Network resource allocation for energy limited devices

Abstract

The described techniques generally relate to network resource allocation for energy limited devices. Energy limited devices may use shortened discontinuous reception (DRX) intervals to reduce their energy consumption. To use a shortened DRX interval to provide sufficient quality of service (QoS) to energy limited devices, a network controller may use the disclosed techniques to use the shortened DRX interval to greedy allocate available transmission slots to the devices. The network controller may also apply the disclosed techniques to balance the needs of other devices by allocating some transmission slots to the other devices.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Non - Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 18 / 052,617, filed on Nov. 4, 2022, and entitled "NETWORK RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR ENERGY - CONSTRAINED DEVICES", the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] This application generally relates to cellular networks, e.g., for allocating transmission time slots to user equipment connected to a cellular network, and related embodiments. BACKGROUND ART

[0004] Fifth - generation (5G) and subsequent - generation cellular networks support faster data delivery to an increasingly diverse set of user equipment (UE) devices. Certain UEs are data - hungry and energy - constrained. For example, an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV), also known as an aerial, land, or underwater drone, can be equipped with data - hungry applications, e.g., an application that captures and transmits real - time surveillance video. At the same time, such UEs may also have weight and size constraints that limit their available battery capacity and corresponding available energy.

[0005] AGVs and other data - hungry, energy - constrained UEs can benefit from improved techniques to reduce the energy consumption associated with their network transmissions, especially if such energy - saving techniques can maintain an adequate quality of service (QoS) to support UE applications. Among other benefits, techniques for reducing energy consumption can increase the time interval between battery recharges, thereby improving the productivity of the UE and the associated enterprise.

[0006] The foregoing background is merely intended to provide an overview of some current issues and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other context information may become more apparent upon review of the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The techniques described herein are illustrated by way of example and are not limited to the drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like elements and in which:

[0008] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein;

[0009] Figure 2 An example interaction between a controller, a network node, and a UE is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0010] Figure 3 Examples of different discontinuous reception (DRX) intervals used by different UEs, and scheduling options that can be used to allocate resources to different UEs, are shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0011] Figure 4 A flowchart showing example operations that can be performed by a controller in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0012] Figure 5 An example system including a controller, a serving bell, and a UE is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0013] Figure 6 An example is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein Figure 5 of an example interaction between the controller, the serving bell, and the UE introduced in

[0014] Figure 7 An example creation of different allocation scenarios that improve UE energy efficiency while meeting UE QoS is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0015] Figure 8 A flowchart showing a fast response resource allocation technique for a dynamic environment in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0016] Figure 9 A flowchart of a first example, non-limiting computer-implemented method for allocating resources to a UE that is energy-constrained based on the UE DRX interval, as demonstrated by the UE DRX interval, in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0017] Figure 10 A flowchart of a second example, non-limiting computer-implemented method for allocating resources to a UE that is energy-constrained based on the UE DRX interval, as demonstrated by the UE DRX interval, in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0018] Figure 11 A flowchart of a third example, non-limiting computer-implemented method for allocating resources to a UE that is energy-constrained based on the UE DRX interval, as demonstrated by the UE DRX interval, in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

[0019] Figure 12 A block diagram of an example computer operable to provide any of the various devices described herein is shown. Detailed Description

[0020] One or more embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are always used to refer to like elements. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It will be more apparent, however, that the various embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, the various embodiments may be practiced without applying any particular Internet environment or standard. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a more detailed description of the embodiments.

[0021] Example embodiments relate to network resource allocation for energy-constrained devices. Energy-constrained devices may use shortened discontinuous reception (DRX) intervals to reduce their energy consumption. To provide sufficient quality of service (QoS) to energy-constrained devices using shortened DRX intervals, a network controller greedily allocates available transmission time slots to devices using shortened DRX intervals. The network controller may also balance the demands among other devices by allocating some transmission time slots to other devices. Further aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below.

[0022] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. The example wireless communication system 100 includes a (plurality of) communication service provider networks 110, which includes a controller 111, network nodes 131, and user equipment (UE) 132, user equipment 133. A backhaul link 120 connects the (plurality of) communication service provider networks 110 and the network nodes 131. The network nodes 131 may communicate with the UEs 132, 133 within a service area 130. The dashed arrows from the network nodes 131 to the UEs 132, 133 represent downlink (DL) to the UEs 132, 133. The solid arrows from the UEs 132, 133 to the network nodes 131 represent uplink (UL) communication.

[0023] Generally, reference Figure 1, the non - restrictive term "user equipment" can refer to any type of device that can communicate with node 131 in a cellular or mobile communication system 100. UE132, UE 133 can have one or more antenna panels with vertical or horizontal elements. Examples of UE 132, UE 133 include target devices, device - to - device (D2D) UEs, machine - type UEs or UEs capable of machine - to - machine (M2M) communication, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, mobile terminals, smart phones, laptop - mounted devices (LMEs), universal serial bus (USB) dongles enabled for mobile communication, computers with mobility capabilities, mobile devices such as cellular phones, laptop computers with laptop - embedded devices (LEEs, such as mobile broadband adapters), tablet computers with mobile broadband adapters, wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, head - up display (HUD) devices, smart vehicles, machine - type communication (MTC) devices, augmented reality head - mounted displays, etc. UE 132, UE133 can also include Internet of Things (IoT) devices for wireless communication.

[0024] In various embodiments, system 100 includes (a plurality of) communication service provider networks 110 served by one or more wireless communication network providers. (A plurality of) communication service providers 110 can include a "core network". In an example embodiment, UE 132, UE 133 can be communicatively coupled to (a plurality of) communication service provider networks via network node 131. (A plurality of) communication service providers 110, for example, a controller 111 can provide settings, parameters, and other controller information to network node 131, and network node 131 can configure the communication between network node 131 and UE 132, UE 133. In some embodiments, controller 111 can include a Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (RIC), and the RAN controller can be adapted to perform the functions described herein.

[0025] Network node 131 can communicate with UE 132, UE 133 to provide connectivity between UE 132, UE 133 and a wider cellular network. UE 132, UE 133 can send transmission - type recommendation data to network node 131. The transmission - type recommendation data can include: recommendations for transmitting data via a closed - loop multiple - input multiple - output (MIMO) mode and / or a rank - 1 precoder mode.

[0026] The network node 131 may have a chassis and other protected enclosures, computing devices, antenna poles, and multiple antennas for performing various transmission operations (e.g., MIMO operations) and for steering / guiding signal beams. The network node 131 may include one or more base station devices that implement the features of the network node. The network node may serve several cells, depending on the configuration and type of the antennas. In an example embodiment, the UEs 132, 133 may send and / or receive communication data via a wireless link to the network node 1313.

[0027] The communication service provider network 110 may facilitate the provision of wireless communication services to the UEs 132, 133 via the network node 131 and / or various additional network devices (not shown) included in one or more communication service provider networks 110. One or more communication service provider networks 110 may include various types of different networks, including but not limited to: cellular networks, femto networks, pico-cellular networks, micro-cellular networks, Internet Protocol (IP) networks, Wi-Fi service networks, broadband service networks, enterprise networks, cloud-based networks, millimeter wave networks, etc. For example, in at least one implementation, the system 100 may be or include a large-scale wireless communication network spanning various geographical regions. According to this implementation, one or more communication service provider networks 110 may be or include a wireless communication network, and / or various additional devices and components in a wireless communication network (e.g., additional network devices and cellular, additional UEs, network service devices, etc.).

[0028] The network node 131 may be connected to one or more communication service provider networks 110 via one or more backhaul links 120. One or more backhaul links 120 may include wired link components, such as T1 / E1 telephone lines, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) (e.g., synchronous or asynchronous), Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), fiber optic backbones, coaxial cables, etc. One or more backhaul links 120 may also include wireless link components, such as but not limited to: Line-of-Sight (LOS) or non-LOS links, which may include: terrestrial air interfaces or deep space links (e.g., satellite communication links for navigation). In some embodiments, the backhaul link 120 may be implemented via a "transport network". In another embodiment, the network node 131 may be part of an integrated access and backhaul network. This may allow for easier deployment of a dense network of self-backhauling 5G cells in a more integrated manner by building on top of many of the control and data channels / steps defined for providing access to the UEs 132, 133.

[0029] The wireless communication network 100 may employ various cellular systems, technologies, and modulation modes to facilitate wireless radio communication between devices (e.g., UEs 132, 133, and network node 131). Although example embodiments may be described for 5G New Radio (NR) systems, these embodiments may be applicable to any radio access technology (RAT) or multi-RAT system in which a UE is adapted to operate using multiple carriers, e.g., LTE FDD / TDD, GSM / GERAN, CDMA 2000, etc.

[0030] For example, the system 100 may operate according to any 5G, next-generation communication technology, or existing communication technology, various examples of which are listed above. In this regard, various features and functions of the system 100 may apply to the devices of the system 100 (e.g., UEs 132, 133, and network node 131) in cases where the devices of the system 100 are configured to transmit wireless signals using one or more multi-carrier modulation schemes, where data symbols may be transmitted simultaneously over multiple frequency sub-carriers (e.g., OFDM, CP-OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM, UFMC, FBMC, etc.). These embodiments apply to single-carrier as well as multi-carrier (MC) or carrier aggregation (CA) operation of the UE. The term carrier aggregation (CA) is also referred to as (e.g., interchangeably referred to as) "multi-carrier system", "multi-cell operation", "multi-carrier operation", "multi-carrier" transmission and / or reception. Note that some embodiments also apply to multi-RAB (radio bearer) on some carriers (i.e., scheduling data plus voice simultaneously).

[0031] In various embodiments, the system 100 may be configured to provide and utilize 5G or next-generation wireless network features and functions. It is desirable for 5G wireless communication networks to meet the demand for exponentially growing data traffic and to allow people and machines to enjoy gigabit data rates with near-zero (e.g., single-digit milliseconds) latency. Compared to 4G, 5G supports a more diverse set of service scenarios. For example, in addition to various types of data communication between traditional UEs (e.g., phones, smartphones, tablets, PCs, TVs, Internet-enabled TVs, AR / VR headsets (HMDs), etc.) supported by 4G networks, 5G networks may be employed to support data communication between smart vehicles associated with a driverless vehicle environment, as well as machine-type communication (MTC). Given the significantly different communication requirements of these different service scenarios, the ability to dynamically configure waveform parameters based on the service scenario while maintaining the benefits of multi-carrier modulation schemes (e.g., OFDM and related schemes) may provide a significant contribution to the high-speed / capacity and low-latency requirements of 5G networks. By using a waveform that divides the bandwidth into several sub-bands, different types of services may be accommodated in different sub-bands with the most suitable waveform and numerology, resulting in improved spectrum utilization for 5G networks.

[0032] To meet the requirements of data center applications, the characteristics of a 5G network can include: increased peak bit rate (e.g., 20 Gbps), greater data volume per unit area (e.g., high system spectral efficiency - e.g., approximately 3.5 times the spectral efficiency of a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system), high capacity to simultaneously and instantaneously allow more device connectivity, lower battery / power consumption (which reduces energy and consumption costs), better connectivity regardless of the geographical area where the user is located, a larger number of devices, lower infrastructure development costs, and higher communication reliability. Thus, a 5G network can allow: supporting data rates of tens of megabits per second for tens of thousands of users, while providing a data rate of 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers in the same office building; for example, supporting hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections for large-scale sensor deployments; improved coverage, enhanced signaling efficiency; and reduced latency compared to LTE.

[0033] The 5G access network can utilize higher frequencies (e.g., > 6 GHz) to help increase capacity. Currently, most of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, i.e., the spectrum band between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, is not fully utilized. Millimeter waves have shorter wavelengths ranging from 10 millimeters to 1 millimeter, and these mmWave signals experience severe path loss, penetration loss, and fading. However, the shorter wavelengths at mmWave frequencies also allow more antennas to be packed in the same physical dimension, which allows for large-scale spatial multiplexing and high-directional beamforming.

[0034] If both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, performance can be improved. Multiple-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rate and reliability of a wireless communication system. The use of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology is a multiple-antenna technique that has been introduced and used in 3GPP (including being used with LTE). This multiple-antenna technique can improve the spectral efficiency of transmission, thus significantly increasing the overall data-carrying capacity of a wireless system. The use of MIMO technology can improve mmWave communication and has been widely regarded as a potentially important component of access networks operating at higher frequencies. MIMO can be used to achieve diversity gain, spatial multiplexing gain, and beamforming gain. For these reasons, MIMO systems are an important part of third-generation and fourth-generation wireless systems and are used in 5G systems.

[0035] Figure 2 An example interaction between a controller, a network node, and a UE according to one or more embodiments described herein is shown. Figure 2 Includes controller 200, network node 210, and UEs 220, 230. Controller 200 can implement Figure 1 the controller 111 introduced inFigure 1 the network node 131 described in Figure 1 and the UEs 132, 133 described in

[0036] The UE 220 includes DRX data 221, and the DRX data 221 can be provided to the controller 200 via the network node 210. Similarly, the UE 230 includes DRX data 231, and the DRX data 231 can be provided to the controller 200 via the network node 210.

[0037] The controller 200 can process the DRX data 221, the DRX data 231, and other data described herein to generate resource allocation data 211. The controller 200 can provide the resource allocation data 211 to the network node 210, and the network node 210 can optionally provide the resource allocation data 211 to the UEs 220, 230.

[0038] The network node 210 can use the resource allocation data 211 to allocate resources, such as transmission time slots, to the UEs 220, 230. The resources allocated to the UE 220 can be used in conjunction with the UE 220 transmission 225, and the resources allocated to the UE 230 can be used in conjunction with the UE 230 transmission 235. The transmission 225 can include, for example, calls, texts, and data sent between the network node 210 and the UE 220. Similarly, the transmission 235 can include, for example, calls, texts, and data sent between the network node 210 and the UE 230.

[0039] The UEs 220, 230 can also use the resource allocation data 211. The UE 220 can use the resources allocated to the UE 220 via the resource allocation data 211 in conjunction with the UE 220 transmission 225, and the UE 230 can use the resources allocated to the UE 230 via the resource allocation data 211 in conjunction with the UE 230 transmission 235.

[0040] Figure 3 Examples of different discontinuous reception (DRX) intervals used by different UEs and scheduling options that can be used to allocate resources to different UEs are shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 3 include a first DRX interval 310 used by a first UE called UE 1 and a second DRX interval 320 used by a second UE called UE 2. Figure 3 also include an example scheduling option 350, an example scheduling option 360, and an example scheduling option 370.

[0041] The first UE (UE 1) can implement, for example Figure 2The UE 220 introduced in Figure 2 and the first DRX interval 310 may represent DRX data 221. A second UE (UE 2) may implement, for example, the UE 230 introduced in

[0042] The first DRX interval 310 and the second DRX interval 320 include different numbers of transmission time slots 331 to 340 during which respective UEs (UE 1 and UE 2) may transmit data. The DRX interval 310 includes four time slots 331 to 340 during which UE 1 may transmit, and the DRX interval 320 includes seven time slots 331 to 340 during which UE 2 may transmit. Additionally, there are three overlapping time slots 331 to 340 during which both UE 1 and UE 2 may transmit. A UE with limited energy resources (e.g., UE 1) may use a shorter DRX interval (e.g., the first DRX interval 310) as a technique for saving energy associated with UE 1 transmission. A UE not constrained by energy (e.g., UE 2) may use a longer DRX interval, such as the second DRX interval 320.

[0043] Each of the scheduling options 350, 360, and 370 allocates some of the transmission time slots 331 to 340 to UE 1 and others of the transmission time slots 331 to 340 to UE 2. The network node 210 and UE 220 or 230 may apply the scheduling option 350, scheduling option 360, or scheduling option 370 by performing uplink or downlink transmission during the transmission time slots allocated to UE 220 or 230. The transmission may be performed in repeated DRX cycles, and the start of the next DRX cycle 325 may follow each DRX cycle.

[0044] In one aspect, the present invention includes QoS fair resource allocation for use in conjunction with energy-constrained ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) devices. The method according to the present disclosure may utilize UE DRX configuration and may greedily allocate consecutive transmission time slots 331 to 340 to the same UE, such as UE 1, to proactively transmit the data of UE 1 and allow UE 1 to enter a sleep mode in order to save energy / battery life.

[0045] While performing energy-efficient resource allocation, the method provided herein can also calculate the risk of violating the QoS of other unscheduled devices such as UE2, which may have a longer battery life or otherwise less urgent energy constraints. The DRX interval data 310, DRX interval data 320 can be supplemented by the reported buffer status, packet delay budget, and channel conditions, as well as other key performance indicators (KPIs), which the controller 200 can use to determine a scheduling option that balances long-term fair resource allocation among the connected devices (such as UE 1 and UE 2) and energy-saving gains for battery-constrained devices such as UE 1. Embodiments of the present disclosure can enhance existing fair resource allocation methods, such as the round-robin method, which ignores the varying battery capabilities or other energy constraints among UEs, resulting in increased service downtime when a constrained UE (such as UE 1) goes out of service to recharge.

[0046] In some embodiments, the techniques disclosed herein can be applied to dedicated 5G networks, although other networks can also benefit from the techniques disclosed herein. In a dedicated 5G network environment, network devices including the controller 200, network node 210, and UEs 220, 230 can include dedicated 5G network devices.

[0047] A dedicated 5G network can include data-hungry applications at energy-constrained UEs, such as an AGV suitable for performing real-time video surveillance. As the demand for higher-quality video increases, such as for ultra-high definition (UHD), three-dimensional (3D), or virtual reality (VR) applications, more data is sent uplink from each UE, which requires more air interface resources. This high resource demand further increases during high-load situations, where UEs can monitor the spectrum of the serving cell but may be granted fewer air interface resources, which reduces the energy efficiency of the UEs.

[0048] The above factors can increase UE energy consumption, reduce the talk time of UEs such as AGVs, and force the operator to take the UE out of service for recharging, which can affect enterprise productivity. For this reason, resource allocation techniques such as those disclosed herein can reduce or minimize UE energy consumption while achieving fair QoS satisfaction among UEs.

[0049] The 3GPP protocol relies on DRX, which allows the UE to enter a sleep mode (DRX off state) and wake up periodically (DRX on state) to check for transmissions permitted by the serving cell. Wireless scheduling techniques such as fair resource allocation inherit the round-robin approach from computer networks. Round-robin prioritizes the least recently scheduled UE and picks the least frequently scheduled UE for each time slot. While round-robin can achieve resource fairness, due to the small number of allocated time slots, it may result in low energy efficiency for UEs with short DRX durations. Additionally, the arrival of data bursts during the DRX off duration can increase the risk of QoS violations and not meet the packet delay budget of energy-constrained UEs that employ short DRX on durations. Mobile operators also tend to configure different DRX profiles to reflect device capabilities and services, and thus round-robin-based fair resource allocation may be suboptimal for energy-constrained UEs.

[0050] Embodiments of the present disclosure may improve the round-robin type resource allocation method by applying fair uplink data scheduling that greedily allocates resources to energy-constrained UEs during the DRX on duration of consecutive time slots while making predictions at future time slots to ensure that the QoS of unscheduled UEs is satisfied.

[0051] Embodiments may apply DRX duration-aware scheduling, which may actively increase or maximize the resource allocation to a UE (e.g., UE 1) during the DRX on duration of the UE to increase the energy efficiency of UE 1 and reduce or minimize the risk of delay violations when the packet deadline coincides with the DRX off state of UE 1. This method improves the existing method of performing resource allocation on a time-slot basis among UEs in a round-robin fashion, and thus a UE may be allocated during a small fraction of its DRX on duration, forcing the UE to stay and consume more energy while waiting to be granted more resources.

[0052] Embodiments may be further configured to achieve long-term QoS fairness for connected UEs. Embodiments may pre-check the risk of violating the QoS fairness of unscheduled UEs (e.g., UE 2) due to the greedy allocation to UE 1. Thus, UEs with a high risk of QoS violations may be prioritized along with energy-constrained UEs. This may be achieved by constructing multiple scenarios, each including multi-level time-slot allocations, and the method may pick the scenario that reduces or minimizes the total energy used by the energy-constrained UE 1 on future time slots without violating the QoS levels of other UEs such as UE 2. Even if such a grant of all resources violates the packet delay budget of an energy-constrained UE with a long DRX off duration, this method may improve the method that can consider the next time slot to decide the highest-priority UE and grant all resources to that UE.

[0053] UEs (e.g., UE 1 and UE 2) with different DRX configurations may have different DRX on durations and different slot indices indicating transmission time slots 331 to 340 included in the DRX on duration. UE 1 is energy - constrained and thus has a shorter DRX on duration than UE 2.

[0054] Scheduling option 350 is the result of cyclic resource allocation between UE 1 and UE 2. Scheduling option 350 results in 50% energy efficiency for UE1 (2 out of 4 transmission time slots 331 to 340). UE 1 may require two additional transmission time slots 331 to 340 to meet the requirements of UE 1. After seven transmission time slots 331 to 340, additional transmission time slots 331 to 340 may be granted to UE 1 in the next DRX cycle 325, resulting in additional latency for UE 1 traffic.

[0055] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, scheduling option 360 is the result of prioritizing UE 1 during the DRX on duration of four continuous transmission time slots of UE1. Scheduling option 360 increases the energy efficiency of UE 1 and meets the QoS of the energy - constrained UE 1 with a short DRX on duration.

[0056] Scheduling option 370 is the result of further enhancing scheduling option 360 to address potential latency to other UEs (i.e., UE 2). Scheduling option 360 can be used if postponing the transmission time slot allocation to UE 2 according to scheduling option 360 does not violate the packet delay budget of UE2. However, if postponing the transmission time slot allocation to UE 2 according to scheduling option 360 will violate the packet delay budget of UE2, then scheduling option 370 can be pre - calculated to prevent such a violation. Scheduling option 370 represents a reduction in the transmission time slots reserved for UE 1, where UE 1 is allocated a reduced number of transmission time slots (three transmission time slots in this example), thus preventing the greedy energy - saving allocation for UE 1 according to scheduling option 360 from violating the packet delay budget of other UEs such as UE 2.

[0057] Figure 4 is a flowchart of example operations that can be performed by a controller, shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 4 The operations shown can be performed, for example, by a controller 200 such as Figure 2 shown, to generate resource allocation data 211 representing a scheduling option such as scheduling option 360 or scheduling option 370.

[0058] At 402, the controller 200 may retrieve the configured DRX on-duration for each UE. The controller 200 may also retrieve the required UL data volume and packet delay budget for each UE. At 404, the controller 200 may calculate the number of time slots required to serve the needs of each UE based on the current DRX configuration, as well as the expected total delay to serve the entire demand. At 406, for UEs with short DRX on-durations, the controller 200 may pre-calculate the amount of resources (e.g., transmission time slots) to serve the traffic requested by the UE. At 408, the controller 200 may calculate the potential violation of the packet delay budget for other UEs (with long DRX on-durations). These other UEs may be granted minimal resources to avoid QoS violations. At 410, after optionally reserving time slots for other UEs, the controller 200 may allocate a number of continuous transmission time slots to the UEs with short DRX on. At 412, based on the estimated number of continuous time slots required to meet the delay budget of the UE, the controller 200 may minimize the DRX on-duration of the UEs with short DRX on.

[0059] In an embodiment, Figure 4 illustrates the operation of a controller 510 in a system such as Figure 5 shown to achieve fair resource allocation and energy savings for uplink delay-sensitive applications at UEs 530, 540. At 402, the controller 510 may retrieve the UE-configured DRX data from the serving cell 525. The DRX data may in particular include DRX on-offset information, which includes the time slots at which UEs 530, 540 switch from DRX off to DRX on state and become available to receive uplink grants and transmit data. The DRX data may also include DRX on-duration information representing the total number of time slots that UEs 530, 540 stay in the DRX on state.

[0060] At 404, the controller 510 may estimate the number of time slots and the corresponding total estimated delay to deliver uplink data to UE 530. The controller 510 may use KPIs including, for example, the uplink buffer size reported by UE 530 over the air interface as part of the buffer status report (BSR) for UE 530; the uplink channel spectral efficiency calculated based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selected for UE 530; and / or the total available bandwidth of the uplink, which may be retrieved by the controller 510 from the cell duplex configuration (e.g., frequency division duplex (FDD) bandwidth, time division duplex (TDD) time slot pattern, etc.).

[0061] At 408, the controller 510 may retrieve the packet delay budget information from the 5G QoS identifier (5QI) configuration that may be obtained from the 5G core network or from the serving cell 525. By referring toFigure 5 and Figure 6 can be understood Figure 4 in other aspects.

[0062] Figure 5 An example system including a controller, a serving cell, and a UE is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 5 Includes a controller 510, a distributed unit (DU) / central unit (CU) 520 including a serving cell 525, a UE 1530 associated with a short DRX on-duration, and a UE 2540 associated with a long DRX on-duration. The controller 510 is connected to the DU / CU 520 via an E2 or O1 interface.

[0063] In Figure 5 it, the controller 510 may implement Figure 2 the controller 200 introduced in Figure 2 it, the serving cell 525 may implement Figure 2 the network node 210 introduced in

[0064] Figure 6 An example interaction among the controller 510, the serving cell 525, and the UE 530 introduced in Figure 5 it is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 6 An example signaling among the controller 510, the serving cell 525, and the UE 530 is shown. The arrows extending downward from each of the controller 510, the serving cell 525, and the UE 530 represent the timeline such that the events occurring above occur before the events occurring below.

[0065] As a prerequisite for performing the operations shown, UE 530 is radio resource control (RRC) connected to its serving cell 525, has QoS-constrained traffic, and is configured for DRX. At 602, UE 530 may send a buffer status report (BSR) to serving cell 525. At 604, serving cell 525 may send the BSR, as well as DRX configuration information related to UE 530, packet delay information related to UE 530, and UL channel condition information related to UE 530, to controller 510. At 606, controller 510 may optionally apply a long-term fairness allocation algorithm to UE 530, which greedily allocates resources to UE 530 while also allocating sufficient resources to other UEs to meet the respective packet delay budgets of UE 530 and the other UEs. At 608, controller 510 may send resource allocation data 608 to serving cell 525. Resource allocation data 608 may include the output of the long-term fairness allocation algorithm and may include a plurality of continuous transmission time slots allocated to UE 530, as well as other time slots allocated to other UEs. At 612, serving cell 525 may apply resource allocation data 608 in transmissions involving UE 530, such as by repeatedly applying data allocation 612 to UE 530 transmissions.

[0066] Figure 7 Examples of creating different allocation scenarios that satisfy UE QoS while improving UE energy efficiency are shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 7 Devices in a number of duration windows t = 0, t = 1, t = 2, … t = T are shown, including UE 1, UE 2, … UE n. Example scenario 1 is indicated.

[0067] According to Figure 7 Embodiments can utilize the predictability of user traffic and channels to derive long-term allocation strategies. In the illustrated embodiment, a controller such as controller 510 may create different allocation schemes for window T that satisfy the QoS of multiple different UEs, while also increasing or maximizing UE energy efficiency by increasing the allocation during the UE DRX on duration, and achieving fair resource allocation among UEs. Each scenario may correspond to a series of possible UE to time slot allocations over allocation window T, which also takes into account the UE buffer status and the UE DRX on state. Controller 510 may evaluate different scenarios, and controller 510 may select a scenario for execution in the upcoming allocation window T.

[0068] For scheduling window T, according to Figure 7 the method can create different scheduling scenarios (Si) for UEs for time slot allocation. And x j，t= 1 if UE j is scheduled in time slot t, otherwise = 0. Then, the controller 510 may choose to implement long-term fairness using a min-to-max approach, achieve UE energy efficiency, satisfy the QoS of all UEs, and / or allow scenarios allocated in the DRX-on state.

[0069] In an example, the scenario of implementing long-term fairness using a min-to-max approach may be determined as the following scenario:

[0070]

[0071] The scenario of achieving UE energy efficiency may be determined as the scenario of minimizing the probability of the DRX-on duration using the data in the UE buffer (y j，t = 1) and the corresponding UE is not scheduled:

[0072]

[0073] The scenario of satisfying the QoS of all UEs may be determined as the scenario of ensuring that the time taken to transmit UL data is within the packet delay budget:

[0074]

[0075] The scenario of allowing allocation in the DRX-on state may be determined as the following scenario:

[0076] (z j，t = 1): x j，t ≤ z j，t

[0077] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating an example operation of a fast response resource allocation technique for a dynamic environment is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 8 Represents different embodiments different from the embodiments according to Figure 7 wherein short-term energy-saving fair allocation is performed according to the embodiments of Figure 8 which can override previous decisions to avoid QoS violations for sporadic, aperiodic user requests. The embodiments according to Figure 8 may be performed, for example, when long-term allocation is subject to high uncertainty, such as in the case of a highly dynamic environment where UE traffic or channel conditions are time-varying (or aperiodic). The method according to Figure 8 may be performed at each transmission time interval (TTI), and in the case of QoS violations of any other device, the previously pre-allocated time slots of energy-constrained UEs may optionally be rewritten. To achieve fair resource allocation, the method according to Figure 8 may use a combined utility of the DRX-on state and the total number of time slots allocated in the last allocation window to sort the UEs

[0078] At 802, at scheduling time slot (x), the controller 510 may sort the UEs in ascending order based on the number of remaining time slots in the DRX-on duration of the UE. At 804, the controller 510 may initiate processing for each UE i for which time slot x is not reserved for other UEs. At 806, the controller 510 may estimate the time slots required by UEi as t = buffer size / bandwidth / spectral efficiency / time slot duration on.

[0079] At 808, the controller 510 may initiate processing for each UE j (j≠i), i.e., the UEs other than UEi. At 810, if the current packet delay of UE j + t > packet delay budget, the controller 510 may proceed to 812. At 812, the controller 510 may reduce t by (packet delay budget - current packet delay), and the controller 510 may rewrite the reservation in time slot x. Finally, at 814, the controller 510 may reserve t time slots for each UE i, where the t time slots are reserved within the DRX-on state of the UE.

[0080] Figure 9 is a flowchart of a first exemplary non-limiting computer-implemented method for allocating resources to a UE based on UE energy constraints as exhibited by UE DRX intervals as described herein. It will be appreciated that the blocks of the illustrated method represent operations according to the method, components in one or more computing devices, and / or computer-executable instructions in a computer-readable storage medium. Although the operations are shown in sequence, it will also be appreciated that in some embodiments, certain operations may optionally be reordered, combined, removed, or supplemented with other operations.

[0081] In an embodiment, Figure 9 the illustrated method may be performed by, for example, Figure 2 the illustrated controller 200. Operation 902 includes a network device such as controller 200 including a processor obtaining first discontinuous reception (DRX) interval duration information 221, the first discontinuous reception interval duration information 221 representing a first duration of a first discontinuous reception interval (e.g., first discontinuous reception interval 310) used by a first user equipment 220. Operation 904 includes the network device 200 obtaining second discontinuous reception interval duration information 231, the second discontinuous reception interval duration information 231 representing a second duration of a second discontinuous reception interval (e.g., second discontinuous reception interval 320) used by a second user equipment 230, where the second discontinuous reception interval 320 overlaps with the first discontinuous reception interval 310, e.g., as Figure 3 illustrated.

[0082] Operation 906 includes, in response to a first discontinuous reception interval duration being determined to be less than a second discontinuous reception interval duration, for example, as Figure 3 shown, prioritizing, by a network device, a first allocation of transmission time slots for a first user equipment during a first discontinuous reception interval to have a higher priority than a second allocation of transmission time slots for a second user equipment during the first discontinuous reception interval, where the prioritization results in a prioritized allocation, for example, as shown by scheduling option 360 and scheduling option 370.

[0083] In some embodiments, the prioritized allocation determined at operation 906 may be based on other data in addition to discontinuous reception interval information. For example, the prioritized allocation may be based on the amount of data transmitted via the first user equipment 220. The amount of data may be determined by the network device 200 based on the amount of data in a buffer used by the first user equipment 220. The amount of data may include an uplink data amount of uplink data transmitted from the first user equipment 220 via the network. In some embodiments, the prioritized allocation determined at operation 906 may be at least partially based on channel spectral efficiency data representing the channel spectral efficiency associated with the first user equipment 220.

[0084] The prioritized allocation determined at operation 906 may optionally allocate all transmission time slots 331 to 340 during the first discontinuous reception interval 310 to the first user equipment 220, for example, as shown by scheduling option 360. Alternatively, the prioritized allocation may include a reduced allocation of transmission time slots 331 to 340 to the first user equipment 220 during the first discontinuous reception interval 310, where the reduced allocation may be based on a packet delay budget associated with the second user equipment 230, for example, as shown in scheduling option 370.

[0085] Operation 908 includes configuring, by the network device 200, a network transmission via a network including the network device 200 using the prioritized allocation determined at operation 906. For example, the network device 200 may send resource allocation data 211 to a network node 210 such that the network node 210 may configure network transmissions 225, 235.

[0086] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a second example non - limiting computer - implemented method for allocating resources to a UE based on UE energy constraints as exhibited by UE DRX intervals according to one or more embodiments described herein. It will be understood that the blocks of the illustrated method represent operations according to the method, components in one or more computing devices, and / or computer - executable instructions in a computer - readable storage medium. Although the operations are shown in sequence, it will also be understood that in some embodiments, certain operations may optionally be reordered, combined, removed, or supplemented with other operations.

[0087] In an embodiment, Figure 10 the method shown can be performed by a controller 200 such as Figure 2 shown. The controller 200 may include, for example, a network device including a Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC). Operation 1002 includes selecting a first user equipment 220 from the group of user equipment 220, user equipment 230, where the first user equipment 220 is associated with a first discontinuous reception interval 310 including a first number of transmission time slots 331 to 340, and the first number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 is lower than a second number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 in at least one second discontinuous reception interval 320 associated with at least one second user equipment 230 in the group of user equipment 220, user equipment 230. In some embodiments, the first discontinuous reception interval 310 may include an uplink discontinuous reception interval. In other embodiments, the first discontinuous reception interval 310 may include a downlink discontinuous reception interval.

[0088] Operation 1004 includes: reserving a group of transmission time slots 331 to 340 for allocation to the first user equipment 220, resulting in a reserved group of transmission time slots. For example, the reserved group of transmission time slots may be the group allocated to UE 220 according to scheduling option 360. The size of the reserved group of transmission time slots may optionally be based on the buffer size of a buffer associated with the first user equipment 220, the channel spectral efficiency associated with the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used by the first user equipment 220, and / or the total available bandwidth associated with the transmission between the first user equipment 220 and at least one network device (such as network node 210) of a network including network device 200.

[0089] Operation 1006 includes: reducing the reserved group of transmission time slots in response to a determination that the reserved group of transmission time slots (reserved according to operation 1004) results in exceeding the packet delay budget of at least one second user equipment 230, resulting in a reduced reserved group of transmission time slots. For example, the reduced reserved group of transmission time slots may be the group allocated to UE 220 according to scheduling option 370.

[0090] Operation 1008 includes: allocating the reduced reserved group of transmission time slots to the first user equipment 220, and operation 1010 includes allocating other transmission time slots to at least one second user equipment 220 in addition to the reduced reserved group of transmission time slots.

[0091] Operation 1012 includes: repeating operations 1002 to 1010 for a third user equipment associated with a third discontinuous reception interval including a third number of transmission time slots. For example, if at Figure 2If the third user equipment is included, operation 1002 can be repeated by selecting the third user equipment from the user equipment group including 220, 230, and the third user equipment, where the third user equipment is associated with a third discontinuous reception interval 310 including a third number of transmission time slots 331 to 340, and the third number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 is lower than the second number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 in at least one second discontinuous reception interval 320 associated with at least one second user equipment 230 of the user equipment group. Other operations 1004 to 1010 can also be repeated for the third user equipment.

[0092] Figure 11 is a flowchart of a third exemplary non - limiting computer - implemented method for allocating resources to a UE based on UE energy constraints as presented by UE DRX intervals, according to one or more embodiments described herein. It can be understood that the blocks of the illustrated method represent operations of the method, components in one or more computing devices, and / or computer - executable instructions in a computer - readable storage medium. Although the operations are shown in sequence, it can also be understood that in some embodiments, certain operations can optionally be reordered, combined, removed, or supplemented with other operations.

[0093] In an embodiment, Figure 11 the illustrated method can be performed by a network device including a controller 200 such as Figure 2 shown. Operation 1102 includes obtaining discontinuous reception interval duration information representing a first discontinuous reception interval 310 associated with a first user equipment 220 and a second discontinuous reception interval 320 associated with a second user equipment 230, where the first discontinuous reception interval 310 is shorter than the second discontinuous reception interval 320. The discontinuous reception interval duration information can optionally further include discontinuous reception interval offset information, which can be used to determine the overlap of the discontinuous reception intervals 310 and 320.

[0094] Operation 1104 includes: determining a first number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 to serve a first command associated with the first user equipment, and determining a second number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 to serve a second command associated with the second user equipment. For example, the controller 200 can determine a scheduling option such as scheduling option 360. The first command associated with the first user equipment 220 can optionally be determined based on the uplink buffer size reported by the first user equipment 220 or, for example, the uplink channel spectral efficiency associated with the first user equipment 220.

[0095] Operation 1106 includes: reserving a first number of transmission time slots 331 to 340 for the first user equipment 220, resulting in the reserved number of transmission time slots 331 to 340. Operation 1108 includes adjusting the reserved quantity of the transmission time slots 331 to 340 based on packet delay information representing the packet delay budget of the second user equipment 230, resulting in the adjusted number of transmission time slots 331 to 340. In an embodiment, the packet delay information representing the packet delay budget may be second packet delay information representing a second packet delay budget, and optionally, the reserved quantity of the transmission time slots may also be adjusted based on first packet delay information representing the first packet delay budget of the first user equipment 220.

[0096] Operation 1110 includes: allocating the adjusted number of transmission time slots to the first user equipment 220, and operation 1112 includes allocating other unreserved transmission time slots except the adjusted number of transmission time slots to the second user equipment 230. For example, the controller 200 may send resource allocation data 211 to the network node 210 so that the network node can allocate the adjusted number of transmission time slots to the first user equipment 220 according to the resource allocation data 211 and allocate other unreserved transmission time slots to the second user equipment 230.

[0097] To provide additional context for the various embodiments described herein, Figure 12 and the following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment 1200 in which the embodiments described herein may be implemented. Although the embodiments have been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions that may run on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments may also be implemented in combination with other program modules and / or as a combination of hardware and software.

[0098] In general, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods may be practiced with other computer system configurations, other computer system configurations including single-processor or multi-processor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, appliances, distributed computing systems, and personal computers, handheld computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, etc., each of which computer system configurations is operably coupled to one or more associated devices.

[0099] The embodiments shown herein may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communication network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and remote memory storage devices.

[0100] Computing devices generally include various media, which may include computer-readable storage media, machine-readable storage media, and / or communication media, and the two terms are used differently from each other as follows herein. Computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be any available storage media accessible by a computer, and include volatile and non-volatile media, removable, and non-removable media. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable storage media or machine-readable storage media can be implemented in conjunction with any method or technology for storing information such as computer-readable or machine-readable instructions, program modules, structured data, or unstructured data.

[0101] Computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD) or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, solid state drives or other solid state storage devices, or other tangible and / or non-transitory media that can be used to store the desired information. In this regard, the terms "tangible" or "non-transitory" as applied to storage devices, memory, or computer-readable media herein shall be understood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as a modifier and not to forego rights to all standard storage devices, memory, or computer-readable media that are not only propagating transitory signals per se.

[0102] Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computing devices, for example, via access requests, queries, or other data retrieval protocols, for various operations regarding the information stored on the media.

[0103] Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other structured or unstructured data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism, and include any information delivery or transport medium. The term "modulated data signal" or "signals" refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wire connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

[0104] Refer again to Figure 12, An example environment 1200 for implementing various embodiments for the aspects described herein includes a computer 1202 that includes a processing unit 1204, a system memory 1206, and a system bus 1208. The system bus 1208 couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory 1206 to the processing unit 1204. The processing unit 1204 can be any of a variety of commercially available processors and can include a cache memory. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures can also be used as the processing unit 1204.

[0105] The system bus 1208 can be any of several types of bus structures that can further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1206 includes a ROM 1210 and a RAM 1212. The basic input / output system (BIOS) can be stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, where the BIOS includes basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the computer 1202 during startup. The RAM 1212 can also include high-speed RAM, such as static RAM for caching data.

[0106] The computer 1202 also includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 1214 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), one or more external storage devices 1216 (e.g., a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1216, a memory stick or flash drive reader, a memory card reader, etc.), and an optical disc drive 1220 (e.g., which can read from or write to a CD-ROM disc, DVD, BD, etc.). Although the internal HDD 1214 is shown as being within the computer 1202, the internal HDD 1214 can also be configured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown). Additionally, although not shown in the environment 1200, a solid state drive (SSD) can be used in addition to or instead of the HDD 1214. The HDD 1214, the external storage device 1216, and the optical disc drive 1220 can be connected to the system bus 1208 via an HDD interface 1224, an external storage interface 1226, and an optical disc drive interface 1228, respectively. The interface 1224 for external drive implementation can include at least one of the universal serial bus (USB) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies or both. Other external drive connection technologies are also contemplated within the embodiments described herein.

[0107] The drive and its associated computer-readable storage medium provide non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and the like. For computer 1202, the drive and storage medium accommodate storage of any data in a suitable digital format. Although the above description of computer-readable storage media refers to corresponding types of storage devices, those skilled in the art should understand that other types of storage media that are computer-readable, whether currently existing or to be developed in the future, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment, and further, any such storage media may include computer-executable instructions for performing the methods described herein.

[0108] Multiple program modules may be stored in the drive and RAM 1212, including operating system 1230, one or more application programs 1232, other program modules 1234, and program data 1236. All or part of the operating system, application modules, and / or data may also be cached in RAM 1212. The systems and methods described herein may be implemented using a variety of commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0109] Computer 1202 may optionally include emulation technology. For example, a hypervisor (not shown) or other intermediary may emulate the hardware environment of operating system 1230, and the emulated hardware may optionally be different from Figure 12 the hardware shown. In such an embodiment, operating system 1230 may include a virtual machine (VM) among multiple VMs hosted at computer 1202. Additionally, operating system 1230 may provide a runtime environment for application programs 1232, such as a Java runtime environment or a.NET framework. The runtime environment is a consistent execution environment that allows application programs 1232 to run on any operating system that includes the runtime environment. Similarly, operating system 1230 may support containers, and application programs 1232 may be in the form of containers, which are lightweight, independent, executable software packages that include, for example, code runtime, system tools, system libraries, and application settings.

[0110] Furthermore, computer 1202 may include a security module, such as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). For example, for a TPM, before loading the next boot component, the boot component hashes the next boot component in time and waits for the result to match a security value. This process may occur at any layer in the code execution stack of computer 1202, such as at the application execution level or at the operating system (OS) kernel level application, thereby implementing security at any code execution level.

[0111] The user can input commands and information to the computer 1202 through one or more wired / wireless input devices (such as the keyboard 1238, the touch screen 1240, and a pointing device such as the mouse 1242). Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a radio frequency (RF) remote control, or other remote control joysticks, virtual reality controllers, and / or virtual reality headsets, game pads, styli, image input devices (such as cameras), gesture sensor input devices, visual motion sensor input devices, emotion or face detection devices, biometric input devices (such as fingerprint or iris scanners), etc. These and other input devices are typically connected to the processing unit 1204 through an input device interface 1244 that can be coupled to the system bus 1208, but can also be connected through other interfaces, such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394, serial port, game port, USB port, IR interface, interfaces, etc.

[0112] The monitor 1246 or other types of display devices can also be connected to the system bus 1208 through an interface such as the video adapter 1248. In addition to the monitor 1246, the computer typically includes other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

[0113] The computer 1202 can operate in a networked environment using a logical connection to one or more remote computers (such as the remote computer 1250) through wired and / or wireless communication. The remote computer 1250 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, a portable computer, a microprocessor-based entertainment device, a peer device, or other common network nodes, and typically includes many or all of the elements described with respect to the computer 1202, although only the memory / storage device 1252 is shown for the sake of brevity. The depicted logical connections include wired / wireless connections to a local area network (LAN) 1254 and / or a larger network (such as a wide area network (WAN) 1256). Such LAN and WAN network environments are common in offices and companies and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks such as intranets, all of which can be connected to a global communication network such as the Internet.

[0114] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1202 can be connected to the local network 1254 through a wired and / or wireless communication network interface or adapter 1258. The adapter 1258 can facilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1254, and the LAN 1254 can also include a wireless access point (AP) arranged thereon for communicating with the adapter 1258 in a wireless mode.

[0115] When used in a WAN networking environment, computer 1202 may include a modem 1260 or may be connected to a communication server on WAN 1256 via other devices for establishing communication on the WAN 1256, such as via the Internet. The modem 1260 may be an internal or external and wired or wireless device, and it may be connected to the system bus 1208 through the input device interface 1244. In a networked environment, program modules or portions thereof described with respect to computer 1202 may be stored in the remote memory / storage device 1252. It should be understood that the network connections shown are examples, and other devices for establishing communication links between computers may be used.

[0116] When used in a LAN or WAN networking environment, computer 1202 may access a cloud storage system or other network-based storage systems in addition to or instead of the external storage device 1216 described above. Generally, the connection between computer 1202 and the cloud storage system may be established on the LAN 1254 or WAN 1256 through, for example, an adapter 1258 or a modem 1260, respectively. When connecting computer 1202 to an associated cloud storage system, the external storage interface 1226 may manage the storage provided by the cloud storage system with the help of the adapter 1258 and / or the modem 1260, just like other types of external storage. For example, the external storage interface 1226 may be configured to provide access to cloud storage sources as if those sources were physically connected to computer 1202.

[0117] Computer 1202 may operably communicate with any wireless device or entity operably arranged in wireless communication, such as a printer, a scanner, a desktop and / or portable computer, a portable data assistant, a communication satellite, any device or location associated with a wireless detectable tag (such as a kiosk, a newsstand, a store shelf, etc.), and a telephone. This may include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), as well as wireless technologies. Thus, the communication may be of a predefined structure like a traditional network or merely an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

[0118] The above description includes non-limiting examples of various embodiments. Of course, it is not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or combination of methods for the purpose of describing the subject matter of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art will recognize that further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. The subject matter of the present disclosure is intended to cover all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0119] Regarding the various functions performed by the above-described components, devices, circuits, systems, etc., unless otherwise specified, the terms used to describe these components (including references to "means") are intended to also include any structure that performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., a functional equivalent), even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. Additionally, although a particular feature of the disclosed subject matter may be disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such a feature may be combined with one or more other features of other implementations, which may be desirable and advantageous for any given or particular application.

[0120] As used herein, the terms "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" are intended to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. To avoid doubt, the disclosed subject matter is not limited by these instances. Additionally, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" is not necessarily to be construed as more preferred or advantageous than other aspects or designs, nor does it imply the exclusion of equivalent structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, with respect to the terms "comprising," "having," "including," and other similar words used in the detailed description or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive - in a manner similar to the open transitional word "including" - and do not exclude any additional or other elements.

[0121] The term "or" as used herein refers to an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". For example, the phrase "A or B" is intended to include instances of A, B, and both A and B. Additionally, the articles "a" and "an" used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless otherwise specified or clearly indicated as the singular form from the context.

[0122] The term "set" as used herein does not include the empty set, i.e., a set with no elements. Thus, a "set" in this disclosure includes one or more elements or entities. Similarly, the term "group" as used herein refers to a collection of one or more entities.

[0123] As used in the claims, the terms "first," "second," "third," etc., are for clarity only and do not otherwise indicate or imply any temporal order unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, "a first determination," "a second determination," and "a third determination" do not indicate or imply that the first determination will be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

[0124] As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms "component", "system", etc. are intended to refer to or include a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operating device having one or more specific functions, where the entity can be a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. By way of example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor object, an executable program, an execution thread, computer-executable instructions, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, an application running on a server and the server can both be components.

[0125] One or more components can reside within a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. Additionally, these components can execute from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. These components can communicate via local and / or remote processes, such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component that interacts with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or across a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be a device having specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by an electrical or electronic circuit, which is operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by a processor, where the processor can be inside or outside the device and executes at least part of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be a device that provides specific functionality through an electronic component that does not have mechanical parts, and the electronic component can include a processor therein to execute software or firmware that at least partially imparts the functionality of the electronic component. Although various components are shown as separate components, it should be understood that, without departing from the example embodiments, multiple components can be implemented as a single component, or a single component can be implemented as multiple components.

[0126] The term "facilitate" as used herein is in the context of a system, device, or component "facilitating" one or more actions or operations, taking into account the nature of a complex computing environment in which multiple components and / or multiple devices can be included in some computing operations. Non-limiting examples of actions that may or may not involve multiple components and / or multiple devices include sending or receiving data, establishing a connection between devices, determining intermediate results towards obtaining a result, etc. In this regard, a computing device or component can facilitate an operation by playing any role in the implementation of the operation. When describing the operation of a component herein, it should thus be understood that, in cases where the operation is described as being facilitated by a component, the operation can optionally be completed through the cooperation of one or more other computing devices or components, such as but not limited to sensors, antennas, audio, and / or visual output devices, other devices, etc.

[0127] In addition, various embodiments may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the subject matter of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term "article of manufacture" is intended to cover a computer program accessible from any computer-readable (or machine-readable) device or computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage / communication medium. For example, computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

[0128] In addition, terms such as "mobile device equipment", "mobile station", "mobile terminal", "subscriber station", "access terminal", "terminal", "handheld device", "communication device", "mobile device" (and / or terms representing similar terms) may refer to a wireless device used by a subscriber of a wireless communication service or a mobile device to receive or transmit data, control, voice, video, sound, games, or substantially any data stream or signaling stream. The foregoing terms may be used interchangeably herein and with reference to the relevant drawings. Similarly, the terms "access point (AP)", "base station (BS)", "BS transceiver", "BS device", "cell site", "cell site device", "gNodeB (gNB)", "evolved Node B (eNodeB, eNB)", "home Node B (HNB)", etc. refer to a wireless network component or device that sends and / or receives data, control, voice, video, sound, games, or substantially any data stream or signaling stream from one or more user stations. The data and signaling streams may be packetized or frame-based streams.

[0129] In addition, the terms "device", "communication device", "mobile device", "subscriber", "customer entity", "consumer", "customer entity", "entity", etc. may be used interchangeably throughout the text, unless the context dictates a specific distinction between the terms. It should be understood that these terms may refer to a human entity or an automated component supported by artificial intelligence (e.g., reasoning capabilities based on complex mathematical forms), which may provide simulated vision, sound recognition, etc.

[0130] Note that although various aspects and embodiments are described herein in the context of 5G or other next-generation networks, the disclosed aspects are not limited to 5G implementations and can be applied to other network next-generation implementations, such as sixth-generation (6G) or other wireless systems. In this regard, aspects or features of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be used in substantially any wireless communication technology. Such wireless communication technologies can include Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCMDA), CDMA 2000 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Multi-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), Single-Carrier CDMA (SC-CDMA), Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-Spread OFDM), Filter Bank Based Multi-Carrier (FBMC), Zero-Tail DFT-Spread OFDM (ZTDFT-s-OFDM), Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM), Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), Universal Fixed-Mobile Convergence (UFMC), Unique Word OFDM (UW-OFDM), Unique Word DFT-Spread OFDM (UWDFT-Spread OFDM), Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM), Resource Block Filtered OFDM, Wireless Fidelity Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Zigbee, or another institute of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.12 technology.

[0131] The description of the illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein, including what is described in the abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are described herein for purposes of illustration, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of these embodiments and examples. In this regard, while the subject matter has been described herein in connection with various embodiments and the corresponding drawings, it should be understood that, where applicable, other similar embodiments may be used, or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments to perform the same, similar, alternative, or substitute functions of the subject matter of the present disclosure without departing from the subject matter. Accordingly, the subject matter of the present disclosure should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but should be construed in accordance with the breadth and scope of the appended claims below.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: obtaining, by a network device including a processor, first discontinuous reception interval duration information, the first discontinuous reception interval duration information indicating a first duration discontinuity of a first discontinuous reception interval used by a first user equipment; obtaining, by the network device, second discontinuous reception interval duration information, the second discontinuous reception interval duration information indicating a second duration discontinuity of a second discontinuous reception interval used by a second user equipment, wherein the second discontinuous reception interval overlaps with the first discontinuous reception interval; and in response to the first discontinuous reception interval duration being determined to be less than the second discontinuous reception interval duration discontinuity, prioritizing, by the network device, a first allocation of transmission time slots to the first user equipment during the first discontinuous reception interval to have a higher priority than a second allocation of the transmission time slots to the second user equipment during the first discontinuous reception interval, wherein the prioritization results in a prioritized allocation; and using, by the network device, the prioritized allocation to configure network transmissions via a network including the network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the prioritized allocation allocates all of the transmission time slots to the first user equipment during the first discontinuous reception interval.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the prioritized allocation comprises: reducing, during the first discontinuous reception interval, the allocation of the transmission time slots to the first user equipment, and wherein the reduced allocation is reduced based on a packet delay budget associated with the second user equipment.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the prioritized allocation is at least partially based on a data volume of data transmitted via the first user equipment.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the data volume comprises: an uplink data volume of uplink data transmitted from the first user equipment via the network.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: determining, by the network device, the data volume based on a data volume in a buffer used by the first user equipment.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the prioritized allocation is at least partially based on channel spectral efficiency data indicating a channel spectral efficiency associated with the first user equipment.

8. A network device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate the execution of operations, including: selecting a first user equipment from a group of user equipments, wherein the first user equipment is associated with a first discontinuous reception interval including a first number of transmission time slots; wherein the first number of transmission time slots is lower than a second number of transmission time slots in at least one second discontinuous reception interval associated with at least one second user equipment in the group of user equipments; reserving a group of transmission time slots for the allocation to the first user equipment, thereby resulting in a reserved group of transmission time slots; In response to a determination that the reserved transmission time slot group causes packet delay budget violations for at least one second user equipment, reducing the reserved transmission time slot group, resulting in a reduced reserved transmission time slot group; Allocating the reduced reserved transmission time slot group to the first user equipment; and Allocating other transmission time slots to the at least one second user equipment in addition to the reduced reserved transmission time slot group.

9. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the size of the reserved transmission time slot group is based on a buffer size of a buffer associated with the first user equipment.

10. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the size of the reserved transmission time slot group is based on a channel spectral efficiency associated with a modulation and coding scheme used by the first user equipment.

11. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the size of the reserved transmission time slot group is based on a total available bandwidth associated with a transmission between the first user equipment and at least one network device in a network including the network device.

12. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the first discontinuous reception interval comprises: an uplink discontinuous reception interval.

13. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the operation further comprises: repeating the operation for a third user equipment associated with a third discontinuous reception interval associated with a third number of transmission time slots.

14. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the network device comprises: a radio access network intelligent controller.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: obtaining discontinuous reception interval duration information representing a first discontinuous reception interval associated with a first user equipment and a second discontinuous reception interval associated with a second user equipment, wherein the first discontinuous reception interval is shorter than the second discontinuous reception interval; determining a first number of transmission time slots to serve a first command associated with the first user equipment and determining a second number of transmission time slots to serve a second command associated with the second user equipment; reserving the first number of transmission time slots for the first user equipment, resulting in a reserved number of the transmission time slots; adjusting the reserved number of the transmission time slots based on packet delay information representing a packet delay budget of the second user equipment, resulting in an adjusted number of the transmission time slots; and allocating the adjusted number of the transmission time slots to the first user equipment.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the first command associated with the first user equipment is determined based on an uplink buffer size reported by the first user equipment.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the first command associated with the first user equipment is determined based on an uplink channel spectral efficiency associated with the first user equipment.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the packet delay information representing the packet delay budget is second packet delay information representing a second packet delay budget, and wherein adjusting the reserved number of the transmission time slots is further based on first packet delay information representing a first packet delay budget of the first user equipment.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the discontinuous reception interval duration information comprises: discontinuous reception interval offset information.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to claim 15, further comprises: allocating other unreserved transmission time slots to the second user equipment in addition to the adjusted number of the transmission time slots.

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