Relieving measurements based on wake-up signals

Abstract

Disclosed is a method comprising: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, where at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and determining whether the relaxed measurement is allowed based on the evaluation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following example embodiments relate to wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] Relaxation measurements may be used, for example, to support terminal devices being able to perform mobility-related measurements at a lower frequency. However, incorrect activation of relaxation measurements may lead to cell reselection delays, or radio link or beam failures. Therefore, it is desirable to avoid incorrect activation of relaxation measurements. Summary of the invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought for the various example embodiments is set out by the independent claims. Example embodiments and features described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims, if any, are to be construed as useful examples for understanding the various embodiments.

[0004] According to an aspect, a device is provided, comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to: evaluate one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and determine whether relaxed measurements are allowed based on the evaluation.

[0005] According to another aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: a component for evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and a component for determining whether relaxed measurements are allowed based on the evaluation.

[0006] According to another aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and determining whether relaxed measurements are allowed based on the evaluation.

[0007] According to another aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following operations: evaluate one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and determine, based on the evaluation, whether relaxed measurements are allowed.

[0008] According to another aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following operations: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and determining whether relaxed measurements are allowed based on the evaluation.

[0009] According to another aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and based on the evaluation, determining whether relaxed measurements are allowed.

[0010] According to another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following operations: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and based on the evaluation, determining whether relaxed measurements are allowed.

[0011] According to another aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: indicate to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0012] According to another aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: a component for indicating one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells to a user equipment, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0013] According to another aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: indicating to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0014] According to another aspect, a computer program comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following operations: indicate to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0015] According to another aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: indicate to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0016] According to another aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: indicate to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

[0017] According to another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: indicate to a user equipment one or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Hereinafter, various example embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0019] Figure 1 An example embodiment of a cellular communication network is shown;

[0020] Figure 2 Representative power consumption curves for discontinuous reception and wake-up signals are shown;

[0021] Figure 3 shows a signaling diagram according to an example embodiment;

[0022] Figure 4 shows a signaling diagram according to an example embodiment;

[0023] Figure 5 shows a flow chart according to an example embodiment;

[0024] Figure 6 shows a flow chart according to an example embodiment;

[0025] Figure 7 shows a flow chart according to an example embodiment;

[0026] Figure 8 shows a flow chart according to an example embodiment;

[0027] Fig. 9 shows a flow chart according to an example embodiment;

[0028] Fig.10 An example embodiment of an apparatus is shown; and

[0029] Fig.11 An example embodiment of an apparatus is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to "one", "an" or "some" (multiple) embodiments in several places herein, this does not necessarily mean that each reference refers to the same (multiple) embodiment, or that a particular feature applies only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

[0031] In the following, different example embodiments are described using a radio access architecture based on Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A), New Radio (NR, 5G), Beyond 5G or Sixth Generation (6G) as an example of an access architecture to which the example embodiments may be applied, without however limiting the example embodiments to such an architecture. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the example embodiments may also be applied to other kinds of communication networks with suitable components by appropriately adjusting parameters and procedures. Some examples of other options for suitable systems may be Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Radio Access Network (UTRAN or E-UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE, essentially the same as E-UTRA), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN or Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Personal Communications Service (PCS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), systems using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), and Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or any combination thereof.

[0032] Figure 1 An example of a simplified system architecture showing some elements and functional entities is depicted, all of which are logical units, the implementation of which may differ from what is shown. Figure 1 The connections shown in are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the system may also include Figure 1 The functions and structures are different from those shown.

[0033] However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to the systems given as examples, but a person skilled in the art may apply the present solution to other communication systems provided with the necessary properties.

[0034] Figure 1 The example shows a portion of an exemplary radio access network.

[0035] Figure 1User equipment 100 and 102 are shown, which are configured to wirelessly connect to an access node 104 (such as an evolved Node B (abbreviated as eNB or eNodeB) or a next generation Node B (abbreviated as gNB or gNodeB)) providing a radio cell on one or more communication channels in the radio cell. The physical link from the user equipment to the access node can be called an uplink (UL) or reverse link, and the physical link from the access node to the user equipment can be called a downlink (DL) or forward link. The user equipment can also communicate directly with another user equipment via sidelink (SL) communication. It should be understood that the access node or its functionality can be implemented by using any node, host, server, access point, etc., suitable for this use.

[0036] The communication system may include more than one access node, in which case the access nodes may also be configured to communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly through links designed for this purpose. These links may be used for signaling purposes. An access node may be a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the communication system to which the access node is coupled. An access node may also be referred to as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), an access point, or any other type of interface device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. An access node may include a transceiver or be coupled to a transceiver. From the transceiver of the access node, a connection may be provided to an antenna unit that establishes a two-way radio link to a user device. The antenna unit may include multiple antennas or antenna elements. The access node may also be connected to a core network 110 (CN or next generation core network NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CN side may be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity of user equipment to external packet data networks, a user plane function (UPF), a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF) or a location management function (LMF), etc.

[0037] User equipment illustrates one type of apparatus to which resources on the air interface may be allocated and assigned, and thus any features described herein in relation to user equipment may be implemented with corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node.

[0038] An example of such a relay node may be a layer 3 relay towards an access node (self-backhaul relay). A self-backhaul relay node may also be referred to as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. An IAB node may comprise two logical parts: a mobile terminal (MT) part, which is responsible for the backhaul link(s) (i.e., the link(s) between the IAB node and the donor node, also referred to as the parent node) and a distributed unit (DU) part, which is responsible for the access link(s), i.e., the sub-link(s) between the IAB node and the user equipment(s) and / or between the IAB node and other IAB nodes (multi-hop scenario).

[0039] Another example of such a relay node may be a layer 1 relay called a repeater. A repeater may amplify signals received from an access node and forward them to a user device and / or amplify signals received from a user device and forward them to an access node.

[0040] A user device may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal device, or user equipment (UE), to mention only some names or means. A user device may refer to a portable computing device including a wireless mobile communication device operating with or without a subscriber identity module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device, a device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop and / or touch screen computer, a tablet, a game console, a notebook, a multimedia device, a reduced capability (Red Cap) device, a wireless sensor device, or any device integrated in a vehicle.

[0041] It should be appreciated that the user device may also be an almost exclusive uplink-only device, an example of which may be a camera or video camera that loads images or video clips to a network. The user device may also be a device with the ability to operate in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, where objects may be provided with a scenario in which data is transmitted over a network without the need for human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The user device may also utilize the cloud. In some applications, the user device may include a small portable or wearable device (such as a watch, headset, or glasses) with a radio portion, and the calculation may be performed in the cloud or in another user device. The user device (or in some example embodiments, a layer 3 relay node) may be configured to perform one or more of the user device functions.

[0042] The various techniques described herein can also be applied to cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of collaborative computing elements that control physical entities). CPS can enable the implementation and development of a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processor microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems, in which the physical systems in question can have inherent mobility. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic devices transported by humans or animals.

[0043] Additionally, although the apparatus has been depicted as a single entity, different units, processors and / or memory units ( Figure 1 ) can be implemented.

[0044] 5G is capable of using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, having more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), including macro stations that operate in conjunction with smaller stations and adopting various radio technologies depending on service requirements, use cases and / or available spectrum. 5G mobile communications can support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different data sharing methods, and various forms of machine-type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC)), including vehicle safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G can have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, centimeter wave and millimeter wave, and is also integrable with existing traditional radio access technologies (such as LTE). Integration with LTE can be implemented as a system at least in the early stages, in which macro coverage can be provided by LTE, and 5G radio interface access can be from a small cell by aggregation to LTE. In other words, 5G can support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz-centimeter wave-millimeter wave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks may be network slicing, in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnetworks (network instances) can be created within essentially the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

[0045] The current architecture in LTE networks can be completely distributed in the radio and completely concentrated in the core network. Low-latency applications and services in 5G may require content to be close to the radio, which leads to local offloading and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G may enable analysis and knowledge generation to occur at the data source. This method may require the use of resources that can be discontinuously connected to the network, such as laptops, smart phones, tablet computers and sensors. MEC can provide a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It can also have the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers to obtain faster response times. Edge computing can cover a wide range of technologies, such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data collection, mobile signature analysis, collaborative distributed peer-to-peer networking and processing, and can also be classified as local cloud / fog computing and grid / mesh computing, dewdrop computing, mobile edge computing, micro-cloud, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomous self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (large-scale connection and / or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous driving vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analysis, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0046] The communication system may also be able to communicate with or utilize services provided by other networks, such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet 112. The communication network may also be able to support the use of cloud services, for example, at least a portion of the core network operations may be implemented as a cloud service (this is in the Figure 1 114). The communication system may also include a central control entity or the like providing facilities for networks of different operators to collaborate, for example in spectrum sharing.

[0047] Edge cloud can be introduced into the radio access network (RAN) by leveraging network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using edge cloud may mean that access node operations are at least partially implemented in a server, host or node that is operably coupled to a remote radio head (RRH), a radio unit (RU) or an access node containing radio components. Node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes or hosts. The implementation of RAN real-time functions on the RAN side (in distributed units, DU 104) and the implementation of non-real-time functions in a centralized manner (in central units, CU 108) can be achieved, for example, through the application of cloudRAN architecture.

[0048] It should also be understood that the distribution of work between core network operations and access node operations may be different from that of LTE or even non-existent. Some other technological advances that can be used include big data and all-IP, which can change the way networks are being built and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks can be designed to support multiple layers, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and access nodes. It should be understood that MEC can also be applied in 4G networks.

[0049] 5G may also make use of non-terrestrial communications, such as satellite communications, to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G services, for example by providing backhaul. Possible use cases may be to provide service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or for onboard passengers, or to ensure service availability for critical communications, as well as future rail / maritime / aeronautical communications. Satellite communications may make use of geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but may also make use of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, especially large constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). At least one satellite 106 in a large constellation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities, which create ground cells. Ground cells may be created by ground relay nodes 104 or by gNBs located on the ground or in satellites.

[0050] 6G networks are expected to adopt flexible decentralized and / or distributed computing systems, architectures and ubiquitous computing, leveraging local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing and intelligent automation management supported by mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short packet communications and blockchain technologies. Key features of 6G may include intelligent connected management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduced energy footprint, trusted infrastructure, scalability and affordability. In addition to these, 6G also focuses on new use cases, covering the integration of positioning and sensing capabilities into system definitions to unify user experience across the physical and digital worlds.

[0051] It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system, and in practice the system may include multiple access nodes, the user equipment may have access to multiple radio cells, and the system may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the access nodes may be a Home eNodeB or a Home gNodeB.

[0052] In addition, the access node can also be split into: a radio unit (RU), which includes a radio transceiver (TRX), i.e., a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx); one or more distributed units (DU), which can be used for so-called layer 1 (L1) processing and real-time layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) (also called a centralized unit), which can be used for non-real-time L2 and layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU can be connected to one or more DUs, for example, by using an F1 interface. This split can achieve CU centralization relative to the cell site and DU, while the DU can be more distributed and can even be maintained at the cell site. The CU and DU together can also be referred to as a baseband or baseband unit (BBU). The CU and DU can also be included in a radio access point (RAP).

[0053] A CU may be defined as a logical node that hosts higher layer protocols, such as the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and / or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of an access node. A DU may be defined as a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and / or physical (PHY) layers of an access node. The operation of a DU may be at least partially controlled by a CU. A CU may include a control plane (CU-CP), which may be defined as a logical node that hosts the RRC and control plane portions of the PDCP protocol for the CU of an access node. A CU may also include a user plane (CU-UP), which may be defined as a logical node that hosts the user plane portions of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol for the CU of an access node.

[0054] The cloud computing platform can also be used to run CU and / or DU. The CU can run in a cloud computing platform, which can be referred to as a virtualized CU (vCU). In addition to the vCU, there can also be a virtualized DU (vDU) running in the cloud computing platform. In addition, there can also be a combination in which the DU can use a so-called bare metal solution, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a customer-specific standard product (CSSP) system-on-chip (SoC) solution. It should also be understood that the distribution of work between the above-mentioned access node units or between different core network operations and access node operations may be different.

[0055] In addition, in a geographical area of ​​the radio communication system, multiple different kinds of radio cells and multiple radio cells may be provided. A radio cell may be a macro cell (or umbrella cell), which may be a large cell up to tens of kilometers in diameter, or a smaller cell, such as a micro cell, a femto cell or a pico cell. Figure 1The access node(s) may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multi-layer network comprising several radio cells. In a multi-layer network, one access node may provide one radio cell or multiple radio cells, and therefore multiple access nodes may be required to provide such a network structure.

[0056] In order to meet the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of "plug and play" access nodes can be introduced. A network that can use "plug and play" access nodes may include, in addition to a Home eNodeB or Home gNodeB, a Home NodeB Gateway or HNB-GW ( Figure 1 (not shown). The HNB-GW, which may be installed in the operator's network, may aggregate traffic from a large number of home eNodeBs or home gNodeBs back to the core network.

[0057] Power saving mechanisms can be used to reduce UE power consumption. One such power saving mechanism is radio resource management (RRM) relaxation. RRM relaxation means a lower frequency measurement of the serving cell and / or one or more neighboring cells, so that the measurement is performed less frequently in order to reduce the power consumption of the UE. RRM relaxation may also be referred to as relaxed monitoring or relaxed measurement. RRM relaxation includes two components: RRM relaxation trigger and RRM measurement relaxation.

[0058] The RRM relaxation trigger includes one or more criteria, which are configured to the UE or obtained by the UE from the serving cell and are used to initiate RRM measurement relaxation. In NR Release 16, two RRM relaxation triggers or criteria have been specified for the UE: low mobility criteria and non-cell edge criteria.

[0059] The low mobility criterion is intended to identify a UE that is in a low mobility state. When: (Srxlev Ref -Srxlev) SearchDeltaP , The low mobility criterion is met, where Srxlev is the current cell selection reception level value of the serving cell (e.g., in dB), and Srxlev Ref is a reference received signal level value (e.g., in dB) of the serving cell. For example, Srxlev may be a reference signal received power (RSRP) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) value. Ref Can be set or updated in three different ways: 1) after selecting or reselecting a new cell, or 2) if (Srxlev Ref ​-Srxlev)>0 (i.e., the UE moves closer to the cell center), or 3) if for a period of time T searchDeltaP If the low mobility criterion is not met, then in this case the UE shall set the current Srxlev value of the serving cell to Srxlev Ref The value of .

[0060] S SearchDeltaP Specifies the threshold (e.g., in dB) on the change in Srxlev for relaxation measurements. searchDeltaP Specifies the time period over which changes in Srxlev are evaluated for relaxation measurements.

[0061] The non-cell edge criterion is intended to detect whether the UE is at the cell edge of the serving cell. If the cell edge criterion is not met, it may mean that the UE is not at the cell edge of the serving cell. When: Srxlev>S SearchTresholdP ,as well as Squal>S SearchTresholdQ , if S SearchTresholdQ is configured where Srxlev is the current cell selection reception level of the serving cell (e.g., in dB), and S SearchTresholdP is the Srxlev threshold for relaxation measurement (eg, in dB).

[0062] Squal is the current cell selection quality value of the serving cell (e.g., in dB), and S searchTresholdQ is the Squal threshold for the relaxation measurement (eg, in dB). For example, Squal may be an RSRQ value.

[0063] A given UE may be configured to monitor at least one of the RRM relaxation criteria. The network may independently configure at least one RRM relaxation criterion (i.e., either a static / low mobility criterion or a non-cell edge criterion, or both) to the UE. In the event that RRM relaxation is triggered relative to this configuration, the UE may apply RRM measurement relaxation.

[0064] There are multiple ways to relax RRM measurements, such as the cells to be relaxed (e.g., whether to relax the serving cell or the neighboring cell), and the frequency of measuring the relaxed cells (i.e., the measurement periodicity for the relaxed cells). In other words, when RRM relaxation is triggered, the UE can adjust the measurement period for the serving cell and / or the neighboring cell so as to perform RRM measurements at a lower frequency. Relaxation measurements with longer intervals (scaling factors) can be configured. For example, the UE can stop RRM measurements for 1 hour when RRM relaxation is triggered.

[0065] Currently, the UE may need to wake up periodically once in each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. When the UE wakes up, the power consumption of the UE increases. If the UE can wake up only when they are triggered (e.g., via paging), the power consumption can be reduced. This can be achieved by using a wake-up signal (WUS) that triggers the main radio, and a separate receiver (wake-up receiver) that can monitor the wake-up signal with ultra-low power consumption. The power consumption for monitoring the wake-up signal depends on the wake-up signal design and the hardware module of the wake-up receiver used for signal detection and processing.

[0066] The WUS operating principle is that in each wake-up cycle (called the w cycle), the wake-up receiver (WRx) monitors a set of designated subcarriers for a short duration to determine whether it receives a wake-up indicator (WI). Through the WI, the network can notify the UE to decode the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at a specified time offset (called the w-offset). Once WRx successfully detects the WI, the baseband processor (BBP) will be turned on. After that, the BBP decodes the PDCCH message in an active state within the on duration and then initiates its inactivity timer. After the inactivity timer is initiated, if a new PDCCH message is received before the timer expires, the BBP re-initiates its inactivity timer. However, if a new PDCCH message is not received before the inactivity timer expires, the sleep period begins, the UE switches to its sleep state, and WRx operates according to its w cycle.

[0067] Figure 2 Representative power consumption curves 201, 202 for DRX and WUS are shown. Box 201 shows the power consumption curve for DRX and box 202 shows the power consumption curve for WUS. Figure 2 In the figure, the black area indicates the power consumption under PDCCH scheduling. Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG, WUS reduces UE energy consumption compared to baseline DRX because the energy consumption associated with decoding unscheduled PDCCHs is avoided. In addition, since the w period can be very short without substantially increasing energy consumption, buffering delays can be reduced compared to DRX.

[0068] Reduced Capability (Red Cap) devices may have lower complexity (e.g., reduced bandwidth and number of antennas), longer battery life, and smaller form factors than high-end NR UEs. For example, in both frequency range 1 (FR1) and frequency range 2 (FR2), Red Cap devices may include 1 receiver branch and 1 transmitter branch (1Rx / 1Tx), or 2 receiver branches and 1 transmitter branch (2Rx / 1Tx). Red Cap devices may support all FR1 and FR2 bands for frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). Some examples of Red Cap devices may include (but are not limited to) industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance cameras, and wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, rings, electronic health-related devices, personal protective equipment, medical monitoring devices, etc.). Red Cap devices may also be referred to as NR-Lite devices or NR-Light devices.

[0069] Even when the RRM relaxation feature is applied considering both the low mobility and non-cell edge criteria for RedCap devices, the RRM relaxation feature may cause the following problems (1-3): 1. With dynamic coverage due to mobility and changing weather conditions in the environment, UEs may need to change the cell they are connected to or camped on. A sudden drop in the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) value may be associated with, for example, a sudden change in UE speed (e.g., RedCap device in a bicycle, car, etc.), a change in distance (repositioning the RedCap device inside a home / office), or an obstacle. Therefore, more frequent sensing of the environment may be required. 2. When serving cell relaxation is enabled in beam-based communications, the serving beam used to derive cell quality may change while the UE is in a relaxed state. In other words, the UE may be moving or relocated, but based on the current criteria, it may still relax measurements. This may result in beam failure or radio link failure. 3. High relaxation (eg, up to 1 hour) may degrade network performance, eg due to too late handover or radio link failure, which affects UE throughput and negates the gain in energy saving.

[0070] All of the above problems may lead to inefficient RRM relaxation decisions, ie, measurements are relaxed when they should not be relaxed, or are not relaxed when relaxation is appropriate.

[0071] However, some example embodiments below are described using the principles and terminology of 5G technology without limiting the example embodiments to 5G communication systems.

[0072] Some example embodiments provide solutions to dynamically adjust the RRM relaxation decision by continuously monitoring the RRM relaxation conditions using, for example, a wake-up signal after the UE has activated the RRM relaxation feature.

[0073] Figure 3 A signaling diagram according to an example embodiment is shown.

[0074] refer to Figure 3 In block 301, a network element such as a gNB configures one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells for a UE. The one or more radio cells may include, for example, a serving cell of the UE and / or one or more neighbor cells of the serving cell. The serving cell may be provided by a gNB (i.e., the gNB may be a serving gNB for the UE). The configuration may be done using broadcast (e.g., system information) and / or dedicated signaling (such as an RRC reconfiguration or RRC release message).

[0075] The relaxation measurements may include at least one of: RRM relaxation, radio link monitoring (RLM) relaxation, and / or beam failure detection (BFD) relaxation criteria.

[0076] One or more criteria may be related to "WUS / WUS Beacon" or "WUS / WUS Beacon and RRM / RLM / BFD". In other words, one or more criteria may include WUS-based relaxation criteria and / or RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation criteria (e.g., low mobility criteria and / or non-cell edge criteria).

[0077] RRM relaxation criteria may apply to RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED states. RLM and BFD relaxation criteria may apply to RRC_CONNECTED and / or RRC_INACTIVE states.

[0078] In block 302, a wake-up receiver (WRx) monitors and receives at least one signal. The at least one signal may include, for example, a WUS or a WUS beacon, or both. Alternatively, the at least one signal may include a synchronization signal or any other signal received by the wake-up receiver. The wake-up receiver may be included in a UE.

[0079] The WUS beacon is used for synchronization purposes (to keep the wake-up receiver synchronized, and possibly also keep different "cells" sending WUS in a synchronized manner), and it is sent continuously during the WUS beacon occasion, i.e., even if the WUS is not sent, the WUS beacon will be sent. The WUS then indicates whether the UE should wake up for paging monitoring.

[0080] In block 303, WRx performs measurements on at least one received signal. For example, WRx may measure the path loss and / or signal strength of a WUS or a WUS beacon (or other signal received by WRx).

[0081] In box 304, the UE receives a synchronization signal block (SSB) from the gNB.

[0082] In block 305, the UE performs SSB measurements of the received SSBs.

[0083] In block 306, the UE evaluates or monitors one or more criteria to determine whether RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is allowed.

[0084] In one example, the wake-up signal (WUS) criterion is monitored after other relaxation conditions (eg, low mobility criterion or non-cell edge criterion or both) are met.

[0085] In another example, when the wake-up signal (WUS) criteria are configured, the wake-up signal (WUS) criteria are monitored.

[0086] In another example, low-power WUS from the gNB to the UE can be used to dynamically adjust the UE decision regarding RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation when a (sudden) path loss drop is identified.

[0087] In another example, the WUS path loss is evaluated at the wake-up receiver (WRx) side, and when the path loss is above one or more first predefined thresholds, a re-evaluation of the RRM relaxation criteria is triggered at the UE side.

[0088] In another example, the UE is allowed to relax the RRM / RLM / BFD measurement when the signal strength of the WUS or WUS beacon (or other signal received by WRx) is higher than one or more second predefined thresholds. For example, the signal strength may include one of the following: RSRP, SINR, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In other words, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion that the signal strength of at least one signal is higher than or equal to one or more second predefined thresholds. The one or more second thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0089] In another example, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion for a change in signal strength being less than or equal to one or more third predefined thresholds. In this case, in the case where the signal strength of at least one signal (e.g., WUS) remains constant (i.e., there is no change in the measurement result or the change is small enough, e.g., less than + / - a certain amount of db), the UE may be allowed to relax the RRM / RLM / BFD measurement. The one or more third thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0090] In another example, the UE should receive a certain amount of wake-up signals or WUS beacons (or other signals received by WRx) during a certain time period in order for relaxation to be allowed. In other words, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion for receiving a predefined number of signals within a predefined time period.

[0091] In another example, if the UE fails to decode the WUS a certain number of times (e.g., once, twice, or a configurable number of times), relaxation is not allowed. In other words, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion that the number of decoding failures associated with at least one signal is lower than or equal to one or more fourth predefined thresholds. The one or more fourth thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0092] The terms “first threshold”, “second threshold”, “third threshold” and “fourth threshold” are used herein to distinguish the thresholds, and they do not necessarily mean a specific order or specific index of the thresholds.

[0093] In block 307, the UE determines based on the evaluation that RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is not allowed (ie, one or more criteria are not met).

[0094] In block 308, the UE continues RRM / RLM / BFD measurements without relaxation.

[0095] In block 309, WRx monitors and receives another WUS or a WUS beacon, or both (or other signals).

[0096] In block 310, WRx performs measurements on the received signal (ie, the signal received in block 309). For example, WRx may measure the path loss and / or signal strength of the WUS or WUS beacon (or other signal received by WRx).

[0097] In box 311, the UE receives another SSB from the gNB.

[0098] In box 312, the UE performs SSB measurement to measure the SSB received from the gNB in ​​box 311.

[0099] In block 313, the UE evaluates one or more criteria to determine whether RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is allowed (similar to block 306).

[0100] In block 314, based on the evaluation of block 313, the UE determines that RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is allowed (ie, one or more criteria are satisfied).

[0101] In block 315, the UE may report to the gNB that one or more criteria are met or that the UE starts to relax. However, it should be noted that this reporting is optional, i.e., it may not necessarily be required.

[0102] In block 316, the gNB may send an indication to the UE to allow and / or configure RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation. However, it should be noted that this indication may be optional, i.e., it may not necessarily be required.

[0103] In block 317, the UE starts or initiates relaxed RRM / RLM / BFD measurements. In response to receiving an allow indication from the gNB (block 316) or in response to determining that one or more criteria are satisfied, the UE may initiate relaxed measurements (block 314). RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation may include one or more of the following (ac): a. RRM / RLM / BFD measurements are not performed at all. In this case, RRM / RLM / BFD measurements are resumed when one or more criteria are no longer met or an exit condition is met. b. RRM / RLM / BFD measurements are relaxed in time and / or frequency until one or more criteria are no longer met or an exit condition is met. c. RRM / RLM / BFD relaxations are performed according to the legacy (ie, NR Release 16 or 17) relaxations.

[0104] Figure 4 A signaling diagram according to another example embodiment is shown.

[0105] refer to Figure 4 In block 401, a network element such as a gNB configures one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells for a UE. The configuration may be done using broadcast (e.g., system information) and / or dedicated signaling (such as an RRC reconfiguration or RRC release message).

[0106] The relaxation measurements may include at least one of: RRM relaxation, radio link monitoring (RLM) relaxation, and / or beam failure detection (BFD) relaxation criteria.

[0107] One or more criteria may be related to "WUS / WUS Beacon" or "WUS / WUS Beacon and RRM / RLM / BFD". In other words, one or more criteria may include WUS-based relaxation criteria and / or RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation criteria (e.g., low mobility criteria and / or non-cell edge criteria).

[0108] RRM relaxation criteria may apply to RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED states. RLM and BFD relaxation criteria may apply to RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0109] In block 402, WRx monitors and receives at least one signal (eg, a WUS and / or a WUS beacon or some other signal).

[0110] In block 403, WRx performs measurements on the at least one received signal. For example, WRx may measure the path loss and / or signal strength of the at least one signal.

[0111] In block 404, the UE receives the SSB from the gNB.

[0112] In box 405, the UE performs SSB measurement to measure the SSB received from the gNB.

[0113] In block 406, the UE evaluates one or more criteria to determine whether RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is allowed (as described above with reference to Figure 3 306 of FIG. 10 ).

[0114] In block 407, based on the evaluation, the UE determines whether RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation is allowed (ie, one or more criteria are satisfied).

[0115] In block 408, the UE may report to the gNB that one or more criteria are met or that the UE starts to relax. However, it should be noted that this reporting is optional, i.e., it may not necessarily be required.

[0116] In block 409, the gNB may send an indication to the UE to allow and / or configure RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation. However, it should be noted that this indication may be optional, i.e., may not necessarily be required.

[0117] In block 410, the UE starts or initiates relaxed RRM / RLM / BFD measurements.

[0118] Figure 5A flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus is shown, the apparatus such as or including or included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment (UE). A user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 The apparatus may include a primary radio receiver and / or a wake-up receiver.

[0119] Reference Figure 5 In block 501, one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells are evaluated, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver. In other words, at least one of the one or more criteria may be associated with at least one signal. The wake-up signal or the wake-up signal beacon may be measured or received by a main radio receiver or a wake-up receiver of the device. The signal measured by the wake-up receiver may refer to, for example, a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, a synchronization signal, or any other signal.

[0120] At least a subset of the one or more criteria may be applicable to any of: a radio resource control connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), a radio resource control idle state (RRC_IDLE) and / or a radio resource control inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE).

[0121] The one or more radio cells may include at least a serving cell and / or a neighboring cell. In the case where the one or more radio cells include both a serving cell and a neighboring cell, the method may be used to relax both the serving cell and the neighboring cell by defining the same or two different thresholds for one or more criteria (e.g., a threshold 1 for relaxing re-evaluation of the serving cell and a threshold 2 for relaxing re-evaluation of the neighboring cell).

[0122] For example, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion that the signal strength of at least one signal is higher than or equal to one or more second predefined thresholds. In this case, the UE may be allowed to relax RRM / RLM / BFD measurements in the case where the signal strength of at least one signal (e.g., WUS) is higher than one or more second thresholds. The one or more second thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0123] Alternatively or additionally, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion for a change in signal strength being less than or equal to one or more third predefined thresholds. In this case, the UE may be allowed to relax RRM / RLM / BFD measurements in the case where the signal strength of at least one signal (e.g., WUS) remains constant (i.e., there is no change in the measurement result or the change is small enough, e.g., less than + / - a certain amount of db). The one or more third thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0124] Alternatively or additionally, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion for receiving a predefined number of signals within a predefined time period. In this case, the UE should receive a certain amount of signals (eg, WUS) during a certain time period in order for relaxation to be allowed.

[0125] Alternatively or additionally, the one or more criteria may include at least a criterion that the number of decoding failures associated with at least one signal is lower than or equal to one or more fourth predefined thresholds. In this case, relaxation is not allowed, such as when the UE cannot decode at least one signal (e.g., WUS) a certain number of times (e.g., once, twice, or a configurable number of times). The one or more fourth thresholds may include, for example, a single threshold or two separate thresholds for the serving cell and the neighboring cell, respectively.

[0126] In block 502, the apparatus determines whether relaxation measurements are allowed based on the evaluation. If one or more criteria are met, the relaxation measurements may be allowed. The relaxation measurements may include at least one of: radio resource management (RRM) relaxation, radio link monitoring (RLM) relaxation, and / or beam failure detection (BFD) relaxation.

[0127] Figure 6 A flow chart according to another example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus is shown, the apparatus such as or including or included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment (UE). The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 The apparatus may include a main radio receiver and / or a wake-up receiver.

[0128] refer to Figure 6 In block 601, a low mobility criterion and / or a non-cell edge criterion for relaxation measurements on one or more radio cells is evaluated. The low mobility criterion and the non-cell edge criterion are described in more detail above.

[0129] In block 602, the apparatus determines that at least one or both of a low mobility criterion and / or a non-cell edge criterion are satisfied.

[0130] In block 603, in response to satisfying at least one or both of the low mobility criteria and / or the non-cell edge criteria, one or more other criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells are evaluated, wherein at least a subset of the one or more other criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver. The wake-up signal or the wake-up signal beacon may be measured or received by a main radio receiver or a wake-up receiver of the device. The signal measured by the wake-up receiver may refer to, for example, a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, a synchronization signal, or any other signal.

[0131] In block 604 , based on the evaluation of block 603 , the device determines whether relaxation of the measurement is allowed.

[0132] Figure 7 A flow chart according to another example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus is shown, the apparatus such as or including or included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment (UE). The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 The apparatus may include a main radio receiver and / or a wake-up receiver.

[0133] In this example embodiment, the path loss of at least one signal (e.g., WUS) may be evaluated at the wake-up receiver (WRx) side, and when the path loss is higher than or equal to one or more first predefined thresholds, a (re)evaluation of the relaxation criteria is triggered at the UE side.

[0134] Reference Figure 7 In block 701, a path loss of at least one signal is measured, wherein the at least one signal comprises at least one of the following: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and / or a signal measured by a wake-up receiver. The wake-up signal or the wake-up signal beacon may be measured or received by a main radio receiver or a wake-up receiver of the device. The signal measured by the wake-up receiver may refer to, for example, a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, a synchronization signal, or any other signal.

[0135] The path loss may be available at the wake-up receiver (WRx) side, which may measure the path loss from at least one received signal (e.g., WUS), assuming that the transmit power of the at least one signal is known to the UE. The WUS may be sent at each wake-up period (referred to as w period). The UE may send an indication to WRx to indicate that RRM relaxation is enabled. Upon receiving the indication, WRx may calculate the path loss of the N received WUS to obtain a value denoted as Initial_PL WUS The average path loss value is: Initial_PL WUS =average(Nreceived wakeup signal pathloss) Path loss value Initial_PL WUS It may also be referred to as a first path loss value, which indicates an average value of a first plurality of measured path loss values.

[0136] Next, WRx can be calculated and expressed as Current_PL WUS The current path loss, which takes into account the average of the last M measurements: Current_PL WUS =average(N last received wakeup signal pathloss) Current_PL WUS It may also be referred to as a second path loss value, which indicates an average of a second plurality of measured path loss values. The second plurality of measured path loss values ​​may include more recent (i.e., newer) values ​​than the first plurality of measured path loss values. In other words, the first plurality of measured path loss values ​​may be measured over a first time window, and the second plurality of measured path loss values ​​may be measured over a second time window, which is later in time than the first time window.

[0137] The measurements of the received 1 to N or 1 to M WUSs may be averaged to filter out possible outliers caused by measurement errors.

[0138] WRx can then be calculated as PL offset-WS The path loss offset value indicates the first path loss value Initial_PL WUS and the second path loss value Current_PL WUS The difference between:

[0139] In other words, the path loss measured in block 701 may include a first path loss value Initial_PL WUS and the second path loss value CDurrent_PL WUS The offset value PL offset-WS .

[0140] In block 702, a path loss (eg, PL offset-WS ) is determined to be above or equal to one or more first predefined thresholds.

[0141] One or more first predefined thresholds may be used to indicate how much path loss variation is acceptable (eg, 5 dB, 10 dB, etc.) If the path loss variation is within a specified threshold (eg, below one or more first predefined thresholds), the RRM relaxation criteria will not be re-evaluated.

[0142] In one example, the network (e.g., gNB) may indicate one or more first thresholds (e.g., Threshold 1 and Threshold 2) to the UE using an initial setting. In another example, the UE may control the threshold setting and inform the network (e.g., gNB) about this. An alternative approach is to allow the network (e.g., gNB) to configure a common auxiliary value for the threshold (s), so that the UE can set a customized threshold suitable for the UE situation.

[0143] For example, if PL offset-WS >threshold1, the UE may be triggered to (re)evaluate whether relaxed measurements for the serving cell are allowed, for example.

[0144] As another example, PL offset-WS >threshold2, then the UE can update the neighbor cell RRM relaxation criteria.

[0145] In block 703, in response to a path loss of at least one signal being greater than or equal to one or more first predefined thresholds (eg, PL offset-WS >threshold1), one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells are evaluated.

[0146] In block 704 , based on the evaluation, the device determines whether relaxation of the measurement is allowed.

[0147] If any of the above criteria is not met, the UE may stop the relaxation and send an indication to the network.

[0148] The process may be iterative, so that the process returns to block 701 after block 704. When the channel gain variability is large due to the frequent presence of obstacles in a dynamic network environment, the process of continuously monitoring the relaxation criteria using the WUS path loss may work better. In addition, when the UE changes its beam, the process may be used to re-evaluate the cell quality, and the RRM relaxation decision may be re-evaluated based on the cell quality.

[0149] Figure 8 A flow chart according to another example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus is shown, the apparatus such as or including or included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment (UE). The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 The apparatus may include a main radio receiver and / or a wake-up receiver.

[0150] Reference Figure 8 In block 801, one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells are evaluated, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver. The wake-up signal or the wake-up signal beacon may be measured or received by a main radio receiver or a wake-up receiver of the device. The signal measured by the wake-up receiver may refer to, for example, a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, a synchronization signal, or any other signal.

[0151] In block 802 , based on the evaluation, the device determines whether relaxation of the measurement is allowed.

[0152] In block 804 , if based on the determination relaxation measurements are allowed (block 803 : Yes), ie if based on the evaluation one or more criteria are met, relaxation measurements are initiated on one or more radio cells, or if relaxation measurements are already active, are continued.

[0153] Alternatively, in block 805, if the relaxation measurement is not allowed based on the determination (block 803: No), that is, if one or more criteria are not met based on the evaluation, the relaxation measurement is not initiated, or if the relaxation measurement is already active, the relaxation measurement is stopped. In other words, if one or more or all of the relaxation criteria (based on WUS or RRM / RLM / BFD relaxation criteria) are not met, the UE stops relaxation.

[0154] In block 806, following block 805, the UE may send a signal or indication to a network element (e.g., gNB) regarding its decision to indicate the cessation of the relaxed measurements.

[0155] Fig. 9 A flowchart according to another example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus, such as or comprising or included in a user equipment is shown. The network element may correspond to Figure 1 access node 104.

[0156] Reference Fig. 9 In block 901, one or more criteria for relaxing measurements on one or more radio cells are indicated to a user equipment, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment. The wake-up signal or the wake-up signal beacon may be measured or received by a main radio receiver or a wake-up receiver of the user equipment. The signal measured by the wake-up receiver may refer to, for example, a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, a synchronization signal, or any other signal.

[0157] At least a subset of the one or more criteria may be applicable to any of: a radio resource control connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), a radio resource control idle state (RRC_IDLE) and / or a radio resource control inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE).

[0158] The relaxation measurements may include at least one of: radio resource management (RRM) relaxation, radio link monitoring (RLM) relaxation, and / or beam failure detection (BFD) relaxation.

[0159] The above Figures 3 to 9 The described frames, related functions and information exchanges (messages) have no absolute time order, and some of them can be performed simultaneously or in an order different from the described order. Other functions can also be performed between them or within them, and other information can be sent and / or other rules can be applied. Some frames or partial frames or one or more pieces of information can also be discarded or replaced with corresponding frames or partial frames or one or more pieces of information.

[0160] Fig.10 An example embodiment of an apparatus 1000 is shown, such as or including or being included in a user equipment. The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 1. The user equipment 100 and 102 are one of the user equipment 100 and 102. The user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device or a user equipment (UE).

[0161] The apparatus 1000 includes at least one processor 1010. The at least one processor 1010 interprets computer program instructions and processes data. The at least one processor 1010 may include one or more programmable processors. The at least one processor 1010 may include programmable hardware with embedded firmware, and may alternatively or additionally include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0162] At least one processor 1010 is coupled to at least one memory 1020. At least one processor is configured to write data to at least one memory 1020 and read data from at least one memory 1020. At least one memory 1020 may include one or more memory cells. The memory cell may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that in some example embodiments, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells and one or more volatile memory cells, or alternatively, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells or alternatively one or more volatile memory cells. The volatile memory may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The non-volatile memory may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, an optical storage, or a magnetic storage. In general, the memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. At least one memory 1020 stores computer-readable instructions that are executed by at least one processor 1010 to implement one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, non-volatile memory stores computer readable instructions, and at least one processor 1010 executes instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions.

[0163] The computer readable instructions may be pre-stored in at least one memory 1020, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity (such as a computer program product). The execution of the computer readable instructions causes the device 1000 to perform one or more of the above functions.

[0164] In the context of this document, "memory" or "computer-readable medium" or "computer-readable media" may be any non-transitory medium or media or components that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer).

[0165] The device 1000 may also include or be connected to an input unit 1030. The input unit 1030 may include one or more interfaces for receiving input. The one or more interfaces may include, for example, one or more temperature, motion and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and / or one or more touch detection units. In addition, the input unit 1030 may include an interface to which an external device may be connected.

[0166] The device 1000 may also include an output unit 1040. The output unit may include or be connected to one or more displays capable of rendering visual content, such as a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and / or a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display. The output unit 1040 may also include one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be, for example, a speaker.

[0167] The device 1000 also includes a connection unit 1050. The connection unit 1050 supports wireless connection to one or more external devices. The connection unit 1050 may include at least one transmitter and at least one receiver 1051 that may be integrated into the device 1000 or to which the device 1000 may be connected. The at least one transmitter includes at least one transmit antenna, and the at least one receiver includes at least one receive antenna. The connection unit 1050 may also include a wake-up receiver (WRx) 1052 for monitoring wake-up signals and / or wake-up signal beacons. The connection unit 1050 may include an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provide wireless communication capabilities for the device 1000. Alternatively, the wireless connection may be a hardwired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The connection unit 1050 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or an encoder / decoder circuit system.

[0168] It should be noted that the apparatus 1000 may also include Fig.10 Various components are not shown in the figure. The various components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0169] Fig.11 The apparatus 1100 shows an example embodiment of an apparatus such as or comprising or included in a network element of a radio access network. The network element may correspond to Figure 1The access node 104 of the present invention. A network element may also be referred to as, for example, a network node, a radio access network (RAN) node, a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node, a NodeB, an eNB, a gNB, a base transceiver station (BTS), a base station, a NR base station, a 5G base station, an access node, an access point (AP), a relay node, a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, an IAB donor node, a distributed unit (DU), a central unit (CU), a baseband unit (BBU), a radio unit (RU), a radio head, a remote radio head (RRH), or a transmit receive point (TRP).

[0170] The device 1100 may include, for example, a circuit system or a chipset suitable for implementing one or more of the above-mentioned example embodiments. The device 1100 may be an electronic device including one or more electronic circuit systems. The device 1100 may include a communication control circuit system 1110 (such as at least one processor) and at least one memory 1120 storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device 1100 to perform one or more of the above-mentioned example embodiments. Such instructions may, for example, include computer program code (software) 1122, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) 1122 are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device 1100 to perform some of the above-mentioned example embodiments. Here, the computer program code may also refer to instructions that cause the device 1100 to perform one or more of the above-mentioned example embodiments. That is, the at least one processor and the at least one memory 1120 storing instructions may cause the execution of the device.

[0171] The processor is coupled to the memory 1120. The processor is configured to read data from the memory 1120 and write data to the memory 1120. The memory 1120 may include one or more memory cells. The memory cell may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that in some example embodiments, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells and one or more volatile memory cells, or alternatively, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells, or alternatively, one or more volatile memory cells. The volatile memory may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The non-volatile memory may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, an optical storage, or a magnetic storage. In general, the memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory 1120 stores computer-readable instructions executed by the processor. For example, the non-volatile memory stores computer-readable instructions, and the processor executes instructions using the volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions.

[0172] The computer readable instructions may be pre-stored in the memory 1120, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity (such as a computer program product). The execution of the computer readable instructions causes the device 1100 to perform one or more of the above functions.

[0173] The memory 1120 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and / or removable memory. The memory may include a configuration database for storing configuration data. For example, the configuration database may store a current neighboring cell list and, in some example embodiments, a structure of frames used in detected neighboring cells.

[0174] The device 1100 may also include a communication interface 1130, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing a communication connection according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 1130 includes at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx) that can be integrated into the device 1100 or to which the device 1100 can be connected. The communication interface 1130 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or an encoder / decoder circuit system.

[0175] The communication interface 1130 provides the apparatus with radio communication capabilities to communicate in a cellular communication system. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to one or more user equipments. The apparatus 1100 may also include another interface towards a core network such as a network coordinator apparatus and / or an access node to a cellular communication system.

[0176] The apparatus 1100 may further include a scheduler 1140 configured to allocate radio resources. The scheduler 1140 may be configured together with the communication control circuit system 1110, or may be configured separately.

[0177] It should be noted that the apparatus 1100 may also include Fig.11 Various components are not shown in the figure. The various components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0178] The term "circuitry" as used in this application may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) a hardware circuit implementation only (such as an implementation in analog and / or digital circuits only) and (b) a combination of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuits with software / firmware and (ii) any portion of (multiple) hardware processors with software (including (multiple) digital signal processors, software and (multiple) memories that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions) and (c) (multiple) hardware circuits and / or (multiple) processors, such as (multiple) microprocessors or portions of (multiple) microprocessors, which require software (e.g. firmware) to operate, but the software may not be present when the software is not required to operate.

[0179] The definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As yet another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example (and if applicable to a particular claim element), a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0180] The techniques and methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For hardware implementations, the (multiple) devices of the example embodiments may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be performed by a module of at least one chipset (e.g., a process, a function, etc.) that performs the functions described herein. The software code can be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor. The memory unit can be implemented within a processor or outside a processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means, as known in the art. In addition, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the components of the system described herein can be rearranged and / or supplemented by additional components to facilitate the implementation of the various aspects described, etc., and are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in a given figure.

[0181] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The embodiments are not limited to the above-described example embodiments, but can be varied within the scope of the claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate, not limit, the example embodiments.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxation measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and Based on the evaluation, it is determined whether the relaxation measurement is allowed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least a subset of the one or more criteria is evaluated in response to satisfying at least one of: a low mobility criterion and a non-cell edge criterion.

3. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more criteria are evaluated in response to a path loss of the at least one signal being above or equal to one or more first predefined thresholds.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the path loss comprises an offset value between a first path loss value and a second path loss value, the first path loss value indicating an average of a first plurality of measured path loss values, and the second path loss value indicating an average of a second plurality of measured path loss values, wherein the second plurality of measured path loss values ​​comprises more recent values ​​than the first plurality of measured path loss values.

5. The apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more criteria include at least a criterion that a signal strength of the at least one signal is higher than or equal to one or more second predefined thresholds. 6 . The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the one or more criteria include at least a criterion that a change in the signal strength is less than or equal to one or more third predefined thresholds.

7. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more criteria include at least a criterion for receiving a predefined number of signals within a predefined time period.

8. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more criteria include at least a criterion for a number of decoding failures associated with the at least one signal being lower than or equal to one or more fourth predefined thresholds.

9. The apparatus according to any preceding claim, further configured to: In response to the one or more criteria being satisfied based on the evaluating, the relaxation measurements on the one or more radio cells are initiated.

10. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: In response to the one or more criteria not being met based on the evaluating, the relaxation measurements on the one or more radio cells are stopped.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, further configured to: An indication is sent to a network element, the indication indicating the stopping of the relaxation measurement.

12. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least a subset of the one or more criteria is applicable to any of: a radio resource control connected state, a radio resource control idle state and a radio resource control inactive state.

13. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the relaxation measurements comprise at least one of: radio resource management relaxation, radio link monitoring relaxation, and beam failure detection relaxation.

14. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: One or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells are indicated to a user equipment, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

15. A method comprising: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxation measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; as well as Based on the evaluation, it is determined whether the relaxation measurement is allowed.

16. A method comprising: One or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells are indicated to a user equipment, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

17. A computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: evaluating one or more criteria for relaxation measurements on one or more radio cells, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria is associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver; and Based on the evaluation, it is determined whether the relaxation measurement is allowed.

18. A computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the following operations: One or more criteria for relaxed measurements on one or more radio cells are indicated to a user equipment, wherein at least a subset of the one or more criteria are associated with at least one signal, the at least one signal comprising at least one of: a wake-up signal, a wake-up signal beacon, and a signal measured by a wake-up receiver of the user equipment.

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