller) . Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter) .

The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input/output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 14. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) , etc. ) ; programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) , together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs) .

In the example, the input/output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc. ) , a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) , photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , programmable read-only memory (PROM) , erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) , magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) , flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM) , synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) , external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) , such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC) , integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ′SIM card. ′ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network) . Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and/or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth) . Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR) , UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) , synchronous optical networking (SONET) , Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) , QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) , and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature) , random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors) , in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent) , in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request) , or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient) .

As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) , a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal-or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) , and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Fig. 14.

As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone′s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone′s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Fig. 15 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points) , base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs) ) .

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network 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) .

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) 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) , Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs) ) , and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs) .

The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc. ) , which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 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 NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs) . In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs) . The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC) . In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips) , boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , mass storage media (for example, a hard disk) , removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD) ) , and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and/or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port (s) /terminal (s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and/or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown) , and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown) .

The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component) . The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 15 for providing certain aspects of the network node′s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Fig. 13, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host QQ400 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

The host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input/output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Fig. 14 and Fig. 15, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC) , High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) , Advanced Video Coding (AVC) , MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) , MPEG, G. 711) , including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems) . The host application programs QQ414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host QQ400 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs QQ414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMp) , Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) , Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) , etc.

Fig. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host) , then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications QQ502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc. ) are run in the virtualization environment QQ500 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs) ) , provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508) , and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) . NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.

Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Fig. 18 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE QQ112a of Fig. 13 and/or UE QQ200 of Fig. 14) , network node (such as network node QQ110a of Fig. 13 and/or network node QQ300 of Fig. 15) , and host (such as host QQ116 of Fig. 13 and/or host QQ400 of Fig. 16) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Fig. 18.

Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.

The network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Fig. 13) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

The UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 and executable by the UE′s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific "app"that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602. In the host QQ602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the user, the UE′s client application may receive request data from the host′s host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection QQ650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE′s client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection QQ650.

The OTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, the host QQ602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE QQ606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606. The host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606. The transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.

In some examples, the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602. Accordingly, in step QQ616, the UE QQ606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604. In step QQ620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602. As another example, the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights) . As another example, the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host QQ602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host QQ602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices) , or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.

In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ650 between the host QQ602 and UE QQ606, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host QQ602 and/or UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host QQ602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ′dummy′ messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.

The present disclosure is described above with reference to the embodiments thereof. However, those embodiments are provided just for illustrative purpose, rather than limiting the present disclosure. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the attached claims as well as equivalents thereof. Those skilled in the art can make various alternations and modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure, which all fall into the scope of the disclosure.

Abbreviation Explanation

3GPP 3^rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5^th Generation of Radio Network

LTE Long Term Evolution

RI Remote Interference

RIM Remote interference management

UE User equipment

Claims

A method (800) at a first network node (120) for Remote Interference Management (RIM) , the method (800) comprising:

detecting (S440b, S810) whether or not there is Remote Interference (RI) from one or more second network nodes (110) during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the first network node (120) and the one or more second network nodes (110) are suspended.
The method (800) of claim 1, further comprising:

determining (S445b) whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the detection of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) .
The method (800) of claim 2, further comprising at least one of:

continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period; and

stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period.
The method (800) of claim 2 or 3, wherein the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped is further based on at least whether or not RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) is detected during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed.
The method (800) of claim 4, further comprising at least one of:

continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the second time period;

continuing and/or triggering continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the second time period; and

stopping and/or triggering stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to detecting no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the second time period.
The method (800) of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein when the at least one first time period comprises more than one first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period comprises:

detecting RI levels during all the first time periods within the RIM detection period;

calculating, at the end of the RIM detection period, a filtered RI value based on at least the detected RI levels; and

detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) based on at least the filtered RI value.
The method (800) of claim 6, wherein the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) based on at least the filtered RI value comprises at least one of:

detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) in response to determining that the filtered RI value is higher than a first threshold; and

detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) in response to determining that the filtered RI value is lower than a second threshold.
The method (800) of claim 6 or 7, wherein the filtered RI value is at least one of:

- an average value of the detected RI levels; and

- a maximum value of the detected RI levels.
The method (800) of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein when the at least one first time period comprises only a single first time period within a RIM detection period, the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) during the at least one first time period comprises:

detecting an RI level during the single first time period; and

detecting whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) based on at least the RI level.
The method (800) of claim 9, wherein the detecting of whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) based on at least the RI level comprises at least one of:

detecting that there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) in response to determining that the RI level is higher than a first threshold; and

detecting that there is no RI from the one or more second network nodes (110) in response to determining that the RI level is lower than a second threshold.
The method (800) of claim 7 or 10, wherein the first threshold is higher than or equal to the second threshold.
The method (800) of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the at least one first time period is at least one frame.
The method (800) of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein at least one of the first network node (120) and the one or more second network nodes (110) is a base station.
The method (900) of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the first network node (120) is configured to perform the method (900) of any of claims 15 to 25.
A method (900) at a second network node (110) for Remote Interference Management (RIM) , the method (900) comprising:

suspending (S430a, S910) one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the second network node (110) during at least one first time period, such that a first network node (120) is able to detect whether or not there is Remote Interference (RI) from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period.
The method (900) of claim 15, further comprising:

determining whether or not the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period; and

determining whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) .
The method (900) of claim 16, further comprising at least one of:

continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects an RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period; and

stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects no RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period.
The method (900) of claim 16 or 17, further comprising:

determining whether or not the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during a second time period during which at least one of the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation is performed,

wherein the determination of whether the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation are to be continued or stopped is further based on at least the determination of whether or not the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during the second time period.
The method (900) of claim 18, further comprising at least one of:

continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during the second time period;

continuing the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects no RI from the second network node (110) during the second time period; and

stopping the one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects no RI from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period and in response to determining that the first network node (120) detects no RI from the second network node (110) during the second time period.
The method (900) of any of claims 15 to 19, further comprising:

generating pseudo downlink traffic when there is no downlink traffic to be transmitted during the at least one first time period; and

transmitting the pseudo downlink traffic during the at least one first time period.
The method (900) of claim 20, wherein the pseudo downlink traffic is generated with padding.
The method (900) of claim 20 or 21, wherein the pseudo downlink traffic is scrambled with a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that is not able to be descrambled by any terminal device.
The method (900) of any of claims 15 to 22, wherein the at least one first time period is at least one frame.
The method (900) of any of claims 15 to 23, wherein at least one of the first network node (120) and the second network node (110) is a base station.
The method of any of claims 15 to 24, wherein the first network node (120) is configured to perform the method (800) of any of claims 1 to 14.
A first network node (120, 1000, 1100) , comprising:

a processor (1006) ;

a memory (1008) storing instructions which, when executed by the processor (1006) , cause the first network node (120, 1000, 1100) to:

detect whether or not there is Remote Interference (RI) from one or more second network nodes (110) during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for Remote Interference Management (RIM) mitigation at the first network node (120) and the one or more second network nodes (110) are suspended.
The first network node (120, 1000, 1100) of claim 26, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (1006) , further cause the first network node (120, 1000, 1100) to perform the method (800) of any of claims 2 to 14.
A second network node (110, 1000, 1200) , comprising:

a processor (1006) ;

a memory (1008) storing instructions which, when executed by the processor (1006) , cause the second network node (110, 1000, 1200) to:

suspend one or more ongoing procedures for Remote Interference Management (RIM) mitigation during at least one first time period, such that a first network node (120) is able to detect whether or not there is Remote Interference (RI) from the second network node (110) during the at least one first time period.
The second network node (110, 1000, 1200) of claim 28, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (1006) , further cause the second network node (110, 1000, 1200) to perform the method (900) of any of claims 16 to 25.
A computer program (1010) comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor (1006) , cause the at least one processor (1006) to carry out the method (800, 900) of any of claims 1 to 25.
A carrier (1008) containing the computer program (1010) of claim 30, wherein the carrier (1008) is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.
A telecommunication system (10) , comprising:

one or more first network nodes (120, 130) , each of which comprises:

a processor;

a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the corresponding first network node (120, 130) to:

detect whether or not there is Remote Interference (RI) from one or more second network nodes (110, 130) during at least one first time period, during which one or more ongoing procedures for Remote Interference Management (RIM) mitigation at the one or more first network nodes (120, 130) and the one or more second network nodes (110, 130) are suspended,

the one or more second network nodes (110, 130) , each of which comprises:

a processor;

a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the corresponding second network node (110, 130) to:

suspend one or more ongoing procedures for RIM mitigation at the corresponding second network node (110, 130) during the at least one first time period, such that the one or more first network nodes (120, 130) are able to detect whether or not there is RI from the one or more second network nodes (110, 130) during the at least one first time period.
The telecommunication system (10) of claim 32, wherein the instructions stored in the memory of the corresponding first network node (120, 130) , when executed by the processor of the corresponding first network node (120, 130) , further cause the corresponding first network node (120, 130) to perform the method (800) of any of claims 2 to 14.
The telecommunication system (10) of claim 32 or 33, wherein the instructions stored in the memory of the corresponding second network node (110, 130) , when executed by the processor of the corresponding second network node (110, 130) , further cause the corresponding second network node (110, 130) to perform the method (900) of any of claims 16 to 25.