WO2025172013A1

WO2025172013A1 - Cell reselection priority based requests for information of energy saving cells

Info

Publication number: WO2025172013A1
Application number: PCT/EP2025/051620
Authority: WO
Inventors: Navin Hathiramani
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2024-02-16
Filing date: 2025-01-23
Publication date: 2025-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-16

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for acquiring information of a cell where SIB1 is transmitted on demand from an anchor cell. One method may include enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one at least one on demand system information functionality; determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

Description

TITLE

CELL RESELECTION PRIORITY BASED REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION OF

ENERGY SAVING CELLS

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Some example embodiments may generally relate to mobile or wireless telecommunication systems, such as 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5^th generation (5G) radio access technology (RAT), new radio (NR) access technology, 6^th generation (6G), and/or other communications systems. For example, certain example embodiments may relate to systems and/or methods for acquiring information of a cell where system information block 1 (SIB 1) is transmitted on demand from an anchor cell.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Examples of mobile or wireless telecommunication systems may include radio frequency (RF) 5G RAT, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), LTE Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-A Pro, NR access technology, and/or MulteFire Alliance. 5G wireless systems refer to the next generation (NG) of radio systems and network architecture. A 5G system is typically built on a 5G NR, but a 5G (or NG) network may also be built on E-UTRA radio. It is expected that NR can support service categories such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency- communication (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). NR is expected to deliver extreme broadband, ultra-robust, low-latency connectivity, and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (IoT). The next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) represents the radio access network (RAN) for 5G, which may provide radio access for NR, LTE, and LTE-A. It is noted that the nodes in 5G providing radio access functionality to a user equipment (e.g, similar to the Node B in UTRAN or the Evolved Node B (eNB) in LTE) may be referred to as next-generation Node B (gNB) when built on NR radio, and may be referred to as next-generation eNB (NG-eNB) when built on E-UTRA radio.

SUMMARY

[0003] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0004] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for enabling at least one on demand system information functionality. The apparatus may further include means for determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The apparatus may further include means for transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0005] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include enabling at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0006] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include enabling at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0007] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to enable at least one on demand system information functionality. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to determine at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0008] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include enabling circuitry configured to perform enabling at least one on demand system information functionality. The apparatus may further include determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The apparatus may further include transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0009] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include receiving, by an anchor cell, an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining, by the anchor cell, at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority. [0010] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The apparatus may further include means for determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The apparatus may further include means for transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0011] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0012] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority.

[0013] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to determine at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to transmit the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority.

[0014] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include receiving circuitry configured to perform receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The apparatus may further include determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The apparatus may further include transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0015] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled. [0016] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The apparatus may further include means for determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The apparatus may further include means for transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

[0017] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

[0018] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The method may further include determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The method may further include transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

[0019] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to enable at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to determine at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled. [0020] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include enabling circuitry configured to perform enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The apparatus may further include determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The apparatus may further include transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled. [0021] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include receiving, by an anchor cell, an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining, by the anchor cell, at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority.

[0022] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The apparatus may further include means for determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The apparatus may further include means for transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0023] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0024] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The method may further include determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The method may further include transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0025] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to determine at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to transmit the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority. [0026] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include receiving circuitry configured to perform receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The apparatus may further include determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The apparatus may further include transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0027] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include determining, by an anchor cell, whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0028] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for determining whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The apparatus may further include means for transmitting to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0029] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include determining whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The method may further include transmitting to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0030] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include determining whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The method may further include transmitting, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0031] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to determine whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0032] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include determining circuitry configured to perform determining whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request. The apparatus may further include transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0033] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include determining, by an anchor cell, to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0034] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for determining to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0035] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include determining to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests. [0036] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include determining to refrain from reauthorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0037] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to determine to refrain from reauthorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0038] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include determining circuitry configured to perform determining to refrain from reauthorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0039] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include receiving, by a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The method may further include determining, by the user equipment, a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0040] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for receiving transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The apparatus may further include means for determining a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0041] In accordance with various example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least a method. The method may include receiving transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The method may further include determining a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0042] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include receiving transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The method may further include determining a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0043] In accordance with certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The at least one memory and instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may further cause the apparatus at least to determine a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0044] In accordance with various example embodiments, an apparatus may include receiving circuitry configured to perform receiving transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The apparatus may further include determining circuitry configured to perform determining a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] For a proper understanding of example embodiments, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a UE acquiring capacity cell information via an anchor cell; [0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hierarchical configuration of anchor cell according to certain example embodiments;

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram according to some example embodiments;

[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of deriving RACH occasions based upon RACH priority and cell reselection priority according to various example embodiments;

[0050] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method according to certain example embodiments;

[0051] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a capacity cell, according to some example embodiments;

[0052] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an anchor cell, according to various example embodiments;

[0053] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a capacity cell, according to certain example embodiments;

[0054] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an anchor cell, according to some example embodiments;

[0055] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an anchor cell, according to certain example embodiments;

[0056] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by an anchor cell, according to certain example embodiments;

[0057] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a UE, according to certain example embodiments;

[0058] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of various network devices according to some example embodiments; and

[0059] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a 5G network and system architecture according to various example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] It will be readily understood that the components of certain example embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of some example embodiments of systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for acquiring information of a cell where SIB 1 is transmitted on demand from an anchor cell is not intended to limit the scope of certain example embodiments, but is instead representative of selected example embodiments.

[0061] Various techniques exist to minimize network energy consumption by reducing the number of transmissions from the perspective of the network. Since networks may have extended periods of time with load low, opportunities exist to save additional energy, for example, by reducing the transmission of always on periodic signals (e.g, system information block 1 (SIB1)).

[0062] As used throughout this discussion, “anchor cell” may refer to a cell through which information of another cell may be provided to a UE. Anchor cells may be active for longer periods of time than the capacity cells that they anchor. There may be more than one anchor cell for a capacity cell, and an anchor cell can also function as a capacity cell.

[0063] Similarly, “capacity cell” may refer to a cell which can leverage deeper sleep states, where one of these states may include suspending SIB 1 transmissions, and enabling SIB 1 on demand. A capacity cell may require an anchor cell to assist with providing its acquisition or configuration information.

[0064] When a cell enters an energy saving mode by implementing energy saving measures (e.g, suspending transmission of SIB1, enabling SIB1 on demand), a UE may acquire the SIB1 for a cell (z.e., via an anchor cell) in an energy saving state. Anchor cells may have larger coverage and/or provide UEs with information on how to access capacity cells, which may enter energy saving modes and/or suspend transmission of SIB 1. Using the anchor cells, a UE may learn how to acquire the SIB 1 for the capacity cell. As shown in FIG. 1, capacity cell SIB1, as well as other information, may be acquired directly from the anchor cell, or via the capacity cell (e.g, after learning configuration aspects of how to request the information from the capacity cell). [0065] Since transitions for capacity cells may be frequent between energy states in which the SIB 1 is transmitted periodically or only on demand, there needs to be an efficient method of the anchor cell communicating cell acquisition information of the capacity cells. For example, an anchor cell transmitting all the configuration information of capacity cells would be highly inefficient (e.g, no reduction of overhead) since this may result in merely shifting the burden of these transmissions from the capacity cells to the anchor cell. In addition, continuous transmission of the configuration of capacity cells from an anchor cell may not be required.

[0066] Certain example embodiments described herein may have various benefits and/or advantages to overcome the disadvantages described above. For example, certain example embodiments may provide an efficient method to determine which anchor cells provide required assistance information for cells that enable SIB1 on demand required. In addition, some example embodiments may provide an efficient method for anchor cells to enable a UE to retrieve this required information.

[0067] As explained in more detail below, certain example embodiments may provide a simple framework to enable SIB 1 on demand in which the amount of overhead is controllable to some extent. Furthermore, some example embodiments may enable a hierarchical activation of capacity cells; grouping of the capacity cells based on cell reselection priorities may be aligned with UE measurement procedures for cell reselection. The UE may quickly retrieve information from the anchor cell, wherein the UE retrieves a capacity cell WUS configuration from the anchor cell, and then employs the WUS configuration in the capacity cell to acquire information. In addition, the interruption time for monitoring paging may be minimized since the UE acquires the capacity cell information from the anchor cell. Thus, certain example embodiments discussed below are directed to improvements in computer-related technology.

[0068] In general, various example embodiments may relate to acquiring information of a cell where SIB 1 is transmitted on demand from an anchor cell, wherein system information messages transmitted by a cell may provide a UE with information on neighbor cells for which cell reselection is possible. [0069] A cell may determine its anchor cells and which cells may be an anchor cell based upon use the defined neighbor relations in the system information. For example, this determination may be based on a cell reselection priority configured for each neighbor cell in the system information. A cell with lower cell reselection priority may be considered as an anchor cell for a cell with a higher reselection priority. In certain example embodiments, a capacity cell may only consider anchor cells as those cells in its first set of defined neighbor cells with a lower cell reselection priority value.

[0070] In some example embodiments, inter-node signaling, such as an Xn Setup Request and/or Xn NG-RAN Node Configuration Update, may be employed by capacity cells to indicate to an anchor cell that it may employ SIB1 on demand. For cells with no, direct interface to their neighbour cells (z.e., no Xn relationship, this indication may be transmitted via AMF. Furthermore, the indication may also include a period of time when the energy saving mode is likely to be employed. Furthermore, capacity cells may transmit to the anchor cell the acquisition information that would need to be relayed to UEs (e.g, via Xn). In various example embodiments, Xn may refer to a logical interface between NG-RAN access nodes, and may be used to transfer user traffic and signaling information between NG-RAN access nodes. Xn may also include a user-plane and/or control-plane protocol.

[0071] In various example embodiments, anchor cells may configure RACH resources to facilitate requesting of capacity cell information. Reserved RACH resources may be based on the cell reselection priorities. For example, a RACH preamble may be enabled per reselection priority and/or for a group of priorities. Because RACH preambles per RACH occasion may be limited and/or required for many other purposes, the anchor cell may determine whether it wants to group capacity cells with diverse reselection priorities into a single preamble or have independent preambles. This determination may be based on the periods of time in which the capacity cells would be leveraging the energy saving states and/or its own RACH load. [0072] In certain example embodiments, anchor cells may broadcast RACH configuration/preambles via which a UE may request information of a cell based on its cell reselection priority. For example, the anchor cell may inform the UE that a random access response may not be transmitted to confirm the successful RA procedure; instead, success may be determined by the UE decoding the requested information. The network may then provide a timer within which if the UE has not successfully decoded the requested information, the UE may proceed with the transmission of another RA preamble. Furthermore, when a capacity cell transitions into SIB 1 on demand mode, the capacity cell may provide an indication the transition via on-going transmissions (e.g, master information block (MIB)). Furthermore, a UE on anchor cell may perform measurements of a capacity cell, and then determine the capacity cell is in an energy saving mode and needs to acquire information for the capacity cell via an anchor cell.

[0073] In certain example embodiments, the UE may determine the RACH configuration/occasion/preamble associated with the capacity cell based on its cell reselection priority. The UE may then transmit the RACH preamble. In addition, the anchor cell may determine the requested information based on the RACH decoded, and transmit the requested information for the associated cell reselection priority.

[0074] The example embodiments discussed herein are not limited to UEs retrieving information of capacity cells via anchor cells when the capacity cells employ SIB 1 on demand. For example, various example embodiments may be applied to other energy saving use cases which may be used in combination with the SIB 1 on demand or independently. For example, MIB on demand may be employed with SIB1 on demand.

[0075] FIG. 2 provides an example of hierarchical SIB 1 activation that ensures that not all layers of the network are unnecessarily activated in order to improve energy savings. Cell 1 may be a low band coverage layer that is always available, Cell 2 may be a midband layer, and Cell 3 may be a small cell. During high traffic periods, the network may be configured to offload as much traffic as possible from Cell 1 to the other cells, and may establish cell reselection priorities where Cell 3 has the highest priority. In order to maximize energy savings during low traffic periods, the network may be configured to turn off or initiate deeper sleep states for Cell 2 and Cell 3.

[0076] As an example, when Cell 3 enters a sleep state where it activates SIB1 on demand, Cell 3 may use Cell 2 as its anchor cell. If Cell 2 also decides to activate SIB1 on demand, Cell 2 may use Cell 1 as its anchor. Thus, if both Cell 2 and Cell 3 employ SIB 1 on demand, a UE could only acquire information of Cell 2 via Cell 1 due to the hierarchical configuration. Cell 1 is not limited in serving as an anchor for Cell 3; however, the advantage of the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is the reduced overheads for anchor cells (e.g, RACH preambles and transmissions of the information), and a controlled activation of layers in the network.

[0077] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a signaling diagram 300 depicting for acquiring information of a cell where SIB 1 is transmitted on demand from an anchor cell. UE 320 may be similar to UE 1320, and anchor cell/node 330 and capacity cell/node 340 may be similar to NE 1310, as illustrated in FIG. 13, according to certain example embodiments.

[0078] At operation 301, capacity cell/node 340 may enable SIB1 on demand for network energy savings.

[0079] At operation 302, capacity cell/node 340 may determine defined cell reselection neighbor relations, which may be defined by O&M.

[0080] At operation 303, capacity cell/node 340 may determine its anchor cell(s) (e.g, anchor cell/node 330) based on the cell reselection priorities of neighbor cells. For example, a cell with lower cell reselection priority may be considered as an anchor cell for a cell with higher reselection priority. In certain example embodiments, a capacity cell may only consider cells as anchor cells from among its first set of defined neighbor cells with a lower cell reselection priority value; this may lead to a hierarchical configuration (e.g, FIG. 2).

[0081] At operation 304, capacity cell/node 340 may transmit an indication to anchor cell/node 330 indicating the activation of the SIB1 on demand, as well other information (e.g, predicted times of the day where the SIB1 on demand may be employed). Capacity cell/node 340 may also transmit assistance information that anchor cell/node 330 may need to relay to UEs on behalf of capacity cell/node 340.

[0082] At operation 305, anchor cell/node 330 may determine a RACH configuration to be used that enables UE 320 to request information associated with capacity cells/nodes. For example, anchor cell/node 330 may determine the RACH configuration based on any of: a number of capacity cells that anchor cell/node 330 is managing; periods of time when each capacity cell may employ the SIB1 on demand feature; a cell reselection priority of the capacity cells (e.g, capacity cell/node 340); RACH load and/or configuration of anchor cell/node 330; and PDSCH load of anchor cell/node 330.

[0083] In some example embodiments, anchor cell/node 330 may group several capacity cells with different cell reselection priorities within a single preamble if anchor cell/node 330 determines the periods when it is required to provide assistance information for the capacity cells overlaps with a period of high RACH load.

[0084] During periods of lower RACH loads and/or PDSCH traffic, anchor cell/node 330 may be configured to have separate preambles for capacity cell/node 340 with a different cell reselection priority. Capacity cell/node 340 may attempt to leverage its own deeper sleep states by minimizing the size of the transmissions of assistance information for capacity cell/node 340.

[0085] In various example embodiments, the determined RACH configuration may only provide preambles for some of the reselection priorities in every RACH occasion. For example, if the default anchor cell/node 330 RACH periodicity is set to a time period (e.g, 20ms), and a single preamble for requesting capacity cell/node 340 information is reserved every RACH occasion, the cell reselection priority associated with a given RACH occasion may be derived by RACH occasion# mod Number of Cell reselection priorities of Capacity Cells, where RACH occasion# may be determined based on SFN.

[0086] FIG. 4 illustrates two example s/options of this type of RACH configuration based on a deployment scenario of a single anchor cell and 2 capacity cells. In option 1, the RACH configuration alternates between using the reserved preamble for capacity cells of cell reselection priority 3 and 7. This may result in higher delays to acquire the capacity cell information of cell 2. In option 2, the number of RACH occasions provided for the 2 cell reselection priorities is no longer balanced, and allows much faster acquisition of information related to cell 2.

[0087] At operation 306, anchor cell/node 330 may broadcast the determined RACH configuration. For example, the RACH configuration may provide information on RACH configuration to be employed per cell reselection priority.

[0088] In certain example embodiments, the RACH configuration may provide information on whether a UE should expect a random access response (RAR) for the RA preamble or whether the random access procedure is deemed successful upon the UE decoding the requested information. RAR transmission may cause extra transmission from anchor cell/node 330, and hence increase energy consumption. For example, during low load periods of the network, anchor cell/node 330 may determine if one RACH attempt for a UE is expected to be sufficient based on the RACH power control parameters and uplink interference levels. Based on this, anchor cell/node 330 may decide whether a small delay in terms of information acquisition for some UEs is acceptable prior to disabling the RAR.

[0089] In various example embodiments, if anchor cell/node 330 determines there is no need to transmit a RAR for requests of capacity cell information, anchor cell/node 330 may provide a timer to be employed by UE 320 to determine failure of the RA procedure. The timer would be started by UE 320 upon transmission of a preamble and it would be stopped when decoding the requested information. If the timer expires at UE 320, UE 320 may determine that the previous RA attempt was unsuccessful and transmit another RA preamble. In some example embodiments, as an alternative to the timer, anchor cell/node 330 may transmit information on the transmission window of information triggered via RACH preambles associated with cell reselection priorities. Based on these transmission windows occasions and their timing, UE 320 may determine whether its preamble transmission was received by anchor cell/node 330. For example, if the transmission window is configured to last 2 radio frames starting 4 slots after a RACH occasion, UE 320 may identify the need to retransmit a RA attempt after failing to detect or decode the requested information in this time period.

[0090] In some example embodiments, anchor cell/node 330 may also provide assistance information of capacity cell/node 340 to UE 320 in RRC connected mode via (e.g, RRC Release procedures).

[0091] At operation 307, capacity cell/node 340 may transition into SIB1 on demand mode, and may provide an indication of transition via its on-going transmissions (e.g. , MIB). This indication may be based on using the spare bit in the MIB or using some spare values of CORESETO configuration as per prior art. An indication of SIB1 on demand from capacity cell/node 340 may allow for more dynamic transitions. This may be supplemented with anchor cell/node 330 informing UE 320 whether capacity cell/node 340 is currently in SIB1 on demand state. However, due to the dynamic nature of the switches and the possibility of capacity cell/node 340 having more than one anchor cell, the control plane signaling and delay involved in informing UE 320 about the transitions could be rather large.

[0092] At operation 308, UE 320 may camp on anchor cell/node 330 performing cell reselection procedures.

[0093] At operation 309, upon measurements of capacity cell/node 340 (e.g, neighbor cell), UE 320 may determine that SIB1 on demand is being employed.

[0094] At operation 310, UE 320 may acquire the RACH configuration to request information of capacity cell/node 340 from anchor cell/node 330. Operation 310 may be similar to operation 306, as discussed above.

[0095] At operation 311, UE 320 may determine the RACH configuration, RACH occasion and RACH preamble associated with capacity cell/node 340 that UE 320 measured based on its cell reselection priority.

[0096] At operation 312, UE may transmit the RA preamble in the determined RACH occasion.

[0097] At operation 313, anchor cell/node 330 may decode the preamble ID, and determine the requested cell reselection priority information. [0098] At operation 314, anchor cell/node 330 may initiate the broadcast of the requested information. The duration of the broadcast may be set via O&M parameter or determined via use of AI/ML frameworks.

[0099] At operation 315, UE 320 may decode the requested information, and then follow established cell reselection procedures.

[0100] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 500 that may be performed by a UE, such as UE 1320 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0101] At step 501, the method may include camping on an anchor cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0102] At step 502, the method may further include measuring a capacity cell, and determining it provides SIB 1 on demand.

[0103] At step 503, the method may further include acquiring a RACH configuration information for acquisition of capacity cell information from anchor cell.

[0104] At step 504, the method may further include determining a RACH configuration, occasion, and preamble to be applied based on a cell reselection priority of the capacity cell.

[0105] At step 505, the method may further include transmitting a random access preamble to the anchor cell.

[0106] At step 506, the method may further include decoding the capacity cell information from the anchor cell.

[0107] At step 507, upon determining that the capacity cell information has been decoded, the method may further include determining how to proceed based on cell reselection procedures.

[0108] In previous techniques, on demand system information has been requested via a RACH procedure in the cell with SI on demand functionality enabled, and may broadcasted by the same cell in this way, on demand SI does not include SIB1. Some example embodiments discussed herein may relate to an on demand system information functionality, rather than a default functionality. A default functionality may be based on a periodic transmission of system information messages by a serving cell. A UE may store acquired system information from a cell for up to 3 hours in NR; thus, although the cell is transmitting this SI, it may be unused by any UE. In order to promote network energy savings, this may enable transmitting SI on demand (z'.e., only when requested by a UE, for example). In contrast, when such an on demand system information functionality is enabled, a serving cell may suspend periodic transmissions of system information configured to be acquired on demand. To enable the acquisition of this on demand system information, the serving cell may have to facilitate, from the UEs, a method to request or acquire the transmission of the on demand SI. When the on demand SI is requested, the cell providing this information may broadcast it for a finite period of time. The method employed by the UE to request the on demand SI and the cell providing the information may vary. For network energy saving purposes, SIB 1 is being studied to be provided on demand. In one embodiment the SIB1 for a cell with SIB1 on demand functionality enabled (i.e., capacity cell) could be provided by a different cell (i.e. an anchor cell). In a different embodiment the anchor cell could provide the WUS configuration to be used by the UE in the capacity cell to request the SIB 1 on demand.

[0109] In various example embodiments, the SI on demand functionality may not be limited to providing SI or SIB 1 information, but may be extended to include other control messages from which a UE could benefit from for a cell in a sleep state. One example could be the provisioning of the MIB in demand, as well as the SIB 1 on demand. The MIB on demand may be acquired in a similar maimer, as described above. A capacity cell enabling the MIB on demand may potentially leverage larger energy saving possibilities.

[0110] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 600 that may be performed by a capacity cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0111] At step 601, the method may include enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The system information on demand feature is related to at least one of master information block. The on demand system information feature may be related to at least one of MIB. [0112] At step 602, the method may further include determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The capacity cell may include a cell configured to suspend at least one SIB 1 transmission, and enable SIB 1 information on demand. The determination may be based on the at least one cell reselection priority configured for each of the at least one neighbor cell in the system information.

[0113] At step 603, the method may further include transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand SIB1 or MIB functionality has been enabled. The indication may further indicate at least that at least one system information on demand functionality has been enabled, and information to be relayed by the at least one anchor cell. The at least one on demand system information functionality may include at least one system information block 1 on demand functionality.

[0114] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 700 that may be performed by an anchor cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0115] At step 701, the method may include receiving, by an anchor cell, an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated. The indication may further include at least one predicted time at which the system information on-demand feature is activated.

[0116] At step 702, the method may further include determining, by the anchor cell, at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The preamble may be associated with different random access channel occasions. A periodicity of at least one random access channel occasion for different cell reselection priorities may be based on configurable parameters provided to a user equipment in the at least one random access channel configuration. The at least one random access channel configuration may include configuration information of the broadcast response. The configuration information may include access information required to acquire system information from the capacity cell or the capacity cell system information. The access information may be associated with a wake up signal configuration of the capacity cell. The access information may be received from the anchor cell.

[0117] At step 703, the method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority. The at least one random access channel configuration may be configured to associate a preamble to at least one cell reselection priority.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the method may further include broadcasting, by an anchor cell, information indicating at least requested reselection priority information.

[0119] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 800 that may be performed by a capacity cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0120] At step 801, the method may include enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one at least one on demand system information functionality. The capacity cell may include a cell configured to suspend at least one system information block 1 transmission, and enable system information block 1 or master information block information on demand.

[0121] At step 802, the method may further include determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell. The determination may be based on the at least one cell reselection priority configured for each of the at least one neighbor cell in the system information block 1 or master information block.

[0122] At step 803, the method may further include transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled. The indication may further indicate at least that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on demand functionality has been enabled, and information to be relayed by the at least one anchor cell. [0123] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 900 that may be performed by an anchor cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0124] At step 901, the method may include receiving, by an anchor cell, an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated. The indication may further include at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature is activated.

[0125] At step 902, the method may further include determining, by the anchor cell, at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell. The at least one random access channel configuration may be configured to associate a preamble to at least one cell reselection priority. The preamble may be associated with different random access channel occasions. A periodicity of at least one random access channel occasion for different cell reselection priorities may be based on configurable parameters provided to a user equipment in the at least one random access channel configuration.

[0126] At step 903, the method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority. The at least one random access channel configuration may include configuration information of the broadcast response. The configuration information may include access information required to acquire system information block 1 or master information block from the capacity cell or the capacity cell system information. The access information may be associated with a wake up signal configuration of the capacity cell. The access information may be received from the anchor cell. [0127] In various example embodiments, the method may further include broadcasting, by an anchor cell, information indicating at least requested reselection priority information.

[0128] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 1000 that may be performed by an anchor cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0129] At step 1001, the method may include determining, by an anchor cell, whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request.

[0130] At step 1002, the method may further include transmitting, by the anchor cell, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The transmission information may include at least one of a timer or a configuration of a transmission window.

[0131] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 1100 that may be performed by an anchor cell, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0132] At step 1101, the method may include determining, by an anchor cell, to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0133] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method 1200 that may be performed by a user equipment, such as NE 1310 illustrated in FIG. 13, according to various example embodiments.

[0134] At step 1201, the method may include receiving, by the user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure. The transmission information may include at least one of a timer or a configuration of a transmission window. The transmission information may further include at least one of a duration of a transmission window for the requested information and a starting positioning of the transmission window relative to a random access channel occasion. [0135] At step 1202, the method may further include determining, by the user equipment, a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0136] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a system according to certain example embodiments. In one example embodiment, a system may include multiple devices, such as, for example, NE 1310 and/or UE 1320.

[0137] NE 1310 may be one or more of a base station (e.g. , 3G UMTS NodeB, 4G LTE Evolved NodeB, or 5G NR Next Generation NodeB), a serving gateway, a server, and/or any other access node or combination thereof.

[0138] NE 1310 may further include at least one gNB -centralized unit (CU), which may be associated with at least one gNB-distributed unit (DU). The at least one gNB-CU and the at least one gNB -DU may be in communication via at least one Fl interface, at least one X_n-C interface, and/or at least one NG interface via a 5^th generation core (5GC).

[0139] UE 1320 may include one or more of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, or portable media player, digital camera, pocket video camera, video game console, navigation unit, such as a global positioning system (GPS) device, desktop or laptop computer, single-location device, such as a sensor or smart meter, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, NE 1310 and/or UE 1320 may be one or more of a citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD).

[0140] NE 1310 and/or UE 1320 may include at least one processor, respectively indicated as 1311 and 1321. Processors 1311 and 1321 may be embodied by any computational or data processing device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or comparable device. The processors may be implemented as a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or processors.

[0141] At least one memory may be provided in one or more of the devices, as indicated at 1312 and 1322. The memory may be fixed or removable. The memory may include computer program instructions or computer code contained therein. Memories 1312 and 1322 may independently be any suitable storage device, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, may correspond to a limitation of the medium itself (z. e. , tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g, random access memory (RAM) vs. read-only memory (ROM)). A hard disk drive (HDD), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or other suitable memory may be used. The memories may be combined on a single integrated circuit as the processor, or may be separate from the one or more processors. Furthermore, the computer program instructions stored in the memory, and which may be processed by the processors, may be any suitable form of computer program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted computer program written in any suitable programming language.

[0142] Processors 1311 and 1321, memories 1312 and 1322, and any subset thereof, may be configured to provide means corresponding to the various blocks of FIGs. 2-5. Although not shown, the devices may also include positioning hardware, such as GPS or micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) hardware, which may be used to determine a location of the device. Other sensors are also permitted, and may be configured to determine location, elevation, velocity, orientation, and so forth, such as barometers, compasses, and the like.

[0143] As shown in FIG. 13, transceivers 1313 and 1323 may be provided, and one or more devices may also include at least one antenna, respectively illustrated as 1314 and 1324. The device may have many antennas, such as an array of antennas configured for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communications, or multiple antennas for multiple RATs. Other configurations of these devices, for example, may be provided. Transceivers 1313 and 1323 may be a transmitter, a receiver, both a transmitter and a receiver, or a unit or device that may be configured both for transmission and reception. [0144] The memory and the computer program instructions may be configured, with the processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatus, such as UE, to perform any of the processes described above (z.e., FIGs. 2-5). Therefore, in certain example embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may be encoded with computer instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process such as one of the processes described herein. Alternatively, certain example embodiments may be performed entirely in hardware. [0145] In certain example embodiments, an apparatus may include circuitry configured to perform any of the processes or functions illustrated in FIGs. 2-5. As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry), (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software/firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions), and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g, firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0146] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a 5G network and system architecture according to certain example embodiments. Shown are multiple network functions that may be implemented as software operating as part of a network device or dedicated hardware, as a network device itself or dedicated hardware, or as a virtual function operating as a network device or dedicated hardware. The NE and UE illustrated in FIG. 14 may be similar to NE 1310 and UE 1320, respectively. The user plane function (UPF) may provide services such as intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, routing and forwarding of data packets, inspection of packets, user plane quality of service (QoS) processing, buffering of downlink packets, and/or triggering of downlink data notifications. The application function (AF) may primarily interface with the core network to facilitate application usage of traffic routing and interact with the policy framework.

[0147] According to certain example embodiments, processors 1311 and 1321, and memories 1312 and 1322, may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry. In addition, in some example embodiments, transceivers 1313 and 1323 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.

[0148] In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., NE 1310 and/or UE 1320) may include means for performing a method, a process, or any of the variants discussed herein. Examples of the means may include one or more processors, memory, controllers, transmitters, receivers, and/or computer program code for causing the performance of the operations.

[0149] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to enable at least one on demand system information functionality; determine at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and transmit, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0150] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for enabling at least one on demand system information functionality; means for determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and means for transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information functionality has been enabled.

[0151] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to receive an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated; determine at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and transmit the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information on demand feature is activated; means for determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and means for transmitting circuitry configured to perform transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell re selection priority.

[0152] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to enable at least one at least one on demand system information functionality; determine at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and transmit, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

[0153] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality; means for determining circuitry configured to perform determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and means for transmitting, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

[0154] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to receive an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated; determine at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and transmit the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0155] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated; means for determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

[0156] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to determine whether to refrain from transmitting a reauthorization request; and transmit, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0157] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for determining whether to refrain from transmitting a re-authorization request; and means for transmitting, to a user equipment, transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure.

[0158] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1310 may be controlled by memory 1312 and processor 1311 to determine to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0159] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for determining to refrain from re-authorization request during low load periods based on at least one of uplink interference levels and/or modified random access channel power control configuration for information requests.

[0160] In various example embodiments, apparatus 1320 may be controlled by memory 1322 and processor 1311 to receive transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure; and determine a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0161] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for receiving transmission information to be used by the user equipment for determining random access procedure failure; and means for determining a period of time in which the requested information is to be received to determine whether a random access procedure is successful.

[0162] The features, structures, or characteristics of example embodiments described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable maimer in one or more example embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “various embodiments,” “certain embodiments,” “some embodiments,” or other similar language throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an example embodiment may be included in at least one example embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in certain embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” or other similar language throughout this specification does not necessarily all refer to the same group of example embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments.

[0163] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or,” mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0164] Additionally, if desired, the different functions or procedures discussed above may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the described functions or procedures may be optional or may be combined. As such, the description above should be considered as illustrative of the principles and teachings of certain example embodiments, and not in limitation thereof. [0165] One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the example embodiments discussed above may be practiced with procedures in a different order, and/or with hardware elements in configurations which are different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although some embodiments have been described based upon these example embodiments, it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the example embodiments.

[0166] Partial Glossary

[0167] 3GPP 3^rd Generation Partnership Project

[0168] 5G 5^th Generation

[0169] 5GC 5^th Generation Core

[0170] 6G 6^th Generation

[0171] AF Application Function

[0172] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0173] ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

[0174] CBSD Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device

[0175] CPU Central Processing Unit

[0176] CU Centralized Unit

[0177] DU Distributed Unit

[0178] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0179] eNB Evolved Node B

[0180] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0181] GPS Global Positioning System [0182] HDD Hard Disk Drive [0183] loT Internet of Things [0184] LTE Long-Term Evolution [0185] LTE-A Long-Term Evolution Advanced [0186] MEMS Micro Electrical Mechanical System [0187] MIB Master Information Block [0188] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output [0189] mMTC Massive Machine Type Communication [0190] NE Network Entity [0191]NG Next Generation [0192]NG-eNB Next Generation Evolved Node B [0193]NG-RAN Next Generation Radio Access Network [0194] NR New Radio [0195] O&M Operation and Maintenance [0196] PDA Personal Digital Assistance [0197] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel [0198] QoS Quality of Service [0199] RA Random Access [0200] RACH Random Access Channel [0201] RAM Random Access Memory [0202] RAN Radio Access Network [0203] RAR Random Access Response [0204] RAT Radio Access Technology [0205] RF Radio Frequency [0206] ROM Read-Only Memory [0207] SI System Information [0208] SIB System Information Block [0209] SSB Synchronization Signal Block [0210] UE User Equipment [0211] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System [0212] UPF User Plane Function

[0213] URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication

[0214JUTRAN Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial

Radio Access Network [0215] WUS Wake Up Signal

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. An apparatus comprising: means for enabling at least one at least one on demand system information functionality; means for determining at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and means for transmitting to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication further indicates at least that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on demand functionality has been enabled, and information to be relayed by the at least one anchor cell.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capacity cell comprises a cell configured to suspend at least one system information block 1 transmission, and enable system information block 1 or master information block information on demand.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the determination is based on the at least one cell reselection priority configured for each of the at least one neighbor cell in the system information block 1 or master information block.

5. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated; means for determining at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and means for transmitting the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one random access channel configuration is configured to associate a preamble to at least one cell reselection priority.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the preamble is associated with different random access channel occasions.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a periodicity of at least one random access channel occasion for different cell reselection priorities is based on configurable parameters provided to a user equipment in the at least one random access channel configuration.

9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one random access channel configuration comprises configuration information of the broadcast response.

10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indication further comprises at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature is activated.

11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the configuration information comprises access information required to acquire system information block 1 or master information block from the capacity cell or the capacity cell system information.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the access information is associated with a wake up signal configuration of the capacity cell.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the access information is received from the anchor cell.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising: means for broadcasting information indicating at least requested reselection priority information.

15. A method comprising : enabling, by a capacity cell, at least one at least one on demand system information functionality; determining, by the capacity cell, at least one anchor cell based upon at least one cell reselection priority of at least one neighbor cell; and transmitting, by the capacity cell, to the at least one anchor cell, an indication of the determined anchor cell that at least one on demand system information block 1 or master information block functionality has been enabled.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the indication further indicates at least that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on demand functionality has been enabled, and information to be relayed by the at least one anchor cell.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the capacity cell comprises a cell configured to suspend at least one system information block 1 transmission, and enable system information block 1 or master information block information on demand.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the determination is based on the at least one cell reselection priority configured for each of the at least one neighbor cell in the system information block 1 or master information block.

19. A method comprising: receiving, by an anchor cell, an indication of a determined anchor cell that at least one system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature has been enabled, and at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on demand feature is activated; determining, by the anchor cell, at least one random access channel configuration, occasion, and preamble based upon at least one cell reselection priority of the capacity cell; and transmitting, by the anchor cell, the determined at least one random access channel configuration based on cell reselection priority.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one random access channel configuration is configured to associate a preamble to at least one cell reselection priority.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the preamble is associated with different random access channel occasions.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein a periodicity of at least one random access channel occasion for different cell reselection priorities is based on configurable parameters provided to a user equipment in the at least one random access channel configuration.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one random access channel configuration comprises configuration information of the broadcast response.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the indication further comprises at least one predicted time at which the system information block 1 or master information block on-demand feature is activated.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the configuration information comprises access information required to acquire system information block 1 or master information block from the capacity cell or the capacity cell system information.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the access information is associated with a wake up signal configuration of the capacity cell.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the access information is received from the anchor cell.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising: broadcasting, by an anchor cell, information indicating at least requested re selection priority information.