Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines, based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines, based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A method, performed by a communication device, including a) measuring a respective beam quality for each of a plurality of beams of a cell, b) identifying, within said plurality of beams, a first group of beams comprising a number, N, of beams, c) selecting, from within said first group of beams, a second group of beams comprising a number, M, of beams, and d) deriving a cell quality for the cell based on the measured beam qualities for the M beams of the second group.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines, based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines, based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A communication system is disclosed in which communication resources are dynamically partitioned into a plurality of slices, each slice having at least one associated network-level performance requirement. A network-level performance requirement is translated into cell-level resource requirement(s) for determining, based on the cell-level resource requirement(s), whether to admit a slice instance. When the slice instance is admitted, information identifying the cell-level resource requirement(s) for the slice instance is provided to a scheduler function. The cell-level resource requirement(s) for a given slice instance may be used to determine an associated packet delivery deadline and entitled resource amount before deadline. The scheduler function allocates communication resources to each admitted slice based on an earliest-deadline-first method.

Abstract: A method, performed by a communication device, including a) measuring a respective beam quality for each of a plurality of beams of a cell, b) identifying, within said plurality of beams, a first group of beams comprising a number, N, of beams, c) selecting, from within said first group of beams, a second group of beams comprising a number, M, of beams, and d) deriving a cell quality for the cell based on the measured beam qualities for the M beams of the second group.

Abstract: A method, performed by a communication device, including a) measuring a respective beam quality for each of a plurality of beams of a cell, b) identifying, within said plurality of beams, a first group of beams comprising a number, N, of beams, c) selecting, from within said first group of beams, a second group of beams comprising a number, M, of beams, and d) deriving a cell quality for the cell based on the measured beam qualities for the M beams of the second group.

Abstract: We apply the techniques of deep reinforcement learning (RL) to the problem of coverage and capacity optimisation (CCO) in wireless networks. This is motivated by the idea that the type of combinatorial optimisation problems encountered in wireless networks are somewhat analogous to strategy games, for which deep RL has already proven to be an effective approach. We use a computer simulation of a small wireless network to generate synthetic data to train a deep Q network (DQN), and evaluate the performance of the DQN with further simulations. We compare the performance of the DQN with a conventional model-based approach. The results show that the DQN achieves slightly better performance than the conventional method, without the need for an explicit model of the environment. The performance is shown to be further improved by using the DQN within a search algorithm.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines, based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines; based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A communication system is disclosed in which communication resources are dynamically partitioned into a plurality of slices, each slice having at least one associated network-level performance requirement. A network-level performance requirement is translated into cell-level resource requirement(s) for determining, based on the cell-level resource requirement(s), whether to admit a slice instance. When the slice instance is admitted, information identifying the cell-level resource requirement(s) for the slice instance is provided to a scheduler function. The cell-level resource requirement(s) for a given slice instance may be used to determine an associated packet delivery deadline and entitled resource amount before deadline. The scheduler function allocates communication resources to each admitted slice based on an earliest-deadline-first method.

Abstract: A method performed by a user equipment in a communication system is disclosed in which the user equipment communicates data with a base station using at least one data radio bearer (DRB). The data is communicated using a plurality of data flows that are mapped to a single DRB. Each data flow is configured to have a respective set of quality of service (QoS) characteristics specific to that data flow. The user equipment measures quality of experience (QoE) parameters for the data flows and reports QoE information to the base station based on the measurement of the QoE parameters.

Abstract: A cellular communication system is disclosed in which a base station operates a cell which has a supplementary uplink portion (e.g. on a different frequency and/or using a different technology). The base station broadcasts an offset for user equipment (UE) in its coverage area to assist the UE performing cell selection. Specifically, the UE determines; based on measurements for the cell, the offset, and capability of the UE to communicate using the supplementary uplink portion, whether the cell of the base station is an appropriate candidate for cell selection such that: if the UE is capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE performs cell (re)selection based on the offset; and if the UE is not capable of communicating using the supplementary uplink portion then the UE disregards the offset in its cell (re)selection.

Abstract: A method, performed by a communication device, comprising a) measuring a respective beam quality for each of a plurality of beams of a cell, b) identifying, within said plurality of beams, a first group of beams comprising a number, N, of beams, c) selecting, from within said first group of beams, a second group of beams comprising a number, M, of beams, and d) deriving a cell quality for the cell based on the measured beam qualities for the M beams of the second group.

Abstract: A communication system is disclosed comprising a first base station operating a first cell and a second base station operating a second cell. The first base station determines that load should be offloaded from the first cell towards the second cell based on a comparison of respective measurement result of a first type obtained for the first and second cells. The first base station controls load balancing based on a second comparison of respective measurement result of a second type for each of the first and second cells, wherein a second condition, when met, indicates that the base station operating the second cell will not offload load to the first cell based on the respective measurement result of the second type for the first and second cells.

Abstract: A communication system is disclosed comprising a first base station operating a first cell and a second base station operating a second cell. The first base station determines that load should be offloaded from the first cell towards the second cell based on a comparison of respective measurement result of a first type obtained for the first and second cells. The first base station controls load balancing based on a second comparison of respective measurement result of a second type for each of the first and second cells, wherein a second condition, when met, indicates that the base station operating the second cell will not offload load to the first cell based on the respective measurement result of the second type for the first and second cells.