Method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations

Abstract

Provided is a method for improving transmission power management according to RF exposure regulations, including: at the current time, estimating whether the window average power (which can reflect the average power transmitted using a radio technology during a moving time window) will exceed a power limit after the current time; if so, performing at least one of a first processing sub - process and a second processing sub - process to set a radio power upper limit, and limiting the power to the power upper limit after the current time. The first processing sub - process includes: scheduling to set the power upper limit lower at a predetermined time. Estimating whether the window average power will exceed the power limit involves discarding a plurality of power records. The second processing sub - process includes: setting the power upper limit to be no higher than one of the discarded power records among the plurality of power records.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference

[0002] This invention claims the following priority rights: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 186,861, filed on May 11, 2021; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 253,157, filed on October 7, 2021; and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 717,207, filed on April 11, 2022. The above U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention generally relates to a method for improving transmission power management in accordance with radio frequency (RF) exposure regulations, and more particularly, to a method for adaptively controlling transmission power in accordance with RF exposure regulations in response to various radio technologies, scenarios, and configurations. Background Art

[0004] User equipment (UE) with RF communication capabilities, such as mobile phones, is essential for modern daily life. However, excessive RF exposure may be harmful to users. To address the RF exposure issue, UEs must comply with officially announced RF exposure regulations such as those of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) of Canada, and the Conformite Europeenne (CE) standard.

[0005] RF exposure involves many aspects. First, UEs can implement RF communication functions through multiple radio technologies; each radio technology causes RF exposure, but different radio technologies have different methods for quantifying RF exposure. Radio technologies operating at frequencies below 6 GHz quantify RF exposure through the specific absorption rate (SAR), and radio technologies operating at frequencies above or equal to 6 GHz quantify RF exposure through the power density (PD).

[0006] In addition, for each radio technology, the UE may support various configurations for transmitting RF signals; these configurations may differ in terms of antenna, frequency band, beam, technology, sub-band, one or more exposure condition indicators (which may involve, for example, whether the UE is close to the user's head or arm, and / or whether the UE is executing an application that requires a large amount of communication), synchronous transmission status, mobile country code (MCC) and / or mobile network code (MNC), modulation, bandwidth, maximum power reduction (MPR), path, duty cycle, and combinations such as frequency band and subscriber identity module (SIM), etc. For example, the UE may have one or more antenna modules, which are respectively accommodated at one or more different positions of the UE at different distances from the user, and each antenna module may respectively emit electromagnetic waves of one or more frequency bands in one or more directions through one or more beams. Each configuration may result in RF exposure.

[0007] In addition, the UE must perform RF communication in various scenarios; these scenarios may differ in terms of one or more transmission performance metrics (e.g., which may be related to transmission duty cycle, transmission error vector magnitude (EVM), target power, throughput, and / or modulation and coding scheme (MCS), etc.), one or more reception performance metrics (e.g., which may be related to reception duty cycle, signal-to-Interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), MCS, received signal strength indication (RSSI), and / or reference signal receiving power (RSRP), etc.), and configuration and / or proximity between the user and the UE, etc. Each situation affects RF exposure; for example, in order to perform RF communication with higher throughput, the UE may increase the transmission power, but this may increase RF exposure as a result.

[0008] Although RF exposure varies with different aspects including various radio technologies, various configurations, and various scenarios, there is a lack of a transmit power management method that comprehensively considers and fully covers these aspects while maintaining compliance with RF exposure regulations. To comply with RF exposure regulations, regardless of different radio technologies, configurations, and scenarios, a conservative strategy is to always maintain a low transmit power, but this strategy reduces the efficiency of data throughput and communication capacity and is thus not satisfactory. Summary of the Invention

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving transmit power management to comply with RF exposure regulations (e.g., Figure 2 or method 200 in 4). The method may include a first radio type one control process (e.g., Figure 4 2031 in). The first radio type one control process may be executed by a UE (e.g., Figure 1 UE 100 in), and includes the following steps: (e.g., Figure 4 step 4071 in) at a current time (e.g., Figure 8 t1[i] in), estimate whether the first radio window average power (e.g., Figure 8 Pavg1 in) (which can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a mobile time window (e.g., Figure 3a w1[i] in)) will exceed a first radio power limit (powerlimit) (e.g., Figure 8 Plimit1 in) after the current time; if it is estimated that the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, perform at least one of a first processing sub-process (e.g., Figure 9 9101 in) and a second processing sub-process (e.g., Figure 9 9201 in) to set a first radio power cap (e.g., Figure 2 , 4 or Pcap1 in 8). The method further includes: (e.g., Figure 4 step 4131 in) causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power cap after the current time. Estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time includes the step of: by assuming that the first radio power cap is reduced at an assumed back-off time (e.g., Figure 8 t1[i_hb] in), calculating a future time (e.g., Figure 8The average power of the first radio window of t1[i_f] therein, where it is assumed that the backoff time may not be earlier than the current time, and the future time may be later than the assumed backoff time. The first processing sub - process includes: scheduling to set a lower upper limit of the first radio power at a predetermined time (scheduledtime) earlier than the assumed backoff time (e.g., Figure 9 t1[i_sb] therein) to set the upper limit of the first radio power lower. Estimating whether the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time may involve discarding one of a plurality of power records (e.g., Figure 7 pr1[i - K1] to pr1[i] therein) (e.g., Figure 9 pr1[i - K1 + 1] therein). And, the second processing sub - process includes: setting the upper limit of the first radio power to not be higher than the one discarded among the plurality of power records.

[0010] In one embodiment, the first processing sub - process further includes: setting the upper limit of the first radio power to one or more first power levels higher than the first radio power limit (e.g., Figure 8 L1[1] to L1[4] therein); and, when scheduling to set the upper limit of the first radio power lower at the predetermined time, scheduling to set the upper limit of the first radio power to one or more second power levels (e.g., Figure 8 L1[5] to L1[8] therein) at the predetermined time. Each second power level may be lower than the first power level and the first radio power limit.

[0011] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 4 ), the first radio type - one control process (e.g., 2031) may further include: (e.g., step 4111) if it is estimated that the average power of the first radio window will not exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, setting the upper limit of the first radio power to remain unchanged or higher.

[0012] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 8 ), estimating whether the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time further includes: if the average power of the first radio window at the future time exceeds the first radio power limit, estimating that the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time.

[0013] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 4 ), the method further includes a second radio transmission power control process (e.g., Figure 2or in 2012 of 4), and the second radio transmission power control process includes: (e.g., step 4152) calculating a second radio power margin (e.g., Pmrgn2) based on the power transmitted using the second radio technology. The first radio type one control process further includes: before estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time (e.g., step 4031), determining the value of the first radio power limit according to the second radio power margin.

[0014] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 20b ), determining the value of the first radio power limit according to the second radio power margin includes: making the value of the first radio power limit positively correlated with the second radio power margin.

[0015] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 5 ), the UE may support multiple configurations (e.g., Figure 1 or Figure 5 c1[1] to c1[Nc1] in) for transmission using the first radio technology, and the multiple configurations may be associated with multiple power limit candidates (e.g., Figure 5 PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] in). The current subset (e.g., Uc1[i]) of the multiple configurations that can be currently adopted may be associated with the current subset (e.g., UPlimitC1[i]) of the multiple power limit candidates. The first radio type one control process further includes: before estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time (e.g., step 4031), determining at least one current value of the first radio power limit according to one or more first radio power limit decision factors. The one or more first radio power limit decision factors include one or more selected from the current subset of the multiple power limit candidates.

[0016] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 7 ), the first radio type one control process further includes: (e.g., Figure 7 step 7011 in) checking whether the first radio power limit changes by comparing whether the current value of the first radio power limit is different from the previous value of the first radio power limit; if the first radio power limit changes, (e.g., step 7031), scaling each of the multiple power records by one or more scaling factors (e.g., s1_1, s1_2, etc.) to update the multiple power records.

[0017] In one embodiment, the scaling factor may be positively correlated with the current value of the first radio power limit and / or may be negatively correlated with the previous value of the first radio power limit.

[0018] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 7 ), the first radio type one control process further includes: if the first radio power limit has not changed (e.g., Figure 7 step 7051 in), weighting (e.g., Upc1) the power contributions (e.g., pc1[2], pc1[3], pc1[6]) by a set of weighting factors (e.g., wc1[2], wc1[3], pc1[5], pc1[6]) (e.g., Uwc1) to form a set of weighted power contributions (e.g., wpc1[2], wpc1[3], wpc1[5], wpc1[6]) (e.g., Uwpc1), and calculating a current power record (e.g., pr1[i]) based on the sum of the weighted power contributions, which may reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the current time period (e.g., T1[i]). Each of the power contribution sets (e.g., pc1[n]) may reflect the average power transmitted by an associated one (e.g., c1[n]) of a current subset of multiple configurations (e.g., Uc1[i]) within the current time.

[0019] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 7 ), each of the set of weighting factors (e.g., wc1[n]) may be positively correlated with the current value of the first radio power limit and / or may be negatively correlated with one (e.g., PlimitC1[n]) associated with a current subset of multiple power limit candidates (e.g., Figure 5 UPlimitC1[i] in).

[0020] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 5 ), one or more first radio power limit decision factors may further include a second radio power margin.

[0021] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 5 ), determining the current value of the first radio power limit based on one or more first radio power limit decision factors includes: scaling one or more selected ones and / or first radio auxiliary data in the current subset of multiple power limit candidates according to a ratio (e.g., r1) determined based on the second radio power margin.

[0022] In one embodiment, different configurations among multiple configurations may differ in at least one of the following aspects: antenna, frequency band, beam, technology, sub - band, one or more exposure condition indicators (which may involve, for example, whether the UE is close to the user's head or arm, and / or whether the UE is executing an application that requires a large amount of communication, etc.), synchronization transmission state, MCC and / or MNC, modulation, bandwidth, MPR, path, duty cycle, and combinations such as frequency band and SIM; wherein, one or more exposure condition indicators involve: whether the UE is close to the user's head or arm, and / or whether the UE is executing an application that requires a large amount of communication, etc.

[0023] In one embodiment (for example, Figure 4 and 16 ), the method further includes: (for example, Figure 4 step 4011 in

[0024] ), in response to a scenario of switching between a first radio type one control process and a first radio type two control process (for example, 2051), the first radio type two control process includes: setting the first radio power upper limit to values of multiple gears. In one embodiment, in response to the duty cycle and one or more currently adopted configurations, the value can be changed by switching between different gears among the multiple gears.

[0025] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving transmission power management to comply with RF exposure regulations (for example, Figure 4 method 200 in Figure 4Step 4152) Calculate a second radio power margin (e.g., Pmrgn2) based on the power transmitted using the second radio technology. (e.g., Step 4031) Determine a first radio power limit (e.g., Plimit1) based on the second radio power margin. (e.g., Step 4031) Set a power limit for the first radio power upper limit (e.g., Pcap1) based on whether a first radio window average power (e.g., Pavg1) that can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a moving time window exceeds the first radio power upper limit (e.g., Pcap1), and (e.g., Step 4031) cause the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power upper limit.

[0026] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 20b ), determining the value of the first radio power limit based on the second radio power margin includes: making the value of the first radio power limit positively correlated with the second radio power margin.

[0027] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving transmission power management to comply with RF exposure regulations (e.g., Figure 4 Method 200 in). The method includes: within one or more first time segments, determining whether the first radio power upper limit will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time based on an estimate of the first radio window average power (which can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a moving time window); within one or more second time segments, determining the first radio power upper limit in response to a duty cycle and / or one or more currently adopted configurations, and causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power upper limit.

[0028] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving transmission power management to comply with RF exposure regulations (e.g., Figure 4 Method 200 in). The method includes: (e.g., Step 4031) determining a power limit (e.g., Plimit1) based on one or more selected from a current subset of multiple power limit candidates (e.g., Figure 5 PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] in), (e.g., Figure 5 Step 4091 or 4111 in) setting a power upper limit (e.g., Pcap1) based on the power limit and multiple power records (e.g., Figure 4 pr1[i-K1] to pr1[i] in); and (e.g., Figure 7 Figure 4 Figure 4In step 4131), the power transmitted using the first radio technology is limited by a power upper limit. The UE may support multiple configurations for transmission using the first radio technology. The multiple power limit candidates may be respectively associated with the multiple configurations (e.g., Figure 5 c1[1] to c1[Nc1] in Figure 5 ). The current subset of the multiple power limit candidates may be associated with the current subset of the multiple configurations (e.g.,

[0029] Uc1[i] in Figure 7 ), which may be adopted at the current time (e.g., t1[i]).

[0029] In one embodiment (e.g., Figure 7 ), by comparing whether the current subset of the multiple configurations is different from the previous subset of the multiple configurations, the previous subset of the multiple configurations may have been adopted at a previous time earlier than the current time (e.g., t1[i - 1]); if the current subset of the multiple configurations has not changed, (e.g., Figure 7 in step 7051) a set of weight coefficients (e.g., wc1[2], wc1[3], wc1[5], wc1[6]) (e.g., Uwc1) is used to weight a set of power contributions (e.g., pc1[2], pc1[3], pc1[5], pc1[6]) (e.g., Upc1) to form a set of weighted power contributions (e.g., wpc1[2], wpc1[3], wpc1[5], wpc1[6]) (e.g., Uwpc1), and one of the multiple power records (e.g., pr1[i]) is calculated based on the set of weighted power contributions (e.g., the sum of the weighted power contributions), which may reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the current time (e.g., T1[i]). Each in the set of power contributions (e.g., pc1[n]) may reflect the average power transmitted by an associated one (e.g., c1[n]) in the current subset of the multiple configurations (e.g., Uc1[i]) within the current time.

[0030] In one embodiment, the method further includes: if the current subset of the multiple configurations changes, (e.g., Figure 7 in step 7031) each of the multiple power records is scaled by one or more scaling factors (e.g., s1_1, s1_2, etc.) to update the multiple power records.

[0031] Many objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent when the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention is read in conjunction with the drawings. However, the drawings used herein are for illustration only and should not be considered limiting. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0033] Figure 1 A UE according to an embodiment of the present invention is described, which may have various configurations for transmitting using different radio technologies;

[0034] Figure 2 A method according to an embodiment of the present invention is described, which involves controlling the window average power not to exceed the power limit by limiting the transmit power by a power upper limit;

[0035] Figure 3a and 3b A moving time window of the window average power is described;

[0036] Figure 4 is described Figure 2 Steps of the method shown; the method includes two transmit power control processes for two radio technologies, and each transmit power control process may include steps such as determining a power limit, calculating data, estimating whether the window average power will exceed the power limit in the future, setting a power upper limit, calculating a power margin, etc., and different control processes may be implemented accordingly;

[0037] Figure 5 and 13 An operation of determining a power limit according to an embodiment of the present invention is described;

[0038] Figure 6 and 14 A change in the power limit is described;

[0039] Figure 7 and 15 An operation of calculating data according to an embodiment of the present invention is described;

[0040] Figure 8 and 16 An operation of estimating whether the window average power will exceed the power limit is described;

[0041] Figure 9 and 17 Different processing sub - processes when it is estimated that the window average power will exceed the power limit are described;

[0042] Figure 10 The cooperation of the processing sub - processes is described;

[0043] Figure 11 and 18 The power levels at which the power upper limit can be set are described;

[0044] Figure 12 and 19Describes the comparison of different control processes; and

[0045] Figure 20a and 20b Describes an example of the interaction between two transmit power control processes according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description

[0046] Figure 1 Describes a UE 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The UE 100 can be a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a drone, a digital camera, a video camera, a wearable gadget, a virtual reality headset, a smart TV, a projector, a video conferencing device, a game console, an internet of things (IoT) device, a smart voice control speaker, a smart consumer electronic device, or an in-vehicle infotainment device, such as Figure 1 As shown, the UE 100 includes a processor 10, an RF section 11, a power management circuit 13, and a detection circuit 15, where the RF section 11 may include an RF peripheral circuit 12 and one or more antennas, such as 14a and 14b.

[0047] The processor 10 can control the operation of the UE 100. The RF peripheral circuit 12 may include (not shown for simplicity) an RF front end, an RF transmitter, an RF power amplifier, and an RF receiver, etc. The RF peripheral circuit 12 can receive digital signals from the processor 10, convert the digital signals into RF signals, and can feed the antennas 14a and / or 14b to transmit RF signals. In addition, the RF peripheral circuit 12 can convert the RF signals received by the antennas 14a and / or 14b into digital signals and send the digital signals to the processor 10. The detection circuit 15 may include one or more detectors and / or sensors, such as a direction detector that can detect the direction of the UE 100 and / or a proximity sensor that can sense the distance between the user and the UE 100. The power management circuit 13 can control the power supplied to the internal circuits of the UE 100 (including the processor 10, the RF section 11, and the detection circuit 15).

[0048] The radio frequency section 11 can be designed to support various configurations for transmission using various radio technologies in various scenarios, where the various radio technologies may differ in the way of quantifying radio frequency exposure, and the various configurations may include antennas, frequency bands, beams, technologies, sub - frequency bands, one or more exposure condition indicators, synchronous transmission status, MCC and / or MNC, modulation, bandwidth, MPR, path, duty cycle, and frequency bands and SIMs, etc., and the various scenarios may differ in one or more transmission performance indicators, one or more reception performance indicators, one or more configurations and / or the proximity between the user and the UE, etc. In one embodiment, the various radio technologies can be classified into a first radio technology and a second radio technology; one of the first and second radio technologies can cover one or more wireless technologies that quantify radio frequency exposure through SAR, while the other of the first and second radio technologies can cover one or more wireless technologies that quantify radio frequency exposure through PD. The detection of the detection circuit 150( Figure 1 ) can reflect the scenario of the first radio technology (hereinafter referred to as the first radio scenario) and the scenario of the second radio technology (hereinafter referred to as the second radio scenario). In one embodiment, one or more transmission performance indicators may be related to transmission duty cycle, transmission EVM, target power, throughput, MCS, BLER, RB, TBS, and / or latency, etc. In one embodiment, one or more reception performance indicators may be related to reception duty cycle, reception SINR, MCS, RSSI, and / or RSRP, etc.

[0049] As Figure 1 shown, in one embodiment, the RF section 11 can support Nc1 (e.g., an integer constant greater than or equal to 1) configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] (also referred to as the first radio configurations) for transmission using the first radio technology, and can support Nc2 (e.g., an integer constant greater than or equal to 1) configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] (also referred to as the second radio configurations) for transmission using the second radio technology. According to the transmission requirements, the RF section 11 can adopt one, part, or all of the first radio configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] to perform transmission using the first radio technology, and can adopt one, part, or all of the second radio configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] to perform transmission using the second radio technology.

[0050] The configurations that may be adopted may change over time. For example, assume that the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] includes configurations c1[1] to c1[6], where configurations c1[1] and c1[4] support transmissions on the first frequency band of the first radio technology, configuration c1[2] supports transmissions on the second frequency band of the first radio technology, and configurations c1[3], c1[5], and c1[6] support transmissions on the third frequency band of the first radio technology. Thus, when the UE 100 communicates with a first remote participant (e.g., a serving base station or another UE, not shown) during a first time interval, if the first remote participant supports communication on the first and second frequency bands of the first radio technology, then, a subset {c1[1], c1[2], c1[4]} of the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be adopted during the first time interval, while it is not possible to adopt another subset {c1[3], c1[5], c1[6]} of the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] during the first time interval. Similarly, when the UE 100 communicates with a second remote participant during a second time interval, if the second remote participant supports communication at the second and third frequency bands of the first radio technology, then a subset {c1[2], c1[3], c1[5], c1[6]} of the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be adopted during the second time interval, while it is not possible to adopt another subset {c1[1], c1[4]} of the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] during the second time interval. In other words, when time elapses from the first time interval to the second time interval, the subset of the first radio configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that may be adopted changes from {c1[1], c1[2], c1[4]} to {c1[2], c1[3], c1[5], c1[6]}.

[0051] Different configurations of different or the same radio technologies may have different effects on radio frequency exposure. For example, as Figure 1 shown, since antenna 14a is farther from the user compared to antenna 14b, even if both antennas 14a and 14b use the same radio technology to transmit the same power, antenna 14a will cause less RF exposure than antenna 14b. That is, the configuration using antenna 14a to transmit and another configuration using antenna 14b to transmit may contribute different weights to the transmitted power when causing RF exposure.

[0052] Figure 2 Method 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described. Method 200 may be performed by the UE 100( Figure 1)Execute, such as processor 10 and / or power management circuit 13. Method 200 includes a first radio transmit power control process 2011 and a second radio transmit power control process 2012. To comply with radio frequency exposure regulations, the first radio transmit power control process 2011 controls the first radio window average power Pavg1 (which can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a moving time window) not to exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 by causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology (hereinafter referred to as the first radio transmit power Pt1) (e.g., instantaneous power) Pt1 to be limited by the first radio power upper limit Pcap1, and the second radio transmit power control process 2012 controls the second radio window average power Pavg2 not to exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 by causing the power transmitted using the second radio technology Pt2 (which can reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during a moving time window) (e.g., instantaneous power) to be limited by the second radio power upper limit Pcap2.

[0053] The first radio transmit power control process 2011 and the second radio transmit power control process 2012 may affect each other, and thus may comprehensively handle radio frequency exposure caused by the first and second radio technologies. As will be further explained later, in one embodiment, the first radio power limit Plimit1 of the first radio transmit power control process 2011 may be determined according to a first radio power limit decision factor including the second radio power margin Pmrgn2, where the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 may be generated by the second radio transmit power control process 2012; in one embodiment, the second radio power limit Plimit2 of the second radio transmit power control process 2012 may be determined according to a second radio power limit decision factor including the first radio power margin Pmrgn1, where the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 may be generated by the first radio transmit power control process 2011.

[0054] Figure 3aDescribes a moving time window for the first radio window average power Pavg1. At time t1[i], the sample values of the first radio window average power Pavg1 can be averaged over a time window w1[i] from time t1[i-K1] to time t1[i] (referred to as the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at time t1[i]). Thus, the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at time t1[i] can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time window w1[i]. The time window w1[i] can cover K1 (e.g., a constant integer greater than 1) time segments from time segment T1[i-K1+1] to T1[i], where the time segments T1[i-K1+1] to T1[i] can be every two consecutive time intervals among the time segments T1[i-K1], time segment T1[i-K1+1]... time segment T1[i-1] to time segment T1[i] respectively. Similarly, the first radio window average power Pavg1[i-1] at time t1[i-1] can be averaged over a time window w1[i-1] from time t1[i-K1-1] to time t1[i-1] (covering K1 time segments from time segment t1[i-K1] to t1[i-1]).

[0055] Figure 3b Describes a moving time window for the second radio window average power Pavg2. At time t2[j], the sample values of the second radio window average power Pavg2 can be averaged over a time window w2[j] from time t2[j-K2] to time t2[j] (referred to as the second radio window average power Pavg2[j] at time t2[j]). Thus, the second radio window average power Pavg2[j] at time t2[j] can reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time window w2[j]. The time window w2[j] can cover K2 (e.g., a constant integer greater than 1) time segments from time segment T2[j-K2+1] to T2[j], where the time segments T2[j-K2+1] to T2[j] can be every two consecutive time intervals among the time segments T2[j-K2], time segment T2[j-K2+1]... time segment T2[j-1] to time segment T2[j] respectively. Similarly, the second radio window average power Pavg2[j-1] at time t2[j-1] can be averaged over a time window w2[j-1] from time t2[j-K2-1] to time t2[j-1] (covering K2 time segments from time segment t2[j-K2] to t2[j-1]).

[0056] The durations of windows w1[i] and w2[j] can be in seconds or minutes, for example, in the range from one to several hundred seconds. The durations of time intervals t1[i] and t2[j] can be in milliseconds or microseconds, for example, in the range from 1 to several million microseconds. The durations of time intervals T1[i] and T2[j] can be substantially the same or different. The durations of windows w1[i] and w2[j] can be the same or different. Quantities K1 and K2 may be the same or different. Time t1[i] can be earlier than, later than, or coincide with time t2[j].

[0057] Figure 4 Further details of method 200 are described. The first radio transmit power control process 2011 includes steps 4011, 4031, 4051, 4071, 4091, 4111, 4131, 4151, 4171, and 4191; the second radio transmit power control process 2012 includes steps 4012, 4032, 4052, 4072, 4092, 4112, 4132, 4152, 4172, and 4192. Steps 4031, 4051, 4071, 4091, and 4111 can be used as the first radio type one control process 2031, and step 4191 can be used as the first radio type two control process 2051. Steps 4032, 4052, 4072, 4092, and 4112 can be used as the second radio type one control process 2032, and step 4192 can be used as the second radio type two control process 2052. In one embodiment, the first radio type one control process 2031 and the second radio type one control process 2032 can follow the same operating principle. In one embodiment, the first radio type 2 control process 2051 and the second radio type 2 control process 2052 can follow the same operating principle.

[0058] In the first radio transmit power control process 2011, step 4011 includes: based on the first radio scenario, selecting whether to execute step 4031 of the first radio type one control process 2031 or step 4191 of the first radio type two control process 2051. For example, in response to a first radio scenario that requires higher throughput, step 4011 can proceed to step 4031 of the first radio type one control process 2031; in response to a first radio scenario that requires an MCS sensitive to noise, step 4011 can proceed to step 4191 of the first radio type two control process 2051; in response to a first radio scenario where UE 100 needs to compete for more RF resources (such as bandwidth) with other user devices, step 4011 can proceed to step 4031 of the first radio type one control process 2031.

[0059] In the first radio type 1 control procedure 2031, step 4031 can basically start at time t1[i]( Figure 3a ), and includes: determining the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 according to one or more first radio power limit decision factors. In one embodiment, the first radio power limit decision factors can reflect the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1]( Figure 1 ), which can be adopted at time t1[i]; for example, step 4031 can determine the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 according to the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1]. In one embodiment, the first radio power limit decision factors can further include a second radio power margin Pmrgn2( Figure 2 ); for example, step 4031 can jointly determine the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 according to the second radio power margin Pmrgn2( Figure 2 ) and the subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1]. The second radio power margin Pmrgn2 can come from step 4152 of the second radio transmit power control procedure 2012.

[0060] Figure 5 The operation of step 4031 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described. As mentioned before (for example, Figure 1 ), the RF peripheral circuit 12 of the UE 100 can support configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] of the first radio technology. At time t1[i], one, part, or all of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] may be adopted, and the one, part, or all of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that may be adopted at time t1[i] can form a subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1].

[0061] To implement the present invention, configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be respectively associated with predefined power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1]. As mentioned before, different configurations may have different effects on radio frequency exposure. For n = 1 to Nc1, the power limit candidate values PlimitC1[n] may reflect the effects (weights) of the relevant configurations c1[n]. For example, a configuration transmitted using antenna 14a( Figure 1 ) can be associated with a higher value of the power limit candidate, and another configuration transmitted using antenna 14b can be associated with a lower value of the power limit candidate.

[0062] Since the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] may be associated with the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] respectively, the current subset Uc1[i] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] will be associated with the current subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1]. Thus, in one embodiment, the first radio power limit decision factor includes one or more subsets UPlimitC1[i] of the selected power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1], and / or may include other first radio auxiliary data which are predefined values and / or calculated values not described; for example, step 4031 may determine the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 according to one or more selected from the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] and / or the first radio auxiliary data. In another embodiment, in addition to one or more selected from the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] and / or the first radio auxiliary data, the first radio power limit decision factor may further include the second radio power margin Pmrgn2; for example, step 4031 may jointly determine the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 according to the second radio power margin Pmrgn2, one or more selected from the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1], and / or the first radio auxiliary data. For example, if the subset Uc1[i] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] is {c1[2], c1[3], c1[5], c1[6]}, the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] is {PlimitC1[2], PlimitC1[3], PlimitC1[5], PlimitC1[6]}, and one or more selected from the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] may be one or more of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[2], PlimitC1[3], PlimitC1[5], and PlimitC1[6].

[0063] In one embodiment, step 4031 may determine the first radio power limit Plimit1 by setting the first radio power limit Plimit1 to be substantially equal to a selected one of a subset UPlimitC1[i] of power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1], or the first radio assistance data. In different embodiments, determining the current value of the first radio power limit includes: scaling a selected one (or more) of the current subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidate PlimitC1[1] and / or the first radio assistance data according to a ratio determined according to the second radio power margin; for example, step 4031 may determine the first radio power limit Plimit1 by setting the first radio power limit Plimit1 to be substantially equal to the result of scaling a selected one of the subset UPlimitC1[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] or a selected one (from among) the first radio assistance data by a ratio r1. The ratio r1 may be a value less than or equal to 1 and may be positively correlated with the second radio power margin Pmrgn2. For example, as the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 is larger, the ratio r1 may be larger and closer to 1.

[0064] The value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 may change over time. For example, if the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that can be adopted at time t1[i] is different from the previous subset Uc1[i - 1] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that could be adopted at time t1[i], the current value and the previous value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 may be different. And / or, if the current value of the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 is different from the previous value of the second radio power margin Pmrgn2, the current value and the previous value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 may be different.

[0065] Figure 6 An example where the first radio power limit Plimit1 changes (increases in the described example) at time t1[i] is described; when the first radio power limit Plimit1 is updated to a higher value after time t1[i], the first radio transmit power control process 2011 ( Figure 2) The first radio window average power Pavg1 can be controlled not to exceed the updated first radio power limit Plimit1 by limiting the first radio power transmission Pt1 to be below the first radio power upper limit Pcap1. If the subset Uc1[i] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that may be adopted at time t1[i] has a weaker impact (weight) on RF exposure compared to the previous subset Uc1[i - 1] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] at time t1[i - 1], the first radio power limit Plimit1 may be higher. And / or, if the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 becomes higher, the first radio power limit Plimit1 may be higher.

[0066] Return to Figure 4 , step 4051 may include data calculations, such as calculating the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at time t1[i]. Figure 7 Details of step 4051 according to an embodiment of the present invention are described. Step 4051 includes steps 7011, 7031, 7051, and 7071.

[0067] Step 7011 may start from the existing power record sequence SQ1; the power record sequence SQ1 includes K1 power records pr1[i - K1], pr1[i - K1 + 1], …, pr1[i - 1], for example, SQ1 = {pr1[i - K1], …, pr1[i - 1]}. The power records pr1[i - K1] to pr1[i - 1] may respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the past time periods T1[i - K1] to T1[i - 1].

[0068] Step 7011 includes: checking whether the first radio power limit Plimit1 has changed by comparing whether the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 is different from the previous value of the first radio power limit Plimit1; if the first radio power limit Plimit1 has not changed, then execute step 7051; if the first radio power limit Plimit1 has changed, then execute step 7031.

[0069] Step 7031 includes: If the first radio power limit Plimit1 changes, then each power record pr1[i - K1] to pr1[i - 1] of the power record sequence SQ1 is scaled by one or more scaling factors (such as s1_1, s1_2, etc.) to update the power record sequence SQ1, and then step 7051 is executed. That is, in the updated power record sequence SQ1, for #=(i - K1) to (i - 1), the updated value of each power record pr1[#] can be substantially equal to the result of scaling the pre-update value of the power record pr1[#] by one or more scaling factors s1_1, s1_2, etc.

[0070] In one embodiment, at least one of the one or more scaling factors s1_1, s1_2, etc. can be related to the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 and / or the previous value of the first radio power limit Plimit1. For example, it can be positively correlated with the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1, and / or negatively correlated with the previous value of the first radio power limit Plimit1. Therefore, if the first radio power limit Plimit1 changes (step 7011), then at least one of the scaling factors s1_1, etc. may be less than 1 or greater than 1. When the first radio power limit Plimit1 changes from its previous value to its current value, by scaling the scaling factors s1_1, etc., the power records pr1[i - K1] to pr1[i - 1] of the updated power record sequence SQ1 can adjust to the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1, and thus can be aligned (comparable) with the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1.

[0071] Step 7051 includes: Calculating the current power record pr1[i], which can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i], and executing step 7071. As previously described (for example, Figure 5 ), one, some, or all of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] that may be adopted at time t1[i] can form the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1]. Therefore, when the RF peripheral circuit 12 transmits power using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i], the current subset Uc1[i] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be further associated with the set of power contributions Upc1, where each configuration c1[n] of the current subset Uc1[i] of the configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be associated with the power contribution pc1[n] of the power contribution set Upc1[n], and the power contribution pc1[n] can reflect the average power transmitted by the associated configuration c1[n] during the time period T1[i].

[0072] In addition, the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can also be associated with a set Uwc1 of weight coefficients, where each configuration c1[n] of the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] can be associated with a set Uwc1[n] of weight coefficients; in one embodiment, the weight coefficient wc1[n] can be related (e.g., positively related) to the current value of the first radio power limit Plimit1, and / or can be related (e.g., negatively related) to the associated power limit candidate PlimitC1[n].

[0073] Therefore, step 7051 can weight the set Upc1 of power contributions respectively by the set Uwc1 of weight coefficients to form a set Uwpc1 of weighted power contributions, and can calculate the current power record pr1[i] based on the set Uwpc1 of weighted power contributions (e.g., by summing). Figure 7 An example demonstrating the operation of step 7051 is also shown; in this example, the current subset Uc1[i] of configurations c1[1] to c1[Nc1] is {c1[2], c1[3], c1[5], c1[6]}, so the set Upc1 of power contributions can be {pc1[2], pc1[3], pc1[5], pc1[6]}, the set Uwc1 of weight coefficients can be {wc1[2], wc1[3], wc1[5], wc1[6]}, and the set uwpc1 of weighted power contributions can be {wpc1[2], wpc1[3], wpc1[6]}. Then, the current power record pr1[i] can be calculated based on the set Uwpc1 of weighted power contributions {wpc1[2], wpc1[3], wpc1[5], wpc1[6]}. The power contributions pc1[2], pc1[3], pc1[5], and pc1[6] can respectively reflect the average power transmitted by the configurations c1[2], c1[3], c1[5], and c1[6] during the time period T1[i].

[0074] As mentioned above, two different configurations may have different effects (weights) on radio frequency exposure, so even if the power transmitted by two different configurations is the same, it may result in different amounts of radio frequency exposure. Through the set Uwc1 of weight coefficients, step 4051 can consider the different effects of different configurations.

[0075] The power record sequence SQ1 can be updated to include the power records pr1[i - K1 + 1] to pr1[i] by discarding the power record pr1[i - K1] from the power record sequence SQ1 and appending the current power record pr1[i] to the power record sequence SQ1, e.g., SQ1 = {pr1[i - K1 + 1], …, pr1[i]}.

[0076] Step 7071 includes: calculating a first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at the current time t1[i] through the average value of the power recording sequence SQ1. In the power recording sequence SQ1, the power recordings pr1[i-K1+1] to pr1[i] can respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time periods T1[i-K1+1] to T1[i]( Figure 3a ), so the average value of the power recording sequence SQ1 (i.e., the average value of the power recordings pr1[i-K1+1] to pr1[i]) can reflect the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] of the time period T1[i].

[0077] Returning to Figure 4 , after step 4051, step 4071 includes: (substantially) at the time t1[i], estimating whether the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after the time t1[i]; if it is estimated that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after the time t1[i], then execute step 4091; if it is estimated that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will not exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after the time t1[i], then execute step 4111. Figure 8 Shows an example demonstrating the operation of step 4071. In step 4071, the step of estimating whether the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after the time t1[i] includes: calculating the first radio window average power Pavg1[i_f] at the future time t1[i_f] by assuming that the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 decreases at the assumed backoff time t1[i_hb], where the assumed backoff time t1[i_hb] is not earlier than the time t1[i], and the future time t1[i_f] is later than the assumed backoff time t1[i_hb]; if the first radio window average power Pavg1[i_f] at the future time t1[i_f] exceeds the first radio power limit Plimit1 (as Figure 8 shown), then it is estimated that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimi1 after the time t1[i].

[0078] As Figure 8As shown, in one embodiment, step 4071 may calculate the first radio window average power Pavg1[i_f] at a future time t1[i_f] on the assumption that the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 is within a first radio high range (not shown) between time t1[i] and t1[i_hb] and drops to within a first radio low range (not shown) between time t1[i_hb] and t1[i_f], where the first radio high range and the first radio low range may be different. In one embodiment, the first radio high range may cover one or more predefined high power levels, for example, L1[1] to L1[4]; and / or, the first radio high range may cover the sum of a first offset and a previous value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1. In one embodiment, the first radio low range may cover one or more predefined low power levels, for example, L1[5] to L1[8]; and / or, the first radio low range may cover the sum of a second offset and a previous value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1. In one embodiment, the first radio high range is higher than the first radio power limit Plimit1; in one embodiment, the first radio low range is lower than the first radio power limit Plimit1. In one embodiment, the high power levels L1[1] to L1[4] are higher than the first radio power limit Plimit1, and the low power levels L1[5] to L1[8] are lower than the first radio power limit Plimit1. In one embodiment, the future time t1[i_f] may be a subsequent time t1[i_hb + 1] assuming after a backoff time t1[i_hb].

[0079] Starting from a variable k equal to zero, on the assumption that the backoff time and the future time are time t1[i + k] and time t1[i + k + 1] respectively, step 4071 may perform a calculation operation to calculate the first radio window average power Pavg1[i + k + 1] at time t1[i + k + 1]; according to whether the first radio window average power Pavg1[i + k + 1] exceeds the first radio power limit Plimit1, step 4071 may go to step 4091( Figure 4 ), or may loop back to the calculation operation with the variable k incremented until the variable k reaches an upper limit.

[0080] When calculating the first radio window average power Pavg1[i + 1] at time t1[i] substantially, step 4071 will require power records pr1[i - K1 + 2] to pr1[i + 1] to respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during t1[i - K1 + 2] to t1[i + 1]. Step 4071 can obtain the existing power records pr1[i - K1 + 2] to pr1[i] from the power record sequence SQ1 by discarding the power record pr1[i - K1 + 1] from the power record sequence SQ1, where the power record sequence SQ1 is obtained from step 4051( Figure 4 and Figure 7 ), and can estimate the non - existent current power record pr1[i + 1].

[0081] Figure 9 Details of step 4091( Figure 4 ) according to an embodiment of the present invention are described. Step 4091 includes: performing a first processing sub - process 9101 and / or a second processing sub - process 9201 to set the first radio power upper limit Pcap1. Since step 4071( Figure 4 ) estimates that reducing the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 at the assumed back - off time t1[i_hb] will still cause the first radio window average power Pavg1 to exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1, thus entering step 4091, the first processing sub - process 9101 includes: (substantially) at time t1[i], scheduling to set the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 lower at a predetermined time t1[i_sb] earlier than the assumed back - off time t1[i_hb]. In one embodiment, the predetermined time t1[i_sb] can be the time t1[i_hb - 1] before the assumed back - off time t1[i_hb]. In one embodiment, the predetermined time t1[i_sb] can be later than the current time t1[i].

[0082] In one embodiment, in addition to scheduling to reduce the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 at the predetermined time t1[i_sb], the first processing sub - process 9101 further includes: (substantially) at the current time t1[i], if reducing the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 has not been scheduled before the current time t1[i], setting the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to one of the high - power levels L1[1] to L1[4].

[0083] Since step 4071( Figure 4) The estimation of (...) involves discarding the power record pr1[i-K1+1] (e.g., when calculating the first radio average power Pavg1[i+1] at time t[i+1]). The second processing sub-procedure 9201 includes: (substantially) at time t1[i], setting the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to be no higher than (e.g., substantially equal to) the power record pr1[i-K1+1], which can reflect the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during the past time period T1[i-K1+1] ending at time t1[i-K1+1]. Calculating the first radio window average power Pavg1[i+1] at time t[i+1] may be related to the difference between the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at time t1[i] and the first radio window average power Pavg1[i+1] at time t[i+1], and thus may involve subtracting (discarding) the power record pr1[i-K1+1] and adding (appending) the power record pr1[i+1]. Therefore, by setting the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to be no higher than the subtracted (discarded) power record pr1[i-K1+1], the added (appended) power record pr1[i+1] can correspondingly be no higher than the power record pr1[i-K1+1]. Thus, the first radio window average power Pavg1[i+1] at time t1[i+1] can be kept substantially equal to or lower than the first radio window average power Pavg1[i] at time t1[i].

[0084] In one embodiment, the first and second processing sub-procedures 9101 and 9201 of step 4091 can be used. At time t1[i], if step 4071 ( Figure 4 ) estimates that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 at the subsequent time t1[i+1], then step 4071 can enter the second processing sub-procedure 9201 of step 4091; if step 4071 ( Figure 4 ) estimates that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will not exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 at time t1[i+1], but will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after time t1[i+1], then step 4071 can enter the first processing sub-procedure 9101 of step 4091.

[0085] Figure 10 An example showing the cooperation of the first and second processing sub-procedures 9101 and 9201 of step 4091 is described. As Figure 10As shown, at time t1[i], if the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 is decreased at time t1[i+4], then step 4071 estimates that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 at time t1[i+5]. Thus, step 4071 can proceed to the first processing subprocedure 9101, and the first processing subprocedure 9101 can schedule to set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 lower before time t1[i+3]. By setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 lower at time t1[i+3] which is earlier than time t1[i+4], the first radio window average power Pavg1 (represented by the solid line) will remain below the first radio power limit Plimit1. On the other hand, if the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 is set lower at time t1[i+4], then the first radio window average power Pavg1 (represented by the dashed line) will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after time t1[i+4].

[0086] As Figure 10 shown, at time t1[i'], if the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 is decreased at time t1[i'], then step 4071 estimates that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 at time t1[i'+1]. Thus, step 4071 can proceed to the second processing subprocedure 9201, and the second processing subprocedure 9201 can set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be no higher than the power record pr1[i'-K1+1] at time t1[i']. By setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be no higher than the power record pr1[i'-K1+1] at time t1[i'], the first radio window average power Pavg1 (represented by the solid line) will remain below the first radio power limit Plimit1. On the other hand, if at time t1[i'], the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 is not set to be lower than the power record pr1[i'-K1+1], then the first radio window average power Pavg1 (represented by the dashed line) will not be below the first radio power limit Plimit1.

[0087] Returning to Figure 4, if step 4071 estimates that the first radio window average power Pavg1 will not exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 after time t1[i], then step 4071 proceeds to step 4111. Step 4111 can set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 through a conventional sub-process, including: (if the reduction of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 has not been scheduled at the current time t1[i]), setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to remain the same or higher; for example, setting the current value of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be equal to the previous value of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1, or higher than the previous value of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1. In one embodiment, step 4111 can set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to one of the power levels L1[1] to L1[8]. Note that although eight predefined power levels L1[1] to L1[8] are described in the Figure 8 example, the present invention is not limited thereto. More generally, when setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 in steps 4071, 4091, and 4111, Nd1 (e.g., a predefined integer greater than 1) predefined power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1] can be used. Figure 11 The power levels of L1[1] to L1[Nd1] are described; in one embodiment, the values of the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1] can decrease; the power level L1[1] can be the highest among the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1], and the power level L1[Nd1] can be the lowest. In one embodiment, the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nh1] (where Nh1 is a predefined integer less than Nd1) can be higher than the first radio power limit Plimit1, and the power levels L1[Nh1 + 1] to L1[Nd1] can be lower than the first radio power limit Plimit1, and as Figure 11 shown, there may be a relationship L1[1]>…>L1[Nh1]>Plimit1>L1[Nh1 + 1]>…>L1[Nd1]. In one embodiment, when setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be higher, if the previous value of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 is equal to the power level L1[n] of the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1], step 4111 can set the current value of the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to the higher power level L1[n - 1] among the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1]. In one embodiment, when the first radio power limit Plimit1 changes ( Figure 6) The values of the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1] can also be changed; for example, when the first radio power limit Plimit1 is changed to a higher value, each of the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1] can be changed to a higher value, while the relationship L1[1]>…>L1[Nh1]>Plimit1>L1[Nh1 + 1]>…>L1[Nd1] remains unchanged. In Figure 8 In the example shown, it is assumed that the numbers Nh1 and Nd1 are 4 and 8 respectively, but the present invention is not limited thereto; the numbers of Nh1 and Nd1 may be less or more.

[0088] Returning to Figure 4 , when step 4091 or 4111 sets the first radio power upper limit Pcap1, step 4091 or 4111 may enter step 4131. Step 4131 includes: when the RF peripheral circuit 12 ( Figure 1 ) transmits power during the time period T1[i + 1], such that during the subsequent time period T1[i + 1] after the current time period T1[i], the power transmitted using the first radio technology is limited by the first radio power upper limit Pcap1.

[0089] Step 4151 includes: calculating a first radio power margin Pmrgn1 based on the power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i]. In one embodiment, the calculation in step 4151 may result in the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 being negatively correlated with the power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i]. For example, since the power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i] is greater, the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 may be smaller. In one embodiment, the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 may be related to the difference between the first radio power limit Plimit1 and the power transmitted using the first radio technology during the time period T1[i].

[0090] Step 4171 includes: storing the relevant data, and then iterating back to step 4011 as the time index i increments. The relevant data includes the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 generated by step 4151, the power sequence SQ1 generated by step 4051, and / or the power contribution reflecting the average power transmitted during the time period T1[i + 1] by the first radio configuration that may be adopted.

[0091] Step 4191 of the first radio type two control process 2051 includes: setting the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to values of multiple gears (not shown), and performing step 4131. Step 4191 can change the value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 by switching between different gears in the multiple gears in response to at least one of the duty cycle and the configuration c1[1] to c1[Nc1]( Figure 1 ) of the currently adopted first radio technology. Figure 12 A comparison between the first radio type one control process 2031 and the first radio type two control process 2051 is described. When the first radio scenario that causes step 4011( Figure 4 ) proceeds to the first radio type two control process 2051 lasts for one or more second time periods, step 4191 of the first radio type two control process 2051 can set the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to a value lower than but close to the first radio power limit Plimit1 during the second time period. As shown, in one embodiment, step 4191 can keep the value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 unchanged during the second time period. In an embodiment not described, step 4191 can change the value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 in response to the duty cycle and / or the configuration of the first radio technology during the second time period. In an embodiment not described, the value of the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 can be changed within one time period.

[0092] When the other first radio scenario that causes step 4011( Figure 4 ) proceeds to the first radio type one control process 2031 lasts for one or more first time periods, the first radio type one control process 2031 can dynamically and adaptively change the first radio power upper limit Pcap1; for example, the first radio type one control process 2031 can set the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to be higher than the first radio power limit Plimit1 during one or more first time periods, and can set the first radio power upper limit Pcap1 to be lower than the first radio power limit Plimit1 during other one or more first time periods.

[0093] The first radio type-1 control process 2031 may set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 based on an estimate of whether the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 in the future (step 4071). By setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be higher than the first radio power limit Plimit1, the first radio type-1 control process 2031 may improve and enhance the efficiency of data throughput and communication capacity; by setting the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 to be lower than the first radio power limit Plimit1, the first radio type-1 control process 2031 may control the first radio window average power Pavg1 not to exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1, and thus may maintain compliance with RF exposure regulations. On the other hand, the first radio type-2 control process 2051 may set the first radio power ceiling Pcap1 in response to the duty cycle and / or the configuration of the first radio technology, rather than based on an estimate of whether the first radio window average power Pavg1 will exceed the first radio power limit Plimit1 in the future.

[0094] Since the first radio type-1 control process 2031 and the first radio type-2 control process 2051 each have advantages and are applicable to their specific scenarios, it is technically beneficial to switch between the first radio type-1 control process 2031 and the first radio type-2 control process 2051 according to the scenario.

[0095] Returning to Figure 4 , in the second radio transmit power control process 2012, step 4012 includes: based on the second radio scenario, selecting whether to perform step 4032 of the second radio type-1 control process or step 4192 of the second radio type-2 control process.

[0096] Basically, step 4032 may start at time t2[j]( Figure 3b ), and step 4032 includes: determining the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 according to one or more second radio power limit decision factors. In one embodiment, the second radio power limit decision factor may reflect the current subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2]( Figure 1 ) that may be adopted at time t1[i]; for example, step 4032 may determine the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 according to the current subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2]. In one embodiment, the second radio power limit decision factor further includes the first radio power margin Pmrgn1( Figure 2 ); for example, step 4032 may determine the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 according to the first radio power margin Pmrgn1( Figure 2) and the subset Uc2[j] of configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] together determine the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2. The first radio power margin Pmrgn1 can be generated in step 4151 of the first radio transmission power control process 2011.

[0097] Figure 13 The operation of step 4032 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described. At time t2[j], one, part, or all of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] may be adopted, and a subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc1] is formed. The configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] may be respectively associated with predefined power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2], where for n = 1 to Nc2, the power limit candidate value PlimitC2[n] may reflect the influence (weight) of the relevant configuration c1[n]. Thus, the current subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] will be associated with the current subset UPlimitC2[j] of the power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2].

[0098] In one embodiment, the second radio power limit decision factor includes one or more subsets UPlimitC2[i] of the selection of power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2], and / or may include other second radio auxiliary data that are predefined values and / or calculated values not described; for example, step 4032 may determine the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 based on one or more selected from the subsets UPlimitC2[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2] and / or the second radio auxiliary data; in another example, step 4032 sets the second radio power limit Plimit2 to be substantially equal to a selected one of the subsets UPlimitC2[j] of the power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2] or the selected one (among the selected ones) of the second radio auxiliary data. In another embodiment, in addition to one or more selected from the subsets UPlimitC2[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2] and / or the second radio auxiliary data, the second radio power limit decision factor may further include the first radio power margin Pmrgn1; for example, step 4032 may jointly determine the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 based on the first radio power margin Pmrgn1, one (or more) selected from the subsets UPlimitC2[i] of the power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2], and / or the second radio auxiliary data. The ratio r2 may be a value less than or equal to 1 and may be positively correlated with the first radio power margin Pmrgn1. For example, as the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 is larger, the ratio r2 may be larger and closer to 1.

[0099] The value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 may change over time. Figure 14 An example where the second radio power limit Plimit2 changes (decreases in the described example) at time t2[j] is described; when the second radio power limit Plimit2 is updated to a lower value after time 2[j], the second radio transmit power control process 2012( Figure 2) It is possible to control the average power Pavg2 of the second radio window not to exceed the updated second radio power limit Plimit2. If the subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] that may be adopted at time t2[j] has a stronger impact (weight) on RF exposure compared to the previous subset Uc2[j-1] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] that may be adopted at time t2[j-1], the second radio power limit Plimit1 may be lower. And / or, if the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 becomes smaller, the second radio power limit Plimit2 may be lower.

[0100] Return to Figure 4 , step 4052 may include data calculation, such as calculating the average power Pavg2[j] of the second radio window at time t2[j], which may reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time window w2[j] ending at the current time t2[j]( Figure 3b ). Figure 15 Details of step 4052 according to an embodiment of the present invention are described. Step 4051 includes steps 7012, 7032, 7052, and 7072. Step 7012 may start from the existing power record sequence SQ2; the power record sequence SQ2 includes K2 power records pr2[j-K1], pr2[j-K1+1], …, pr2[j-1]; the power records pr2[j-K2] to pr2[j-1] may respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time periods T2[j-K2] to T2[j-1].

[0101] Step 7012 includes: checking whether the second radio power limit Plimit2 has changed by comparing whether the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 is different from the previous value of the second radio power limit Plimit2; if the second radio power limit Plimit2 has not changed, then execute step 7052; if the second radio power limit Plimit2 has changed, then execute step 7032.

[0102] Step 7032 includes: if the second radio power limit Plimit2 has changed, then scale each power record pr2[j-K2] to pr2[j-1] of the power record sequence SQ2 by one or more scaling factors (such as s2_1, s2_2, etc.) to update the power record sequence SQ2, and then execute step 7052. That is, in the updated power record sequence SQ2, for #=(j-K2) to (j-1), the updated value of each power record pr2[#] may be substantially equal to the result of scaling the pre-update value of the scaled power record pr1[#] by one or more scaling factors s2_1, s2_2, etc.

[0103] In one embodiment, at least one of one or more scaling factors s2_1, s2_2, etc. may be (e.g., positively) correlated with the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2, and / or may be (e.g., negatively) correlated with a previous value of the second radio power limit Plimit2. Thus, if the second radio power limit Plimit2 changes (step 7012), at least one of the scaling factors s2_1, etc. may be less than 1 or greater than 1.

[0104] Step 7052 includes: calculating a current power record pr2[j] that may reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time interval T2[j], and performing step 7072. As described above (e.g., Figure 17 ), one, some, or all of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] that may be adopted at time t2[j] can form the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2]. Thus, when the RF peripheral circuit 12 transmits power using the second radio technology during the time interval T2[j], the current subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] may further be associated with a set Upc2 of power contributions and a set Uwc2 of weight coefficients, where each configuration c2[n] of the current subset Uc2[j] of the configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] can be associated with a power contribution pc2[n] of the set Upc2 of power contributions and a weight coefficient wc2[n] of the set Uwc2 of weight coefficients, and the power contribution pc2[n] may reflect the average power transmitted by the associated configuration c2[n] during the time interval T2[j], and the weight coefficient wc2[n] may be (e.g., positively) correlated with the current value of the second radio power limit Plimit2, and / or may be associated with a power limit candidate PlimitC2[n] (e.g., negatively).

[0105] Thus, step 7052 may weight the set Upc2 of power contributions respectively by the set Uwc2 of weight coefficients to form a set Uwpc2 of weighted power contributions, and may calculate the current power record pr2[j] based on the set Uwpc2 of weighted power contributions (e.g., by summing). Figure 15An example of the operation of demonstration step 7052 is also shown; in this example, the current subset Uc2[j] of configurations c2[1] to c2[Nc2] is {c2[1], c2[3]}, so the set Upc2 of power contributions can be {pc2[1], pc2[3]}, the set Uwc2 of weight coefficients can be {wc2[1], wc2[3]}, and the set uwpc2 of weighted power contributions can be {wpc2[1], wpc2[3]}. Then, the current power record pr2[j] can be calculated according to the set Uwpc2 of weighted power contributions {wpc2[1], wpc2[3]}. The power contributions pc2[1], pc2[3] can respectively reflect the average power transmitted by configurations c2[1], c2[3] during time period T2[j].

[0106] By discarding the power record pr2[j-K2] from the power record sequence SQ2 and appending the current power record pr2[j] to the power record sequence SQ2, the power record sequence SQ2 can be updated to include the power records pr2[j-K2+1] to pr2[j], for example, SQ2 = {pr2[j-K2+1], …, pr2[j]}.

[0107] Step 7072 includes: calculating the second radio window average power Pavg2[j] of the current time t2[j] through the average value of the power record sequence SQ2. In the power record sequence SQ2, the power records pr2[j-K2+1] to pr2[j] can respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time periods T2[j-K1+1] to T2[j]( Figure 3b )), so the average value of the power record sequence SQ2 (i.e., the average value of the power records pr2[j-K2+1] to pr2[j]) can reflect the second radio window average power Pavg2[j] of the time period T2[j].

[0108] Back to Figure 4 , after step 4052, step 4072 includes: (substantially) at time t2[j], estimating whether the second radio window average power Pavg2 will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 after time t2[j]; if so, execute step 4092; if not, execute step 4112. Figure 16An example of the operation of demonstration step 4072 is shown. At step 4072, the step of estimating whether the second radio window average power Pavg2 will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 after time t2[j] includes: calculating the second radio window average power Pavg2[j_f] at a future time t1[j_f] by assuming that the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 decreases during an assumed backoff time t2[j_hb], where the assumed backoff time t2[j_hb] is not earlier than time t2[j], and the future time t2[j_f] is later than the assumed backoff time t2[j_hb]; if the second radio window average power Pavg1[j_f] at the future time t2[j_f] exceeds the second radio power limit Plimit2 (as Figure 16 shown), it is estimated that the second radio window average power Pavg2 will exceed the second radio power limit Plimi2 after time t2[j].

[0109] As Figure 16 shown, in one embodiment, step 4072 may calculate the second radio window average power Pavg2[j_f] at a future time t2[j_f] by assuming that the first radio power upper limit Pcap2 is in a second radio high range (not shown) between time t2[j] and t2[j_hb] and decreases to be in a second radio low range (not shown) between time t2[j_hb] and t2[j_f], where the second radio high range and the second radio low range may be different. In one embodiment, the second radio high range may cover one or more predefined high power levels, for example, L2[1] to L2[4]; and / or, the second radio high range may cover the sum of a first offset and a previous value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2. In one embodiment, the second radio low range may cover one or more predefined low power levels, for example, L1[5] to L1[8]; and / or, the second radio low range may cover the sum of a second offset and a previous value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2. In one embodiment, the second radio high range is higher than the second radio power limit Plimit2; in one embodiment, the second radio low range is lower than the second radio power limit Plimit2. In one embodiment, the high power levels L2[1] to L2[Nh2] (Nh2 is a predefined integer not less than 1) are higher than the second radio power limit Plimit2, and the low power levels L2[Nh2 + 1] to L2[Nd2] (Nd2 is a predefined integer greater than Nh2) are lower than the second radio power limit Plimit2. In one embodiment, the future time t2[j_f] may be a subsequent time t2[j_hb + 1] after the time t2[j_hb].

[0110] Starting from a variable k equal to zero, under the assumption that the backoff time and the future time are time t2[j + k] and time t2[j + k + 1] respectively, step 4072 can perform a calculation operation to calculate the second radio window average power Pavg2[j + k + 1] at time t2[j + k + 1]; according to whether the second radio window average power Pavg2[j + k + 1] exceeds the second radio power limit Plimit2, step 4072 can transfer to step 4092( Figure 4 ), or can loop back to the calculation operation with the variable k incremented until the variable k reaches the upper limit.

[0111] When substantially calculating the second radio window average power Pavg2[j + 1] at time t2[j], step 4072 will require power records pr2[j - K1 + 2] to pr2[j + 1] to respectively reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during t2[j - K2 + 2] to t2[j + 1]. Step 4072 can access the power records pr2[j - K2 + 2] to pr2[j] from the power record sequence SQ2 by discarding the power record pr2[j - K2 + 1] from the power record sequence SQ2, where the power record sequence SQ2 is obtained from step 4052( Figure 4 and Figure 15 ), and can estimate the power record pr2[j + 1].

[0112] Figure 17 Details of step 4092( Figure 4 ) according to an embodiment of the present invention are described. Step 4092 includes: performing a first processing sub - process 9102 and / or a second processing sub - process 9202 to set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2. Since step 4072( Figure 4)It is estimated that reducing the first radio power ceiling Pcap2 during the assumed backoff time t2[j_hb] (e.g., from one of the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nh2] to one of the power levels L2[Nh2 + 1] to L2[Nd2]) will still cause the second radio window average power Pavg2 to exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2. Thus, entering step 4092, the first processing sub - process 9102 includes: (substantially) at time t2[j], scheduling to set the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 lower at a predetermined time t2[j_sb] earlier than the assumed backoff time t2[j_hb] (e.g., from one of the high levels L2[1] to L2[Nh2] to one of the low power levels L2[Nh2 + 1] to L2[Nd2]). In one embodiment, the predetermined time t2[j_sb] can be the time t2[j_hb - 1] before the assumed backoff time t2[j_hb]. In one embodiment, the predetermined time t2[j_sb] can be later than the current time t2[j].

[0113] In one embodiment, in addition to scheduling to reduce the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 at the predetermined time t2[j_sb], the first processing sub - process 9102( Figure 17 )further includes: (substantially) at the current time t2[j], if reducing the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 has not been scheduled before the current time t2[j], setting the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 to one of the high power levels L2[1] to L2[Nh2].

[0114] Since the estimation in step 4072( Figure 4 )involves discarding the power record pr2[j - K2 + 1] (e.g., when calculating the second radio average power Pavg2[j + 1] at time t[j + 1]), the second processing sub - process 9202 includes: (substantially) at time t2[j], setting the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 to be no higher than (e.g., substantially equal to) the power record pr2[j - K2 + 1], which can reflect the average power transmitted using the second radio technology during the past time segment T2[j - K2 + 1] ending at time t2[j - K2 + 1]. In one embodiment, the power record pr2[j - K2 + 1] can be lower than the power level L2[Nd2].

[0115] In one embodiment, the first and second processing sub - processes 9102 and 9202 of step 4092 can be used. At time t2[j], if step 4072( Figure 4) If it is estimated that the average power Pavg1 of the second radio window will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 at a subsequent time t2[j+1], then step 4071 can enter the second processing sub-process 9202 of step 4092; if step 4072( Figure 4 ) It is estimated that the average power Pavg2 of the second radio window will not exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 at time t2[j+1], but will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 after time t2[j+1], then step 4072 can enter the first processing sub-process 9102 of step 4092.

[0116] Go back to Figure 4 , if step 4072 estimates that the average power Pavg2 of the second radio window will not exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 after time t2[j], then step 4072 proceeds to step 4112. Step 4112 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 through a conventional sub-process, including: (if the reduction of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 has not been scheduled at the current time t2[j]), setting the first radio power upper limit Pcap2 to remain the same or higher; for example, setting the current value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to be equal to the previous value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2, or higher than the previous value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2. In one embodiment, step 4112 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to one of the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nd2]. Figure 18 The power levels of L2[1] to L2[Nd1] are described; in one embodiment, the values of the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nd2] can decrease; the power level L2[1] can be the highest among the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nd2], and the power level L2[Nd2] can be the lowest. In one embodiment, the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nh2] can be higher than the second radio power limit Plimit2, and the power levels L2[Nh2+1] to L2[Nd2] can be lower than the second radio power limit Plimit2, and as Figure 18As shown, there may be a relationship L2[1]>…>L2[Nh2]>Plimit2>L2[Nh2+1]>…>L2[Nd2]. In one embodiment, when the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 is set higher, if the previous value of the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 is equal to the power level L1[n] of the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1], step 4112 may set the current value of the second radio power ceiling Pcap2 to the higher power level L1[n-1] among the power levels L1[1] to L1[Nd1]. In one embodiment, when the second radio power limit Plimit2 changes ( Figure 14 ), the values of the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nd2] may also change; for example, when the second radio power limit Plimit2 changes to a lower value, each of the power levels L2[1] to L2[Nd2] may change to a lower value, while the relationship L2[1]>…>L2[Nh2]>Plimit2>L2[Nh2+1]>…>L2[Nd2] remains unchanged.

[0117] Returning to Figure 4 , when step 4092 or 4112 sets the second radio power ceiling Pcap2, step 4092 or 4112 may proceed to step 4132. Step 4132 includes: when the RF peripheral circuit 12 ( Figure 1 ) transmits power during the time period T2[j+1], causing the power transmitted using the second radio technology during the subsequent time period T2[j+1] after the current time period T2[j] to be limited by the second radio power ceiling Pcap2.

[0118] Step 4152 includes: calculating the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 based on the power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time period T2[j]. In one embodiment, the calculation of step 4152 may result in the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 being negatively correlated with the power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time period T2[j]. For example, since the power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time period T2[j] is greater, the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 may be smaller. In one embodiment, the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 may be related to the difference between the second radio power limit Plimit2 and the power transmitted using the second radio technology during the time period T2[j].

[0119] Step 4172 includes: storing relevant data, and then iteratively returning to step 4012 as time index j increments. The relevant data includes the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 generated by step 4152, the power sequence SQ2 generated by step 4052, and / or the power contribution reflecting the average power transmitted during time period T2[j + 1] by the second radio configuration that may be adopted.

[0120] Step 4192 of the second radio type two control process 2052 includes: setting the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to the value of a plurality of file bits (not shown), and performing step 4132. Step 4192 can change the value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 by switching between different gears in a plurality of gears in response to at least one of the duty cycle and the configuration c2[1] to c2[Nc2] ( Figure 1 ) of the currently adopted second radio technology. Figure 19 A comparison between the second radio type one control process 2032 and the second radio type two control process 2052 is described. When the second radio scenario that causes step 4012 ( Figure 4 ) proceeds to the second radio type two control process 2052 lasts for one or more fourth time periods, step 4192 of the second radio type two control process 2052 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to a value lower than but close to the second radio power limit Plimit2 during the fourth time period. As Figure 19 shown, in one embodiment, step 4192 can keep the value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 unchanged during the fourth time period. In an embodiment not described, step 4192 can change the value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 in response to the duty cycle and / or the configuration of the second radio technology during the fourth time period. In an embodiment not described, the value of the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 can be changed within one time period.

[0121] In another second radio scenario, when causing step 4012 ( Figure 4)When proceeding to the second radio type two control process 2032 for one or more third time intervals, the second radio type one control process 2032 can dynamically and adaptively change the second radio power upper limit Pcap1; for example, the second radio type one control process 2032 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to be higher than the second radio power limit Plimit2 during one or more third time intervals, and can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 to be lower than the second radio power limit Plimit2 during other one or more third time intervals. The second radio type one control process 2032 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 based on an estimate of whether the second radio window average power Pavg2 will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 in the future (step 4071). The second radio type two control process 2052 can set the second radio power upper limit Pcap2 in response to the duty cycle and / or the configuration of the second radio technology, rather than based on an estimate of whether the second radio window average power Pavg2 will exceed the second radio power limit Plimit2 in the future.

[0122] Back to Figure 4 , since the first radio scenario and the second radio scenario can be independent, when communicating using both the first radio technology and the second radio technology, method 200 can select the first radio type one control process 2031 and the second radio type two control process 2052, can select the first radio type one control process 2031 and the second radio type one control process 2032, can select the first radio type two control process 2051 and the second radio type one control process 2032, or can select the first radio type two control processes 2051 and 2052 for the first and second radio technologies respectively. When maintaining the selection of the first radio type one control process 2031 or the first radio type two control process 2051, method 200 can change the selection of the second radio type one control process 2032 and the second radio type two control process 2052, for example, can switch from the second radio type one control process 2032 to the second radio type two control process 2052. Similarly, when maintaining the selection of the second radio type one control process 2032 or the second radio type two control process 2052, method 200 can change the selection of the first radio type one control process 2031 and the first radio type two control process 2051.

[0123] Figure 20a and 20b describes an example showing the interaction between the first radio transmission power control process 2011 ( Figure 2 or 4) and the second radio transmission power control process 2012. AsFigure 20a As shown, before time t01, the first radio transmit power Pt1 is close to the first radio power limit Plimit1. Therefore, the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 calculated in step 4151 ( Figure 4 ) will be relatively small; in response to the small first radio power margin Pmrgn1, step 4032 can decide to set the second radio power limit Plimit2 to low, so that the total RF exposure caused by the first and second radio technologies can remain compliant with the RF exposure regulations.

[0124] As Figure 20a shown, after time t01, the first radio transmit power Pt1 decreases to be far from the first radio power limit Plimit1. Therefore, the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 calculated in step 4151 will be relatively large; in response to the large first radio power margin Pmrgn1, step 4032 can decide to set the second radio power limit Plimit2 to high, so that the second radio transmit power control process 2012 can achieve better data throughput and communication capacity efficiency without compromising compliance with the RF exposure regulations.

[0125] Briefly, in the Figure 20a illustrated embodiment, step 4032 can dynamically and adaptively adjust the value of the second radio power limit Plimit2 in response to the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 generated from step 4151. In one embodiment, the second radio type two control process 2052 further includes steps (not shown) similar to step 4032 to determine the second radio power limit Plimit2 between steps 4012 and 4192, and the decision step of the second radio type two control process 2052 can jointly determine the second radio power limit Plimit2 according to the first radio power margin Pmrgn1 and one or more of a subset UPlimitC2[j] of power limit candidates PlimitC2[1] to PlimitC2[Nc2] ( Figure 13 ) and / or second radio auxiliary data.

[0126] As Figure 20b shown, before time t02, the second radio transmit power Pt2 is close to the second radio power limit Plimit2. Therefore, the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 calculated in step 4152 ( Figure 4 ) will be relatively small; in response to the small second radio power margin Pmrgn2, step 4031 can decide to set the first radio power limit Plimit1 to low, so that the total RF exposure caused by the first and second radio technologies can remain compliant with the RF exposure regulations.

[0127] As Figure 20b shown, after time t02, the second radio transmit power Pt2 decreases away from the second radio power limit Plimit2, so the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 calculated in step 4152 will be relatively large; in response to the large second radio power margin Pmrgn2, step 4031 can decide to set the first radio power limit Plimit1 to high, so the first radio transmit power control process 2011 can achieve better data throughput and communication capacity efficiency without compromising compliance with RF exposure regulations.

[0128] Briefly, in the Figure 20b embodiment shown, step 4031 can dynamically and adaptively adjust the value of the first radio power limit Plimit1 in response to the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 generated from step 4152. In one embodiment, the first radio type two control process 2051 also includes a step (not shown) similar to step 4031 to determine the first radio power limit Plimit1 between steps 4011 and 4191, and the decision step of the first radio type two control process 2051 can jointly determine the first radio power limit Plimit1 based on the second radio power margin Pmrgn2 and one or more of a subset UPlimitC1[i] of power limit candidates PlimitC1[1] to PlimitC1[Nc1] ( Figure 5 ) and / or first radio auxiliary data.

[0129] In summary, the present invention can provide a transmission power management method that comprehensively considers all aspects of radio frequency exposure, including various radio technologies, various configurations, and various scenarios. The method according to the present invention can determine the power limit of one radio technology in response to the power margin of another radio technology, so that the former radio technology can utilize the redundant power margin of the latter radio technology, and the radio frequency exposure jointly caused by the two radio technologies can remain compliant with the radio frequency exposure regulations. The method according to the present invention can also determine the power limit of a radio technology according to one or more configurations that may be adopted; if the configuration that may be adopted has a stronger impact on radio frequency exposure, the method can reduce the power limit, so that the power transmitted using the radio technology may be reduced accordingly to maintain compliance with the radio frequency exposure regulations. Since different configurations may have different impacts on radio frequency exposure, the method according to the present invention can appropriately weight the power contributions of each configuration to account for different impacts. Since the configurations that may be adopted can change over time, the method according to the present invention can adapt to such changes by appropriately scaling the power records. The method according to the present invention can switch between type-one and type-two control processes in response to the scenario of the radio technology and can thus adapt to different scenarios. When selecting the type-one control process that can limit the transmission power through a dynamically varying power ceiling, the method according to the present invention can estimate whether the window average power will exceed the power limit, and a processing sub-process can be adopted to ensure that the power ceiling is exited in a timely manner after the power ceiling is raised above the power limit to obtain better communication performance. Therefore, high transmission power and low transmission power can be balanced and limited below the power limit to maintain compliance with the radio frequency exposure regulations.

[0130] While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

1. A method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations, including a first radio type one control process, which is executed by a user equipment, and includes: At the current time, estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed a first radio power limit after the current time, where the first radio window average power reflects the average power transmitted using a first radio technology during a moving time window; If it is estimated that the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, performing at least one of a first processing sub-process and a second processing sub-process to set a first radio power upper limit; The method further includes: causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power upper limit; and The step of estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time further includes: Calculating the first radio window average power at a future time by assuming a reduction in the first radio power upper limit during an assumed backoff time, where the assumed backoff time is not earlier than the current time and the future time is later than the assumed backoff time; The first processing sub-process includes: scheduling to set the first radio power upper limit lower at a predetermined time earlier than the assumed backoff time; wherein, the step of estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time involves discarding one of a plurality of power records; and The second processing sub-process includes: setting the first radio power upper limit to be no higher than one of the plurality of power records that is discarded.

2. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The first processing sub-process further includes: Setting the first radio power upper limit to one or more first power levels higher than the first radio power limit; and When scheduling to set the first radio power upper limit lower at the predetermined time, scheduling to set the first radio power upper limit to one or more second power levels at the predetermined time, where each of the one or more second power levels is lower than the first radio power limit.

3. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The first radio type one control process further includes: If it is estimated that the first radio window average power will not exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, setting the first radio power upper limit to remain unchanged or higher.

4. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The step of estimating whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time further includes: If the average power of the first radio window at the future time exceeds the first radio power limit, it is estimated that the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time.

5. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: calculating a second radio power margin based on the power transmitted using a second radio technology; wherein the first radio type-one control process further comprises: before estimating whether the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, determining the value of the first radio power limit according to the second radio power margin.

6. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that determining the value of the first radio power limit according to the second radio power margin comprises: making the value of the first radio power limit positively correlated with the second radio power margin.

7. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: the user equipment supports multiple configurations transmitted using the first radio technology; the multiple configurations are respectively associated with multiple power limit candidates; the current subset of the multiple configurations that may be adopted at the current time is associated with the current subset of the multiple power limit candidates; and the first radio type-one control process further comprises: before estimating whether the average power of the first radio window will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, determining at least one current value of the first radio power limit according to one or more first radio power limit decision factors; wherein, the one or more first radio power limit decision factors include one or more selected from the current subset of the multiple power limit candidates, and / or include first radio auxiliary data of one or more predefined values and / or one or more calculated values.

8. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the first radio type-one control process further comprises: checking whether the first radio power limit changes by comparing whether the current value of the first radio power limit is different from the previous value of the first radio power limit; and if the first radio power limit changes, scaling each of the multiple power records by one or more scaling factors to update the multiple power records.

9. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the first radio type-one control process further comprises: checking whether the first radio power limit changes by comparing whether the current value of the first radio power limit is different from the previous value of the first radio power limit; and If the first radio power limit remains unchanged, the set of power contributions is weighted by a set of weight coefficients to form a set of weighted power contributions, and a current power record reflecting the average power transmitted using the first radio technology in the current time segment is calculated based on the set of weighted power contributions; wherein each set of the power contributions reflects the average power transmitted by an associated one of the current subsets of the multiple configurations in the current time segment.

10. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 7, further comprising: calculating a second radio power margin based on the power transmitted using a second radio technology; and wherein the one or more first radio power limit decision factors further include the second radio power margin.

11. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that: Determining the current value of the first radio power limit based on the one or more first radio power limit decision factors includes: scaling one or more selected from the current subset of the multiple power limit candidates and / or the first radio auxiliary data by a ratio determined based on the second radio power margin.

12. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The different configurations among the multiple configurations differ in at least one of the following aspects: antenna, frequency band, beam, technology, sub - frequency band, one or more exposure condition indicators, synchronous transmission state, mobile country code and / or mobile network code, modulation, bandwidth, maximum power back - off, path, duty cycle, and the combination of frequency band and user identification module.

13. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: switching between the first radio type - one control process and the first radio type - two control process in response to a scenario; wherein the first radio type - two control process includes: setting the first radio power upper limit to values of multiple gears.

14. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that, The user equipment supports multiple configurations for transmission using the first radio technology, and changes the value by switching between different gears of the multiple gears in response to at least one of the duty cycle and one or more of the currently adopted multiple configurations.

15. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that, The user equipment supports multiple configurations for transmission using the first radio technology, and the scenario involves at least one of the following: one or more transmission performance metrics; one or more reception performance metrics; one or more of the multiple configurations; and the proximity between the user and the user equipment.

16. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that, The one or more transmission performance metrics are related to at least one of the following: Transmission duty cycle; Transmission error vector magnitude; Target power; Throughput; Modulation and coding strategy; Block error rate; Resource block; Transport block size; and Latency.

17. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 15, wherein, the one or more receive performance metrics are related to at least one of the following: Receive duty cycle; Received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio; Modulation and coding strategy; Received signal strength indication; and Reference signal received power.

18. A method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations, comprising: calculating a second radio power margin based on the power transmitted using a second radio technology; determining a first radio power limit based on the second radio power margin; setting a first radio power upper limit according to whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, the first radio window average power reflecting the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a moving time window; and causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power upper limit.

19. The method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations as claimed in claim 18, wherein, determining the first radio power limit based on the second radio power margin includes: making the first radio power limit positively correlated with the second radio power margin.

20. A method for improving transmission power management according to radio frequency exposure regulations, wherein a user equipment supports multiple configurations for transmission using a first radio technology, and comprising: during one or more first time periods, setting a first radio power upper limit based on an estimate of whether the first radio window average power will exceed the first radio power limit after the current time, the first radio window average power reflecting the average power transmitted using the first radio technology during a moving time window; and during one or more second time periods, setting the first radio power upper limit in response to at least one of a duty cycle and one or more of the multiple configurations currently adopted; and causing the power transmitted using the first radio technology to be limited by the first radio power upper limit.

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