Aligning DRX cycles using system-level configurations

Abstract

In a particular implementation, a method of wireless communication includes transmitting, from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE. The method also includes receiving, at the first UE from the second UE, an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE. The method further includes transmitting, from the first UE to the second UE, an RRC setup completion message including an indication of the acknowledged DRX cycle.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an application with a filing date of January 13, 2021, application number 202180008554.4, and invention name “Aligning DRX cycles using system-level configuration”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of the following applications: U.S. patent application No. 17 / 147,223, filed on January 12, 2021, entitled “ALIGNING DRX CYCLES USING SYSTEM LEVEL CONFIGURATION”; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 961,628, filed on January 15, 2020, entitled “ALIGNING DRX CYCLES USING SYSTEM LEVEL CONFIGURATION”, the entire contents of the above two applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0004] In general, aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to wireless communication systems implementing discontinuous reception. Certain aspects of the techniques discussed below may enable and provide for alignment of discontinuous reception cycles to reduce power consumption at user equipment (UE) and manage congestion in wireless networks. Background Art

[0005] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Such networks, which are typically multiple-access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources.

[0006] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations or Node Bs that can support communications for multiple user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via a downlink and an uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to a communication link from a base station to a UE, while an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a communication link from a UE to a base station.

[0007] The base station may send data and control information to the UE on the downlink, and / or receive data and control information from the UE on the uplink. On the downlink, the transmission from the base station may encounter interference caused by transmissions from neighboring base stations or transmissions from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, the transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplink transmissions of other UEs communicating with the neighboring base stations or other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade the performance on both the downlink and uplink.

[0008] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, the potential for interference and congested networks increases as more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless is deployed in communities. Research and development continues to advance wireless technologies to not only meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to improve and enhance the user experience of mobile communications. Summary of the invention

[0009] The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the technology discussed. This summary is not a comprehensive overview of all expected features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects of the present disclosure, nor to describe the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in a summarized form as a prelude to a more detailed description presented later.

[0010] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: sending a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE to a second UE from a first user equipment (UE). The method also includes: receiving, at the first UE, from the second UE, an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE. The method also includes: sending an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the first UE to the second UE.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: initiate transmission of a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE. The at least one processor is also configured to: receive, at the first UE, from the second UE an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate transmission of an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the first UE to the second UE.

[0012] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes: means for sending a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE to a second UE from a first user equipment (UE). The apparatus also includes: means for receiving, at the first UE, from the second UE, an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE. The apparatus also includes: means for sending, from the first UE to the second UE, an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle.

[0013] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: initiating transmission of a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE. The operations also include: receiving, at the first UE, an RRC setup message from the second UE including a second DRX preference at the second UE. The operations also include: initiating transmission of an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the first UE to the second UE.

[0014] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: sending a radio resource control (RRC) request from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intent to perform discontinuous reception (DRX) at the first UE. The method also includes: receiving, at the first UE, an RRC setup message from the second UE, the RRC setup message including an indication to accept DRX. The method also includes: sending an RRC setup complete message from the first UE to the second UE, the RRC setup complete message including a confirmation of the intent to perform DRX.

[0015] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: initiate the transmission of a radio resource control (RRC) request from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intention to perform discontinuous reception (DRX) at the first UE. The at least one processor is also configured to: receive an RRC setup message from the second UE at the first UE, the RRC setup message including an indication of accepting DRX. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate the transmission of an RRC setup completion message from the first UE to the second UE, the RRC setup completion message including a confirmation of the intention to perform DRX.

[0016] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a unit for sending a radio resource control (RRC) request from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intent to perform discontinuous reception (DRX) at the first UE. The apparatus also includes: a unit for receiving an RRC setup message from the second UE at the first UE, the RRC setup message including an indication to accept DRX. The apparatus also includes: a unit for sending an RRC setup complete message from the first UE to the second UE, the RRC setup complete message including a confirmation of the intent to perform DRX.

[0017] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: initiating transmission of a radio resource control (RRC) request from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intent to perform discontinuous reception (DRX) at the first UE. The operations also include: receiving, at the first UE, an RRC setup message from the second UE, the RRC setup message including an indication to accept DRX. The operations also include: initiating transmission of an RRC setup complete message from the first UE to the second UE, the RRC setup complete message including a confirmation of the intent to perform DRX.

[0018] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: receiving, at a second user equipment (UE), from a first UE, a first radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE. The method includes: receiving, at the second UE, from a third UE, a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE. The method also includes: sending, from the second UE to the first UE, a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the second UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the second DRX preference. The method also includes: sending, from the second UE to the third UE, a second RRC setup message including the third DRX preference.

[0019] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: receive, at a second user equipment (UE), from a first UE a first radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE. The at least one processor is configured to: receive, at the second UE, from a third UE a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate transmission of a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the second UE from the second UE to the first UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the second DRX preference. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate transmission of a second RRC setup message including a third DRX preference from the second UE to the third UE.

[0020] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes: a unit for receiving, at a second user equipment (UE), from a first UE, a first radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE. The device includes: a unit for receiving, at the second UE, from a third UE, a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE. The device also includes: a unit for sending, from the second UE to the first UE, a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the second UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the second DRX preference. The device also includes: a unit for sending, from the second UE to the third UE, a second RRC setup message including the third DRX preference.

[0021] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: receiving, at a second user equipment (UE), from a first UE, a first radio resource control (RRC) request including a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE. The operations include: receiving, at the second UE, from a third UE, a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE. The operations also include: initiating transmission of a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the second UE from the second UE to the first UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the second DRX preference. The operations also include: initiating transmission of a second RRC setup message including a third DRX preference from the second UE to the third UE.

[0022] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The method also includes: associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. The method also includes: performing one or more communications at the first UE according to a third DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

[0023] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: associate with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: associate with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate execution of one or more communications at the first UE according to a third DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

[0024] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a unit for associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for performing one or more communications according to a third DRX cycle at the first UE. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

[0025] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The operations also include: associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. The operations also include: initiating execution of one or more communications at the first UE according to a third DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

[0026] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: associating with a group of UEs at a first user equipment (UE). The group of UEs corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The method also includes: associating with a subgroup of the group of UEs at the first UE. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle. The method also includes: sending a message from the first UE to each UE in the subgroup indicating a transition to the first DRX cycle.

[0027] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: associate with a UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: associate with a subgroup of the UE group at the first UE. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate transmission of a message from the first UE to each UE in the subgroup indicating a transition to the first DRX cycle.

[0028] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a unit for associating with a UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for associating with a subgroup of the UE group at the first UE. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for sending a message from the first UE to each UE in the subgroup indicating a transition to the first DRX cycle.

[0029] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: associating with a UE group at a first user equipment (UE). The UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The operations also include: associating with a subgroup of the UE group at the first UE. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle. The operations also include: initiating transmission of a message from the first UE to each UE in the subgroup indicating a transition to the first DRX cycle.

[0030] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE) of a wireless network. The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The method also includes: associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. A broadcast message within the wireless network corresponds to a third DRX cycle. The method also includes: performing one or more communications at the first UE according to a fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle.

[0031] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: associate with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE) of a wireless network. The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: associate with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. A broadcast message within the wireless network corresponds to a third DRX cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate execution of one or more communications at the first UE according to a fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle.

[0032] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a unit for associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE) of a wireless network. The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. A broadcast message within the wireless network corresponds to a third DRX cycle. The apparatus also includes: a unit for performing one or more communications according to a fourth DRX cycle at the first UE. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle.

[0033] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: associating with a first UE group at a first user equipment (UE) of a wireless network. The first UE group corresponds to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The operations also include: associating with a second UE group at the first UE. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. A broadcast message within the wireless network corresponds to a third DRX cycle. The operations also include: initiating execution of one or more communications at the first UE according to a fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle.

[0034] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: associating with a base station at a first user equipment (UE). The base station allocates a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to the first UE. The method includes: receiving, at the first UE, from a second UE, a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first DRX preference at the second UE. The method also includes: sending, from the first UE to the second UE, an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The method also includes: receiving, at the first UE, from the second UE, an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle.

[0035] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to: associate with a base station at a first user equipment (UE). The base station allocates a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to the first UE. The at least one processor is configured to: receive a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first DRX preference at the second UE from a second UE at the first UE. The at least one processor is also configured to: initiate transmission of an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE from the first UE to the second UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The at least one processor is also configured to: receive an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE at the first UE. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle.

[0036] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes: a unit for associating with a base station at a first user equipment (UE). The base station allocates a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to the first UE. The device includes: a unit for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first DRX preference at the second UE from a second UE at the first UE. The device also includes: a unit for sending an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE from the first UE to the second UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The device also includes: a unit for receiving an RRC setup completion message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE at the first UE. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle.

[0037] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: associating with a base station at a first user equipment (UE). The base station allocates a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to the first UE. The operations include: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) request including a first DRX preference at the second UE from a second UE at the first UE. The operations also include: initiating transmission of an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE from the first UE to the second UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The operations also include: receiving an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE at the first UE. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle.

[0038] After reviewing the description of specific exemplary aspects below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features, and aspects will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Although features are discussed with respect to certain aspects and accompanying drawings below, some aspects may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more aspects may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used according to these various aspects. In a similar manner, although exemplary aspects may be discussed below as equipment, systems, or method aspects, exemplary aspects may be implemented in various equipment, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be obtained by referring to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. In addition, individual components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference numeral with a dashed line and a second reference numeral for distinguishing similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

[0040] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0041] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating designs of a base station and a UE configured according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0042] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system configured to align discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles between two user equipments (UEs).

[0043] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles between two UEs.

[0044] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles among three UEs.

[0045] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles for UEs in multiple groups.

[0046] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles between a group of UEs and a sub-group of UEs.

[0047] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles among UEs in a wireless network.

[0048] Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system configured to align DRX cycles between a base station and a UE.

[0049] Fig.10 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method of determining a DRX cycle between two UEs according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0050] Fig.11is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method for determining a DRX cycle between two UEs based on a system-wide parameter according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0051] Fig.12 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method of aligning DRX cycles among multiple UEs according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0052] Fig.13 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method for determining a DRX cycle based on a UE group according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0053] Fig.14 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method for aligning a DRX cycle of a subset of UEs with a DRX cycle of a group of UEs according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0054] Fig.15 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method of determining a DRX cycle in a wireless network according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0055] Fig.16 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a method of determining a DRX cycle between a base station and a UE according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0056] Fig.17 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of a UE in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] The specific embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended only as descriptions of various configurations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Specifically, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the present invention, the specific embodiments include specific details. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case, and in some instances, for the sake of clarity, known structures and components are shown in the form of block diagrams.

[0058] The present disclosure generally relates to providing or participating in communication between two or more wireless devices in one or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various aspects, the techniques and apparatus may be used in wireless communication networks, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks (sometimes referred to as "5G NR" networks / systems / devices), and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably.

[0059] For example, a CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards.

[0060] TDMA networks can, for example, implement radio technologies such as GSM. 3GPP defines standards for GSM EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Network (RAN) (also referred to as GERAN). GERAN is the radio component of GSM / EDGE, and the network that connects base stations (e.g., Ater and Abis interfaces) and base station controllers (A interfaces, etc.). The radio access network represents the component of the GSM network, through which telephone calls and packet data are routed between the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet and user handsets (also referred to as user terminals or user equipment (UE)). The network of a mobile phone operator may include one or more GERANs, which may be coupled to a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) in the case of a UMTS / GSM network. The operator network may also include one or more LTE networks and / or one or more other networks, or a combination thereof. Various network types may use different radio access technologies (RATs) and radio access networks (RANs).

[0061] OFDMA network can realize radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). In particular, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS that adopts E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), and CDMA2000 is described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or are under development. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between telecommunication alliance groups to define globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR and beyond, where access to the wireless spectrum is shared between networks using a set of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0062] 5G networks contemplate a variety of deployments, a variety of spectrums, and a variety of services and devices that can be implemented using a unified air interface based on OFDM. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also considered. 5G NR will be able to expand to: (1) provide coverage for massive Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km) 2 ), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10s of bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., about 10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with strong security for protecting sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1ms), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband, including extremely high capacity (e.g., ~10Tbps / km 2 ), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, user experience rates over 100Mbps), and deep perception with improved discovery and optimization.

[0063] 5G NR devices, networks, and systems can be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms. These features can include: scalable numerology and transmission time intervals (TTIs); a general and flexible architecture for efficiently multiplexing services and features using dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) / frequency division duplex (FDD) design schemes; and improved wireless technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of the numerology in 5G NR, as well as the scaling of subcarrier spacing, can efficiently address operational diversity services across different spectrums and different deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3GHz FDD / TDD implementations, such as on bandwidths of 1, 5, 10, 20MHz, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 15kHz. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 30kHz on 80 / 100MHz bandwidths. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, subcarrier spacing may occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments utilizing mmWave components to transmit with TDD at 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0064] 5G NR's scalable digital scheme facilitates scalable TTI for various latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmission to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also considers a self-contained integrated subframe design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgment in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink / downlink, and the adaptive uplink / downlink can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current business needs.

[0065] For clarity, certain aspects of the apparatus and techniques are described below with reference to exemplary LTE implementations or in an LTE-centric manner, and LTE terminology may be used as an illustrative example in portions of the following description; however, the description is not intended to be limited to LTE applications. In fact, the present disclosure relates to shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces, such as those of 5G NR.

[0066] Furthermore, it should be understood that in operation, a wireless communication network adapted according to the concepts herein can operate using any combination of licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum, depending on load and availability. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the systems, devices, and methods described herein can be applied to other communication systems and applications besides the specific examples provided.

[0067] Although various aspects and embodiments are described in this application by way of illustration of some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, implementations and / or uses can be implemented via integrated chip implementations and / or other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial devices, retail / purchase devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically targeted at use cases or applications, a variety of applicability of the described innovations may occur. The range of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems comprising one or more of the described aspects. In some practical settings, the device comprising the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described implementations. It is expected that the innovations described herein can be practiced in a wide variety of implementations having different sizes, shapes, and configurations, including large / small devices, chip-level components, multi-component systems (e.g., RF chains, communication interfaces, processors), distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc.

[0068] Figure 1 A wireless network 100 is shown for communicating according to some aspects. The wireless network 100 may, for example, include a 5G wireless network. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, Figure 1 The components appearing in may have related counterparts in other network arrangements, including, for example, cellular network arrangements and non-cellular network arrangements (eg, device-to-device or peer-to-peer or ad hoc network arrangements, etc.).

[0069] Figure 1The wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes multiple base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with a UE, and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station, and / or a base station subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term "cell" is used.

[0070] In the implementation of the wireless network 100 herein, the base station 105 may be associated with the same operator or different operators (e.g., the wireless network 100 may include multiple operator wireless networks), and may use one or more frequency bands (e.g., one or more frequency bands in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or a combination thereof) of the same frequency as a neighboring cell to provide wireless communication. In some examples, a single base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one network operating entity. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operating entity.

[0071] A base station may provide communication coverage for macro cells or small cells (such as pico cells or femto cells) and / or other types of cells. A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. Small cells such as pico cells typically cover a relatively small geographic area and allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. Small cells such as femto cells typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in a home, etc.). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station. In Figure 1 In the example shown, base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations that implement one of 3-dimensional (3D) MIMO, full-dimensional (FD) MIMO, or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c utilize their higher dimensional MIMO capabilities to increase coverage and capacity using 3D beamforming in elevation and azimuth beamforming. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which can be a home node or a portable access point. The base station can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0072] The wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. In some scenarios, the network may be enabled or configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0073] UE 115 is scattered throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE can be stationary or mobile. It should be understood that although mobile devices are generally referred to as user equipment (UE) in the standards and specifications promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such devices can also be referred to as mobile stations (MS), user stations, mobile units, user units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, remote devices, mobile user stations, access terminals (AT), mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, handheld devices, terminals, user agents, mobile clients, clients or some other appropriate terms by those skilled in the art. Within this document, a "mobile" device or UE does not necessarily need to have mobile capabilities and can be stationary. Some non-limiting examples of mobile devices, such as implementations that can include one or more UE115 in UE 115, include mobile stations, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebook computers, netbooks, smart books, tablet devices, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The mobile device may also be an "Internet of Things" (IoT) or "Internet of Everything" (IoE) device, such as a car or other means of transportation, a satellite radio unit, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a logistics controller, a drone, a multi-rotor helicopter, a quad-rotor helicopter, a smart energy or security device, a solar panel or solar array, municipal lighting, water or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; consumer and wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, smart watches, health or fitness trackers, mammal implantable devices, gesture tracking devices, medical devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc.; and digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and multimedia devices, appliances, sensors, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, etc. In one aspect, the UE may be a device that includes a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC may also be referred to as an IoE device. UE 115a-115d is an example of a mobile smart phone type device that accesses the wireless network 100. The UE may also be a machine specifically configured for connected communications (including machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc.). Figure 1 The UEs 115e - 115k shown in FIG. 1 are examples of various machines that access the wireless network 100 and are configured for communication.

[0074] A mobile device such as UE 115 is able to communicate with any type of base station, whether macro, pico, femto, repeater, etc. Figure 1 In the present invention, lightning (e.g., communication link) indicates wireless transmission between a UE and a serving base station (which is a base station designated to serve the UE on a downlink and / or uplink), or an expected transmission between base stations and a backhaul transmission between base stations. Backhaul communication between base stations of the wireless network 100 can occur using wired and / or wireless communication links.

[0075] When operating in the wireless network 100, the base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial techniques (such as cooperative multi-point (CoMP) or multi-connectivity) to serve UEs 115-a and 115-b. The macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with the base stations 105a-105c and the small cell base station 105f. The macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services that are subscribed to and received by the UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alerts or gray alerts.

[0076] The wireless network 100 of the embodiment supports mission-critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices (such as UE 115e, which is a drone). The redundant communication links with UE 115e include communication links from macro base stations 105d and 105e, and small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices (such as UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115g (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device)) can communicate directly with base stations (such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e) through the wireless network 100, or communicate with the base station in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user device that relays its information to the network, such as UE 115f transmitting temperature measurement information to smart meter UE115g, which is then reported to the network through small cell base station 105f. The wireless network 100 may also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k communicating with a macro base station 105e.

[0077] Figure 2 A block diagram showing a design of a base station 105 and a UE 115, which may be Figure 1 Any base station in the base station and Figure 1For a restricted association scenario (as mentioned above), the base station 105 may be Figure 1 105f, and UE 115 may be UE 115c or UE 115D operating in the service area of ​​​​the base station 105f. In order to access the small cell base station 105f, UE 115c or 115D will be included in the list of accessible UEs of the small cell base station 105f. The base station 105 may also be some other type of base station. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the base station 105 may be equipped with antennas 234a through 234t and the UE 115 may be equipped with antennas 252a through 252r for facilitating wireless communication.

[0078] At the base station 105, the transmit processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be in the form of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ (automatic repeat request) indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH), an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH), etc. The data may be used for PDSCH, etc. The transmit processor 220 may process the data and the control information separately (e.g., encode and symbol map) to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) and a cell-specific reference signal. The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and provide an output symbol stream to modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may additionally or alternatively process (e.g., convert to analog signals, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a to 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a to 234t, respectively.

[0079] At the UE 115, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from the base station 105 and provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 can also further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from the demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to the data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0080] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 115. The receive processor 238 may provide decoded data to a data sink 239 and decoded control information to a controller / processor 240 .

[0081] The controllers / processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller / processor 240 and / or other processors and modules at the base station 105 and / or the controller / processor 280 and / or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may perform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein, such as executing Figure 10-16The processes shown in or other processes for the techniques described herein may be used or directed to the execution of these processes. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0082] Wireless communication systems operated by different network operating entities (e.g., network operators) may share spectrum. In some instances, a network operating entity may be configured to use the entire designated shared spectrum for at least a period of time before another network operating entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different period of time. Thus, to allow network operating entities to use the entire designated shared spectrum, and to mitigate interfering communications between different network operating entities, certain resources (e.g., time) may be partitioned and allocated to different network operating entities for certain types of communications.

[0083] For example, a network operating entity may be allocated specific time resources that are reserved for exclusive communication using the entire shared spectrum by the network operating entity. Other time resources may also be allocated to the network operating entity, where the entity is given priority over other network operating entities to communicate using the shared spectrum. If the prioritized network operating entity does not utilize these time resources that are prioritized for use by the network operating entity, the resources may be used by other network operating entities on an opportunistic basis. Additional time resources may be allocated for use by any network operator on an opportunistic basis.

[0084] Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources between different network operating entities may be centrally controlled by a single entity, autonomously determined through a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between wireless nodes of the network operator.

[0085] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band including licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) spectrum. In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may typically perform a medium sensing process to compete for access to the spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) process (such as a clear channel assessment (CCA)) before communicating to determine whether the shared channel is available. CCA may include an energy detection process to determine whether there are any other active transmissions. For example, a device may infer that a change in a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. In particular, signal power that is concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeds a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless transmitter. CCA may also include detection of a specific sequence indicating channel usage. For example, another device may send a specific preamble before sending a data sequence. In some cases, the LBT process may include the wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel and / or acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback for its own transmitted packets (as a proxy for collisions).

[0086] Wireless devices (such as UEs and base stations) may use a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to avoid monitoring (e.g., transmitting and / or receiving) a wireless channel during certain time periods, and instead enter a low-power operation mode to save power. For example, during a DRX cycle (e.g., a specific time period), the UE may operate in an active operation mode and monitor a wireless channel during a DRX-on time period, and during the remainder of the DRX cycle, the UE may switch to a low-power operation mode (and avoid monitoring a wireless channel) to save power. The UE may have multiple radio access technologies (RATs), each with its own DRX cycle. For example, a first RAT of the UE may have a first DRX cycle, and a second RAT of the UE may have a second DRX cycle. In addition, different transmission modes (e.g., unicast, groupcast / multicast, and / or broadcast) of the same RAT may have their own independent DRX cycles. If the UE has a sufficiently large number of different DRX cycles, the UE may operate in an active operation mode (and monitor one or more wireless channels) almost all the time, thereby reducing the power savings provided by the DRX cycle. However, if all UEs coordinate their DRX cycles to align, then all UEs may communicate on the radio channel at the same time, causing congestion on the radio channel and reducing throughput.

[0087] The present disclosure provides systems, devices and methods for aligning some DRX cycles (to improve power saving efficiency) while distributing channel loads to prevent congestion. In particular, the present disclosure provides techniques for aligning some DRX cycles on a sidelink (e.g., a connection between two UEs without a base station) and between a UE and a base station. The sidelink may include a mobile phone to mobile phone connection, a vehicle to vehicle connection, or other UE to UE connection. The techniques of the present disclosure enable the UE to align the DRX cycles in some cases by exchanging radio resource control (RRC) messages (such as RRC connection messages and RRC reconfiguration messages), while enabling the UE to avoid aligning the DRX cycles in other cases (e.g., reducing congestion on a wireless channel). The techniques provided herein are applicable to UE to UE connections (e.g., sidelink connections) and UE to base station connections (e.g., Uu connections), or a combination thereof. Aligning the DRX cycles in some cases can achieve improved power savings at the UE, while avoiding aligning the DRX cycles in other cases can achieve reduced congestion on the wireless channel and thus improved throughput at the UE.

[0088] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 300 configured to align DRX cycles between two UEs. In some examples, the wireless communication system 300 can implement aspects of the wireless network 100. The wireless communication system 300 includes a first UE 310 and a second UE 320. The first UE 310 and / or the second UE 320 can include or correspond to the UE 115. Although two UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 300 can include more than two UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0089] The first UE 310 may include various components (e.g., structural, hardware components) for performing one or more functions described herein. For example, these components may include a processor 312, a memory 314, a transmitter 316, and a receiver 318. The processor 312 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 314 to perform the operations described herein. In some implementations, the processor 312 includes or corresponds to the controller / processor 280, and the memory 314 includes or corresponds to the memory 282.

[0090] The transmitter 316 is configured to send data to one or more other devices, and the receiver 318 is configured to receive data from one or more other devices. For example, the transmitter 316 can send data and the receiver 318 can receive data via a network (such as a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination thereof). For example, the first UE 310 can be configured to send or receive data via a direct device-to-device connection, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a modem-to-modem connection, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a cable transmission system, a cellular communication network, any combination of the above, or any other communication network now known or later developed that allows two or more electronic devices to communicate. In some implementations, the transmitter 316 and the receiver 318 can be replaced with a transceiver. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 316, the receiver 318, or both may include or correspond to the reference Figure 2 One or more components of UE 115 are described.

[0091] The second UE 320 may include various components (e.g., structural, hardware components) for performing one or more functions described herein. For example, these components may include a processor 322, a memory 324, a transmitter 326, and a receiver 328. The processor 322 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 324 to perform the operations described herein. In some implementations, the processor 322 includes or corresponds to the controller / processor 280, and the memory 324 includes or corresponds to the memory 282.

[0092] The transmitter 326 is configured to send data to one or more other devices, and the receiver 328 is configured to receive data from one or more other devices. For example, the transmitter 326 can send data and the receiver 328 can receive data via a network (such as a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination thereof). For example, the second UE 320 can be configured to send or receive data via a direct device-to-device connection, a LAN, a WAN, a modem-to-modem connection, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a cable transmission system, a cellular communication network, any combination of the above, or any other communication network now known or later developed that allows two or more electronic devices to communicate. In some implementations, the transmitter 326 and the receiver 328 can be replaced with a transceiver. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 326, the receiver 328, or both may include or correspond to the reference Figure 2 One or more components of UE 115 are described.

[0093] In a specific implementation, the wireless communication system 300 includes a 5G network. For example, the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 may include a 5G UE (eg, a UE configured to operate according to the 5G network).

[0094] During operation of the wireless communication system 300, the first UE 310 may initiate a unicast association procedure (e.g., a connection procedure or a reconfiguration procedure) with the second UE 320. The unicast association procedure may be performed by exchanging one or more RRC messages between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320. During the exchange of the RRC messages, the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 may indicate preferred DRX cycle information. For example, the first UE 310 may send an RRC request 330 to the second UE 320. The RRC request 330 may include an RRC connection request, an RRC reconfiguration request, or any other type of RRC request for associating, reassociating, or reconfiguring an association between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320.

[0095] The RRC request 330 includes a first DRX preference 332 at the first UE 310. The first DRX preference 332 may indicate a preferred alignment of a DRX cycle. For example, the first DRX preference 332 may indicate one or more preferred times for a DRX On period during a DRX cycle at the first UE 310. The first DRX preference 332 may be indicated relative to a reference time negotiated by the UE or set by a system-level configuration. In some implementations, the preferred DRX On period may be a DRX On period of another DRX cycle at the first UE 310, as further described herein.

[0096] The second UE 320 receives the RRC request 330 from the first UE 310 and identifies the first DRX preference 332. The second UE 320 also sends an RRC setup message 334 to the first UE 310 based on the RRC request 330. The RRC setup message 334 includes parameters for establishing a unicast connection between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320. The RRC setup message 334 also includes a second DRX preference 336 at the second UE 320. The second DRX preference 336 may indicate a preferred alignment of the DRX cycle. For example, the second DRX preference 336 may indicate one or more preferred times of a DRX on time period during a DRX cycle at the second UE 320. The second DRX preference 336 may be indicated relative to a reference time negotiated by the UE or set by a system-level configuration. In some implementations, the preferred DRX on time period may be a DRX on time period of another DRX cycle at the second UE 320.

[0097] The first UE 310 receives the RRC setup message 334 including the second DRX preference 336, and generates an RRC setup complete message 338 including an indication of a confirmation 340 (e.g., a confirmed DRX cycle). For example, the first UE 310 may receive the RRC setup message 334, and determine the confirmation 340 (e.g., a confirmed DRX cycle) based on the first DRX preference 332 and the second DRX preference 336. For illustration, the confirmed DRX cycle includes at least a portion of the overlap between the first DRX preference 332 and the second DRX preference 336. For example, the DRX on period of the confirmed DRX cycle may overlap with a portion or all of the DRX on period of the first DRX preference 332, and overlap with a portion or all of the DRX on period of the second DRX preference 336. Thus, a consensus is reached between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 as to when the DRX on period occurs during the DRX cycle (e.g., such that the DRX cycles between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 are aligned). The first UE 310 sends an RRC setup complete message 338 to the second UE 320, and the second UE 320 processes the RRC setup complete message 338 to determine the confirmed DRX cycle (eg, corresponding to the confirmation 340) such that the DRX cycles between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 are aligned.

[0098] After sending the RRC setup complete message 338, the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 may perform one or more communications according to the confirmed DRX cycle (corresponding to the confirmation 340). For example, the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 may operate in an active operation mode during the DRX on period to monitor the wireless channel, and the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 may operate in a low power operation mode during the remaining time of the DRX cycle to reduce power consumption at the first UE 310 and the second UE 320.

[0099] In some implementations, sending (and receiving) the RRC request 330, receiving (and sending) the RRC setup message 334, and sending (and receiving) the RRC setup complete message 338 are performed during a unicast messaging process between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320. For example, the RRC message may be exchanged via a unicast message on a sidelink (e.g., directly exchanged between the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 without using a base station). Additionally or alternatively, the RRC request 330, the RRC setup message 334, and the RRC setup complete message 338 may be exchanged during a connection process, a reconfiguration process, or another type of RRC process. For example, the RRC request 330 may include an RRC connection request, the RRC setup message 334 may include an RRC connection setup message, and the RRC setup complete message 338 may include an RRC connection setup complete message. In other implementations, the RRC request 330 comprises an RRC reconfiguration request, the RRC setup message 334 comprises an RRC reconfiguration setup message, and the RRC setup complete message 338 comprises an RRC reconfiguration setup complete message.

[0100] In some implementations, determining the alignment of the DRX cycles is performed at the second UE 320. For example, based on receiving the RRC request 330, the second UE 320 may select a second DRX preference 336 that at least partially matches the first DRX preference 332 (e.g., has a DRX on period that at least partially overlaps with the DRX on period of the first DRX preference 332). In such implementations, the second DRX preference 336 indicates a DRX cycle to be used by the first UE 310 and the second UE 320 (e.g., the first UE 310 does not have to determine whether there is an overlap between the first DRX preference 332 and the second DRX preference 336).

[0101] If there is no overlap between the DRX cycles of the UEs, DRX operation may not be performed. For example, the first UE 310 may send a second RRC request to the third UE (not shown for convenience). The second RRC request may include a third DRX preference at the first UE 310. The first UE 310 may receive a second RRC setup message from the third UE. If there is no overlap between the third DRX preference and the fourth DRX preference at the third UE, the second RRC setup message includes an indication of rejecting the establishment (e.g., rejecting the DRX establishment). Based on the indication of rejecting the establishment, the first UE 310 terminates the unicast message process between the first UE 310 and the third UE.

[0102] therefore, Figure 3A process for aligning DRX cycles between two UEs connected via a sidelink is described. Aligning the DRX cycles can reduce power consumption at the UEs compared to having each UE use two different DRX cycles, because the UEs monitor the channel in only one DRX on period (e.g., in active operation mode).

[0103] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 400 configured to align DRX cycles between two UEs. The wireless communication system 400 includes a first UE 402, a second UE 404, a third UE 420, and a fourth UE 422. The first UE 402, the second UE 404, the third UE 420, and the fourth UE 422 may include Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although four UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 400 may include less than four or more than four UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0104] During operation of the wireless communication system 400, the first UE 402 may initiate a unicast association procedure (e.g., a connection procedure or a reconfiguration procedure) with the second UE 404. The unicast association procedure may include exchanging RRC messages between the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. In addition, one or more parameters for DRX may be defined by a system-wide configuration. For example, a common reference for the start of a DRX cycle may be defined (e.g., in terms of a system frame number, a subframe / time slot number, etc.). As another example, a time period T during which a DRX cycle is performed may be defined. As another example, a DRX on time period t for a UE may be defined. on As another example, the number of intervals N included in the time period T may be defined. This may be based on T=N*t on To determine N. As further described herein, these parameters may be used to determine a DRX cycle at the UE.

[0105] The unicast association process may include the first UE 402 sending an RRC request 406 to the second UE 404. The RRC request 406 includes a DRX indicator 408 (e.g., an indication of an intent to perform DRX at the first UE 402). The DRX indicator 408 may be a field in the RRC request 406, such as one or more bits having a specific value indicating that the first UE 402 requests DRX. The second UE 404 receives the RRC request 406 and determines whether the second UE 404 can support DRX.

[0106] After processing the RRC request 406, the second UE 404 sends an RRC setup message 410 to the first UE 402. If the second UE 404 can support DRX, the RRC setup message 410 includes an acceptance 412 (e.g., an indication of accepting DRX). The acceptance 412 may include a field in the RRC setup message 410, such as one or more bits with a specific value indicating that the second UE 404 accepts DRX. The RRC setup message 410 may also include parameters for establishing a unicast connection. If the second UE 404 cannot support DRX, the RRC setup message 410 includes a rejection of DRX instead of the acceptance 412.

[0107] The first UE 402 receives the RRC setup message 410 and processes the RRC setup message 410 to determine parameters and whether to accept DRX. After processing the RRC setup message 410, the first UE 402 sends an RRC setup complete message 414 to the second UE 404. The RRC setup complete message 414 indicates that the RRC setup is complete. In addition, the RRC setup complete message 414 may include a confirmation 416 (e.g., confirming the intention of the first UE 402 to perform DRX). In this way, the exchange of RRC messages 406, 410 and 414 implements the establishment of a unicast connection and the execution of DRX. If the RRC setup message 410 includes a rejection of DRX (rather than acceptance 412), the RRC setup complete message 414 does not include the confirmation 416, and the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 do not perform DRX.

[0108] After sending the RRC setup complete message 414, the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 may perform one or more communications according to the DRX cycle determined based on the system-wide parameter. For example, the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 may operate in an active operation mode during the DRX on period to monitor the wireless channel, and the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 may operate in a low power operation mode during the remaining time of the DRX cycle to reduce the power consumption at the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. The DRX cycle may be determined based on a specific identifier and the number of intervals (e.g., N) included in the DRX cycle (e.g., T). For example, the DRX cycle may be determined based on the following formula: the specific identifier modulo N. In some implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier (e.g., source ID) of the first UE 402. For example, the source ID may be a layer 1 identifier, a layer 2 identifier, or another identifier of the first UE 402. In other implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier (e.g., destination ID) of the second UE 404. For example, the destination ID may be a layer 1 identifier, a layer 2 identifier, or another identifier of the second UE 404. The destination ID may be an ID to which the UE addresses the RRC request 406 and the RRC setup complete message 414. In other implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier based on a connection identifier between the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. As a non-limiting example, the specific identifier used (e.g., source ID, destination ID, or connection identifier) ​​may be specified by a wireless standard such as a 3GPP standard.

[0109] In some implementations, sending (and receiving) the RRC request 406, receiving (and sending) the RRC setup message 410, and sending (and receiving) the RRC setup complete message 414 are performed during a unicast messaging process between the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. For example, the RRC messages may be exchanged via unicast messages on a sidelink (e.g., directly between the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 without using a base station). Additionally or alternatively, the RRC request 406, the RRC setup message 410, and the RRC setup complete message 414 may be exchanged during a connection process, a reconfiguration process, or another type of RRC process. For example, the RRC request 406 may include an RRC connection request, the RRC setup message 410 may include an RRC connection setup message, and the RRC setup complete message 414 may include an RRC connection setup complete message. In other implementations, the RRC request 406 comprises an RRC reconfiguration request, the RRC setup message 410 comprises an RRC reconfiguration setup message, and the RRC setup complete message 414 comprises an RRC reconfiguration setup complete message.

[0110] Figure 4 Also included is a graph 418 of the DRX cycles used by the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. Figure 4 In the illustrated implementation, the specific identifier modulo N is equal to 0, so that t for the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 is on The specific identifier may include an identifier of the first UE 402, an identifier of the second UE 404, or a connection identifier between the first UE 402 and the second UE 404. The first UE 402 and the second UE 404 are connected at t on During this time, the device operates in the active operating mode to monitor the wireless channel and / or perform communications. on This is followed by the remainder of the DRX cycle T, during which the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 may operate in a low power mode of operation (eg, not monitoring the wireless channel).

[0111] In addition to the unicast association procedures performed by the first UE 402 and the second UE 404, the third UE 420 performs a unicast association procedure with the fourth UE 422. The unicast association procedure may include: the third UE 420 sends an RRC request 424 to the fourth UE 422. The RRC request 424 includes a DRX indicator 426 (e.g., an indication of an intention to perform DRX at the third UE 420). The DRX indicator 426 may include a field in the RRC request 424, such as one or more bits with a specific value indicating that the third UE 420 requests DRX. The fourth UE 422 receives the RRC request 424 and determines whether the fourth UE 422 can support DRX.

[0112] After processing the RRC request 424, the fourth UE 422 sends an RRC setup message 428 to the third UE 420. If the fourth UE 422 can support DRX, the RRC setup message 428 includes an acceptance 430 (e.g., an indication of accepting DRX). The acceptance 430 can be a field in the RRC setup message 428, such as one or more bits with a specific value indicating that the fourth UE 422 accepts DRX. The RRC setup message 428 can also include parameters for establishing a unicast connection.

[0113] The third UE 420 receives the RRC setup message 428 and processes the RRC setup message 428 to determine the parameters and whether to accept DRX. After processing the RRC setup message 428, the third UE 420 sends an RRC setup complete message 432 to the fourth UE 422. The RRC setup complete message 432 indicates that the RRC setup is complete. In addition, the RRC setup complete message 432 may include a confirmation 434 (e.g., confirming the intention of the third UE 420 to perform DRX). In this way, the exchange of RRC messages 424, 428 and 432 implements the establishment of a unicast connection and the execution of DRX. The RRC messages 424, 428 and 432 may be RRC connection messages, RRC reconfiguration messages, or any other type of RRC messages used in a unicast association (or reassociation) process.

[0114] After sending the RRC setup complete message 432, the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 may perform one or more communications according to the DRX cycle determined based on the system-wide parameter. For example, the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 may operate in an active operation mode during the DRX on period to monitor the wireless channel, and the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 may operate in a low power operation mode during the remaining time of the DRX cycle to reduce the power consumption at the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422. The DRX cycle is determined based on a specific identifier and the number of intervals (e.g., N) included in the DRX cycle (e.g., T). For example, the DRX cycle may be determined based on the following formula: a specific identifier modulo N. In some implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier (e.g., source ID) of the third UE 420. For example, the source ID may be a layer 1 identifier, a layer 2 identifier, or another identifier of the third UE 420. In other implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier (e.g., destination ID) of the fourth UE 422. For example, the destination ID may be a layer 1 identifier, a layer 2 identifier, or another identifier of the fourth UE 422. The destination ID may be an ID to which the UE addresses the RRC request 424 and the RRC setup complete message 432. In other implementations, the specific identifier includes an identifier based on a connection identifier between the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422. As a non-limiting example, the specific identifier used (e.g., source ID, destination ID, or connection identifier) ​​may be specified by a wireless standard such as a 3GPP standard.

[0115] Figure 4 Also included is a graph 436 of the DRX cycles used by the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422. Figure 4In the implementation shown, the specific identifier modulo N is equal to a positive value, so that t for the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 is on The specific identifier may include an identifier of the third UE 420, an identifier of the fourth UE 422, or a connection identifier between the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422. The third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 are connected at t on During t, the active mode of operation is used to monitor the wireless channel and / or perform communications. on Preceding and following is the remaining portion of the DRX cycle T, during which the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422 may operate in a low power operation mode (eg, not monitoring the wireless channel).

[0116] therefore, Figure 4 Describes UEs using system-wide parameters to align DRX cycles. For example, a first UE 402 and a second UE 404 may align DRX cycles, and a third UE 420 and a fourth UE 422 may align DRX cycles. Aligning DRX cycles reduces power consumption at the UEs. In addition, because the DRX on time period is determined based on different identifiers, the DRX on time period for the first UE 402 and the second UE 404 is different from the DRX on time period for the third UE 420 and the fourth UE 422. Having different DRX on time periods for different UEs distributes the communication load across different time slots, thereby reducing congestion on the wireless channel.

[0117] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 500 configured to align DRX cycles among three UEs. The wireless communication system 500 includes a first UE 502, a second UE 504, and a third UE 506. The first UE 502, the second UE 504, and the third UE 506 may include Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although three UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 500 may include less than three or more than three UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0118] During operation of the wireless communication system 500, the first UE 502 may complete an association procedure (or a reassociation or reconfiguration procedure) with the second UE 504. For example, the first UE 502 may exchange RRC messages 510 with the second UE 504. The RRC messages 510 may include an RRC request, an RRC setup message, and an RRC setup complete message, as described in detail in FIG. Figure 3 and 4In addition, the RRC message 510 may include DRX information that enables the first UE 502 and the second UE 504 to perform DRX according to the first DRX cycle. In some implementations, such as reference Figure 3 In other implementations, such as referring to Figure 4 In addition, the third UE 506 may complete an association process (or a reassociation or reconfiguration process) with the second UE 504. For example, the third UE 506 may exchange RRC messages 512 with the second UE 504. The RRC messages 512 may include an RRC request, an RRC setup message, and an RRC setup completion message, as described in reference to FIG. Figure 3 and Figure 4 In addition, the RRC message 512 may include DRX information that enables the third UE 506 and the second UE 504 to perform DRX according to the third DRX cycle. In some implementations, such as reference Figure 3 In other implementations, such as referring to Figure 4 The DRX information is indicated as described.

[0119] The second UE 504 may align the first DRX cycle with the second DRX cycle to increase the amount of time that the second UE 504 operates in the low power operation mode, thereby reducing power consumption at the second UE 504. For illustration, the second UE 504 may receive a first RRC request including a first DRX preference at the first UE 502 (or an indication of an intention to perform DRX) from the first UE 502. The second UE 504 may also receive a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE 506 (or an indication of an intention to perform DRX) from the third UE 506. The second UE 504 may determine a third DRX preference that matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the second DRX preference. For example, the DRX on time period of the third DRX preference may match at least a portion of the DRX on time period of the first DRX preference and / or the second DRX preference. In some implementations, the third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference. In other implementations, the third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the second DRX preference. The second UE 504 may send a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference (or acceptance of DRX) at the second UE 504 to the first UE 502. In addition, the second UE 504 may send a second RRC setup message including a third DRX preference (or acceptance of DRX) to the third UE 506. In this manner, the second UE 504 may align the DRX cycles between the first UE 502 and the second UE 504 and between the second UE 504 and the third UE 506.

[0120] For further explanation, Figure 5 The diagram includes a graph 520 and a graph 522, wherein the graph 520 shows a first DRX cycle before alignment between the first UE 502 and the second UE 504, and the graph 522 shows a second DRX cycle before alignment between the second UE 504 and the third UE 506. Figure 5 It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the DRX on period does not overlap between the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle. Figure 5 Also shown are graph 524 showing a first DRX cycle after alignment between the first UE 502 and the second UE 504 and graph 526 showing a second DRX cycle after alignment between the second UE 504 and the third UE 506. Figure 5As can be seen in FIG, after alignment, the DRX on time periods in the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are the same. Therefore, the second UE 504 operates in an active operation mode (e.g., monitoring a wireless channel) only during one DRX on time period instead of two DRX on time periods, which reduces power consumption at the second UE 504. Figure 5 In the illustrated implementation, the second DRX cycle is aligned with the first DRX cycle. In other implementations, the first DRX cycle may be aligned with the second DRX cycle (eg, the aligned DRX On period may match the original DRX On period of the second DRX cycle).

[0121] After sending the first RRC setup message (included in the RRC message 510) and the second RRC setup message (included in the RRC message 512), the second UE 504 may receive an RRC setup complete message from the first UE 502 and the third UE 506. The RRC setup complete message includes an indication of the confirmed DRX cycle (or a confirmation about accepting DRX). After receiving the RRC setup complete message (included in the RRC message 510 and the RRC message 512), one or more communications are performed between the first UE 502 and the second UE 504 and between the second UE 504 and the third UE 506 according to the confirmed DRX cycle (or according to the DRX cycle determined based on the system-wide parameter). The RRC message 510 and the RRC message 512 may include an RRC connection message, an RRC reconfiguration message, or other types of RRC messages.

[0122] Although Figure 5 An implementation in which the second UE 504 is aligned with the DRX cycle is shown, but in an alternative implementation, the normal UE follows the DRX cycle of each of its links, while other UEs only follow their corresponding DRX cycles. For example, if the first UE 502 corresponds to the first DRX cycle and the third UE 506 corresponds to the second DRX cycle, the second UE 504 operates according to both the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle (e.g., the second UE 504 has two DRX on periods, one corresponding to the first DRX cycle and one corresponding to the second DRX cycle).

[0123] For further explanation, the second UE 504 may receive a third RRC request including a fourth DRX preference at the fourth UE from the fourth UE. The second UE 504 may also receive a fourth RRC request including a fifth DRX preference at the fifth UE from the fifth UE. The second UE 504 may send a third RRC setup message including a sixth DRX preference at the second UE to the fourth UE. The sixth DRX preference matches at least a portion of the fourth DRX preference. The second UE 504 may also send a fourth RRC setup message including a seventh DRX preference at the second UE to the fifth UE. The seventh DRX preference matches at least a portion of the fifth DRX preference. The second UE 504 may receive a first RRC setup complete message including an indication of the first confirmed DRX cycle from the fourth UE. One or more communications according to the first confirmed DRX cycle may be performed between the second UE 504 and the fourth UE. In addition, the second UE 504 may receive a second RRC setup complete message including an indication of the second confirmed DRX cycle from the fifth UE. One or more communications according to the second confirmed DRX cycle may be performed between the second UE 504 and the fifth UE. The second confirmed DRX cycle may be different from the first confirmed DRX cycle such that the second UE 504 corresponds to two DRX on periods.

[0124] In some implementations, the second UE 504 may choose whether to align the DRX cycle or not. The determination may be based on a power source or remaining battery power at the second UE 504 or the capabilities of the second UE 504. For example, if the remaining power (e.g., battery power) of the second UE fails to meet a threshold, the second UE may choose to align the DRX cycle (e.g., for determining a third DRX preference) in order to save the remaining power level. Alternatively, if the remaining power level meets the threshold, or if the second UE 504 is connected to a fixed power source, the second UE 504 may choose not to align the DRX cycle (e.g., to determine a sixth DRX preference and a seventh DRX preference) to reduce congestion on the wireless channel and improve throughput. Therefore, Figure 5 It is described that the UE aligns the DRX cycle in some cases to reduce power consumption, and does not align the DRX cycle in other cases to reduce congestion on the radio channel.

[0125] Figure 66 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 600 configured to align DRX cycles for UEs in multiple groups. The wireless communication system 600 includes a first UE 602 ("UE1"), a second UE 604 ("UE2"), a third UE 606 ("UE3"), a fourth UE 608 ("UE4"), a fifth UE 610 ("UE5"), a sixth UE 612 ("UE6"), a seventh UE 614 ("UE7"), an eighth UE 616 ("UE8"), and a ninth UE 618 ("UE9"). The UEs 602-618 may include Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although nine UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 600 may include less than nine or more than nine UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0126] During operation of the wireless communication system 600, the first UE 601, the second UE 604, the third UE 606, the seventh UE 614 and the eighth UE 616 form a first UE group 620 ("Group A1"). In addition, the fourth UE 608, the fifth UE 610, the sixth UE 612, the seventh UE 614 and the eighth UE 616 form a second UE group 622 ("Group A2"). Each of the groups 620-622 corresponds to a different DRX cycle. For example, the first group 620 corresponds to a first DRX cycle, as shown by the graph 630, and the second group 622 corresponds to a second DRX cycle, as shown by the graph 632. The first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle are determined based on a group identifier and the number of intervals (e.g., N) in the DRX cycle (e.g., T). For example, the DRX cycle can be determined based on the following formula: Group ID i Modulo N, where Group ID i is the group identifier of group i. For further explanation, the first DRX cycle may be determined based on the first group identifier of the first group 620, and the second DRX cycle may be determined based on the second group identifier of the second group 622.

[0127] UEs that are members of a single group operate according to the DRX cycle of the group. UEs that are members of multiple groups operate according to the DRX cycle of each group. For example, as shown by graph 634, the first UE 602, the second UE 604, and the third UE 606 operate according to the first DRX cycle of the first group 620. As shown by graph 636, the fourth UE 608, the fifth UE 610, and the sixth UE 612 operate according to the second DRX cycle of the second group 622. As shown by graph 638, the seventh UE 614 and the eighth UE 616 operate according to a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle.

[0128] For illustration, the seventh UE 614 may be associated with the first group 620. The first group 620 corresponds to the first DRX cycle. The seventh UE 614 may also be associated with the second group 622. The second group 622 corresponds to the second DRX cycle. The seventh UE 614 may perform one or more communications according to the third DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle. For example, the seventh UE 614 may perform one or more operations according to the third DRX cycle shown by the graph 636, and the third DRX cycle is a combination of the first DRX cycle shown by the graph 630 and the second DRX cycle shown by the graph 632. For further illustration, the first DRX cycle includes a first DRX on time period, the second DRX cycle includes a second DRX on time period different from the first DRX on time period, and the third DRX cycle includes a first DRX on time period and a second DRX on time period. In some implementations, the first DRX cycle is based on the first group identifier of the first group 620 and the number of intervals (e.g., N) of the first DRX cycle. In some such implementations, the first DRX cycle is determined based on a formula comprising the first group identifier modulo the number of intervals in the first DRX cycle (e.g., Group ID1 modulo N). Additionally, the second DRX cycle may be based on a second group identifier of the second group 622 and the number of intervals in the second DRX cycle. In some such implementations, the second DRX cycle is determined based on a formula comprising the second group identifier modulo the number of intervals in the second DRX cycle (e.g., Group ID2 modulo N).

[0129] In some implementations, UEs in a group may be associated with UEs not in the group, and the UEs in the group may align the DRX cycle between the UEs with the DRX cycle of the group to improve power consumption at the UEs within the group. For example, the ninth UE 618 may be associated with the seventh UE 614, and the seventh UE 614 may align the DRX cycle of the ninth UE 618 with the DRX cycle of the first group 620 or the second group 622. The alignment of the DRX cycle may occur via the exchange of RRC messages, as described in reference to Figure 3 as described or as referenced Figure 4 As described. For illustration, the seventh UE 614 may receive an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the ninth UE 618 from the ninth UE 618 via a unicast transmission. The seventh UE 614 may send an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the seventh UE 614 to the ninth UE 618. The second DRX preference corresponds to at least a portion of the third DRX cycle (e.g., a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle). The seventh UE 614 may receive an RRC setup completion message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the ninth UE 618. The confirmed DRX cycle overlaps at least a portion of the third DRX cycle. One or more communications may be performed between the seventh UE 614 and the ninth UE 618 based on the confirmed DRX cycle.

[0130] therefore, Figure 6 Describes how a UE that is a member of a group performs DRX. For example, if the UE is a member of a single group, the UE operates according to the DRX cycle of the group. If the UE is a member of multiple groups, the UE operates according to a combination of the DRX cycles of the multiple groups. Although this increases power consumption at the UE, congestion in the wireless channel is reduced by spreading the communication over different time slots.

[0131] Figure 7 7 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 700 configured to align DRX cycles between UE groups and UE subgroups. The wireless communication system 700 includes a first UE 702 ("UE1"), a second UE 704 ("UE2"), a third UE 706 ("UE3"), a fourth UE 708 ("UE4"), a fifth UE 710 ("UE5"), and a sixth UE 712 ("UE6"). The UEs 702-712 may include Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although six UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 700 may include less than six or more than six UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0132] During operation of the wireless communication system 700, the first UE 702, the second UE 704, the third UE 706, the fourth UE 708, the fifth UE 710, and the sixth UE 712 form a UE group 720 ("Group A1"). In addition, the first UE 702, the second UE 704, and the third UE 706 form a subgroup 722 ("Subgroup A2"). Subgroup 722 is referred to as a subgroup because each UE in subgroup 722 is also a member of group 720. Group 720 corresponds to a first DRX cycle, and subgroup 722 corresponds to a second DRX cycle that may be different from the first DRX cycle. For example, subgroup 722 corresponds to the second DRX cycle shown by graph 730, and group 720 corresponds to the first DRX cycle shown by graph 732. As shown in FIG. Figure 7 As shown in , when the first DRX cycle is different from the second DRX cycle, UE 702-706 monitors the wireless channel during two DRX on time periods (e.g., operates in an active operation mode), which increases power consumption at UE 702-706. In order to reduce power consumption at UE 702-706, the UE operating as the cluster head of subgroup 722 may provide a plurality of unicast messages or multicast messages to other members of the subgroup to align the second DRX cycle of subgroup 722 with the first DRX cycle of group 720. For example, after alignment, the second DRX cycle and the first DRX cycle are the same, as shown by graphs 736 and 734, respectively. The cluster head is able to align the DRX cycles because the cluster head knows each DRX cycle (e.g., may be based on GroupID i Each DRX cycle is determined modulo N.) Aligning the DRX cycles enables the UEs 702-706 to monitor the wireless channel only during a single DRX on period, which reduces power consumption at the UEs in the subgroup 722.

[0133] For illustration, the first UE 702 may be associated with a group 720. The group 720 corresponds to a first DRX cycle (e.g., as shown by a graph 732). The first UE 702 may also be associated with a subgroup 722 (e.g., a subgroup of a UE group). The subgroup 722 corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle (e.g., as shown by a graph 730). The first UE 702 sends a message indicating a transition to the first DRX cycle to each UE in the subgroup 722. For example, the first UE 702 may operate as a cluster head of the subgroup 722 and send a message indicating that the second DRX cycle is aligned with the first DRX cycle. In some implementations, the message is a groupcast message (e.g., a message for each member of the subgroup 722). In other implementations, sending the message includes sending the message as a unicast message to each UE in the subgroup 722. The first DRX cycle is based on a group identifier of the group 720 and the number of intervals in the first DRX cycle (e.g., the first DRX cycle is determined based on GroupID1 modulo N). The second DRX cycle is based on the group identifier of subgroup 722 and the number of intervals in the second DRX cycle (eg, the second DRX cycle is determined based on GroupID2 modulo N). After alignment, both group 720 and subgroup 722 correspond to the first DRX cycle.

[0134] therefore, Figure 7 A UE subgroup is described that aligns a DRX cycle with a DRX cycle of a UE group (the UEs in the subgroup are members of the UE group). Aligning the subgroup DRX cycle with the group DRX cycle reduces the number of DRX on periods corresponding to the UEs in the subgroup, which reduces power consumption at the UEs in the subgroup.

[0135] Figure 8 800 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 800 configured to align DRX cycles between UEs in a wireless network. The wireless communication system 800 includes a first UE 802 ("UE1"), a second UE 804 ("UE2"), a third UE 806 ("UE3"), a fourth UE 808 ("UE4"), a fifth UE 810 ("UE5"), a sixth UE 812 ("UE6"), a seventh UE 814 ("UE7"), an eighth UE 816 ("UE8"), a ninth UE 818 ("UE9"), and a tenth UE 819 ("UE10"). UEs 802-819 may include similar Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although ten UEs are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 800 may include less than ten or more than ten UEs, one or more base stations, or both.

[0136] During operation of the wireless communication system 800, the first UE 802, the second UE 804, the third UE 806, the seventh UE 814, and the eighth UE 816 form a first UE group 820 ("Group A1"). In addition, the fourth UE 808, the fifth UE 810, the sixth UE 812, the seventh UE 814, and the eighth UE 816 form a second UE group 822 ("Group A2"). The first group 820 corresponds to a first DRX cycle (e.g., scheduled to communicate during the first DRX cycle), and the second group 822 corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle (e.g., scheduled to communicate during the second DRX cycle). For example, as shown in reference Figure 6 As described, the DRX cycle for a group may be based on the GroupID i The determination is made modulo N. In addition, UEs 802-819 are members of wireless network 824. The system configuration for wireless network 824 may define a third DRX cycle for broadcast messages within wireless network 824.

[0137] Due to the definition of the third DRX cycle for broadcast messages, each UE in the wireless network 824 corresponds to at least one DRX cycle. For example, UEs only in the first group 820 (e.g., UEs 802-806) correspond to a combination of the first DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX cycle for the first group 820) and the third DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX cycle for broadcast messages). UEs only in the second group 822 (e.g., UEs 808-812) correspond to a combination of the second DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX cycle for the second group 822) and the third DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX cycle for broadcast messages). UEs in both the first group 820 and the second group 822 (e.g., the seventh UE 814 and the eighth UE 816) correspond to a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle. UEs that are not part of any group (such as the ninth UE 818 (before connecting with the seventh UE 814) and the tenth UE 819) correspond to the third DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX cycle for broadcast messages). Although one or more group DRX cycles can be aligned with a third DRX cycle (e.g., a DRX cycle for broadcast messages), doing so will increase congestion on the wireless channel, so these DRX cycles are not aligned. Figure 3 or Figure 4 As described, the DRX cycle of the ninth UE 818 can be aligned with the DRX cycle of the seventh UE 814 to reduce power consumption at the seventh UE 814.

[0138] For illustration, the seventh UE 814 of the wireless network 824 may be associated with the first group 820. The first group 820 corresponds to the first DRX cycle. The seventh UE 814 may also be associated with the second group 822. The second group 822 corresponds to the second DRX cycle. The broadcast message within the wireless network 824 corresponds to the third DRX cycle. The seventh UE 814 may perform one or more communications (with other UEs) according to the fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle. The first DRX cycle includes a first DRX on time period, the second DRX cycle includes a second DRX on time period, the third DRX cycle includes a third DRX on time period, and the fourth DRX cycle includes a first DRX on time period, a second DRX on time period, and a third DRX on time period. The first DRX cycle may be determined based on the first group identifier of the first group 820 and the number of intervals in the first DRX cycle (e.g., GroupID1 modulo N). The second DRX cycle may be determined based on a second group identifier of the second group 822 and the number of intervals in the second DRX cycle (eg, GroupID2 modulo N).

[0139] In some implementations, the seventh UE 814 may receive an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the ninth UE 818 from the ninth UE 818 via a unicast transmission. The seventh UE 814 may send an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the seventh UE 814 to the ninth UE 818. The second DRX preference corresponds to at least a portion of the fourth DRX cycle (e.g., a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle). The seventh UE 814 may also receive an RRC setup completion message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the ninth UE 818. The confirmed DRX cycle overlaps at least a portion of the fourth DRX cycle. One or more communications may be performed between the seventh UE 814 and the ninth UE 818 based on the confirmed DRX cycle. In this way, the DRX cycle between the seventh UE 814 and the ninth UE 818 can be aligned with the DRX cycle of the seventh UE 814, which reduces power consumption at the seventh UE 814 (compared to adding another DRX on period to the DRX cycle of the seventh UE 814). In addition, because the ninth UE 818 is only one UE, not a UE group, aligning the DRX cycle does not significantly increase congestion on the wireless channel.

[0140] therefore, Figure 8Describes how the UE adjusts the DRX cycle when the wireless network defines a DRX cycle for broadcast messages. For example, instead of aligning the group DRX cycle with the broadcast message DRX cycle, the member group can combine its DRX cycle with the broadcast message DRX cycle. In this way, congestion on the wireless channel will not be increased.

[0141] Fig. 9 9 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 900 configured to align DRX cycles between a base station and a UE. The wireless communication system 900 includes a first UE 902, a base station 904, and a second UE 906. The first UE 902, the base station 904, and the second UE 906 may include Figure 3 Components similar to those described in the foregoing are not shown, such as processors, memory, transmitters, and receivers. Although two UEs and one base station are shown, in other implementations, the wireless communication system 900 may include more than two UEs, more than one base station, or both.

[0142] During operation of the wireless communication system 900, a first UE 902 may be associated with a base station 904. During the association process, or after the association process, the first UE 902 may exchange RRC messages 910 with the base station 904. The RRC messages 910 may include RRC connection messages, RRC reconfiguration messages, or other types of RRC messages. In addition, a second UE 906 may be associated with the first UE 902 (e.g., via a sidelink). During or after the association process, the first UE 902 and the second UE 906 may exchange RRC messages 912. The RRC messages 912 may include RRC connection messages, RRC reconfiguration messages, or other types of RRC messages.

[0143] In some implementations, the base station 904 may allocate a first DRX cycle for the first UE 902, and during association with the second UE 906, the first UE 902 may align a second DRX cycle of the second UE 906 with the first DRX cycle of the first UE 902. For example, the alignment of the DRX cycles may occur via an exchange of RRC messages 912, as described with reference to Figure 3 or reference Figure 4 As described, aligning the DRX cycle reduces power consumption at the first UE 902.

[0144] In some other implementations, the first UE 902 may align the first DRX cycle of the first UE 902 with the second DRX cycle of the second UE 906. For example, after receiving an indication of the second DRX cycle (e.g., a DRX preference included in an RRC message 912), the first UE 902 may request the base station 904 to assign the second DRX cycle to the first UE 902. For example, the first UE 902 may include the DRX preference in an RRC message 910 to the base station 904. Aligning the DRX cycles reduces power consumption at the first UE 902.

[0145] In some other implementations, the first UE 902 may operate according to two DRX cycles. For example, the first UE 902 may perform one or more communications with the base station 904 according to the first DRX cycle established by the base station 904, and the first UE 902 may perform one or more communications with the second UE 906 according to the second DRX cycle requested by the second UE 906. Although the power consumption at the first UE 902 may be increased (compared to the aligned DRX cycle), congestion on the wireless channel is reduced. In some implementations, the first UE 902 may select how to handle the DRX cycle based on the remaining power level, capability, power supply, or other parameters, as described in reference to Figure 5 as described.

[0146] For illustration, in some implementations, the first UE 902 may be associated with a base station 904. The base station 904 assigns a first DRX cycle to the first UE 902. The first UE 902 may receive an RRC request (included in an RRC message 912) including a first DRX preference at the second UE 906 from a second UE 906. The first UE 902 may send an RRC setup message (included in an RRC message 912) including a second DRX preference at the first UE 902 to the second UE 906. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle (e.g., a DRX on time period). The first UE 902 may also receive an RRC setup complete message (included in an RRC message 912) including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE 906. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. After receiving the RRC setup complete message, one or more communications may be performed between the first UE 902 and the second UE 906 according to the confirmed DRX cycle. Therefore, the first UE 902 can align the second DRX cycle with the first DRX cycle allocated by the base station 904. The RRC request may include an RRC connection request or an RRC reconfiguration request, the RRC setup message may include an RRC connection setup message or an RRC reconfiguration setup message, and the RRC setup complete message may include an RRC connection setup complete message or an RRC reconfiguration setup message.

[0147] In some other implementations, the first UE 902 may receive a second RRC request including a third DRX preference from a third UE, the third DRX preference not matching any portion of the first DRX cycle. The first UE 902 may send a first RRC message (included in an RRC message 910) including the third DRX preference to the base station 904. The first UE 902 may also receive a second RRC message (included in an RRC message 910) from the base station 904, the second RRC message allocating a second DRX cycle to the first UE 902 that matches the third DRX preference. Therefore, the first UE 902 may request the base station 904 to align the first DRX cycle with the third DRX cycle requested by the third base station.

[0148] In some other implementations, the first UE 902 may receive a third RRC request (included in the RRC message 912) including a fourth DRX preference from the fourth UE, and the fourth DRX preference does not match any part of the first DRX cycle. The first UE 902 may determine the second DRX cycle based on a combination of the first DRX cycle and the fourth DRX preference. For example, the second DRX cycle may include a combination of the first DRX cycle and the fourth DRX preference (e.g., a combination of DRX on times from the first DRX cycle and the fourth DRX preference). One or more communications may be performed between the first UE 902 and the fourth UE according to the second DRX cycle. Therefore, the first UE 902 may monitor the wireless channel according to multiple DRX cycles (e.g., using a combination of multiple DRX cycles). Although this increases power consumption at the first UE 902, congestion on the wireless channel is reduced.

[0149] therefore, Fig. 9 Various implementations of determining a DRX cycle at a UE associated with a base station and with a second UE are described. For example, the UE may align a DRX cycle of the second UE with a DRX cycle assigned by the base station to the first UE, which reduces power consumption at the UE. As another example, the UE may request the base station to align a DRX cycle assigned by the base station with a DRX cycle requested by the second UE, which reduces power consumption at the UE. As another example, the UE may monitor a wireless channel during multiple DRX cycles (e.g., a DRX cycle assigned by the base station and a DRX cycle requested by the second UE), which reduces congestion on the wireless channel.

[0150] Fig.10 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG. Fig.17 1 is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 115 includes a Figure 2 1. For example, the UE 115 includes a controller / processor 280 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 282 and to control the components of the UE 115 that provide the features and functions of the UE 115. Under the control of the controller / processor 280, the UE 115 sends and receives signals via the wireless radios 1701a-r and the antennas 252a-r. Figure 2As shown for UE 115 , wireless radio units 1701a - r include various components and hardware, including modulators / demodulators 254a - r , MIMO detector 256 , receive processor 258 , transmit processor 264 , and TX MIMO processor 266 .

[0151] At block 1000, the UE sends an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the UE to a second UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the UE 115.

[0152] At block 1001, the UE receives an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE from a second UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC reception logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC reception logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE.

[0153] At block 1002, the UE sends an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle to a second UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an RRC setup complete message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle to the second UE. In some implementations, the UE 115 may execute DRX cycle determination logic 1704 under the control of the controller / processor 280. In some such implementations, the execution environment of the DRX cycle determination logic 1704 provides functionality for determining a DRX cycle (e.g., a confirmed DRX cycle) based on the first DRX preference and the second DRX preference.

[0154] Fig.11 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0155] At block 1100, the UE sends an RRC request to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intent to perform DRX at the UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an RRC request to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intent to perform DRX at the UE.

[0156] At block 1101, the UE receives an RRC setup message from a second UE, the RRC setup message including an indication to accept DRX. The UE 115 may execute RRC reception logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC reception logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving an RRC setup message from a second UE, the RRC setup message including an indication to accept DRX.

[0157] At block 1102, the UE sends an RRC setup complete message to the second UE, the RRC setup complete message including a confirmation of the intent to perform DRX. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an RRC setup complete message to the second UE, the RRC setup complete message including a confirmation of the intent to perform DRX. In some implementations, the UE 115 may execute DRX cycle determination logic 1704 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the DRX cycle determination logic 1704 provides functionality for determining a DRX cycle to operate at the UE after the second UE accepts the execution of DRX.

[0158] Fig.12 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0159] At block 1200, a second UE (e.g., UE 115) receives a first RRC request including a first DRX preference at the first UE from a first UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC reception logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC reception logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving a first RRC request including a first DRX preference at the first UE from the first UE.

[0160] At block 1201, a second UE (e.g., UE 115) receives a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE from a third UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC reception logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC reception logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving a second RRC request including a second DRX preference at the third UE from the third UE.

[0161] At block 1202, a second UE (e.g., UE 115) sends a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the second UE to a first UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the third DRX preference. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending a first RRC setup message including a third DRX preference at the UE 115 to the first UE. The third DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX preference or the third DRX preference (e.g., the DRX on time of the third DRX preference matches the DRX on time of the first DRX preference or a portion thereof, or matches the DRX on time of the second DRX preference or a portion thereof).

[0162] At block 1203, the second UE (e.g., UE 115) sends a second RRC setup message including a third DRX preference to the third UE. The UE 115 may execute the RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending a second RRC setup message including a third DRX preference to the third UE.

[0163] Fig.13 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0164] At block 1300, the UE associates with a first UE group. The first UE group corresponds to a first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a first UE group corresponding to the first DRX cycle.

[0165] At block 1301, the UE associates with a second UE group. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a second UE group corresponding to the second DRX cycle.

[0166] At block 1302, the UE performs one or more communications according to a third DRX cycle. The third DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute the communication logic 1706 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the communication logic 1706 provides functionality for performing one or more communications according to a third DRX cycle including a combination of the first DRX cycle and the second DRX cycle (e.g., including a first DRX on period of the first DRX cycle and a second DRX on period of the second DRX cycle).

[0167] Fig.14 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0168] At block 1400, the UE is associated with a UE group. The UE group corresponds to a first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a UE group corresponding to the first DRX cycle.

[0169] At block 1401, a UE is associated with a subgroup of a group of UEs. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a subgroup of a group of UEs. The subgroup corresponds to a second DRX cycle different from the first DRX cycle.

[0170] At block 1402, the UE sends a message to each UE in the subgroup indicating a transition to a first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an indication of a transition to a first DRX cycle to each UE in the subgroup.

[0171] Fig.151 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0172] At block 1500, the UE associates with a first UE group. The first UE group corresponds to a first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a first UE group corresponding to the first DRX cycle.

[0173] At block 1501, the UE associates with a second UE group. The second UE group corresponds to a second DRX cycle. Broadcast messages within the wireless network (including the UE) correspond to a third DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute group association logic 1705 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the group association logic 1705 provides functionality for associating with a second UE group corresponding to the second DRX cycle. Broadcast messages of the wireless network (including the UE 115) correspond to the third DRX cycle.

[0174] At block 1502, the UE performs one or more communications according to a fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute the communication logic 1706 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the communication logic 1706 provides the UE 115 with functionality for performing one or more communications according to the fourth DRX cycle. The fourth DRX cycle includes a combination of the first DRX cycle, the second DRX cycle, and the third DRX cycle (e.g., a combination of the DRX on time period of the first DRX cycle, the DRX on time period of the second DRX cycle, and the DRX on time period of the third DRX cycle).

[0175] Fig.16 1 is a block diagram showing example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.17 The example blocks are described with reference to the UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0176] At block 1600, the UE associates with a base station. The base station assigns a first DRX cycle to the UE. The UE 115 may execute base station association logic 1707 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the base station association logic 1707 provides functionality for associating with a base station. The base station assigns a first DRX cycle to the UE 115.

[0177] At block 1601, the UE receives an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the second UE from a second UE. The UE 115 may execute RRC reception logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC reception logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the second UE from the second UE.

[0178] At block 1602, the UE sends an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE to the second UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute RRC transmission logic 1702 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC transmission logic 1702 provides functionality for sending an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the first UE to the second UE. The second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX on time period of the second DRX preference matches at least a portion of the DRX on time period of the first DRX cycle).

[0179] At block 1603, the UE receives an RRC setup complete message including an indication of the confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle. The UE 115 may execute RRC receive logic 1703 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the RRC receive logic 1703 provides functionality for receiving an RRC setup complete message including an indication of the confirmed DRX cycle from the second UE. The confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the first DRX cycle (e.g., the DRX on period of the confirmed DRX cycle matches at least a portion of the DRX on period of the first DRX cycle).

[0180] In some aspects, the technology for implementing DRX cycle alignment may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of the aspects described below or in combination with one or more other processes or devices described elsewhere herein. In a first aspect, the technology for implementing DRX alignment may include: sending an RRC request including a first DRX preference at the first UE to a second UE from a first UE. The technology of the first aspect may also include: receiving an RRC setup message including a second DRX preference at the second UE from the second UE at the first UE. The technology of the first aspect may also include: sending an RRC setup completion message including an indication of a confirmed DRX cycle from the first UE to the second UE. In some examples, the technology of the first aspect may be implemented in a method or process. In some other examples, the technology of the first aspect may be implemented in a wireless communication device (such as a UE or a component of a UE). In some examples, the wireless communication device may include at least one processing unit or system (which may include an application processor, a modem, or other component) and at least one memory device coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit may be configured to perform the operations described herein with respect to the wireless communication device. In some examples, the memory device includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, which, when executed by the processing unit, is configured to cause the wireless communication device to perform the operations described herein.

[0181] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, the technique includes performing one or more communications between a first UE and a second UE based on the confirmed DRX cycle.

[0182] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to second aspects, the RRC request includes an RRC connection request or an RRC reconfiguration request.

[0183] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the technology includes: determining a confirmed DRX cycle based on the first DRX preference and the second DRX preference.

[0184] In a fifth aspect, in combination with the fourth aspect, the confirmed DRX cycle includes at least a portion of an overlap between the first DRX preference and the second DRX preference.

[0185] In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, sending an RRC request, receiving an RRC establishment message, and sending an RRC establishment completion message are performed during a unicast messaging process between a first UE and a second UE.

[0186] In the seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more aspects of the first to sixth aspects, the technology includes: sending a second RRC request including a third DRX preference at the first UE from a first UE to a third UE; receiving a second RRC establishment message including an indication of rejection of establishment from the third UE at the first UE; and terminating the unicast messaging process between the first UE and the third UE.

[0187] In an eighth aspect, a technique for implementing DRX alignment may include: sending an RRC request from a first UE to a second UE, the RRC request including an indication of an intention to perform DRX at the first UE. The technique of the eighth aspect may also include: receiving an RRC setup message from a second UE at the first UE, the RRC setup message including an indication of accepting DRX. The technique of the eighth aspect may also include: sending an RRC setup completion message from the first UE to the second UE, the RRC setup completion message including a confirmation of the intention to perform DRX. In some examples, the technique of the eighth aspect may be implemented in a method or process. In some other examples, the technique of the eighth aspect may be implemented in a wireless communication device (such as a UE or a component of a UE). In some examples, the wireless communication device may include at least one processing unit or system (which may include an application processor, a modem, or other component) and at least one memory device coupled to the processing unit. The processing unit may be configured to perform the operations described herein with respect to the wireless communication device. In some examples, the memory device includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a program code stored thereon, and the program code, when executed by the processing unit, is configured to cause the wireless communication device to perform the operations described herein.

[0188] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with the eighth aspect, the RRC request comprises an RRC connection request or an RRC reconfiguration request.

[0189] In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of aspects seven to nine, the technology includes: at a first UE, performing DRX according to a DRX cycle determined based on a specific identifier and a number of intervals in the DRX cycle.

[0190] In an eleventh aspect, in combination with the tenth aspect, the number of intervals in the DRX cycle is preconfigured at a system level, and the DRX cycle is determined based on a formula comprising the following: a specific identifier modulo the number of intervals in the DRX cycle.

[0191] In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the tenth to eleventh aspects, the specific identifier includes an identifier of the first UE.

[0192] In a thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the tenth to eleventh aspects, the specific identifier includes an identifier of the second UE.

[0193] In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the tenth to eleventh aspects, the specific identifier is based on a connection identifier between the first UE and the second UE.

[0194] In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the tenth to eleventh aspects, the specific identifier is specified by a wireless standard.

[0195] In a sixteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the tenth to fifteenth aspects, the technology includes: performing one or more communications between a first UE and a second UE according to a DRX cycle.

[0196] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0197] The functional blocks and modules described herein (eg, Figure 2 The functional blocks and modules in the present invention may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof. In addition, the features discussed in this document in relation to 1-17 may be implemented via dedicated processor circuits, via executable instructions, and / or a combination thereof.

[0198] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps (e.g., Figure 1-16The logic blocks in the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above around their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in an alternative manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also easily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods or interactions described herein are only examples, and components, methods or interactions of various aspects of the present disclosure can be combined or executed in a manner different from those shown and described herein.

[0199] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such structure.

[0200] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the disclosure herein can be embodied in hardware, a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software module can be located in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. The ASIC can be located in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium can also be present in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0201] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented with software, the functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that promotes the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general or special purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or can be used to carry or store a desired program code unit with an instruction or data structure form and can be accessed by a general or special purpose computer, or a general or special purpose processor. In addition, connection can be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, a server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair or a digital subscriber line (DSL), then the coaxial cable, the optical fiber cable, the twisted pair or the DSL are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), hard disks, solid-state disks, and Blu-ray disks, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical disks reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0202] As used herein, including in the claims, the term "and / or," when used with a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be used alone, or any combination of two or more of the listed items may be used. For example, if a complex is described as containing components A, B, and / or C, the complex may contain: only A; only B; only C; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. Furthermore, as used herein, including in the claims, "or," as used in a list of items ending with "at least one of," indicates a disjunctive list, such that, for example, the list "at least one of A, B, or C" means: any one of A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or any combination thereof.

[0203] The previous description of the present disclosure is provided so that those skilled in the art can implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the overall principles defined herein may also be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but to be given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: transmitting, from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE; receiving, at the first UE from the second UE, an indication of a DRX cycle to be used by the first UE and the second UE; as well as Communicate with the second UE at the first UE according to the DRX cycle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: communicating with the second UE using a unicast connection between the first UE and the third UE, and The receiving the indication of the DRX cycle includes receiving parameters for establishing the unicast connection.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Sending the first DRX preference and receiving the indication of the DRX cycle are performed via sidelink communication between the first UE and the second UE.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first DRX preference indicates a preferred DRX alignment.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The DRX cycle is selected to at least partially overlap with the preferred DRX alignment.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Sending the first DRX preference includes sending a first radio resource control (RRC) message including the first DRX preference; as well as Receiving the DRX cycle includes receiving a second RRC message including the indication of the DRX cycle.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The first RRC message includes an RRC request; and The second RRC message includes an RRC establishment message.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The first RRC message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request or an RRC reconfiguration request.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending, from the first UE to a third UE, a third DRX preference at the first UE; receiving, at the first UE, a rejection of establishment from the third UE; as well as The unicast messaging process between the first UE and the third UE is terminated.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein: The first DRX preference is based on a reference time negotiated between the first UE and the second UE, and The second DRX preference is based on the reference time.

11. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; as well as A memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: transmitting, from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE; receiving, at the first UE from the second UE, an indication of a DRX cycle to be used by the first UE and the second UE; and Communicate with the second UE at the first UE according to the DRX cycle.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein communicating with the second UE using a unicast connection between the first UE and the third UE, and The receiving the indication of the DRX cycle includes receiving parameters for establishing the unicast connection.

13. The device according to claim 11, wherein: Sending the first DRX preference and receiving the indication of the DRX cycle are performed via sidelink communication between the first UE and the second UE.

14. The device according to claim 11, wherein: The first DRX preference indicates a preferred DRX alignment.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein: The DRX cycle is selected to at least partially overlap with the preferred DRX alignment.

16. The device according to claim 11, wherein: Sending the first DRX preference includes sending a first radio resource control (RRC) message including the first DRX preference; as well as Receiving the DRX cycle includes receiving a second RRC message including the indication of the DRX cycle.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The first RRC message includes an RRC request; and The second RRC message includes an RRC establishment message.

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The first RRC message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request or an RRC reconfiguration request.

19. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: sending, from the first UE to a third UE, a third DRX preference at the first UE; receiving, at the first UE, a rejection of establishment from the third UE; as well as The unicast messaging process between the first UE and the third UE is terminated.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: transmitting, from a first user equipment (UE) to a second UE, a first discontinuous reception (DRX) preference at the first UE; receiving, at the first UE from the second UE, an indication of a DRX cycle to be used by the first UE and the second UE; as well as Communicate with the second UE at the first UE according to the DRX cycle.

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