Method and apparatus for providing assist information for improved power efficiency

Abstract

Techniques for providing assistance information to a network are described, which is useful in determining when to change the operating mode of a UE to reduce the power consumption of the UE. The assistance information can be used, for example, to release the UE from the RRC_Connected state; release one or more component carriers (e.g., SCell) that are not in use among a set of aggregated carriers, and signal the UE to enter sleep during the ON period while an inactivity timer associated with the DRX configuration is running.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to techniques for improving power efficiency in a user equipment (UE), and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for signaling auxiliary information to enable the release of resources for communication with the UE. Background Art

[0002] The battery life of a user equipment (UE) is an important consideration in a wireless communication network. In a New Radio (NR) system, the network can help extend the battery life of the UE by releasing resources that the UE is not currently using to reduce the UE's power consumption. For example, when it is expected that a UE in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected (RRC_Connected) state does not transmit or receive data, the network can release the RRC resources and allow the UE to transition to the idle state. This not only saves UE power but also releases resources that are not currently fully utilized. Similarly, when Carrier Aggregation (CA) is used, a Secondary Cell (SCell) that the UE is not currently using can be released. As another example, when the UE is in the connected Discontinuous Reception (cDRX) mode, the UE can be signaled to enter sleep.

[0003] Although there are several techniques to reduce the power consumption of the UE, these techniques mainly rely on the Buffer Status Report (BSR) and the Inactivity Timer (IAT). The BSR notifies the network about the status of the UE uplink transmission buffer. However, BSR = 0 does not mean that the UE does not expect to send any further UL data in the near future (e.g., 2 - 10 ms), or that there will be no further DL data in the near future. Therefore, the network may release the RRC connection prematurely, which will cause the UE to enter the idle state and perform a random access procedure when it needs to send data. Similarly, when a UE in the cDRX mode wakes up to send or receive data, it starts the IAT and remains awake until the timer expires. In this case, the UE may remain awake even when there is no expected data transmission to or from the UE. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for providing auxiliary information to a network that is useful in determining when to change the operating mode of a UE to reduce the UE's power consumption. Generally, the UE can be configured to provide the auxiliary information in response to determining that no data transmission is expected. The auxiliary information can be used, for example, to release the UE from the connected state, release one or more component carriers (e.g., SCell) that are not in use in a set of aggregated carriers, and signal the UE to enter sleep during an ON duration while an inactivity timer associated with a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration is running.

[0005] Additionally, efficient and robust signaling of auxiliary information is provided via layer 1 (L1) and layer 2 (L2) signaling on top of existing layer 3 (L3) signaling methods. Signaling of auxiliary information by the UE as described herein enables the network to make better decisions regarding long-term (e.g., in RRC release) or short-term (e.g., in DRX command or release of SCell) release of the UE. As such, the UE can save some power while its throughput and latency remain largely unaffected. Further, compared to the prior art, the techniques as described herein provide faster but still robust signaling of auxiliary information.

[0006] A first aspect of the present disclosure includes a method performed by a UE for providing auxiliary information to a network for reducing power consumption. The UE determines that no data transmission is expected. In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, the UE sends the auxiliary information to the network. The auxiliary information includes configuration information for power saving.

[0007] A second aspect of the present disclosure includes a method performed by a base station for reducing power consumption of a UE in a wireless communication network. The base station receives the auxiliary information from the UE. The base station further controls an operation mode of the UE at least in part based on the auxiliary information to reduce power consumption of the UE.

[0008] A third aspect of the present disclosure includes a UE configured to perform the method according to the first aspect. In one embodiment, the UE includes a communication circuit for communicating with a base station and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to determine that no data transmission is expected. The processing circuit is configured to send the auxiliary information to the network in response to determining that no data transmission is expected. The auxiliary information includes configuration information for power saving.

[0009] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes a base station configured to reduce power consumption of a UE. In one embodiment, the base station includes a communication circuit for communicating with a UE and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive the auxiliary information from the UE. The processing circuit is configured to control an operation mode of the UE at least in part based on the auxiliary information to reduce power consumption of the UE.

[0010] A fifth aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer program for a UE. The computer program includes executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit in a UE in a wireless communication network, cause the UE to perform the method according to the first aspect.

[0011] A sixth aspect of the present disclosure includes a carrier containing the computer program according to the fifth aspect. The carrier is one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0012] The seventh aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer program for a base station. The computer program includes executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit in a base station in a wireless communication network, cause the base station to perform the method according to the first aspect.

[0013] The eighth aspect of the present disclosure includes a carrier for the computer program according to the seventh aspect. The carrier is one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication network is shown.

[0015] Figure 2 cDRX operation for reducing power consumption is shown.

[0016] Figure 3 An exemplary method performed by a UE for signaling auxiliary information is shown.

[0017] Figure 4 Another exemplary method performed by a UE for signaling auxiliary information is shown.

[0018] Figure 5 Another exemplary method performed by a UE for signaling auxiliary information is shown.

[0019] Figure 6 An exemplary method performed by a base station for controlling the operating mode of a UE to reduce power consumption is shown.

[0020] Figure 7 An exemplary method performed by a base station for controlling the operating mode of a UE to reduce power consumption is shown.

[0021] Figure 8 Another exemplary method performed by a UE for signaling auxiliary information is shown.

[0022] Figure 9 An exemplary method performed by a base station for controlling the operating mode of a UE to reduce power consumption is shown.

[0023] Figure 10 An exemplary UE according to an embodiment is shown.

[0024] Figure 11 An exemplary base station according to an embodiment is shown.

[0025] Figure 12 An exemplary UE according to another embodiment is shown.

[0026] Figure 13 An exemplary base station according to another embodiment is shown.

[0027] Figure 14 Shows an exemplary wireless network according to an embodiment.

[0028] Figure 15 Shows an exemplary UE according to an embodiment.

[0029] Figure 16 Shows an exemplary virtualized environment according to an embodiment.

[0030] Figure 17 Shows an exemplary telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to an embodiment.

[0031] Figure 18 Shows an exemplary host computer communicating with a user equipment via a base station through a partial wireless connection according to an embodiment.

[0032] Figures 19 - 22 Shows an exemplary method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. Detailed Description

[0033] Referring now to the drawings, an auxiliary information signaling technique will be described in the context of a wireless communication network 10 operating according to the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) standard. Those skilled in the art will understand that the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to these radio access technologies (RATs), but are more generally applicable to wireless communication networks in which power savings for UEs are desired and that operate according to any currently known or later developed standard, including long term evolution (LTE) networks and narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) networks.

[0034] Figure 1 Shows the communication between a base station 20 and a UE 30 in a wireless communication network 10. The base station 20, sometimes referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB) or a 5G Node B (gNB) in applicable standards, is part of a 5G radio access network (RAN) and provides radio coverage to the UE 30 in a cell 15 of the wireless communication network 10. The base station 20 provides a connection to a 5G core (5GC) network. The UE 30 can include, for example, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication device (also referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) device), or other devices having wireless communication capabilities. The base station 20 sends data to the UE 30 in the DL on a narrowband physical downlink shared channel (NPDSCH), a narrowband physical downlink control channel (NPDCCH), and a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH). The UE 30 sends data to the base station 20 in the UL on a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH).

[0035] To communicate with network 10, UE 30 registers with network 10 and establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. When UE 30 registers with network 10, UE 30 can be in one of three different RRC states: RRC_CONNECTED; RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE. In the RRC_CONNECTED state (referred to herein as the connected state), UE 30 has an established RRC connection with the 5G RAN / 5GC. UE 30 transitions to the connected state for uplink and downlink data transmission. When UE 30 is inactive for a period of time, the RRC connection can be released and UE 30 can transition to the RRC_IDLE state, referred to herein as the idle state. UE 30 also enters the idle state when powered on. When UE 30 is in the idle state, UE 30 sleeps most of the time to save battery power and wakes up periodically to check for paging messages. The RRC_INACTIVE state (referred to as the inactive state) is a new state introduced in NR. In the inactive state, UE 30 maintains the RRC connection but is in an inactive state. This state allows UE 30 to save battery power while allowing for faster transmission and less signaling to return to the connected state.

[0036] RRC Release

[0037] UE 30 switches to the idle or inactive state via RRCRelease signaling. Because asynchronous Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) is used in the uplink, before transitioning to the idle state or the inactive state, UE 30 waits for 60 ms after receiving the RRCRelease message or optionally when a lower layer indicates successful acknowledgment of the receipt of the RRCRelease message (whichever is earlier), as described in Section 5.3.8.3 of 3GPP TS 38.331. In NB-IoT / MTC, when UE 30 is not polled, UE 30 can enter the idle state after sending a HARQ Acknowledgment (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgment (NACK): When UE 30 is polled during a release and an RLC report has been sent, due to asynchronous HARQ in the uplink, UE 30 must wait some additional time to ensure that the gNB has received the RLC ACK and allows for possible HARQ retransmission of the RRCRelease message if needed. It is important for UE 30 and network 10 to maintain RRC state synchronization. For mobile broadband (MBB) use cases, it is assumed that NR UE 30 transitions frequently between the connected state and the inactive state (e.g., an average of 20 RRC connection establishments per UE per hour are observed in a real-life network).

[0038] DataInactivityTimer

[0039] The DataInactivityTimer can be configured in the NR UE 30 to resolve RRC state mismatches in those very few cases where this may occur. When the radio link conditions are very poor, the base station 20 may exceed the maximum RLC retransmission count of the RRCRelease message and enter the idle state. The UE 30 may not receive the RRCRelease message and remain in the connected state. Typically, the UE 30 remains in the connected state when no data is received. However, when the DataInactivityTimer is configured and expires, the UE 30 enters the idle state and performs a NAS recovery procedure to re-store any RRC state mismatches.

[0040] Release Assistance Information (RAI) signaling

[0041] In NB-IoT, when data is sent via the non-access stratum (NAS) (control plane (CP) solution), the UE 30 can indicate that it does not expect to send or receive further data via the NAS Release Assistance Indication (RAI), as described in 3GPP TS24.301. The RAI consists of 2 bits and is used to indicate: 1) no further uplink or downlink data transmissions are expected, or 2) only a single downlink data transmission (e.g., an acknowledgement or response to uplink data) and no further uplink data transmissions are expected after the uplink data transmission. The purpose of the RAI information element (IE) in LTE is to inform the network that no further uplink data transmissions are expected and whether a downlink data transmission (e.g., an acknowledgement or response) is expected after the uplink data transmission.

[0042] The Mobility Management Entity (MME) can use this information to decide to immediately release the S1 connection, i.e., send a UE context release command (UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND) and trigger the base station 20 to release the RRC connection, or send the last downlink data of a subsequent UE context release command.

[0043] In NB-IoT, when data is sent via a data radio bearer (DRB) (user plane (UP) solution), the UE 30 can indicate that it does not expect to send or receive further data via BSR signaling (more specifically by omitting to send BSR = 0 when configuring rai-Activation (see 38.321)).

[0044] In UMTS, the Signaling Connection Release Indication (SCRI) message, which was originally intended to indicate an abnormal condition in the UE 30 and trigger an RRC connection release, has been (mis)used to trigger "fast dormancy". However, through further standardization efforts and controlling the timers / counters for potential excessive SCRI signaling, this feature has been successfully deployed. In LTE, "fast dormancy" signaling is not supported.

[0045] In the current solutions for UE power saving in NR, the network 10 relies on the current DL / UL buffer status to release the UE 30 from a specific state or operating mode, such as releasing the RRC state of the UE 30 and taking it from the connected state to the RRC_Inactive / idle state, or releasing a specific Scell or multiple specific Scells, or putting the UE to sleep in the C-DRX mode. The network 10 becomes aware of the uplink (UL) buffer through the buffer status report (BSR) sent by the UE 30. Although BSR = 0 indicates that the UE 30 UL buffer is empty at this time, it does not provide information about what will happen after a short period (e.g., a few milliseconds or tens of milliseconds). Therefore, the network 10 may inappropriately put the UE 30 into the idle or inactive state while the UE 30 expects to send some UL data or has a lesser degree of data to receive. Thus, additional release assistance information from the UE through explicit signaling where the UE at least does not expect any UL data is needed.

[0046] One aspect of the present disclosure includes assistance information and a signaling scheme for helping the network 10 make a decision regarding releasing the NR UE 30 from a specific state or operating mode. The assistance information (also referred to as assistance information herein) is sent from the UE 30 to the network 10 to provide the network 10 with information for releasing the UE 30 from the connected state, releasing unscheduled SCells, and for releasing the UE 30 from the active state of DRX (i.e., the ON period or the Inactive Timer (IAT)). Additionally, a signaling technique for efficient and robust signaling of the assistance information through L1 and L2 signaling on top of existing L3 signaling techniques.

[0047] Status information for RRC release

[0048] NR supports RRCRelease signaling to switch the UE 30 from the connected state to the idle or inactive state. For this purpose, the network 10 must rely only on the current downlink (DL) buffer and the buffer status report (BSR) from the UE 30. It should be noted that the BSR = 0 signaling indicating that the uplink (UL) buffer is currently empty does not mean that the UE 30 expects not to send any further UL data in the near future, or expects not to have any further DL data in the near future.

[0049] To reliably release the RRC connection, more information than what the BSR currently provides is needed. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, auxiliary information signaling is used to indicate that no data transmission and / or reception is expected. The auxiliary information may further provide timing information to indicate the time span or time period during which no data transmission is expected. In some embodiments, the auxiliary information may indicate that only additional DL transmissions are expected and no UL transmissions. Information about the quantity, amount, or size of data transmissions may be provided. In one embodiment, it is assumed that after a specific amount of time (similar to the data inactivity timer), the UE 30 may send auxiliary information to indicate that no further DL and / or UL transmissions are expected, etc. Thus, a bit field with a specific length may be defined to include all possible combinations of the auxiliary information that can be indicated. Nevertheless, it would be beneficial to keep it as short as possible. As described below, this bit field may be sent in the form of uplink control information (UCI) on the NPUCCH or NPUSCH.

[0050] Status information for SCell release

[0051] As in the case of RRC connection, NR supports SCell release via the SCell deactivation command or the sCellDeactivationTimer. As in the case of RRC release, in order to allow or command the release of component carriers in a set of aggregated carriers, the base station 20 only needs to access the current DL / UL information. The status information signaling described herein may provide additional information about the UL / DL expectations from the UE side.

[0052] In this case, the auxiliary information may contain simple information such as DL / UL expectations in the case of RRC release, or some additional information such as the expected information payload. For example, a simple low value may indicate that an additional SCell is not required, while a high value may indicate that the network 10 should not release the SCell. In another example, the UE 30 may indicate when it reaches a critical battery state, so that releasing the SCell would be beneficial. For more enhanced auxiliary information, the UE 30 may indicate to the network 10 which SCell(s) can be released.

[0053] As in the case of the auxiliary information for RRC release, a bit field may be defined to indicate different auxiliary information for SCell release. Similarly, this bit field should be kept as small as possible.

[0054] End-Of-Traffic-Burst (EOTB) signaling for cDRX

[0055] In addition to the auxiliary information signaling that assists in RRC release or SCell release, additional signaling can be used at a finer time granularity, i.e., to assist the network 10 in switching the UE 30 to connected DRX (cDRX) using a long DRX or DRX command Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE). The status information signaling for cDRX is on a different time scale from the auxiliary information signaling for RRC release, so some additional information can be useful or required. For example, the timing information in the auxiliary information can indicate to the network 10 whether an RRC release or DRX is optimal.

[0056] Figure 2 Illustrated is the cDRX mode operation for the UE 30 in the connected state. In the cDRX mode, the UE 30 alternates between an active state (awake) and a sleep state. The UE 30 wakes up periodically to check for data transmissions. When the UE 30 receives an allocation for uplink or downlink data transmission, the UE 30 starts an inactivity timer after completing the data transmission and remains awake until the timer expires. If there is no additional allocation, the UE 30 returns to the sleep state using a short DRX cycle. If no allocation is received after a predetermined period determined by the short cycle timer, the UE 30 switches to a long DRX cycle. The UE 30 remains in the long cycle DRX until an allocation is received, at which point the UE 30 returns to the active mode and starts the inactivity timer.

[0057] Typically, it is beneficial to switch the UE 30 to cDRX rather than wait for the drx-InactivityTimer to expire when no new traffic bursts are expected within 10 milliseconds or 100 milliseconds. Similarly, it makes sense to switch the UE 30 back to the inactive state as soon as possible when the application running on the UE 30 "completes". The drx-InactivityTimer and the network inactivity timer operate on different time scales. The time scale of the network 10 inactivity timer value is several seconds or more than ten seconds.

[0058] Therefore, when evaluating the auxiliary information signaling for cDRX and RRC connection release, the evaluation should consider the time scale when no more data is expected. For example, within the auxiliary information, the UE 30 can provide a time indication as part of the auxiliary information for indicating the amount of time it expects no UL / DL. The timing information can indicate the number of frames, the time scale (e.g., long or short), a specific time span, or a specific time period. The network 10 can evaluate whether the time span justifies an RRC release, an SCell release, or a simple DRX command.

[0059] In another example, a specific bit field may be included as part of the auxiliary information payload to explicitly indicate whether the provided auxiliary information signal is related to an RRC release, removal of an SCell release, or a transition to the DRX mode.

[0060] Auxiliary Information Signal Design and Robustness Issues

[0061] So far, the discussion has focused on three forms of auxiliary information signaling for UE power saving. In some cases this assistance information can be useful, and the specific examples given at least provide a concept of the range of choices. Regardless of the type of auxiliary information signaling, the auxiliary information signaling scheme should be designed for robustness. In the following discussion, some examples of auxiliary information signaling design are provided and robustness issues are described.

[0062] As described above, a specific bit field can be defined to cover the useful information that can be provided by the auxiliary information signaling. The information provided by the auxiliary information can include the amount of data for the expected data transmission (e.g., high / low), timing information, battery status, whether an RRC release and / or SCell removal is requested, etc. The timing information can include the number of frames, the time scale (e.g., long or short), a specific time span, etc. For example, this timing information can be used to determine whether an RRC release is reasonable.

[0063] While being as inclusive as possible, such a bit field should be kept as small as possible to save resources. For example, in one implementation, all information regarding the auxiliary information signaling for RRC release, DRX, and SCell release can be combined in a single transmission. In another example, for instance, 2 bits can be used to refer to any one of the three auxiliary information signaling mechanisms, reserving one combination for future possible release options.

[0064] After defining the specific bit field, the remaining challenge is how to signal the auxiliary information to the UE 30 and ensure robustness. Some possibilities are discussed below.

[0065] Auxiliary Information Design and Robustness Issues

[0066] The status information can be sent by the UE 30 to the network 10 via L1 signaling on the NPUCCH or NPUSCH. For example, this signaling can be performed using L1 signaling by introducing the auxiliary information in the uplink control information (UCI) sent on the NPUCCH / NPUSCH. As another example, the auxiliary information can be provided in the L2 MAC CE provided in the UL on the NPUSCH, or provided via RRC signaling at the L3 level.

[0067] In terms of robustness, RRC signaling is the most robust option. The procedures based on RRC signaling are also well established and can be easily reused. However, RRC signaling is a rather slow process and may not be the best choice for SCell and EOTB signaling for DRX release, in particular.

[0068] On the other hand, the fastest process is to send the auxiliary information via NPUCCH. Five PUCCH formats 0 - 4 are defined in NR. PUCCH format 0 and 1 can accommodate two bits, while the other formats can accommodate more than two bits. In one method, the network 10 may configure the UE 30 to send a specific bit combination as auxiliary information (e.g., a negative scheduling request (SR)), or define an SR inactivity timer, after which if a negative SR is received, it will be interpreted as auxiliary information, e.g., the UE 30 indicates that it does not expect to send any data in the UL and / or DL. This is simpler as the current implementation of the PUCCH remains unchanged.

[0069] On the other hand, the auxiliary information signal can be multiplexed with or piggybacked on other information (i.e., HARQ ACK / NACK, channel state information (CSI), and scheduling request (SR)). This method is particularly beneficial if the payload of the auxiliary information exceeds 2 bits and thus needs to be sent via NPUCCH formats 2 - 4. As an example of piggybacking, the UE 30 may "borrow" the bits allocated for one purpose to send a status indication similar to the above negative SR. In other examples of piggybacking, the UE 300 multiplexes the transmission of the auxiliary information with other UCI.

[0070] In another example, if there is no DL transmission and thus the UE 30 does not need to send HARQ feedback on the PUCCH, all the bits on the PUCCH can be used to convey "auxiliary information" in an active PUCCH transmission for this particular UE 30. For this purpose, the network 10 may reserve a specific PUCCH resource. The specific resource can be any one of a specific cyclic shift, orthogonal cover code (OCC), or a specific physical resource block (PRB) and hopping pattern.

[0071] The main problem with sending the auxiliary information via NPUCCH is robustness. Although the loss of the auxiliary information may not have a great impact on the network 10, it mainly results in energy waste at the UE 30. If a false alarm occurs, the network 10 may release the UE 30, while the UE 30 expects to send or receive data. Therefore, the UE 30 has to initiate a random access procedure to start connecting again, resulting in increased latency and reduced throughput. A simple solution to this problem is for the UE 30 not to acknowledge the receipt of the release command. However, if this method is used too frequently, it may have a negative impact on the network 10.

[0072] An intermediate approach that provides a faster procedure and better robustness is to send the auxiliary information as UCI multiplexed with NPUSCH, e.g., after the last UL transmission. Alternatively, as described above, the auxiliary information can be sent in the UL in L2 MAC CE on the PUSCH. One option is to use the reserved LCID index from Table 6.2.1-2 in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard TS 38.321 to send the auxiliary information on the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) via NPUSCH. This method is more robust than the NPUCCH method as it can involve a handshake procedure (due to ACK / NACK).

[0073] Figure 3 An exemplary method 100 for reducing the power consumption of the UE 30 performed by the UE 30 is shown. The UE 30 starts an inactivity timer (block 110) according to the discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration. The inactivity timer can be started when an allocation for transmission is received, when the transmission starts, or when the transmission is completed. The UE 30 further determines that no data transmission is expected (block 120). In response to determining that no data transmission is expected while the inactivity timer is running, the UE 30 sends a status indicator to the network 10 (block 130). This status indicator indicates to the network 10 that no further data transmission is expected.

[0074] Figure 4 An exemplary method 150 for reducing the power consumption of the UE 30 performed by the UE 30 is shown. The UE 30 determines that no data transmission is expected (block 160). In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, the UE 30 uses layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) signaling to send a status indicator to the network 10 (block 170). This status indicator indicates to the network 10 that no data transmission is expected.

[0075] Figure 5Illustrated is an exemplary method 175 of signaling auxiliary information for reducing the power consumption of UE 30. According to the DRX configuration of UE 30, UE 30 enters a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation mode (block 180). In the DRX operation mode, UE 30 further determines that no data transmission is expected (block 185). In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, UE 30 sends auxiliary information to the network (block 190). In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the status indicator indicates that no uplink transmission is expected.

[0076] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the status indicator indicates that no downlink transmission is expected.

[0077] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the status indicator indicates that neither an uplink transmission nor a downlink transmission is expected.

[0078] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the status indicator further includes a time indication indicating a period of time during which no data transmission is expected.

[0079] Some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175 further include: receiving a control message from network 10 in response to the status indicator, and changing the operation mode in response to the control message.

[0080] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the control message includes a sleep signal, and the method further includes: switching from the active mode to the DRX mode before the inactivity timer expires.

[0081] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the control message includes a command to switch from a short DRX cycle to a long DRX cycle in advance.

[0082] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the control message includes a configuration message that changes the DRX configuration of the UE in response to the auxiliary information. For example, this configuration information can be used to change the length of the DRX cycle or the duration of the inactivity timer. Those skilled in the art will understand that any change can be made to the DRX configuration for reducing the power consumption of the UE.

[0083] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the control message includes a release message, and the method further includes: switching from the connected state to the idle state or the inactive state before the inactivity timer expires.

[0084] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, the control message includes a release signal, and the method further includes changing a cell removed from a set of aggregated carriers before an inactivity timer expires.

[0085] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator to network 10 includes sending the status indicator in uplink control information sent on a shared uplink control channel.

[0086] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator on a shared uplink control channel includes multiplexing the status indicator with other control information sent on the shared uplink control channel.

[0087] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator on a shared uplink control channel includes sending the status indicator in a MAC CE sent on an uplink shared channel.

[0088] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, UE 30 is configured by network 10 to send a negative scheduling request during the operation of the inactivity timer to be used as a status indicator.

[0089] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator to network 10 includes sending the status indicator on an uplink shared channel for transmitting user data.

[0090] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator on an uplink shared channel includes sending the status indicator in a MAC CE.

[0091] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator on an uplink shared channel includes multiplexing the status indicator with user data.

[0092] In some embodiments of methods 100, 150, and 175, sending a status indicator to network 10 includes sending the status indicator in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0093] Figure 6Illustrates an exemplary method 200 performed by base station 20 for reducing the power consumption of user equipment (UE) 30 served by base station 20. Base station 20 starts an inactivity timer with UE 30 according to a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for UE 30 (block 210). The inactivity timer may be started when an allocation for transmission is made, when transmission starts, or when transmission is completed. While the inactivity timer is running, base station 20 also receives from UE 30 a status indicator indicating that no further data transmissions are expected (block 220). Base station 20 also controls the operating mode of UE 30 at least in part based on the status indicator to reduce the power consumption of UE 30 (block 230).

[0094] Figure 7 Illustrates another exemplary method 250 performed by base station 20 for reducing the power consumption of UE 30 served by base station 20. Base station 20 receives from UE 30 a status indicator indicating that no further data transmissions are expected using layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) signaling (block 260). Base station 20 also controls the operating mode of UE 30 at least in part based on the status indicator to reduce the power consumption of UE 30 (block 270).

[0095] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, the status indicator indicates that no uplink transmissions are expected.

[0096] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, the status indicator indicates that no downlink transmissions are expected.

[0097] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, the status indicator indicates that neither uplink transmissions nor downlink transmissions are expected.

[0098] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, the status indicator further includes a time indication indicating a period during which no data transmissions are expected.

[0099] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, controlling the operating mode of UE 30 at least in part based on the status indicator includes: sending a control message to UE 30 to cause UE 30 to change its operating mode.

[0100] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, sending a control message to UE 30 to cause UE 30 to change its operating mode includes: sending a sleep signal to cause UE 30 to switch from an active mode to a DRX mode.

[0101] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, the control message includes a command to switch from a short DRX cycle to a long DRX cycle in advance.

[0102] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, sending a control message to a UE to cause the UE to change its operating mode includes: sending a configuration message to change the DRX configuration of the UE. For example, this configuration information can be used to change the length of the DRX cycle or the duration of the inactivity timer. Those skilled in the art will understand that any change can be made to the DRX configuration that reduces the power consumption of the UE.

[0103] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, sending a control message to UE 30 to cause UE 30 to change its operating mode includes: sending a release message to UE 30 to cause UE 30 to change from a connected state to an idle state or an inactive state.

[0104] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, sending a control message to UE 30 to cause UE 30 to change its operating mode includes: sending a release signal to cause UE 30 using carrier aggregation to remove a cell from a set of aggregated carriers.

[0105] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator from UE 30 includes: receiving the status indicator in uplink control information sent on a shared uplink control channel.

[0106] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator in uplink control information includes: receiving a status indicator multiplexed with other control information sent on a shared uplink control channel.

[0107] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator in uplink control information includes: receiving the status indicator in a MAC CE sent on an uplink shared channel.

[0108] Some embodiments of methods 200 and 250 further include sending configuration information to UE 30 to configure UE 30 to send a negative scheduling request during the operation of the inactivity timer to be used as a status indicator.

[0109] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator from UE 30 includes: receiving the status indicator on an uplink shared channel for transmitting user data.

[0110] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator on an uplink shared channel includes: sending the status indicator in a MAC CE.

[0111] In some embodiments of methods 200 and 250, receiving a status indicator on an uplink shared channel includes: multiplexing the status indicator with user data.

[0112] Figure 8 Another method 350 performed by the UE 30 for providing assistance information for reducing power consumption is shown. The UE 30 determines that no data transmission is expected (block 360). In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, the UE 30 sends the assistance information to the network 10 (block 370). The assistance information includes configuration information for power saving.

[0113] In some embodiments of method 350, the configuration information relates to a secondary cell configuration for power saving. For example, the configuration information may indicate a preference for one or more currently configured secondary cells. The network 10 may use the indication of the preference to select one or more SCell for release.

[0114] In some embodiments of method 350, the configuration information relates to a DRX configuration for power saving. For example, the configuration information may include a suggested / preferred DRX cycle length, or other preferred DRX parameters.

[0115] In some embodiments of method 350, the assistance information further includes a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected.

[0116] In some embodiments of method 350, the status indicator indicates that no uplink transmission is expected, no downlink transmission is expected, or both.

[0117] In some embodiments of method 350, the assistance information further includes a time indication indicating a period of time during which no data transmission is expected.

[0118] Some embodiments of method 350 further include receiving a control message from the network in response to the assistance information, and changing the operating mode in response to the control message.

[0119] In some embodiments of method 350, the control message includes a sleep signal; and method 350 further includes: switching from the active mode to the DRX mode before the inactivity timer expires.

[0120] In some embodiments of method 350, the control message includes a configuration message; and method 350 further includes: changing the DRX configuration of the UE in response to the control message.

[0121] In some embodiments of method 350, the control message includes a release message; and method 350 further includes: switching from the connected state to the idle state or the inactive state.

[0122] In some embodiments of method 350, the control message includes a release message; and method 350 further includes: removing a secondary cell from a set of aggregated carriers.

[0123] In some embodiments of method 350, the status indicator is sent in the uplink control information sent on the shared uplink control channel.

[0124] In some embodiments of method 350, the status indicator is sent in a Media Access Control (MAC) control element.

[0125] In some embodiments of method 350, the status indicator is sent in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0126] Figure 9 Another method 450 for reducing the power consumption of a UE in a wireless communication network 10 performed by a base station 20 is shown. The base station 20 receives auxiliary information from the UE 30 (block 460). The base station 20 also controls the operating mode of the UE 30 based at least in part on the auxiliary information to reduce the power consumption of the UE 30 (block 470).

[0127] In some embodiments of method 450, the configuration information relates to a secondary cell configuration for power saving. For example, the configuration information may indicate a preference for one or more currently configured secondary cells. The base station 20 uses the indication of the preference to select one or more SCell for release.

[0128] In some embodiments of method 450, the configuration information relates to a DRX configuration for power saving. For example, the configuration information may include a proposed / preferred DRX cycle length, or other preferred DRX parameters. The base station 20 configures DRX for the UE 30 using the preferred DRX parameters.

[0129] In some embodiments of method 450, the auxiliary information further includes a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected.

[0130] In some embodiments of method 450, the status indicator indicates that no uplink transmission is expected, no downlink transmission is expected, or both.

[0131] In some embodiments of method 450, the auxiliary information further includes a time indication indicating a period of time during which no data transmission is expected.

[0132] In some embodiments of method 450, controlling the operating mode of the UE based at least in part on the status indicator includes: sending a control message to the UE to cause the UE to change its operating mode.

[0133] In some embodiments of method 450, the control message includes a sleep signal to cause the UE to switch from an active mode to a DRX mode.

[0134] In some embodiments of method 450, the control message includes a configuration message to change the DRX configuration of the UE.

[0135] In some embodiments of method 450, the control message includes a release message to cause the UE to change from a connected state to an idle state or an inactive state.

[0136] In some embodiments of method 450, the control message includes a release message to cause the UE using carrier aggregation to remove a secondary cell from a set of aggregated carriers.

[0137] In some embodiments of method 450, the auxiliary information is received in the uplink control information transmitted on a shared uplink control channel.

[0138] In some embodiments of method 450, the auxiliary information is received in a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element.

[0139] In some embodiments of method 450, the auxiliary information is received in radio resource control signaling.

[0140] The apparatus configured to perform the methods described herein may be implemented by any functional component, module, unit, or circuit. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatus includes corresponding circuitry or circuit systems configured to perform the methods shown in the method drawings. The circuitry or circuit systems in this regard may include circuitry dedicated to performing certain functional processes and / or one or more microprocessors in combination with a memory. For example, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in the memory, and the memory may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. In several embodiments, the program code stored in the memory may include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunication and / or data communication protocols and instructions for performing one or more of the techniques described herein. In embodiments employing a memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the techniques described herein.

[0141] Figure 10Illustrated is a UE 300 configured to implement one or more of the methods 100, 150, and 175 described herein. The UE 300 includes an antenna array 310 having one or more antennas 315, an optional timer unit 320, a determination unit 330, and a signaling unit 340. The units 320 - 340 may be implemented by hardware and / or software code executed by one or more processors or processing circuits. If present, the timer unit 320 is configured to start an inactivity timer in accordance with a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration in response to an uplink or downlink transmission. The determination unit 330 is configured to monitor the status of data transmission and determine when no data transmission is expected. In one embodiment, the sending unit 340 is configured to send a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected to the network in response to determining that no data transmission is expected. In an alternative embodiment including the timer unit 320, the sending unit 340 is configured to send a status indicator to the network in response to determining that no data transmission is expected while the inactivity timer is running, where the status indicator indicates that no further data transmission is expected.

[0142] Figure 11 Illustrated is a base station (e.g., eNB or gNB) 400 configured to implement the methods 200 - 250 described herein. The base station 400 includes an antenna array 410 having one or more antennas 415, an optional timer unit 420, a determination unit 430, and a control unit 440. The units 420 - 440 may be implemented by hardware and / or software code executed by one or more processors or processing circuits. If present, the timer unit 420 is configured to start an inactivity timer in accordance with a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration in response to an uplink or downlink transmission with the UE 30. In one embodiment including the timer unit 420, the receiving unit 430 is configured to receive a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected from the UE 30 while the inactivity timer is running. In an alternative embodiment, the receiving unit 430 is configured to receive a status indicator indicating that no data transmission is expected from the UE 30 using layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) signaling. The control unit 440 is configured to control the operating mode of the UE 30 at least in part based on the status indicator to reduce the power consumption of the UE 30.

[0143] Figure 12 Illustrated is a UE 500 configured to implement the methods described herein according to another embodiment. The UE 500 includes an antenna array 510 including one or more antennas 515, a communication circuit 520 coupled to the antenna array 510, a processing circuit 530, and a memory 540.

[0144] The communication circuit 520 includes radio frequency (RF) circuitry (e.g., a transmitter and a receiver) required to transmit and receive signals over a wireless communication channel. In one embodiment, the communication circuit is configured to operate according to the NR standard.

[0145] The processing circuit 530 controls the overall operation of the UE 500 and may be configured to execute one or both of the methods 100, 150, 175, and 350 shown respectively in Figures 3 - 5 and 8. The processing circuit 530 may include one or more microprocessors, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0146] The memory 540 includes both volatile and non-volatile memories for storing computer program code and data required for the operation of the processing circuit 530. The memory 540 may include any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing data, including electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor data storage devices. The memory 540 stores a computer program 550 including executable instructions that configure the processing circuit 530 to implement one or more of the methods 100, 150, 175, and 350 described respectively in Figures 3 - 5 and 8. Generally, computer program instructions and configuration information are stored in non-volatile memory, such as ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or flash memory. Temporary data generated during operation may be stored in volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). In some embodiments, the computer program 550 for configuring the processing circuit 530 as described herein may be stored on a removable memory, such as a portable compact disc, a portable digital video disc, or other removable media. The computer program 550 may also be embodied in a carrier, such as an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0147] Figure 13 A base station 600 configured to implement the methods described herein according to another embodiment is shown. The base station 600 includes an antenna array 610 including one or more antennas 616, a communication circuit 620 coupled to the antenna array 610, a processing circuit 630, and a memory 640.

[0148] The communication circuit 620 includes radio frequency (RF) circuitry (e.g., a transmitter and a receiver) required to transmit and receive signals over a wireless communication channel. In one embodiment, the communication circuit is configured to operate according to the NR standard.

[0149] The processing circuit 630 controls the overall operation of the base station 600 and may be configured to execute respectively in Figure 6 , 7one or both of the methods 200 and 250 shown in FIGS. 2 and 9. The processing circuitry 630 may include one or more microprocessors, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0150] The memory 640 includes volatile and non-volatile memories for storing computer program code and data required for the operation of the processing circuitry 630. The memory 640 may include any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing data, including electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor data storage devices. The memory 640 stores a computer program 650 including executable instructions that configure the processing circuitry 630 to perform one or more of the methods 200, 250, and 450 respectively according to Figure 6 , 7 and FIGS. 2, 5, and 9. Generally, computer program instructions and configuration information are stored in non-volatile memories such as ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or flash memory. Temporary data generated during operation may be stored in volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM). In some embodiments, the computer program 650 for configuring the processing circuitry 630 as described herein may be stored in removable memory, such as a portable compact disc, a portable digital video disc, or other removable media. The computer program 650 may also be embodied in a carrier such as an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0151] Those skilled in the art will also understand that the embodiments herein also include corresponding computer programs.

[0152] A computer program includes instructions that, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform any of the corresponding processes described above. The computer program in this regard may include one or more code modules corresponding to the above-described components or units.

[0153] The embodiments also include a carrier containing such a computer program. The carrier may include one of an electrical signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0154] In this regard, the embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable (storage or recording) medium and including instructions that, when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to perform as described above.

[0155] The embodiments also include a computer program product that includes a program code portion for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. The computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium.

[0156] The RAI mechanism described herein helps network 10 determine whether to release UE 30 in the long term (e.g., in an RRC release) or short term (e.g., in a DRX command), or whether to release a Scell. As such, UE 30 can save some power while its throughput and latency remain substantially unchanged. Additionally, the techniques described herein enable faster RAI signaling compared to the prior art while still being robust.

[0157] Additional embodiments

[0158] Additional embodiments will now be described. For illustrative purposes, at least some of these embodiments may be described as being applicable to certain contexts and / or wireless network types, but these embodiments are similarly applicable to other contexts and / or wireless network types not explicitly described.

[0159] While the subject matter described herein may be implemented using any suitable components in any suitable type of system, the embodiments disclosed herein are described with respect to a wireless network (such as Figure 14 the exemplary wireless network shown). For simplicity, Figure 14 the wireless network only depicts network 1106, network nodes 1160 and 1160B, and WDs 1110, 1110B, and 1110C. In practice, a wireless network may also include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (such as a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). Among the components shown, network node 1160 and wireless device (WD) 1110 are depicted with additional detail. A wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate access to and / or use of the services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0160] A wireless network may include any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and / or radio network or other similar type of system or interface thereto. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, specific embodiments of a wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0161] The network 1106 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

[0162] The network node 1160 and the WD 1110 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connectivity in a wireless network. In different embodiments, a wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that facilitate or participate in the communication of data and signals via wired or wireless connections.

[0163] As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, set to, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), and NR Node B (gNB)). They can be classified based on the amount of coverage provided by the base station (or in other words, their transmit power levels), and can further be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as a remote radio unit (RRU) and / or sometimes also referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna into an antenna integrated radio. The parts of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Another example of a network node includes an MSR device such as a multi-standard radio (MSR) BS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a core network node (e.g., MSC, MME), an O&M node, an OSS node, a SON node, a positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), and / or an MDT. As another example, a network node can be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. However, more generally, a network node can represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is capable of, configured to, set to, and / or operable to enable a wireless device to access a wireless network and / or provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

[0164] In Figure 14 it, network node 1160 includes processing circuit 1170, device-readable medium 1180, interface 1190, auxiliary device 1184, power supply 1186, power supply circuit 1187, and antenna 1162. Although in Figure 11The network node 1160 shown in the exemplary wireless network can represent a device that includes a combination of the shown hardware components, but other embodiments can include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that a network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Additionally, although the components of network node 1160 are depicted as a single box within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node can include multiple different physical components that make up a single shown component (e.g., the device-readable medium 1180 can include multiple individual hard disk drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0165] Similarly, network node 1160 can be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), and each component can have its own corresponding components. In certain scenarios where network node 1160 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components can be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair can be considered a separate network node in some instances. In some embodiments, network node 1160 can be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components can be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 1180 for different RATs) and some components can be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1162 can be shared by the RATs). Network node 1160 can also include multiple sets of various shown components for different wireless technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) to be integrated into network node 1160. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets and other components within network node 1160.

[0166] The processing circuit 1170 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation described herein as being provided by the network node (e.g., certain obtaining operations). These operations performed by the processing circuit 1170 can include, for example, processing the information obtained by the processing circuit 1170 by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination as a result of the processing.

[0167] The processing circuitry 1170 may include one or more combinations of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or a combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic that are operable to provide the functionality of the network node 1160 either individually or in conjunction with other network node 1160 components such as the device readable medium 1180. For example, the processing circuitry 1170 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 1180 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 1170. Such functionality may include providing any one of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0168] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1172 and baseband processing circuitry 1174. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1172 and the baseband processing circuitry 1174 may be on separate chips (or chip sets), boards, or units such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 1172 and the baseband processing circuitry 1174 may be on the same chip or chip set, board, or unit.

[0169] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by the processing circuitry 1170 executing instructions stored on the device readable medium 1180 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 1170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 1170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on a device readable storage medium are executed, the processing circuitry 1170 may be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 1170 or other components of the network node 1160 but are enjoyed by the network node 1160 as a whole, and / or generally by an end user and a wireless network.

[0170] The device-readable medium 1180 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1170, including but not limited to permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device. The device-readable medium 1180 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that may be executed by the processing circuitry 1170 and used by the network node 1160. The device-readable medium 1180 may be used to store any calculations performed by the processing circuitry 1170 and / or any data received via the interface 1190. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1170 and the device-readable medium 1180 may be considered integrated.

[0171] The interface 1190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between the network node 1160, the network 1106, and / or the WD 1110. As shown, the interface 1190 includes a port / terminal 1194 to transmit and receive data, e.g., to transmit data to the network 1106 and receive data from the network 1106 via a wired connection. The interface 1190 also includes a radio front-end circuit 1192 that may be coupled to the antenna 1162, or in some embodiments, a portion of the antenna 1162. The radio front-end circuit 1192 includes a filter 1198 and an amplifier 1196. The radio front-end circuit 1192 may be connected to the antenna 1162 and the processing circuitry 1170. The radio front-end circuit 1192 may be configured to condition the signals transmitted between the antenna 1162 and the processing circuitry 1170. The radio front-end circuit 1192 may receive digital data that will be transmitted outward via a wireless connection to other network nodes or WDs. The radio front-end circuit 1192 may use a combination of the filter 1198 and / or the amplifier 1196 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with suitable channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1162. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1162 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 1192. The digital data may be transmitted to the processing circuitry 1170. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0172] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1160 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 1192, but rather the processing circuit 1170 may include a radio front-end circuit and may be connected to antenna 1162 without a separate radio front-end circuit 1192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1172 may be considered part of interface 1190. In some other embodiments, interface 1190 may include one or more ports or terminals 1194, a radio front-end circuit 1192, and RF transceiver circuitry 1172 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 1190 may communicate with a baseband processing circuit 1174 that is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0173] Antenna 1162 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1162 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 1190 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 1162 may include one or more omnidirectional sector or planar antennas operable to transmit / receive radio signals, for example, between 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas can be used to transmit / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas can be used to transmit / receive radio signals from devices within a specific area, and planar antennas can be line-of-sight antennas used to transmit / receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, using more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 1162 may be separate from network node 1160 and may be connected to network node 1160 via an interface or port.

[0174] Antenna 1162, interface 1190, and / or processing circuit 1170 may be configured to perform any of the receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 1162, interface 1190, and / or processing circuit 1170 may be configured to perform any of the transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0175] The power supply circuit 1187 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to supply power to components of the network node 1160 for performing the functions described herein. The power supply circuit 1187 may receive power from a power source 1286. The power source 1186 and / or the power supply circuit 1187 may be configured to supply power to respective components of the network node 1160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required for each respective component). The power source 1186 may be included within the power supply circuit 1187 and / or the network node 1160, or external to the power supply circuit 1187 and / or the network node 1160. For example, the network node 1160 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power outlet) via an input circuit or an interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to the power supply circuit 1187. As another example, the power source 1186 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack that is connected to or integrated into the power supply circuit 1187. The battery may provide backup power if the external power source fails. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0176] Alternative embodiments of the network node 1160 may include Figure 14 additional components beyond those shown in, which may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any of the functions described herein and / or any functions necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1160 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into the network node 1160 and to allow information to be output from the network node 1160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on the network node 1160.

[0177] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, set to, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with a network node and / or another wireless device. Unless otherwise specified, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) herein. Wireless communication may involve using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information through the air to send and / or receive wireless signals. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to send information to a network on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, IP voice (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPEs), in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and in this case may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In this case, the WD may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a WD may be a UE that implements the 3GPP narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other device that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent a wirelessly connected endpoint, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Additionally, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0178] As shown in the figure, the wireless device 1110 includes an antenna 1111, an interface 1114, a processing circuit 1120, a device-readable medium 1130, a user interface device 1132, an auxiliary device 1134, a power supply 1136, and a power supply circuit 1137. The WD 1110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the various components shown for different wireless technologies supported by the WD 1110, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, NB-IoT, or Bluetooth wireless technology, to name a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets and other components within the WD 1110.

[0179] The antenna 1111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to the interface 1114. In some alternative embodiments, the antenna 1111 may be separate from the WD 1110 and may be connected to the WD 1110 via an interface or port. The antenna 1111, the interface 1114, and / or the processing circuit 1120 may be configured to perform any of the receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the WD. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the radio front-end circuit and / or the antenna 1111 may be regarded as an interface.

[0180] As shown in the figure, the interface 1114 includes a radio front-end circuit 1112 and the antenna 1111. The radio front-end circuit 1112 includes one or more filters 1118 and amplifiers 1116. The radio front-end circuit 1114 is connected to the antenna 1111 and the processing circuit 1120 and is configured to condition the signals transmitted between the antenna 1111 and the processing circuit 1120. The radio front-end circuit 1112 may be coupled to the antenna 1111 or a portion of the antenna 1111. In some embodiments, the WD 1110 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 1112; rather, the processing circuit 1120 may include a radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 1111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be regarded as part of the interface 1114. The radio front-end circuit 1112 may receive digital data to be transmitted outward to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 1112 may use a combination of the filters 1118 and / or the amplifiers 1116 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1111 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 1112. The digital data may be transmitted to the processing circuit 1120. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0181] The processing circuitry 1120 may include one or more combinations of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic operable to provide the functionality of the WD 1110 alone or in combination with other WD 1110 components such as the device-readable medium 1130. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, the processing circuitry 1120 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 1130 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 1120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0182] As shown, the processing circuitry 1120 includes one or more of an RF transceiver circuit 1122, a baseband processing circuit 1124, and an application processing circuit 1126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments, the processing circuitry 1120 of the WD 1110 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 1122, the baseband processing circuit 1124, and the application processing circuit 1126 may be on separate chips or chip sets. In an alternative embodiment, some or all of the baseband processing circuit 1124 and the application processing circuit 1126 may be combined into one chip or chip set, and the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be on a separate chip or chip set. In another alternative embodiment, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122 and the baseband processing circuit 1124 may be on the same chip or chip set, and the application processing circuit 1126 may be on a separate chip or chip set. In another alternative embodiment, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 1122, the baseband processing circuit 1124, and the application processing circuit 1126 may be combined into the same chip or chip set. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 1122 may be part of the interface 1114. The RF transceiver circuit 1122 may condition RF signals for the processing circuitry 1120.

[0183] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by the processing circuitry 1120 executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1130 that may be a computer-readable storage medium in some embodiments. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuitry 1120 without executing instructions such as being hard-wired and stored on a separate or discrete device-readable medium. In any of those particular embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on the device-readable storage medium are executed, the processing circuitry 1120 may be configured to perform the described functions. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuitry 1120 or other components of the WD 1110, but are enjoyed by the WD 1110 as a whole, and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0184] The processing circuitry 1120 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. These operations performed by the processing circuitry 1120 may include, for example, processing information obtained by the processing circuitry 1120 by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored by the WD 1110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination as a result of such processing.

[0185] The device-readable medium 1130 may be operable to store computer programs, software, applications including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions executable by the processing circuitry 1120. The device-readable medium 1130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)) that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1120, a mass storage medium (e.g., a hard disk), a removable storage medium (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device. The processing circuitry 1120 and the device-readable medium 1130 may be considered integrated.

[0186] The user interface device 1132 may provide components that allow a human user to interact with the WD 1110. Such interaction may take multiple forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 1132 may be operable to generate output to the user and allow the user to provide input to the WD 1110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 1132 installed in the WD 1110. For example, if the WD 1110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if the WD 1110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen providing usage (e.g., gallons used) or a speaker providing an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 1132 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits, as well as output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 1132 is configured to allow information to be input into the WD 1110 and is connected to the processing circuit 1120 to allow the processing circuit 1120 to process the input information. The user interface device 1132 may include, for example, a microphone, proximity sensor or other sensors, keys / buttons, touch display, one or more cameras, USB ports, or other input circuits. The user interface device 1132 is also configured to allow information to be output from the WD 1110 and allow the processing circuit 1120 to output information from the WD 1110. The user interface device 1132 may include, for example, a speaker, display, vibration circuit, USB port, headphone jack, or other output circuits. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 1132, the WD 1110 may communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functions described herein.

[0187] The auxiliary device 1134 is operable to provide more specific functions that may not typically be performed by the WD. This may include specialized sensors for making measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional communication types such as wired communication, etc. The inclusion and type of components of the auxiliary device 1134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0188] In some embodiments, power source 1136 may take the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., a power outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a fuel cell. WD 1110 may also include a power circuit 1137 for delivering power from power source 1136 to the various parts of WD 1210 that require power from power source 1136 to perform any of the functions described or indicated herein. In certain embodiments, power circuit 1137 may include a power management circuit. Additionally or alternatively, power circuit 1137 may be operable to receive power from an external power source; in such a case, WD 1110 may be connected to an external power source (such as a power outlet) via an input circuit or an interface such as a power cord. In certain embodiments, power circuit 1137 may also be operable to transfer power from the external power source to power source 1136. This may be used, for example, for charging power source 1136. Power circuit 1137 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from power source 1136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 1110 being powered.

[0189] Figure 15 An embodiment of a UE in accordance with aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a user equipment or UE need not have a user in terms of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not be associated or initially associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with the interests of a user or may be operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter). UE 1200 may be any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including an NB-loT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Figure 15 shown, UE 1200 is an example of a WD configured to communicate according to one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, although Figure 15 it is a UE herein, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice versa.

[0190] In Figure 15In [description], the UE 1200 includes processing circuitry 1201 operatively coupled to an input / output interface 1205, a radio frequency (RF) interface 1209, a network connection interface 1211, a memory 1215 including a random access memory (RAM) 1217, a read-only memory (ROM) 1219, and a storage medium 1221, etc., a communication subsystem 1231, a power supply 1233, and / or any other components or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1221 includes an operating system 1223, application programs 1225, and data 1227. In other embodiments, the storage medium 1221 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may use all of the components shown in Figure 15 or only a subset of these components. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. Further, certain UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0191] In Figure 15 , the processing circuitry 1201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuitry 1201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in the memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., using discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, a general-purpose processor such as a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP) and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0192] In the embodiment, the input / output interface 1205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. The UE 1200 may be configured to use the output device via the input / output interface 1205. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from the UE 1200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 1200 may be configured to use the input device via the input / output interface 1205 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 1200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive display or a presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a steering wheel, a trackpad, a roller, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor for sensing input from a user. The sensor may be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an inclinometer, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0193] In Figure 15 it, the RF interface 1209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface 1211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 1243a. The network 1243a may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1243a may include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 1211 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface for communicating with one or more other devices via a communication network according to one or more communication protocols such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc. The network connection interface 1211 may implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for a communication network link (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The receiver and transmitter functions may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or may be implemented separately.

[0194] The RAM 1217 can be configured to interface with the processing circuitry 1201 via the bus 1202 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as an operating system, applications, and device drivers. The ROM 1219 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to the processing circuitry 1301. For example, the ROM 1219 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I / O), startup, or receiving keystrokes from a keyboard, which are stored in non-volatile memory. The storage medium 1221 can be configured to include memories such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridge tapes, or flash drives. In one example, the storage medium 1321 can be configured to include an operating system 1223, application programs 1225 such as a web browser application, a widget engine or another application, and data files 1227. The storage medium 1221 can store any one or combination of various operating systems for use by the UE 1200.

[0195] The storage medium 1221 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units such as redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drives, flash memory, USB flash drives, external hard disk drives, thumb drives, pen drives, key drives, high-definition digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) disc drives, internal hard disk drives, Blu-ray disc drives, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) disc drives, external mini dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro DIMM SDRAM, smart card memories such as subscriber identity module or removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) modules, other memories, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 1221 can allow the UE 1200 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs, etc. stored on a transient or non-transient storage medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture (such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system) can be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 1221, which can include a device-readable medium.

[0196] In Figure 15In [the figure], the processing circuit 1201 can be configured to communicate with the network 1243b using the communication subsystem 1231. The network 1243a and the network 1243b can be the same network or different networks. The communication subsystem 1231 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 1243b. For example, the communication subsystem 1231 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another wirelessly communicable device, such as another WD, UE, or a base station of a radio access network (RAN), according to one or more communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc. Each transceiver can include a transmitter 1233 and / or a receiver 1235 to respectively implement the functions of a transmitter or a receiver suitable for the RAN link (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.). Further, the transmitter 1233 and the receiver 1235 of each transceiver can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0197] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 1231 can include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 1231 can include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 1243b can cover wired and / or wireless networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 1243b can be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 1213 can be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) to the components of the UE 1200.

[0198] The features, benefits, and / or functions described herein can be implemented in one of the components of the UE 1200 or can be divided among multiple components of the UE 1200. Additionally, the features, benefits, and / or functions described herein can be implemented using any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 1231 can be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, the processing circuitry 1201 can be configured to communicate with any such component via the bus 1202. In another example, any such component can be represented by program instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the processing circuitry 1201, perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any such component can be divided between the processing circuitry 1201 and the communication subsystem 1231. In another example, the non-computation-intensive functionality of any such component can be implemented using software or firmware, and the computation-intensive functionality can be implemented using hardware.

[0199] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualization environment 1300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In the current context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or equipment that can include a virtualized hardware platform, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or its components, and involves an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0200] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1300 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 1330. Further, in embodiments where the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node), the network node can be fully virtualized.

[0201] The functionality may be implemented by one or more applications 1320 (alternatively referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operable to implement some of the functions, features, and / or benefits disclosed herein. The applications 1320 run in a virtualized environment 1400 that provides hardware 1330 including a processing circuit 1360 and a memory 1390. The memory 1390 contains instructions 1395 executable by the processing circuit 1360, whereby the applications 1320 are operable to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0202] The virtualized environment 1300 includes general or special-purpose network hardware devices 1330 that include a set of one or more processors or processing circuits 1360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, specialized application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit, including digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors. Each hardware device may include a memory 1390-1, which may be non-permanent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1395 or software executable by the processing circuit 1360. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1370, also referred to as network interface cards, which include a physical network interface 1380. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, permanent, machine-readable storage medium 1390-2 in which software 1395 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuit 1360 are stored. The software 1395 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1350 (also referred to as a hypervisor), software for executing virtual machines 1340, and software that allows it to perform functions, features, and / or benefits related to some of the embodiments described herein.

[0203] The virtual machines 1340 include virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage devices, and may be run by corresponding virtualization layers 1350 or hypervisors. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual appliances 1320 may be implemented on one or more virtual machines 1340 and may be implemented in different ways.

[0204] During operation, the processing circuit 1360 executes software 1395 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 1350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). The virtualization layer 1350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the virtual machines 1340.

[0205] As Figure 16As shown, the hardware 1330 can be an independent network node with general or specific components. The hardware 1330 can include an antenna 13225 and some functions can be implemented via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 1330 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., such as in a data center or a customer premise equipment (CPE)), where multiple hardware nodes work together and are managed via a management and orchestration (MANO) 13100 (which supervises the lifecycle management of the application 1320 together with other programs).

[0206] In some contexts, the virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to integrate multiple network device types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0207] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 1340 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical non-virtual machine. Each virtual machine 1340, together with the part of the hardware 1330 that executes the virtual machine, i.e., the hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or the hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines 1340, forms a separate virtual network unit (VNE).

[0208] Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more virtual machines 1340 over the hardware networking infrastructure 1330 and corresponds to Figure 13 the application 1320 in

[0209] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 13200, each including one or more transmitters 13220 and one or more receivers 13210, can be coupled to one or more antennas 13225. The radio units 13200 can communicate directly with the hardware node 1330 via one or more suitable networks and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide radio functions to virtual nodes such as radio access nodes or base stations.

[0210] In some embodiments, a control system 13230 can be used to implement some signaling, which can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware node 1330 and the radio units 13200.

[0211] Figure 17 shows a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network. Specifically, referring to Figure 17, according to an embodiment, the communication system includes a telecommunication network 1410 such as a 3GPP - type cellular network, which includes an access network 1411 such as a radio access network and a core network 1414. The access network 1411 includes a plurality of base stations 1412a, 1412b, 1412c, such as NB, eNB, gNB or other types of wireless access points, and each base station defines a corresponding coverage area 1413a, 1413b, 1413c. Each of the base stations 1412a, 1412b, 1412c can be connected to the core network 1414 via a wired or wireless connection 1415. A first UE 1491 located in the coverage area 1413c is configured to be wirelessly connected to or paged by the corresponding base station 1412c. A second UE 1492 located in the coverage area 1413a can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 1412a. Although multiple UEs 1491, 1492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to cases where the only UE is in the coverage area or the only UE is connected to the corresponding base station 1412.

[0212] The telecommunication network 1410 itself is connected to a host computer 1430, which can be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a stand - alone server, a cloud - implemented server, and a distributed server, or can be embodied as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 1430 can be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or can be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 1421 and 1422 between the telecommunication network 1410 and the host computer 1430 can extend directly from the core network 1414 to the host computer 1430, or can be connected via an optional intermediate network 1420. The intermediate network 1420 can be one or a combination of more than one of a public, private, or managed network; the intermediate network 1420 (if any) can be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 1420 can include two or more sub - networks (not shown).

[0213] Figure 17The communication system as a whole enables a connection between the connected UEs 1491, 1492 and the host computer 1430. This connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1450. The host computer 1430 and the connected UEs 1491, 1492 are configured to transmit data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 1450, using the access networks 1411, the core network 1414, any intermediate network 1420, and possibly other infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 1450 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 1450 passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 1412 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication that has data originating from the host computer 1430 and that is to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 1491. Similarly, the base station 1412 need not know the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1491 and destined for the host computer 1430.

[0214] Reference will now be made to Figure 18 describe an exemplary implementation according to embodiments of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs. Figure 18 FIG. shows a host computer communicating with a user equipment via a base station over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments. In the communication system 1500, the host computer 1510 includes hardware 1515 that includes a communication interface 1516 configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection to different communication devices in the communication system 1500. The host computer 1510 also includes a processing circuit 1518 that may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 1518 may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these components (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 1510 also includes software 1511 that is stored in or accessible by the host computer 1510 and executable by the processing circuit 1518. The software 1511 includes a host application 1512. The host application 1512 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1530 connected via an OTT connection 1550 terminating at the UE 1530 and the host computer 1510. When providing services to the remote user, the host application 1512 may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 1550.

[0215] The communication system 1500 also includes a base station 1520, which is provided in a telecommunications system and includes hardware 1525 that enables it to communicate with the host computer 1510 and the UE 1530. The hardware 1525 may include a communication interface 1526 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection for interfaces with different communication devices in the communication system 1500, and a radio interface 1527 for at least establishing and maintaining a wireless connection 1570 with the UE 1530 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 18 the figure) served by the base station 1520. The communication interface 1526 may be configured to facilitate the 1560 connection to the host computer 1510. The connection 1560 may be direct, or it may go through a core network (not shown in Figure 18 the figure) in the telecommunications system and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 1525 of the base station 1520 further includes a processing circuit 1528, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuit systems, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these components (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The base station 1520 also has software 1521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0216] The communication system 1500 also includes the aforementioned UE 1530. Its hardware 1535 may include a radio interface 1537, which is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 1570 with the base station serving the coverage area where the UE 1530 is currently located. The hardware 1535 of the UE 1530 further includes a processing circuit 1538, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuit systems, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these components (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The UE 1530 also includes software 1531, which is stored in or accessible to the UE 1530 and can be executed by the processing circuit 1538. The software 1531 includes a client application 1532. The client application 1532 may be operable with the support of the host computer 1510 to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 1530. In the host computer 1510, the executing host application 1512 may communicate with the executing client application 1532 via an OTT connection 1550 terminating at the UE 1530 and the host computer 1510. When providing services to a user, the client application 1532 may receive request data from the host application 1512, and in response to the request data, provide user data. The OTT connection 1550 may transmit both the request data and the user data. The client application 1532 may interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0217] Note that Figure 15The host computer 1510, base station 1520, and UE 1530 shown in can be similar or identical to, respectively, the host computer 1430, one of base stations 1412A, 1412B, 1412C, and one of UEs 1491, 1492 of Figure 14 . That is, the internal workings of these entities can be as shown in Figure 15 , and, independently, the surrounding network topology can be those of Figure 14 .

[0218] In Figure 18 , the OTT connection 1550 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between the host computer 1510 and the UE 1530 via the base station 1520 without explicitly referring to any intermediate devices and the exact message routing via these devices. The network infrastructure can determine the routing, which can be configured to be hidden from the UE 1530 or the service provider operating the host computer 1510, or both. When the OTT connection 1550 is active, the network infrastructure can further make a decision by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0219] The wireless connection 1570 between the UE 1530 and the base station 1520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described in this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT services provided to the UE 1530 using the OTT connection 1550, where the wireless connection 1570 constitutes the last hop. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve the power consumption of the wireless device or user equipment, thus providing benefits such as a longer battery life between recharges.

[0220] For the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors that one or more embodiments improve upon, a measurement process can be provided. There can also be optional network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1550 between the host computer 1510 and the UE 1530 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1550 can be implemented in the software 1511 and hardware 1515 of the host computer 1510 or the software 1531 and hardware 1535 of the UE 1530, or both. In an embodiment, sensors (not shown) can be deployed in or associated with the communication devices through which the OTT connection 1550 passes; the sensors can participate in the measurement process by providing values of the monitored quantities illustrated above, or by providing values of other physical quantities (from which the software 1511, 1531 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities). Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1550 can include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 1520 and can be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1520. Such processes and functions can be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurement can involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurement by the host computer 1510 of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. These measurements can be implemented when the software 1511 and 1531 that cause messages (especially empty messages or "dummy" messages) to be sent over the OTT connection 1550 monitor propagation time, errors, etc.

[0221] Figure 19 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which can be those referred to Figure 17 and Figure 18 described. For the sake of simplicity of the present disclosure, only the Figure 16 accompanying drawings will be included in this section. In step 1610, the host computer provides user data. In a sub-step 1611 of step 1610 (which can be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1620, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. In step 1630 (which can be optional), according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the base station sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 1640 (which can also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0222] Figure 20is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be those described with reference to Figure 17 and Figure 18 For simplicity of the present disclosure, only the drawing references to Figure 20 will be included in this section. In step 1710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1720, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. According to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transmission may pass through the base station. In step 1730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0223] Figure 21 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be those described with reference to Figure 17 and Figure 18 For simplicity of the present disclosure, only the drawing references to Figure 21 will be included in this section. In step 1810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1820, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1821 of step 1820 (which may be optional), the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1811 of step 1810 (which may be optional), the UE executes a client application that provides the user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing the user data, the executed client application may also consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing the user data, in sub-step 1830 (which may be optional), the UE initiates a transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 1840 of the method, according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the host computer receives the user data sent from the UE.

[0224] Figure 22 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be those described with reference to Figure 17 and Figure 18 For simplicity of the present disclosure, only the drawing references to Figure 22Reference to the accompanying drawings. In step 1910 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure. In step 1920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates the transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0225] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include a plurality of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via a processing circuit and other digital hardware, where the processing circuit may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and the other digital hardware may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or several types of memories, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), buffer memory, flash memory devices, optical memories, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for executing one or more technologies described herein. In some implementations, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the processing circuit may be used to cause the corresponding functional unit to perform the corresponding function.

[0226] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is explicitly given and / or implied from the context in which they are used. Unless explicitly stated, all references to an / the element, apparatus, component, part, step, etc. should be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, part, step, etc. The steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as being after or before another step and / or where it is implied that a step must be after or before another step. Where applicable, any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the appended embodiments will be apparent from the description.

[0227] The term "unit" may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices, and / or electronic equipment, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, outputs, and / or display functions such as those described herein.

[0228] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are also included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. Additional information and embodiments can also be found in Appendices A and B attached hereto.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) to transmit signaling auxiliary information for reducing the power consumption of the UE, the method comprising: Determining that no data transmission is expected; And In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, sending auxiliary information to a base station in a network, wherein the auxiliary information includes configuration information for power saving, wherein the configuration information is related to a secondary cell configuration for power saving, and wherein the configuration information indicates a preference for one or more secondary cells.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The configuration information is related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for power saving.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The configuration information includes a DRX cycle length.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The auxiliary information further includes a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The status indicator indicates that no uplink transmission is expected, no downlink transmission is expected, or both.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein The auxiliary information further includes a time indication indicating a period during which no data transmission is expected.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 3, further comprising: Receiving a control message from the base station in response to the auxiliary information; And Changing an operating mode in response to the control message.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The control message includes a sleep signal; and The method further comprises: switching from an active mode to a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode before an inactivity timer expires.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The control message includes a configuration message; and The method further comprises: changing the discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration of the UE in response to the control message.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The control message includes a release message; and The method further comprises: switching from a connected mode to an idle state or an inactive state.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The control message includes a release message; and The method further comprises: removing a secondary cell from a set of aggregated carriers.

12. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: Sending the status indicator to the base station.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, Sending the status indicator to the base station includes: Sending the status indicator in uplink control information sent on a shared uplink control channel; or Sending the status indicator in a media access control (MAC) control element; or Sending the status indicator in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

14. A method for a base station to reduce the power consumption of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: Receiving auxiliary information from the UE, the auxiliary information including configuration information for power saving, wherein the configuration information is related to a secondary cell configuration for power saving, and wherein the configuration information indicates a preference for one or more secondary cells; and Controlling an operating mode of the UE at least in part based on the auxiliary information to reduce the power consumption of the UE.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, The configuration information is related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for power saving.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, The configuration information includes a DRX cycle length.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 - 16, wherein, The auxiliary information further includes a status indicator indicating that no further data transmission is expected.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, The status indicator indicates that no uplink transmission is expected, no downlink transmission is expected, or both.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, The auxiliary information further includes a time indication indicating a period during which no data transmission is expected.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein Controlling the operating mode of the UE at least in part based on the status indicator includes: sending a control message to the UE to cause the UE to change its operating mode.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The control message includes a sleep signal to cause the UE to switch from an active mode to a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein The control message includes a configuration message to change the discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration of the UE.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein The control message includes a release message to cause the UE to change from a connected state to an idle state or an inactive state.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The control message includes a release message to cause the UE using carrier aggregation to remove a secondary cell from a set of aggregated carriers.

25. The method according to any one of claims 14 - 16, wherein The auxiliary information is received in uplink control information transmitted on a shared uplink control channel.

26. The method according to any one of claims 14 - 16, wherein The auxiliary information is received in a media access control (MAC) control element.

27. The method according to any one of claims 14-16, wherein, The auxiliary information is received in radio resource control signaling.

28. A user equipment in a wireless communication network, the user equipment including at least one processor configured to: Determine that no data transmission is expected; and In response to determining that no data transmission is expected, send auxiliary information to a base station in the network, wherein, The auxiliary information includes configuration information for power saving, where the configuration information is related to a secondary cell configuration for power saving, and where the configuration information indicates a preference for one or more secondary cells.

29. The user equipment according to claim 28, wherein, The at least one processor is further configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 2 - 13.

30. A base station in a wireless communication network, the base station including at least one processor configured to: Receive auxiliary information from a user equipment UE, the auxiliary information including configuration information for power saving, wherein, The configuration information is related to a secondary cell configuration for power saving, and where the configuration information indicates a preference for one or more secondary cells; and Control the operating mode of the UE at least in part based on the auxiliary information to reduce power consumption of the UE.

31. The base station according to claim 30, wherein, The at least one processor is further configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 15 - 27.

32. A computer program product, including a computer program including executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit in a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 - 13.

33. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program including executable instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit in a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 - 13.

34. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising executable instructions which, when executed by a processing circuit in a base station in a wireless communication network, cause the base station to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 - 27.

35. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program comprising executable instructions which, when executed by a processing circuit in a base station in a wireless communication network, cause the base station to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 - 27.

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