Paging Forwarding for Remote Wireless Devices

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for performing paging forwarding for a remote wireless device in a wireless communication system. A relay wireless device and a remote wireless device can establish a relay link. The relay wireless device can provide an indication of the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device to a cellular base station. The relay wireless device can receive paging information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station. The relay wireless device can provide the paging information to the remote wireless device via the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communications, including paging forwarding for remote wireless devices in a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. Additionally, wireless communication technologies have evolved from voice-only communication to also include the transmission of data such as Internet and multimedia content.

[0003] Mobile electronic devices can take the form of smart phones or tablets that users typically carry. Wearable devices (also known as accessory devices) are a newer form of mobile electronic device, an example being a smart watch. Additionally, low-cost, low-complexity wireless devices intended for static or dynamic deployment are also increasing rapidly as part of the development of the "Internet of Things". In other words, the range of complexities, capabilities, traffic patterns, and other characteristics of the devices required is becoming increasingly broad. Generally speaking, it is desirable to recognize and provide improved support for a wide range of required wireless communication characteristics. Therefore, improvements in this field are desired. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of systems, apparatuses, and methods for performing paging forwarding for remote wireless devices in a wireless communication system are provided herein.

[0005] As noted above, the number of use cases for different types of wireless devices with widely varying capabilities and usage expectations is increasing. One direction of the expansion of the possible use cases supported by wireless communication technologies can include towards low-cost and / or low-power wireless devices. The ability to support such wireless devices in establishing radio resource control connections and obtaining access to a cellular network through an intermediate relay wireless device can increase the utility of such low-cost and / or low-power wireless devices.

[0006] Accordingly, the techniques described herein include techniques for a relay wireless device to forward paging information received from a cellular base station to a remote wireless device via a relay link, among other techniques. The relay wireless device and the remote wireless device may establish a relay link to facilitate communication between the remote wireless device and the cellular base station. The relay wireless device may provide an indication to the cellular base station that a relay link has been established between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device. The relay wireless device may receive paging information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station. The paging information may be received using dedicated signaling (e.g., when a radio resource control connection is established between the relay wireless device and the cellular base station), or during a paging occasion configured according to any of a variety of possible timing configurations. For example, the paging occasion timing may be calculated in a manner known to both the relay wireless device and the cellular base station based on identification information for the relay wireless device or based on identification information for the remote wireless device, among various possibilities. As another possibility, the relay wireless device may receive paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station, and may determine the paging occasion timing of the paging occasion for providing the paging information for the remote wireless device to the relay wireless device based on the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0007] The relay wireless device may provide the paging information for the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device via the relay link. The paging information may be provided from the relay wireless device to the remote wireless device during a paging occasion of the relay link, which may be configured by the relay wireless device, for example, by providing paging occasion configuration information for the relay link to the remote wireless device.

[0008] In some instances, the relay wireless device may receive paging information for a plurality of remote wireless devices from the cellular base station, and accordingly forward the paging information for each respective remote wireless device to that respective remote wireless device.

[0009] Techniques for a cellular base station to provide paging information for a remote wireless device to a relay wireless device are also described herein.

[0010] The techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with many different types of devices, including but not limited to any one of cellular telephones, tablet computers, accessories and / or wearable computing devices, portable media players, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, cellular base stations and other cellular network infrastructure equipment, servers, and various other computing devices.

[0011] The present invention content aims to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topic described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the topic described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] A better understanding of the subject matter may be obtained when considering the following detailed description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0013] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system including an accessory device is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 2 An exemplary wireless communication system in which two wireless devices are capable of performing direct device-to-device communication is shown in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example wireless device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary base station in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] Figure 5 is a communication flow diagram showing an exemplary method for paging forwarding for a remote wireless device in a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 6 shows aspects of possible wireless communication relaying among a remote UE, a relay UE, and a gNB in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] Figures 7 to 8 shows exemplary aspects of a possible protocol stack architecture for user plane and control plane communication in a UE-to-network relay framework based on 3GPP in accordance with some embodiments;

[0020] Figures 9 to 10 shows exemplary aspects of a possible paging mechanism in a wireless communication system; and

[0021] Figures 11 to 15 is a signal flow diagram showing aspects of various possible exemplary scenarios for performing paging forwarding for a remote wireless device in a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0022] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the present disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Description

[0023] Acronyms

[0024] The following acronyms are used in this disclosure.

[0025] 3GPP: 3rd Generation Partnership Project

[0026] 3GPP2: 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2

[0027] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0028] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0029] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0030] NR: New Radio

[0031] IoT: Internet of Things

[0032] Terms

[0033] The following are definitions of terms used in this disclosure:

[0034] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media such as hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system that executes a program, or may be located in a different second computer system that is connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media located at different positions in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

[0035] Carrier medium—a memory medium as described above, and a physical transmission medium such as a bus, a network, and / or other physical transmission media that convey signals such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals.

[0036] Programmable hardware element—including various hardware devices that include a plurality of programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). The programmable function blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinational logic components or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements can also be referred to as "configurable logic components".

[0037] Computer system—any of various types of computing systems or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, Internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. Generally speaking, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to cover any device (or combination of devices) that has at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0038] User equipment (UE) (or "UE device")—any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone TM , Android-based TM phones), tablets (e.g., iPad TM , Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM , Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), laptop computers, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic, computing, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that a user can easily transport and that is capable of wireless communication.

[0039] Wireless device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. A wireless device can be portable (or mobile), or can be stationary or fixed in a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0040] Communication device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, where the communication can be wired or wireless. A communication device can be portable (or mobile), or can be stationary or fixed in a location. A wireless device is an example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0041] Base station—The term "base station" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and is used to communicate as part of a wireless communication system.

[0042] Link budget limited—Includes the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least the characteristics of a wireless device (e.g., a UE) that exhibits limited communication capabilities or limited power relative to a device that is not link budget limited or relative to a device for which a radio access technology (RAT) standard has been developed. A link budget limited wireless device may experience relatively limited receive and / or transmit capabilities, which may be due to one or more factors such as device design, device size, battery size, antenna size or design, transmit power, receive power, current transmission medium conditions, and / or other factors. Such a device may be referred to herein as a "link budget limited" (or "link budget constrained") device. A device can be inherently link budget limited due to its size, battery power, and / or transmit / receive power. For example, a smartwatch that communicates with a base station via LTE or LTE-A can be inherently link budget limited due to its reduced transmit / receive power and / or reduced antenna. Wearable devices such as smartwatches are generally link budget limited devices. Alternatively, a device may not be inherently link budget limited, e.g., may have sufficient size, battery power, and / or transmit / receive power for normal communication via LTE or LTE-A, but may be temporarily link budget limited due to current communication conditions, e.g., a smartphone at the cell edge, etc. It should be noted that the term "link budget limited" includes or encompasses power limitations, and thus a link limited device can be considered a link budget limited device.

[0043] Processing element (or processor) — refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device (such as a user equipment device or a cellular network device). A processing element may include, for example: a processor and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, individual processors, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any one of the various combinations above.

[0044] Automatic — refers to the performance of an action or operation by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the action or operation being directly specified or performed through user input. Thus, the term “automatic” is contrasted with a user manually performing or specifying an operation, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that are “automatically” performed are not specified by the user, i.e., are not “manually” performed, where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a spreadsheet by selecting each field and providing input to specify information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the spreadsheet, even though the computer system must update the spreadsheet in response to the user action. The spreadsheet may be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the spreadsheet and fills out the spreadsheet without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automatic filling out of the spreadsheet, but does not participate in the actual filling out of the spreadsheet (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but they are completed automatically). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by the user.

[0045] Configured to — various components may be described as “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such an environment, “configured to” is a broad statement generally meaning “having” the “structure” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when the component is not currently performing a task, the component can be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad statement generally meaning “having” the “circuitry” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when the component is not currently powered on, the component can be configured to perform a task. Generally, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuitry.

[0046] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such a description should be interpreted to include the phrase "configured to". A component configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke the construction of paragraph 6 of 35 U.S.C. § 112 for that component.

[0047] Figures 1 - 2 —Wireless communication system

[0048] Figure 1 Illustrates an example of a wireless cellular communication system. It should be noted that Figure 1 represents one possibility out of many possibilities, and the features of the present disclosure may be implemented by any one of various systems as needed. For example, the embodiments described herein may be implemented in any type of wireless device.

[0049] As shown, an exemplary wireless communication system includes a cellular base station 102 that communicates with one or more wireless devices 106A, wireless device 106B, etc. and accessory device 107 via a transmission medium. Wireless devices 106A, wireless device 106B, and wireless device 107 may be user devices that may be referred to herein as "user equipment" (UE) or UE devices.

[0050] Base station 102 may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or cell site and may include hardware and / or software for implementing wireless communication with UE devices 106A, UE device 106B, and UE device 107. If base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., the core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various possible networks). Thus, base station 102 may facilitate communication between UE device 106 and UE device 107 and / or communication between UE device 106 / 107 and network 100. Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent the network when considering the uplink and downlink communications of the UE. Thus, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in the network may also be understood as a UE that communicates with the network.

[0051] In other specific embodiments, base station 102 may be configured to provide communication via one or more other wireless technologies, such as an access point that supports one or more WLAN protocols (such as 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ad, and / or ax, or LTE in an unlicensed band (LAA)).

[0052] The communication area (or coverage area) of base station 102 may be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102 and UE 106 / 107 may be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any one of various radio access technologies (RATs) or wireless communication technologies such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, advanced LTE (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0053] Accordingly, base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operating according to one or more cellular communication technologies may be provided as a cell network that can provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UE devices 106A-N, UE device 107, and similar devices within a geographical area via one or more cellular communication technologies.

[0054] Note that, at least in some cases, UE devices 106 / 107 may communicate using any one of a plurality of wireless communication technologies. For example, UE devices 106 / 107 may be configured to communicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, NR, WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication technologies (including more than two wireless communication technologies) are also possible. Similarly, in some cases, UE device 106 / UE device 107 may be configured to communicate using only a single wireless communication technology.

[0055] UE 106A and UE 106B may include a handheld device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, and / or may include any device among various types of devices having cellular communication capabilities. For example, one or more of UE 106A and UE 106B may be a wireless device designed for static or dynamic deployment, such as a household appliance, a measurement device, a control device, etc. UE 106B may be configured to communicate with a UE device 107, which may be referred to as an accessory device 107. The accessory device 107 may be any one of various types of wireless devices, which is generally a wearable device having a smaller form factor and having limited battery, output power, and / or communication capabilities relative to UE 106. As a common example, UE 106B may be a smart phone carried by a user, and the accessory device 107 may be a smart watch worn by the same user. UE 106B and the accessory device 107 may communicate using any one of various short-range communication protocols such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. In some cases, UE 106B and the accessory device 107 may utilize Proximity Services (ProSe) technology to perform direct peer-to-peer communication, for example, in a manner supported by a cellular base station. For example, such ProSe communication may be performed as part of a relay link to support a radio resource control connection between the accessory device 107 and the BS 102, such as according to various embodiments described herein.

[0056] UE 106B may also be configured to communicate with UE 106A. For example, UE 106A and UE 106B may be capable of performing direct device-to-device (D2D) communication. The D2D communication may be supported by the cellular base station 102 (for example, the BS 102 may facilitate discovery and various possible forms of assistance), or may be performed in a manner not supported by the BS 102. For example, it may be possible for UE 106A and UE 106B to arrange and perform D2D communication (including discovery communication) even when there is no coverage from the BS 102 and other cellular base stations.

[0057] Figure 2 An exemplary BS 102 communicating with the UE device 106 is shown, which in turn communicates with the accessory device 107. The UE device 106 and the accessory device 107 may be any one of the following: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or any other type of handheld device, a smart watch or other wearable device, a media player, a computer, a laptop, a drone (UAV), a drone controller (UAC), an automobile, or almost any type of wireless device. In some embodiments, the accessory device may be a wireless device designed to have low cost and / or low power consumption, and may benefit from a relay link with the UE device 106 (and / or another companion device) to support communication with the BS 102. For example, in Figure 2In an exemplary scenario, a device that uses a relay link with another wireless device to communicate with a cellular base station may also be referred to herein as a remote wireless device, a remote device, or a remote UE device, while a wireless device that provides such a relay link may also be referred to herein as a relay wireless device, a relay device, or a relay UE device. According to some embodiments, such BS 102, UE 106, and accessory device 107 may be configured to perform paging forwarding for a remote wireless device according to the various techniques described herein.

[0058] Both UE 106 and accessory device 107 may include a device or integrated circuit referred to as a cellular modem for facilitating cellular communication. The cellular modem may include one or more processors (processing elements) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory and / or various hardware components described herein. UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may each perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include programmable hardware elements configured to (e.g., individually or in combination) perform any one or any part of any of the method embodiments described herein, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components. The cellular modems described herein may be used in a UE device as defined herein, a wireless device as defined herein, or a communication device as defined herein. The cellular modems described herein may also be used in a base station or other similar network-side devices.

[0059] UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include one or more antennas for communicating according to one or more RAT standards using one or more wireless communication protocols. In some embodiments, one or both of UE 106 or accessory device 107 may be configured to communicate using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communication. Generally, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the foregoing hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains.

[0060] Alternatively, UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include two or more radio components. For example, in some embodiments, UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include separate transmit chains and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol for which they are configured to communicate. As another possibility, UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 and / or accessory device 107 may include shared radio components for communicating using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and separate radio components for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH TM separately. Other configurations are possible.

[0061] Figure 3 —Block diagram of a UE device

[0062] Figure 3 A possible block diagram of a UE device such as UE device 106 or UE device 107 is shown. As shown, UE device 106 / 107 may include a system on a chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include a processor 302 and a display circuit 304. The processor may execute program instructions for UE device 106 / 107, and the display circuit may perform graphics processing and provide a display signal to a display 360. SOC 300 may also include a motion sensing circuit 370, which may detect motion of UE 106 using, for example, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of various other motion sensing components. Processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as display circuit 304, radio components 330, I / F 320, and / or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0063] As shown, the SOC 300 can be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106 / 107. For example, the UE 106 / 107 can include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, etc.).

[0064] The UE device 106 / 107 can include at least one antenna and, in some embodiments, can include multiple antennas 335a and antenna 335b for performing wireless communication with a base station and / or other devices. For example, the UE device 106 / 107 can use antenna 335a and antenna 335b to perform wireless communication. As described above, the UE device 106 / 107 can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards or radio access technologies (RATs) in some embodiments.

[0065] The wireless communication circuitry 330 can include Wi-Fi logic 332, a cellular modem 334, and Bluetooth logic 336. The Wi-Fi logic 332 is for enabling the UE device 106 / 107 to perform Wi-Fi communication on an 802.11 network. The Bluetooth logic 336 is for enabling the UE device 106 / 107 to perform Bluetooth communication. The cellular modem 334 can be a lower-power cellular modem capable of performing cellular communication according to one or more cellular communication technologies.

[0066] As described herein, the UE 106 / 107 can include hardware components and software components for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), the processor 302 of the UE device 106 / 107 can be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein. In other embodiments, the processor 302 can be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Additionally, the processor 302 can be coupled to, as Figure 3The other components shown and / or may interoperate with the other components to perform paging forwarding for remote wireless devices according to the various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor 302 may also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on the UE 106. Alternatively or in addition, one or more components of the wireless communication circuitry 330 of the UE device 106 / 107 (e.g., the cellular modem 334) may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by a processor that executes program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), a processor configured as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or using dedicated hardware components that may include an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0067] Figure 4 — Block diagram of a base station

[0068] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that the Figure 4 base station is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that can execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuits or devices, and the MMU may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate these addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0069] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. As described above in Figure 1 and Figure 2 , the network port 470 may be configured to be coupled to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network for multiple devices, such as UE devices 106 / 107.

[0070] The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured or alternatively configured to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE devices 106 / 107. For example, the core network may include, for example, a mobility management entity (MME) for providing mobility management services, a serving gateway (SGW) for providing, for example, an external data connection to the Internet, and / or a packet data network gateway (PGW), and so on. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., between other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0071] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices 106 / 107 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to LTE, LTE-A, NR, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0072] Base station 102 may be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radios that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE and a Wi-Fi radio for performing communication according to Wi-Fi. In such cases, base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio component capable of performing communication according to any one of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., LTE and NR, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0073] As further described subsequently herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the specific implementations of the features described herein. According to some embodiments, processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, for example by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or additionally), in conjunction with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470, processor 404 of BS 102 may be configured to implement or support the implementation of paging forwarding for remote wireless devices according to various embodiments described herein, and / or any one of various other features described herein.

[0074] Figure 5 — Communication Flow Chart

[0075] Figure 5is a communication flow diagram showing a method for paging forwarding for a remote wireless device in a wireless communication system. In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be executed simultaneously in a different order than the order shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be executed as needed.

[0076] Figure 5 Aspects of the method may be implemented by a wireless device and / or a cellular base station, such as the UE 106A - B or 107 and / or BS 102 shown and described with respect to Figures 1 to 4 shown in and with respect to Figures 1 to 4 or more generally in combination with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the above figures as needed. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to execute any combination of the method elements shown and / or other method elements.

[0077] Note that although at least some elements of the Figure 5 method are described in a manner that involves the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with LTE, NR, and / or 3GPP specification documents, this description is not intended to limit the disclosure, and aspects of the Figure 5 method may be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. As shown, the method may operate as follows.

[0078] In 502, a wireless device (“first wireless device” or “relay wireless device”) 106 may establish a relay link with another wireless device (“second wireless device” or “remote wireless device”) 107. The relay link may include a device - to - device (D2D) or peer - to - peer (P2P) link, such as a wireless link based on Proximity Services (ProSe) for cellular, or any of various other such types of wireless links. According to some embodiments, the relay link may be configured to relay cellular communication between the remote wireless device and the cellular base station 102 via the relay wireless device, for example, in a scenario where the remote wireless device may have more limited wireless communication capabilities (e.g., battery power constraints, transmission power constraints, etc.) than the relay wireless device, such that the remote wireless device may benefit from the use of the communication capabilities of the relay wireless device.

[0079] A remote wireless device can be any of various types of wireless devices capable of indirectly performing wireless communication with a cellular base station via an intermediate relay wireless device. As one possibility, the remote wireless device can be an accessory device, such as a smartwatch or other wearable device configured as a low-cost and / or low-power wireless device. The relay wireless device can be any of various types of wireless devices capable of supporting wireless communication between the remote wireless device and the cellular base station by acting as an intermediate relay wireless device. As one possibility, the relay wireless device can be a smart phone capable of acting as a companion device for the remote wireless device. Many other types of wireless devices are also possible as the remote wireless device and / or the relay wireless device. The cellular base station can be any of various types of base stations capable of indirectly performing wireless communication with the remote wireless device via an intermediate relay wireless device and capable of providing access to a cellular network. As one possibility, the cellular base station can be a 3GPP 5G NR gNB. Alternatively (or in addition), the cellular base station may be capable of operating according to any of various other possible cellular communication standards.

[0080] Establishing a relay link can be performed in any of various possible ways. At least according to some embodiments, the relay wireless device can transmit a discovery broadcast message (e.g., event-driven or periodically triggered) that indicates that the relay wireless device is capable of providing a relay link for the remote wireless device to the cellular base station. The remote wireless device can receive the discovery broadcast message from the relay wireless device (and potentially can receive discovery broadcast messages from one or more other wireless devices capable of supporting a relay link to the cellular base station). The remote wireless device can perform link selection to determine the wireless device with which to attempt to establish a relay link for relaying cellular communication between the remote wireless device and the cellular base station, and can select the relay wireless device at least in part based on the discovery broadcast message received from the relay wireless device.

[0081] Based on the selection of the relay wireless device, the remote wireless device can provide an access request to the relay wireless device, and the access request can include any of various possible types of information (e.g., wireless device identification information, requested relay link configuration parameters, etc.). If the relay wireless device accepts the access request, the relay wireless device can provide an indication that the access request has been accepted, and the indication can similarly include any of various possible types of information (e.g., relay link identification information, relay link configuration parameters, etc.). Note that many alternatives and / or variations to this exemplary process for establishing a relay link are also possible.

[0082] In 504, the relay radio device may provide an indication of the relay link to the cellular base station. This may include providing any of a variety of possible types of information regarding the relay link and / or the remote radio device in any of a variety of possible ways. At least in some cases, this may include providing access information for the remote radio device to facilitate access of the remote radio device to the cellular network that can be accessed via the cellular base station. The indication may be at least partially configured to facilitate providing paging information intended for the remote radio device to the relay radio device, for example, being forwarded to the remote radio device via the relay link established between the relay radio device and the remote radio device. In other words, at least according to some embodiments, the remote radio device, the relay radio device, and the cellular base station may be configured with an arrangement in which the cellular base station indirectly provides paging information to the remote radio device via the relay radio device. At least according to some embodiments, such an arrangement may allow the remote radio device to receive cellular paging information that it may not be able to receive (e.g., due to wireless communication capability constraints), and may be used in combination with other such wireless communication relay technologies to support the performance of cellular communication between the remote radio device and the cellular base station even when the remote radio device and the cellular base station cannot directly communicate with each other.

[0083] In 506, the cellular base station may provide paging information for the remote radio device to the relay radio device, for example, according to the paging information relay arrangement configured among the remote radio device, the relay radio device, and the cellular base station. At least according to some embodiments, the paging information may include one or more paging messages and / or other information configured to be delivered to the remote radio device when the remote radio device is operating in the radio resource control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive mode. For example, the paging information may include one or more downlink and / or uplink authorizations, and / or other information indicating to (re)establish an RRC connection to perform data communication with the cellular network, among various possibilities.

[0084] Paging information for a remote wireless device can be provided to a relay wireless device in any of a variety of possible manners and / or times. As one possibility, when an RRC connection is established between the relay wireless device and a cellular base station, paging information for the remote wireless device can be provided from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device via dedicated signaling. As another possibility, paging information for the remote wireless device can be provided from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the remote wireless device. For example, in such a scenario, the relay wireless device can receive paging information for the remote wireless device at a paging occasion different from the paging occasion at which the relay wireless device receives paging information for itself. As another possibility, paging information for the remote wireless device can be provided from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the relay wireless device. In such a scenario, it may be the case that the relay wireless device receives paging information for the remote wireless device at the same paging occasion at which the relay wireless device receives paging information for itself. As yet another possibility, the cellular base station can provide paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device, and paging information for the remote wireless device can be provided from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device. Note that in the case where the relay wireless device provides cellular communication relay services to multiple remote wireless devices, any of these methods can also be used. For example, the relay wireless device can also establish another relay link with another remote wireless device, provide an indication of the relay link to the cellular base station, and receive paging information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to any one of the identification information for the remote wireless device, the identification information for the relay wireless device, or the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0085] In 508, a relay wireless device may provide paging information to a remote wireless device. The paging information may be provided in any of a variety of possible ways. As one possibility, the paging information may be provided from the relay wireless device to the remote wireless device during a paging occasion configured according to paging occasion configuration information for a relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device. Such paging occasion configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device may be provided by the relay wireless device to the remote wireless device, for example, when establishing the relay link. The paging occasion configuration information may include an explicit indication of one or more paging occasions and / or an implicit indication of one or more paging occasions, such as information that the remote wireless device can use to determine when to schedule a paging occasion for the relay link. For example, in some cases, the paging occasion may be scheduled based on relay link identification information that may be provided in a manner known to both the remote wireless device and the relay wireless device (e.g., specified according to 3GPP or otherwise mutually agreed upon) during relay link establishment.

[0086] Based on the paging information, it is possible for the remote wireless device to receive downlink communications from the cellular base station, transmit uplink communications to the cellular base station, and / or otherwise perform cellular communications with the cellular base station according to any downlink grants, uplink grants, and / or other information provided in the paging information. According to various embodiments, such subsequent communications may be performed directly between the remote wireless device and the cellular base station or indirectly via the relay wireless device.

[0087] Thus, using the techniques described herein, it is possible for a remote wireless device to receive a paging message from a cellular network via a relay wireless device. At least according to some embodiments, this technique (possibly in combination with other techniques for relaying wireless communications between a remote wireless device and a cellular base station via a relay wireless device) can be used to support cellular communications for a wider range of types of wireless devices, e.g., potentially helping to further extend the range of possible wireless devices that can utilize cellular communications to lower-cost and / or lower-power wireless devices, among other possible benefits.

[0088] Figures 6 to 15 and additional information

[0089] provided Figures 6 to 15 and the additional information below, which illustrates further considerations and possible specific implementation details related to the Figure 5 method and is not intended to limit the present disclosure in general. Various variations and alternatives of the details provided below are possible and should be considered to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0090] The 3GPP 5G NR cellular communication technology is being developed for a variety of uses, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). mMTC use cases can include the widespread deployment of wireless devices designed to have relatively low cost and / or low power consumption. Such devices can include any of wearable devices, appliances, process control devices, measurement devices, and / or a variety of other types of devices. In at least some embodiments (e.g., in some cases, wearable devices), it may be the case that such devices are typically relatively close to another wireless device (e.g., in some cases, a smart phone) that can be used as a relay for communication with the cellular network. Thus, at least in some embodiments, it is advantageous to support a UE-to-NW communication relay framework, e.g., to help support the operation of low-cost and / or low-power wireless devices that can benefit from such a framework. For example, Figure 6 Aspects of one possible exemplary wireless communication relay between a remote UE 602, a relay UE 604, and a cellular base station 606 are shown. As shown, in the illustrated scenario, the remote UE 602 can communicate with the cellular base station 606 via a relay link between the remote UE 606 and the relay UE 602 and a Uu link between the relay UE 604 and the cellular base station 604.

[0091] According to various embodiments, there can be multiple possible types of UE-to-NW relay frameworks. As one possibility, at least in some cases, a 3-layer relay that can be implemented without affecting the access layer communication layer can be used. As another possibility, a 2-layer relay can be used, e.g., by establishing and maintaining a radio resource control connection that terminates between the remote UE and the cellular base station. Figures 7 to 8 Exemplary aspects of a possible protocol stack architecture for user plane and control plane communication in a 3GPP-based UE-to-network relay framework are shown, where the communication relay is implemented at layer 2.

[0092] More specifically, Figure 7 A user plane radio protocol stack for a 2-layer UE-to-network relay is shown that utilizes a PC5 interface between a remote UE 702 and a relay UE 704 to provide a communication link between the remote UE 702 and an eNB 706 and to provide a communication link to a core network 708 accessed by the eNB 706. Similarly, Figure 8Shows a control plane radio protocol stack for two - tier UE - to - network relay. The network relay utilizes the PC5 interface between the remote UE 802 and the relay UE 804 to provide a communication link between the remote UE 802 and the eNB 806, and provides a communication link to the core network 808 accessed by the eNB 806. As shown, the relay can be performed above the RLC sub - layer. The Uu PDCP and RRC links can terminate between the remote UE and the eNB, while the RLC, MAC, and PHY, as well as the non - 3GPP transport layer, terminate in each link (e.g., the link between the remote UE and the relay UE, and the link between the relay UE and the eNB).

[0093] According to some embodiments, a cellular communication system can utilize a paging mechanism to provide notifications to UE devices when they are in the RRC idle or inactive mode. According to such a paging mechanism, at least as a possibility, UE devices can be configured to monitor the paging channel during certain specified paging occasions when operating in RRC idle or inactive, and the cellular base station serving the UE can provide any paging information to the UE devices during those paging occasions. The paging occasions can be derived by both the UE and the cellular base station according to one or more formulas, which can be at least partially based on the identification information of the UE. For example, as a possibility, it can be the case that the following formula (e.g., according to 3GPP TS36.304) can be used to derive the paging frame (PF) in which one or more paging occasions (PO) occur for the UE:

[0094] PF=(SFN + PF_offset) mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N)

[0095] In addition, the following formula (e.g., according to 3GPP TS 36.304) can be used to derive the paging occasion within such a paging frame (e.g., the set of PDCCH monitoring occasions in which paging downlink control information can be sent, and each of the PDCCH monitoring occasions can include multiple time slots):

[0096] PO = i_s–floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns

[0097] Note that at least according to some embodiments, in multi - beam operation, the length of one paging occasion can include one cycle of beam scanning, and the UE can be able to assume that the same paging message is repeated in all beams of the scanning mode. At least in some cases, such a paging mechanism can support the configuration of the first PDCCH monitoring occasion for each paging occasion in the paging frame, e.g., for configuration flexibility.

[0098] Note that for different operating modes, at least some paging parameters may be different. For example, in some cases, the 5G-S-TMSI can be used as the UE ID for paging to support core network (CN)-initiated paging in RRC idle. In this case, at least as a possibility, the paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle can be the shorter of the default cycle or a UE-specific cycle configured via non-access stratum (NAS) signaling. As another example, in some cases, the I-RNTI can be used as the UE ID for paging to support radio access network (RAN)-initiated paging in RRC inactive. In this case, at least as a possibility, the paging DRX cycle can be the shorter of the default cycle, a UE-specific cycle configured via NAS signaling, or a RAN-specific cycle configured via RRC signaling.

[0099] Figures 9 to 10 Exemplary aspects of such a possible paging mechanism in a wireless communication system according to some embodiments are shown. As shown, in the Figure 9 exemplary scenario shown, a UE can be configured with two paging occasions in a paging frame, and each of the paging occasions can include four PDCCH monitoring occasions. Such a paging configuration can be configured using, at least according to some embodiments, the following: paging-SearchSpace configuration (periodicity: 5 time slots; offset: 0; duration: 2 time slots; monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot: 00100000100000; CORESET-time-duration: 4 OFDM symbols); nB-2T; a reference frame determined by the UE: SFN ‘F1’; number of SSBs = 4; i_s = 0 indicating PDCCH monitoring occasions 0, 1, 2, 3 for the first PO; and i_s = 1 indicating PDCCH monitoring occasions 4, 5, 6, 7 for the second PO. Figure 10 Another example of a possible configuration of a group / burst of PDCCH monitoring occasions that form a paging occasion within a paging frame is shown, e.g., where an index value associated with the first PDCCH monitoring occasion of a paging occasion can be used to determine and / or indicate the configured paging occasion within the paging frame.

[0100] For a direct cellular link between a wireless device and a cellular base station, paging can be delivered by the network via the Uu link. The wireless device can perform monitoring for paging during the paging opportunity of the wireless device, e.g., as calculated based on the 5G-S-TMSI of the wireless device during the idle DRX cycle of the wireless device, such as in Figures 9 to 10is shown in an exemplary scenario and described with respect to that scenario. In the case of an L2 UE-to-NW relay, the relay UE may forward or relay paging received from the network for a remote UE to the remote UE via a relay link. However, there is currently no paging forwarding mechanism for such a relay UE specified in the 3GPP standard. Therefore, it may be beneficial to provide such a paging forwarding mechanism for remote wireless devices.

[0101] The paging forwarding mechanism may allow an idle or inactive remote UE to receive paging messages from the relay UE to which the remote UE is linked. In particular, at least according to some embodiments, if a remote UE is linked to a relay UE, the remote UE may receive paging from the relay UE via the relay link. The remote UE may monitor paging via the relay link at a relay link paging occasion (e.g., the relay link paging occasion may be allocated by the relay UE or calculated based on the relay link ID of the remote UE or the S-TMSI of the remote UE). The relay UE may receive paging for the remote UE from the network and forward the paging to the remote UE via the relay link. The relay UE may only monitor and forward paging in the Uu link for the linked remote UE; the relay UE may know the linked idle / inactive remote UE.

[0102] There may be several options for when and how the relay UE receives paging in the Uu link for the linked remote UE from the network side. As one possibility, for example, if the relay UE is operating in an RRC connection, the network may transmit the paging for the remote UE to the linked relay UE via dedicated signaling. As another possibility, the network may transmit the paging for the remote UE during a paging occasion, where the paging occasion is calculated based on the remote UE ID. As yet another possibility, the network may transmit the paging for the remote UE during a paging occasion, where the paging occasion is calculated based on the relay UE ID. As a further possibility, the network may transmit the paging for the remote UE during a special paging occasion configured for the relay UE to perform paging reception for the linked remote UE. Other techniques are also possible.

[0103] Figures 11 to 15 is a signal flow diagram showing further details of various possible such paging forwarding techniques. Figure 11Aspects of an exemplary scenario are shown in which relay UE 1104 receives a paging for remote UE 1102 from gNB 1106 via the Uu link and forwards the paging to remote UE 1102 via the relay link. As shown, in the scenario depicted, at 1108, the remote UE may operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle. At 1110, the remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, e.g., to establish a relay link for communication with the gNB. At 1112, the relay UE may accept the access request, including providing various relay link configuration information, such as relay link identification information, which may be used, for example, to determine when to schedule a paging occasion for the relay link. Note that the paging occasion distribution on the Uu link and the relay link may be different, e.g., as further described herein with respect to Figures 12 to 15 After establishing the relay link, at 1114, the relay UE may know the remote UE, and at 1116, may provide access information of the remote UE to the gNB. Based on the provided information about the remote UE, at 1118, when the gNB has paging information for the remote UE, the gNB may provide the paging information to the relay UE. At 1120, 1122, and 1124, during the relay link paging occasion, the remote UE may monitor the relay link to obtain the paging information. At 1122, the relay UE may forward the paging information received from the gNB to the remote UE, and thus the remote UE may receive the paging information during this relay link paging occasion. At 1126, the remote UE may provide a departure indication to the relay UE. At 1128, the gNB may attempt to provide further paging information for the remote UE to the relay UE, but since the remote UE may no longer be linked to the relay UE, it may be the case that the relay UE stops forwarding paging to the remote UE and only monitors its own paging on the Uu link.

[0104] Figure 12Aspects of an exemplary scenario are shown in which a relay UE 1204 receives a paging for a remote UE 1202 from a gNB 1206 via an Uu link via RRC dedicated signaling and forwards the paging to the remote UE 1202 via a relay link, according to some embodiments. As shown, in the scenario illustrated, the remote UE may operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle (1208), while the relay UE may operate in RRC Connected (1210). At 1212, the remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, e.g., to establish a relay link for communicating with the gNB. At 1214, the relay UE may accept the access request, including providing various relay link configuration information, such as relay link identification information. After the relay link is established, at 1216, the relay UE may know the remote UE and may provide access information of the remote UE to the gNB (e.g., via RRC dedicated signaling). Based on the provided information about the remote UE, at 1218, when the gNB has paging information for the remote UE, the gNB may provide the paging information to the relay UE via RRC dedicated signaling. At 1220, during a relay link paging occasion, the relay UE may forward the paging information received from the gNB to the remote UE. The remote UE may monitor the relay link during the relay link paging occasion to obtain the paging information, and thus the remote UE may receive the paging information.

[0105] Figure 13 Aspects of an exemplary scenario are shown in which a relay UE 1304 receives a paging for a remote UE 1302 from a gNB 1306 via an Uu link during a paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the remote UE 1302 and forwards the paging to the remote UE 1302 via a relay link, according to some embodiments. As shown, in the scenario illustrated, at 1308, the remote UE may operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle. At 1310, the remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, e.g., to establish a relay link for communicating with the gNB. At 1312, the relay UE may accept the access request, including providing various relay link configuration information, such as relay link identification information. The relay UE may provide access information of the remote UE to the gNB, and thus at 1314, when the gNB has paging information for the remote UE, the gNB may provide the paging information to the relay UE during a paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the remote UE. For example, the S-TMSI of the remote UE may be used to calculate the paging occasion at which the gNB provides the paging information for the remote UE to the relay UE. Note that at least according to some embodiments, alternatively, it may be the case that at Figure 13In the scenario shown, the relay UE does not need to provide the access information of the remote UE to the gNB. For example, because the paging occasion for providing paging information for the remote UE may have been calculated based on the remote UE ID. In 1316, it can also be the case that the remote UE can attempt to directly receive paging information from the gNB on a best effort basis, for example. In 1318, during the relay link paging occasion, the relay UE can forward the paging information received from the gNB to the remote UE. The remote UE can monitor the relay link during the relay link paging occasion to obtain the paging information, and thus the remote UE can receive the paging information (for example, in the case where the remote UE cannot receive the paging information during the remote UE paging occasion on the Uu link). In 1320, when the gNB has paging information for the relay UE, the gNB can provide the paging information to the relay UE during the paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the relay UE (for example, the paging occasion can be a different paging occasion from the paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the remote UE).

[0106] Figure 14Aspects of an exemplary scenario are shown in which a relay UE 1404 receives a paging for a remote UE 1402 from a gNB 1406 via a Uu link during a paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the relay UE 1404 and forwards the paging to the remote UE 1402 via a relay link. As shown, in the scenario depicted, in 1408, the remote UE may operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle. In 1410, the remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, e.g., to establish a relay link for communication with the gNB. In 1412, the relay UE may accept the access request, including providing various relay link configuration information, such as relay link identification information, and potential paging occasion information for the relay UE. In 1414, the relay UE may provide the access information of the remote UE to the gNB, and thus in 1416, when the gNB has paging information for the remote UE, the gNB may provide the paging information to the relay UE during a paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the relay UE. For example, the S-TMSI of the relay UE may be used to calculate the paging occasion at which the gNB provides the paging information of the relay UE to the relay UE. Note that any paging information for the relay UE may also be provided during a paging occasion calculated based on the UE ID of the relay UE. In 1418, it may also be the case that if the relay UE provides the paging occasion information for the relay UE to the remote UE, the remote UE may attempt to receive the paging information directly from the gNB, e.g., on a best effort basis. In 1420, during the relay link paging occasion, the relay UE may forward the paging information received from the gNB to the remote UE. The remote UE may monitor the relay link during the relay link paging occasion to obtain the paging information, and thus the remote UE may receive the paging information (e.g., in the case where the remote UE cannot receive the paging information during the relay UE paging occasion on the Uu link).

[0107] Figure 15Aspects of an exemplary scenario are shown in which a relay UE 1506 receives paging for a plurality of remote UEs 1502, 1504 from a gNB 1508 via a Uu link during a paging occasion configured to receive paging information for a remote UE and forwards the paging to the remote UEs 1502, 1504 via a relay link with each respective remote UE. As shown, in the scenario depicted, a first remote UE 1502 may operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle (1510), and a second remote UE 1504 may also operate in RRC Inactive or RRC Idle (1512). At 1514, the gNB may provide remote UE paging occasion configuration information to the relay UE that may configure the paging occasion location at which the gNB will provide paging information for the remote UE (and potentially also to the remote UE) to the relay UE. At 1516, the first remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, for example, to establish a relay link for communication with the gNB. At 1518, the relay UE may accept the access request, including providing various relay link configuration information, such as relay link identification information, and potentially configured remote UE paging occasion information. At 1520, the relay UE may provide access information for the first remote UE to the gNB. Similarly, at 1522, the second remote UE may provide an access request to the relay UE, at 1524, the relay UE may accept the access request, and at 1526, the relay UE may provide access information for the second remote UE to the gNB. At 1528, when the gNB has paging information for the first and / or second remote UE, the gNB may provide the paging information to the relay UE during a paging occasion configured to provide paging information for the remote UE. Note that if configured remote UE paging occasion information is provided to the first and / or second remote UE, the first and / or second remote UE may also attempt to receive paging information directly from the gNB, for example, on a best effort basis. At 1530, during a relay link paging occasion for the first remote UE, the relay UE may forward any paging information received from the gNB for the first remote UE to the first remote UE. The first remote UE may monitor the relay link during this relay link paging occasion to obtain the paging information, and thus the first remote UE may receive the paging information (e.g., in a case where the first remote UE is not yet able to receive paging information). Similarly, at 1532, during a relay link paging occasion for the second remote UE, the relay UE may forward any paging information received from the gNB for the second remote UE to the second remote UE. The second remote UE may monitor the relay link during this relay link paging occasion to obtain the paging information, and thus the second remote UE may receive the paging information (e.g., in a case where the second remote UE is not yet able to receive paging information).Note that although the paging opportunities for the remote UEs on their respective relay links are shown to occur at different times, the paging opportunities for the relay links of the remote UEs that are linked to the relay UEs may also occur at the same time. Also note that, according to. Figure 15 the method shown in Figure 13 the method shown in, it may be the case that the relay UE receives a paging message for the relay UE at a paging opportunity different from the paging opportunity configured to receive paging information for the remote UE; for example, although not shown in Figure 15 , in the scenario of Figure 15 , it may be the case that the relay UE receives a paging message for the relay UE at a paging opportunity calculated based on the UE ID of the relay UE.

[0108] Thus, at least according to some embodiments, using the techniques described herein, it is possible for a relay UE to forward paging for a remote UE via a relay link, for example, including techniques for determining when the relay UE starts and stops forwarding paging in its relay link, which paging messages are forwarded in its relay link, how the relay UE obtains the paging messages to be forwarded from the network, and how the remote UE receives the forwarded paging messages via the relay link.

[0109] In the following, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0110] A set of embodiments may include an apparatus, the apparatus including: a processor configured to cause a relay wireless device to: establish a relay link between the relay wireless device and a remote wireless device; provide an indication of the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device to a cellular base station; receive paging information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station; and provide the paging information to the remote wireless device via the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

[0111] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the relay wireless device to: provide paging opportunity configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device, wherein the paging information is provided to the remote wireless device during a paging opportunity configured according to the paging opportunity configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

[0112] According to some embodiments, the paging opportunity between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device is configured at least in part based on relay link identification information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

[0113] According to some embodiments, when establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection between the relay wireless device and the cellular base station, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station via dedicated signaling.

[0114] According to some embodiments, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on the identification information for the remote wireless device.

[0115] According to some embodiments, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on the identification information for the relay wireless device.

[0116] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the relay wireless device to: receive paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device from the cellular base station, wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0117] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the relay wireless device to: provide the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device.

[0118] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the relay wireless device to: establish a second relay link with a second remote wireless device; provide an indication of the second relay link to the cellular base station; receive paging information for the second remote wireless device from the cellular base station; and provide the paging information for the second remote wireless device to the second remote wireless device, wherein the paging information for the second remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0119] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device, the wireless device including: an antenna; radio components operatively coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio components; wherein the wireless device is configured to: establish a relay link with a remote wireless device; provide an indication of the relay link to a cellular base station; receive paging information for the remote wireless device from the cellular base station; and provide the paging information to the remote wireless device via the relay link.

[0120] According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configured to: release the relay link with the remote wireless device; provide an indication to the cellular base station that the relay link has been released; and stop monitoring paging for the remote wireless device at least in part based on the release of the relay link.

[0121] According to some embodiments, when a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established between the wireless device and the cellular base station, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station via dedicated signaling.

[0122] According to some embodiments, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on the identification information for the remote wireless device.

[0123] According to some embodiments, the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on the identification information for the wireless device.

[0124] According to some embodiments, the wireless device is further configured to: receive paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device from the cellular base station, wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0125] Another set of embodiments may include a method that includes: by a first wireless device: establishing a relay link with a second wireless device; providing an indication of the relay link to a cellular base station; receiving paging information for the second wireless device from the cellular base station; and providing the paging information to the second wireless device via the relay link.

[0126] According to some embodiments, the method further includes: providing paging occasion configuration information for the relay link to the second wireless device, wherein the paging information is provided to the second wireless device during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the relay link.

[0127] According to some embodiments, when a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established between the first wireless device and the cellular base station, the paging information for the second wireless device is received from the cellular base station via dedicated signaling.

[0128] According to some embodiments, the paging information for the second remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on one of the following: identification information for the first wireless device; or identification information for the second wireless device.

[0129] According to some embodiments, the first wireless device is further configured to: receive paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device from the cellular base station, wherein the paging information for the second wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

[0130] Another embodiment may include a method that includes: by a remote wireless device: establishing a relay link with a relay wireless device, wherein the relay link is configured to provide access to a cellular base station to the remote wireless device via the relay wireless device; and receiving paging information from the relay wireless device, wherein the paging information includes information relayed from the cellular base station to the remote wireless device by the relay wireless device.

[0131] Another exemplary embodiment may include a method that includes: by a wireless device: performing any or all parts of the foregoing examples.

[0132] Another exemplary embodiment may include a wireless device that includes: an antenna; radio components coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operatively coupled to the radio components, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all parts of the foregoing examples.

[0133] Another exemplary embodiment may include an apparatus that includes: a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to implement any or all parts of the foregoing examples.

[0134] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium that includes program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all parts of any one of the foregoing examples.

[0135] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program that includes instructions for performing any or all parts of any one of the foregoing examples.

[0136] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus that includes means for performing any or all elements of any one of the foregoing examples.

[0137] As is well known, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0138] In addition to the above exemplary embodiments, further embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable memory media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0139] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, where if executed by a computer system, the program instructions cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets.

[0140] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., UE 106 or 107) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, where the program instructions may be executed to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of a variety of forms.

[0141] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully understood. The present disclosure is intended that the following claims be construed to cover all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A processor for performing paging forwarding for a remote wireless device, comprising: a circuit configured to: establish a relay link between a relay wireless device and the remote wireless device; provide access information of the remote wireless device to a cellular base station; receive paging information for the remote wireless device in a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device; provide paging occasion configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device, wherein the paging occasion between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device is configured at least in part based on relay link identification information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device; and provide the paging information to the remote wireless device via the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device, wherein the paging information is provided to the remote wireless device during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

2. The processor according to claim 1, wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the remote wireless device.

3. The processor according to claim 1, wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the relay wireless device.

4. The processor according to claim 1, wherein the circuit is further configured to: receive paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device from the cellular base station, wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

5. The processor according to claim 4, wherein the circuit is further configured to: provide the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device.

6. The processor according to claim 4, wherein the circuit is further configured to: establish a second relay link with a second remote wireless device; provide an indication of the second relay link to the cellular base station; receive paging information for the second remote wireless device from the cellular base station; and provide the paging information for the second remote wireless device to the second remote wireless device, wherein the paging information for the second remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

7. A method for performing paging forwarding for a remote wireless device, comprising: establishing a relay link between a relay wireless device and the remote wireless device; providing access information of the remote wireless device to a cellular base station; Receiving paging information for the remote wireless device in a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message from the cellular base station to the relay wireless device; Providing the remote wireless device with paging occasion configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device, wherein the paging occasion between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device is configured at least partially based on relay link identification information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device; And Providing the paging information to the remote wireless device via the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device, wherein the paging information is provided to the remote wireless device during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the relay link between the relay wireless device and the remote wireless device.

8. The method according to claim 7, Wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the remote wireless device.

9. The method according to claim 7, Wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the relay wireless device.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: Receiving paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device from the cellular base station, Wherein the paging information for the remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Providing the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device to the remote wireless device.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Establishing a second relay link with a second remote wireless device; Providing an indication of the second relay link to the cellular base station; Receiving paging information for the second remote wireless device from the cellular base station; And Providing the paging information for the second remote wireless device to the second remote wireless device, Wherein the paging information for the second remote wireless device is received from the cellular base station during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

13. A method for performing paging forwarding for a remote wireless device, comprising: Receiving access information of a second wireless device from a first wireless device to relay a paging message to the second wireless device via the first wireless device; Providing the first wireless device with paging occasion configuration information for a remote wireless device; And In a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message from a cellular base station to the first wireless device, paging information for the second wireless device is provided at least partially based on the access information, wherein the paging information for the second wireless device is provided during a paging occasion configured according to the paging occasion configuration information for the remote wireless device.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the paging information for the second wireless device is provided during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the second wireless device.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the paging information for the second wireless device is provided during a paging occasion configured based on identification information for the first wireless device.

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