Wireless communication enhancements for transparent and boundary clocks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020267673-A1
Application number	US-202016792133-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 14, 2020
Priority date	Feb 18, 2019
Publication date	Aug 20, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. In an example, a method includes a first node receiving a precision time protocol (PTP) message, identifying one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node based at least in part on the PTP message, and sending, to a second node of the wireless communication network, an indicator of the one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node. Another example at a node includes receiving, from additional nodes of the wireless communication network, indicators of one or more timing domains supported by the additional nodes, receiving a PTP message associated with a timing domain, and sending the PTP message to a subset of the additional nodes based at least in a part on the indicators of one or more timing domains supported by the additional nodes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method at a first node of a wireless communication network, comprising:
receiving a precision time protocol (PTP) message; identifying one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node based at least in part on the PTP message; and sending, to a second node of the wireless communication network, an indicator of the one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more timing domains further comprises:
identifying a network tag in a frame associated with the PTP message.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more timing domains further comprises:
determining the one or more timing domains from a field in a header of the PTP message.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the field in the header is a domain Number field that includes a time domain identifier.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second node is one of a user plane function (UPF), an adaptor connected to a UPF, or a translator connected to a UPF.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the PTP message is a multicast PTP message.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing time domain information associated with the indicator of the one or more timing domains.

8 . A method at a first node of a wireless communication network, comprising:
receiving a precision time protocol (PTP) message associated with a destination, wherein a second node of the wireless communication network serves as a packet gateway for the destination for the wireless communication network; and sending a representation of the PTP message to a third node of the wireless communications network.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the third node is one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), or a base station.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
sending the PTP message to the second node.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein a destination of the representation of the PTP message comprises a fourth node of the wireless communication network.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the second node and the first node are a same node.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein sending the representation of the PTP message to the third node comprises:
forwarding the PTP message to the third node of the wireless communications network via a user plane.

14 . A method at a node of a wireless communication network, comprising:
receiving, from additional nodes of the wireless communication network, indicators of one or more timing domains supported by the additional nodes; receiving a precision time protocol (PTP) message associated with a timing domain; and sending the PTP message to a subset of the additional nodes based at least in a part on the indicators of one or more timing domains supported by the additional nodes.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the additional nodes comprise one or more user equipments.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the node is one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), or a base station.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the indicators of the one or more timing domains comprise indicators of a plurality of timing domains supported by a first user equipment (UE), the method further comprising:
establishing a packet data unit (PDU) session with the first UE for communication of PTP messages associated with the plurality of timing domains.

18 . An apparatus at a first node of a wireless communication network, comprising:
a processor, memory coupled to processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive a precision time protocol (PTP) message;
identify one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node based at least in part on the PTP message; and
send, to a second node of the wireless communication network, an indicator of the one or more timing domains to be supported by the first node.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the instructions to identify the one or more timing domains further are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
identify a network tag in a frame associated with the PTP message.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the instructions to identify the one or more timing domains further are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine the one or more timing domains from a field in a header of the PTP.

21 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the second node is one of a user plane function (UPF), an adaptor connected to a UPF, or a translator connected to a UPF.

22 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the second node is one of a user plane function (UPF), an adaptor connected to a UPF, or a translator connected to a UPF.

23 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the PTP message is a multicast PTP message.

24 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
store time domain information associated with the indicator of the one or more timing domains.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Joseph Vinay
• Prakash Rajat
• Tinnakornsrisuphap Peerapol
• Ulupinar Fatih

Classifications

• H04L69/28

  Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols · CPC title

• H04J3/0673

  using intermediate nodes, e.g. modification of a received timestamp before further transmission to the next packet node, e.g. including internal delay time or residence time into the packet · CPC title

• H04J3/0667

  Bidirectional timestamps, e.g. NTP or PTP for compensation of clock drift and for compensation of propagation delays (arrangements for monitoring round trip delays in packet switching networks H04L43/0864) · CPC title

• H04J3/0641 Primary

  Change of the master or reference, e.g. take-over or failure of the master · CPC title

• H04W56/005

  compensating for timing error by adjustment in the receiver · CPC title