120. To use other network functions, registered functions can send service requests to the NRF.

The UDM interfaces with NFs such as AMF and SMF so that relevant data becomes available to AMF and SMF. The UDM generates authentication vectors when requested by the AUSF, which acts as an authentication server. The AMF performs the role of access point to the core network 120, thereby terminating RAN control plane and UE traffic originating on either the N1 or N2 reference interface. In the core network 120, the functionality of the 4G Mobility Management Entity (MME) is decomposed into the AMF and the SMF. The AMF receives all connection and session related information from the UE using N1 and N2 interfaces, and is responsible for handling connection and mobility management tasks.

A Unified Data Repository (UDR) may also be present. The UDR may provide unified data storage accessible to both control plane NFs and user plane NFs. Thus, the UDR may be a repository shared between control plane NFs and the UPF. The UDR may include information about subscribers, application-specific data, and policy data. The UDR can store structured data that can be exposed to an NF. The UPF may perform operations including, but not limited to, packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, policy enforcement for the user plane, Quality-of-Service (QOS) handling, etc. When compared with 4G EPC, the functions of the UPF may resemble those of the SGW-U (Serving Gateway User Plane function) and PGW-U (PDN Gateway User Plane function).

In an NTN implementation, there may be a RAN serving multiple UEs by a radio frequency transmission provided by utilizing orbiting satellites that may be in communication with access nodes (e.g., some of the access nodes 130) of a terrestrial network (TN). The NTN includes NTN nodes that are not stationed on the ground as a complement to the TNs. The NTN may be one of three types of satellite-based NG-RAN architectures: transparent satellite-based NG-RAN, regenerative satellite-based NG-RAN, and multi-connectivity involving satellite-based NG-RAN. Transparent satellite-based NG-RAN implements frequency conversion and a radio frequency amplifier in both uplink and downlink directions. Several transparent satellites may be connected to the same gNB on the ground through New Radio Uplink Unicast (NR-Uu). Regenerative satellite-based NG-RAN implements regeneration of the signals received from earth. The satellite payload also provides Inter-station Signaling Links (ISL) between satellites. An ISL may be a radio interface or an optical interface that may be 3GPP or non-3GPP defined. The regenerative satellite-based NGRAN architecture may be gNB processed payload (has both gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) and gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)) processed payload. Multi-connectivity involving satellite-based NG-RAN applies to transparent satellites as well as regenerative satellites with gNB or gNB-DU function on board.

Other network elements may be present in the system 100 to facilitate communication but are omitted for clarity, such as base stations, base station controllers, mobile switching centers, dispatch application processors, and location registers such as a home location register or visitor location register. Furthermore, other network elements that are omitted for clarity may be present to facilitate communication, such as additional processing nodes, routers, gateways, and physical and/or wireless data links for carrying data among the various network elements, e.g., between the access node 130 and the core network 120.

FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration in which a system 200 provides network coverage via an access node within a particular area. For purposes of illustration and explanation, the system 200 is illustrated as a 5G System (5GS); however, in practical implementations the system 200 may correspond to any RAT or combinations of RATs, including but not limited to 3G RATs such as GSM, UMTS, CDMA, etc.; 4G RATs such as WiMAX, LTE, etc.; 5G RATs such as NR; 6G RATs; and further extensions or updated implementations of the same.

As illustrated, the system 200 comprises a communication network 210, a 5G core 220, an access node 230, and a plurality wireless devices 250-1 to 250-3 (collectively referred to as wireless devices 250). Various components of the system 200 of FIG. 2 may correspond to components of the system 100 of FIG. 1; for example, the access node 230 may correspond to one of the access nodes 130, the wireless devices 250 may correspond to various ones of the wireless devices 140, and so on. For purposes of illustration and ease of explanation, only one access node 230 and three wireless devices 250 are shown in the system 200; however, as noted above with regard to FIG. 1, additional access nodes and/or additional or fewer wireless devices may be present in the system 200. In the illustration of FIG. 2, the access node 230 is connected to the communication network 210 via an NR path (including the 5G core 220); however, in practical implementations the access node 230 may be connected to the communication network 210 via multiple paths (e.g., using multiple RATs). The access node 230 communicates with the 5G core 220 via one or more communication links, each of which may be a direct link (e.g., an N2 link, an N3 link, or the like). The access node 230 may also communicate with additional access nodes via a direct link.

The communication network 210 can be a wired and/or wireless communication network, and can comprise processing nodes, routers, gateways, and physical and/or wireless data links for carrying data among various network elements, including combinations thereof, and can include a LAN or a WAN, and an internetwork (including the Internet). The communication network 210 can be capable of carrying data, for example to support voice, push-to-talk (PTT), broadcast video, and/or data communications by the wireless devices 250. Wireless network protocols can comprise MBMS, CDMA, 1×RTT, GSM, UMTS, HSPA, EV-DO, EV-DO rev. A, 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, 4G including LTE Advanced and the like, 5G including 5G NR or 5G Advanced, 6G or combinations thereof. Wired network protocols that may be utilized by the communication network 210 comprise Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Local Talk (e.g., Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance), Token Ring, FDDI, and ATM. The communication network 210 may also comprise additional base stations, controller nodes, telephony switches, internet routers, network gateways, computer systems, communication links, other types of communication equipment, and combinations thereof.

The communication links connecting the access node 230 to the 5G core 220 may respectively use various communication media, such as air, space, metal, optical fiber, other signal propagation paths, and combinations thereof. The communication links may respectively be wired or wireless and use various communication protocols such as Internet, IP, LAN, optical networking, HFC, telephony, T1, other communication formats, and combinations, improvements, or variations thereof. Wireless communication links may use electromagnetic waves in the RF, microwave, IR, or other wavelength ranges, and may use a suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to MBMS, CDMA, 1×RTT, GSM, UMTS, HSPA, EV-DO, EV-DO rev. A. 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, 4G including LTE Advanced and the like, 5G including 5G NR or 5G Advanced, 6G or combinations thereof as noted above. The communication links may respectively be a direct link or might include various equipment, intermediate components, systems, and networks. The communication links may comprise many different signals sharing the same link. The communication network 210, the access node 230, and/or the 5G core 220 may collectively implement several control plane NFs and user plane NFs which are described above.

Other network elements may be present in the system 200 to facilitate communication but are omitted for clarity, such as base stations, base station controllers, mobile switching centers, dispatch application processors, and location registers such as a home location register or visitor location register. Furthermore, other network elements that are omitted for clarity may be present to facilitate communication, such as additional processing nodes, routers, gateways, and physical and/or wireless data links for carrying data among the various network elements, e.g., between the access node 230 and the communication network 210.

A scheduling entity may be located within the access node 230 and/or the 5G core 220, and may be configured to accept and deny connection requests and manage communication sessions, to allocate resources and RATs to improve overall network resource utilization and performance, to configure connected wireless devices, to determine the order and timing of transmissions, and the like. The access node 230 may be any network node configured to provide communications between the connected wireless devices 250 and the communication network 210, including standard access nodes and/or short range, lower power, small access nodes. As examples of a standard access node, the access node 230 may be a macrocell access node, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a gNodeB in 5G networks, an eNodeB in 4G/LTE networks, or the like, including combinations thereof. In one particular example, the access node 230 may be a macrocell access node in which a range of coverage is from approximately five to thirty-five kilometers (km) and in which the output power is in the tens of watts (W). As examples of a small access node, the access node 230 may be a microcell access node, a picocell access node, a femtocell access node, or the like, including a home gNodeB or a home eNodeB.

The access node 230 can comprise one or more electronic processors and associated circuitry to execute or direct the execution of computer-readable instructions such as those described herein. In so doing, the access node 230 can retrieve and execute software from storage, which can include a disk drive, a flash drive, memory circuitry, or some other memory device, and which may be local or remotely accessible. The software may comprise computer programs, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable instructions, and may include an operating system, utilities, drivers, network interfaces, applications, or some other type of software, including combinations thereof. Moreover, the access node 230 can receive instructions and other input at a user interface.

The access node 230 further can comprise one or more communication elements, such as one or more antennas, in order to provide communications services over a geographic area. The communication elements may include a combination of wide area (e.g., omnidirectional) and narrow (e.g., beam-forming or directional) antennas. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the access node 230 includes a wide area antenna to provide coverage in a wide coverage area 240 and three narrow antennas to provide coverage in a first narrow coverage area 245-1, a second narrow coverage area 245-2, and a third narrow coverage area 245-3. In practical implementations, the access node 230 may include a large number of narrow antennas. The narrow antennas may provide increased throughput and/or reduced latency as compared to the broad antenna(s), despite having a narrower coverage area as compared to the broad antenna(s). Individual ones of the narrow antennas may be selectively enabled or disabled depending on the number and location of connected wireless devices 250.

The access node 230 may be configured to implement systems and methods for power management by scheduling network transmissions in accordance with a scheduling entity residing therein or residing in another network device. As noted above, the access node 230 must transmit SSB slots in order to ensure that wireless devices 250 are able to perform cell acquisition. These SSB slots may be transmitted using the broad antenna in order to permit acquisition in the entirety of wide coverage area 240, which is wider than any of the narrow coverage areas 245. At times when active utilization is low (e.g., during the middle of the night and/or at times when there are few users actively connected to the access node 230), the access node 230 may be configured to realize significant energy savings and associated cost reductions, for example by prioritizing data transmissions in SSB slots. In some examples, prioritizing data transmissions in SSB slots may permit the access node 230 to power-down one or more of the narrow antennas and solely use the broad antenna for all data communications, and may be able to power-down the broad antenna for large portions of each data frame.

FIGS. 3A-3C and 4A-4C illustrate an example of downlink (DL) data frames transmitted according to a scheme which implements such prioritization for both FDD (FIGS. 3A-3C) and TDD (FIGS. 4A-4C) schemes. In FIG. 3A, a DL data frame includes a single SSB slot 310 at the beginning thereof, which is followed by a plurality (here, nineteen) of data slots 320. The DL data frame has a duration of 10 ms, and both the SSB slot 310 and the data slots 320 each include fourteen data symbols. DL data frame may exist in a 20 megahertz (MHz) bandwidth layer, such as a layer of band n71. Thus, the transmissions represented in FIG. 3A may occupy 106 PRBs of the transmitting access node. In other implementations, the DL data frame may exist in 10 MHZ, 15 MHZ, or more than 20 MHZ.

FIG. 3B illustrates the SSB slot 310 in more detail. The central 20 PRBs are used to transmit synchronization signals, and the 43 PRBs above and below the central 20 PRBs are used to transmit data (PDSCH) signals. As noted above, transmitting PDSCH signals in the SSB slot 310 provides an increase in throughput. In symbols 0 and 1, downlink control (DC) information is transmitted. The SSB slot 310 includes two SSBs, each of which occupies four symbols in the time domain and 20 PRBs in the frequency domain. Each SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) in the first symbol (2 and 6) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) in the third symbol (4 and 8), each of which occupy 12 PRBs in the frequency domain. Each SSB further includes a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmission spanning the second through fourth symbol (3-5 and 7-9), which occupies 20 PRBs in the second and fourth symbol and the remaining 8 PRBs (i.e., those PRBs not occupied by the SSS) in the third symbol. A total of 86 PRBs are available for data transmissions in symbols 2-13, which includes demodulation reference signals (DMRS) and PDSCH transmissions. In many instances when resource utilization is low, the space available for data transmissions in the SSB slot 310 (i.e., the 86 PRBs over 12 symbols) is sufficient to handle all data traffic for the access node. Thus, the access node may implement the systems and methods described in more detail below (see FIGS. 5-6) in order to schedule all data signals to be transmitted in the SSB slots 310 and not to be transmitted in any of the data slots 320. FIG. 3C illustrates the resulting DL transmission frame in which the SSB slot 310 is followed by a series of blanked slots 330 in which no data is transmitted and the associated antennas may be powered down.

In FIG. 4A, a data frame is configured for bidirectional communication. The bidirectional data frame includes a plurality of SSB slots 410 (as illustrated, three) at the beginning thereof, followed by a transitional slot 430, followed by an uplink (UL) data slot 420, followed by three DL data slots 440. The pattern of one transitional slot 430, one UL data slot 420, and three DL data slots 440 repeats for the remainder of the frame. The frame may exist in a 100 MHZ bandwidth layer, such as a layer of band n41. Thus, the transmissions represented in FIG. 4A may occupy 272 PRBs of the transmitting access node.

FIG. 4B illustrates the SSB slot 410 in more detail. The central 20 PRBs are used to transmit synchronization signals, and the 126 PRBs above and below the central 20 PRBs are used to transmit data (PDSCH) signals. As noted above, transmitting PDSCH signals in the SSB slot 410 provides an increase in throughput. In symbol 0, control information is transmitted in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission. The SSB slot 410 includes two SSBs, each of which occupies four symbols in the time domain and 20 PRBs in the frequency domain. Each SSB includes a PSS in the first symbol (2 and 6) and an SSS in the third symbol (4 and 8), each of which occupy 12 PRBs in the frequency domain. Each SSB further includes a PBCH transmission spanning the second through fourth symbol (3-5 and 7-9), which occupies 20 PRBs in the second and fourth symbol and the remaining 8 PRBs (i.e., those PRBs not occupied by the SSS) in the third symbol. A total of 252 PRBs are available for data transmissions in symbols 1-13, which includes DMRS and PDSCH transmissions. In many instances when resource utilization is low, the space available for data transmissions in the SSB slots 410 (i.e., the 252 PRBs over 13 symbols in three different SSB slots 410) is sufficient to handle all data traffic for the access node. Thus, the access node may implement the systems and methods described in more detail below (see FIGS. 5-6) in order to schedule all data signals to be transmitted in the SSB slots 410 and not to be transmitted in any of the data slots 440. FIG. 4C illustrates the resulting frame in which the SSB slots 410 are followed by a series of blanked slots 430 in which no data is transmitted and the associated antennas may be powered down. The UL data slots 420 may remain active for UL data from connected wireless devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of an access node 500, which may correspond to one or more of the access nodes 130 shown in FIG. 1 and/or the access node 230 shown in FIG. 2 and which may implement the data scheduling methods described herein. The access node 500 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless devices using a wideband (e.g., a carrier or combination of carriers). As illustrated, the access node 500 includes a controller 510, a memory 520, wireless communication circuitry 530, and a bus 540 through which the various elements of the access node 500 communicate with one another. The controller 510 is one example of an electronic processor, and may include sub-modules or units, each of which may be implemented via dedicated hardware (e.g., circuitry), software modules which are loaded from the memory 520 and processed by the controller 510, firmware, and the like, or combinations thereof, thereby to implement operations and processes in accordance with the present disclosure. As illustrated, the controller 510 includes a setting module 511, a monitoring module 512, a logic module 513, and a scheduling module 514. Some or all of the sub-modules or units may physically reside within the controller 510, or may instead reside within the memory 520 and/or may be provided as separate units within the access node 500, in any combination. While FIG. 5 illustrates the setting module 511, the monitoring module 512, the logic module 513, and the scheduling module 514 as being separate modules, in practical implementations some of the modules may be combined with one another and/or may share components (e.g., logic gates).

The wireless communication circuitry 530 may include circuit elements configured for inbound communication to receive wireless signals (e.g. one or more antennas) as well as interface elements configured, for example, to translate data signals from wireless input into control or other signals for the controller 510. Moreover, the wireless communication circuitry 530 may include circuit elements configured for outbound communication to generate wireless signals (e.g., one or more antennas) as well as interface elements configured, for example, to translate control signals from the controller 510 into data signals for wireless output. Three such elements are expressly illustrated in FIG. 5: a first transmission antenna 531, a second transmission antenna 532, and a third transmission antenna 533. In practical implementations, the wireless communication circuitry 530 may include any number of transmission antennas and any of the transmission antennas may be either omnidirectional or directional in nature. The access node 500 may be configured to receive communications from one or more connected wireless devices via the wireless communication circuitry 530 and output communications and/or control signals or instructions to the wireless device via the wireless communication circuitry 530, thereby managing traffic and network resources. In an example, the wireless communication circuitry 530 is configured to communicate with connected wireless devices using a 5G RAT. The access node 500 may include additional wireless communication circuitry elements, for example to communicate using additional frequencies and/or to provide connectivity for different RATs. The access node 500 may further include additional wired communication circuitry elements.

Through the setting module 511, the monitoring module 512, the logic module 513, and the scheduling module 514, the access node 500 (e.g., the controller 510) may be configured to perform various operations to implement methods in accordance with the present disclosure, for example by controlling the operation of the wireless communication circuitry 530. While one example of operations performed by the modules is described here, in practical implementations at least some of the operations described as being performed by one module may instead be performed by another module, including a module not explicitly named here.

The setting module 511 may be configured to set at least one utilization threshold for the access node 500. The at least one utilization threshold may correspond to a threshold number of active wireless devices connected to the access node