Cell reselection based on wake-up signal

Abstract

A method is disclosed, comprising: receiving a wake-up signal; comparing the receiving power or the receiving quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold value; and determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure based at least on the comparison.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following exemplary embodiments relate to wireless communication. Background Art

[0002] In wireless communication, the available energy of a user equipment may be limited. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the power consumption of the user equipment. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought by the various exemplary embodiments is defined by the claims. Each exemplary embodiment and each feature (if any) described in this specification that does not fall within the scope of the independent claims will be construed as examples helpful for understanding the various embodiments.

[0004] According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following: receive a wake-up signal; compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and determine whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0005] According to another aspect, there is provided a device including: means for receiving a wake-up signal; means for comparing the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and means for determining whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0006] According to another aspect, there is provided a method including: receiving a wake-up signal; comparing the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and determining whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0007] According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program including instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following operations: receive a wake-up signal; compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and determine whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0008] According to another aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium including program instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: receive a wake-up signal; compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and determine whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0009] According to another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: receive a wake-up signal; compare a received power or a received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and determine whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0010] According to another aspect, there is provided a device including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least perform the following: transmit at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal; and perform the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0011] According to another aspect, there is provided an apparatus including means for: transmitting at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal, and performing the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0012] According to another aspect, there is provided a method including: transmitting at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal, and performing the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0013] According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program including instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: transmit at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0014] According to another aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium including program instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: transmit at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0015] According to another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions which, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: transmit at least information indicating a threshold for comparison with a received power or a received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which

[0017] Figure 1 an example of a cellular communication network is shown;

[0018] Figure 2 Shows the power consumption curves for discontinuous reception and wake-up signals;

[0019] Figure 3 Shows a signaling diagram;

[0020] Figure 4 Shows a flowchart;

[0021] Figure 5 Shows a signaling diagram;

[0022] Figure 6 Shows a flowchart;

[0023] Figure 7 Shows a signaling diagram;

[0024] Figure 8 Shows a flowchart;

[0025] Figure 9 Shows a flowchart;

[0026] Figure 10 Shows a flowchart;

[0027] Figure 11 Shows an example of a device; and

[0028] Figure 12 Shows an example of a device. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0029] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to "one," "a," or "some" embodiments at several places in the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference refers to the same embodiment, or that a particular feature applies only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

[0030] Hereinafter, radio access architectures based on Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), New Radio (NR, 5G), Beyond 5G, or Sixth Generation (6G) will be used as examples of access architectures to which various example embodiments can be applied, but the various example embodiments are not limited to such architectures. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that by appropriately adjusting the various parameters and processes, the various example embodiments can also be applied to other types of communication networks having appropriate devices. Some examples of other options for suitable systems can be Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access networks (UTRAN or E-UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE, which is substantially the same as E-UTRA), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN or Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Personal Communication Service (PCS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), systems using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs), and Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems (IMS), or any combination thereof.

[0031] Figure 1 An example of a simplified system architecture is depicted, which shows some elements and functional entities, all of which are logical units and may be implemented differently from those shown. Figure 1 The connections shown therein are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the system may also include other functions and structures in addition to Figure 1 those shown therein.

[0032] However, the example embodiments are not limited to the systems given as examples, but those skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems having the necessary attributes.

[0033] Figure 1 The example of... shows a part of an exemplary radio access network.

[0034] Figure 1 User equipments 100 and 102 are shown, which are configured to wirelessly connect with an access node (AN) 104 (such as an evolved Node B (abbreviated as eNB or eNodeB) or a next-generation Node B (simply referred to as gNB or gNodeB)) providing a radio cell on one or more communication channels in the radio cell. The physical link from the user equipment to the access node may be referred to as an uplink (UL) or reverse link, and the physical link from the access node to the user equipment may be referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link. The user equipment may also communicate directly with another user equipment via sidelink (SL) communication. It should be understood that the access nodes or their functions may be implemented by any entity such as a node, host, server, or access point suitable for such use.

[0035] A communication system may include more than one access node. In such a case, the access nodes may also be configured to communicate with each other via wired or wireless links designed for this purpose. These links may be used for signaling purposes and may also be used to route data from one access node to another. The access node may be a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the communication system to which it is coupled. The access node also refers to a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), an access point, or any other type of interface device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. The access node may include or be coupled to a transceiver. A connection may be provided from the transceiver of the access node to an antenna unit that establishes a two-way radio link to a user equipment. The antenna unit may include a plurality of antennas or antenna elements. The access node may also be connected to a core network 110 (CN or Next Generation Core NGC). Depending on the technology deployed, the entity that the access node may be connected to on the CN side may be a Serving Gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) for providing a connection of the user equipment to an external packet data network, a User Plane Function (UPF), a Mobility Management Entity (MME), or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), etc.

[0036] The user equipment represents a type of device to which resources on an air interface can be allocated and assigned, and thus any feature of the user equipment described herein can be implemented with a corresponding device, such as a relay node.

[0037] An example of such a relay node may be a Layer 3 relay (self-backhaul relay) towards the access node. The self-backhaul relay node may also be referred to as an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node. The IAB node may include two logical parts: a Mobile Terminal (MT) part, which is responsible for the backhaul link (i.e., the link between the IAB node and the donor node, also called the parent node); and a Distributed Unit (DU) part, which is responsible for the access link, i.e., the sub-links (multi-hop scenario) between the IAB node and the user equipment and / or between the IAB node and other IAB nodes.

[0038] Another example of such a relay node may be a Layer 1 relay called a repeater. The repeater may amplify the signal received from the access node and forward it to the user equipment, and / or amplify the signal received from the user equipment and forward it to the access node.

[0039] A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal device, or user equipment (UE), to name just a few. The user equipment may refer to a portable computing device that includes a wireless mobile communication device operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of devices: mobile stations (mobile phones), smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, devices using a wireless modem (such as alarm or measurement devices), portable computers and / or touchscreen computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, laptop computers, multimedia devices, reduced-capability (RedCap) devices, wireless sensor devices, or any device integrated in a vehicle.

[0040] It should be understood that the user equipment may also be an almost exclusive uplink-only device, an example of which may be a camera or video recorder that loads images or video clips onto the network. The user equipment may also be a device capable of operating in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, in which scenario objects may be provided with the ability to transmit data over the network without the need for human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The user equipment may also utilize the cloud. In some applications, the user equipment may include small portable or wearable devices with radio components (such as watches, headphones, or glasses), and the computing may be performed in the cloud or in another user equipment. The user equipment (or a layer 3 relay node in some example embodiments) may be configured to perform one or more user equipment functions.

[0041] The various techniques described herein may also be applied to cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of collaborative computing elements that control physical entities). CPS may implement and utilize a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors, microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems, where the physical systems under discussion may have inherent mobility. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic products transported by humans or animals.

[0042] In addition, although these devices have been described as a single entity, different units, processors, and / or memory units ( Figure 1 not all shown) may be implemented.

[0043] 5G implementation uses multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), which includes macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller base stations, and employs various radio technologies according to service requirements, use cases, and / or available spectrum. 5G mobile communications can support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing, and various forms of machine-type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communication (mMTC), including vehicle safety, different sensors, and real-time control. 5G can have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6 GHz, cmWave, and mmWave, and can also be integrated with existing traditional radio access technologies such as LTE. For example, the integration with LTE can be implemented as a system where LTE can provide macro coverage, and 5G radio interface access can come from small cells by aggregating to LTE. In other words, 5G can support inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (such as the operability between radio interfaces below 6 GHz - cmWave (centimeter wave) - mmWave). One of the concepts considered for use in 5G networks can be network slicing, where multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) can be created within substantially the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0044] The current architecture in LTE networks can be fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. Low-latency applications and services in 5G may require bringing content closer to the radio, leading to local breakout and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G can perform analysis and knowledge generation at the data source. This approach may require leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to the network, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and sensors. MEC can provide a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It can also have the ability to store and process content near cell subscribers for faster response times. Edge computing can cover a wide range of technologies, such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data collection, mobile signature analysis, collaborative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing, and processing that can also be divided into local cloud / fog computing and grid / mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, microcloud (cloudlet), distributed data storage and retrieval, self-healing autonomous networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and / or latency-critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analysis, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0045] The communication system is also capable of communicating with one or more other networks 113 such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet, or leveraging the services provided by them. The communication network is also capable of supporting the use of cloud services. For example, at least a part of the core network operation can be performed as a cloud service (this isFigure 1 represented by "cloud" 114 in the figure). The communication system may also include a central control entity, etc., which provides facilities for cooperation in, for example, spectrum sharing for the networks of different operators.

[0046] The access nodes can also be divided into: radio units (RUs), including radio transceivers (TRXs), i.e., transmitters (Tx) and receivers (Rx); one or more distributed units (DUs) 105, which can be used for so-called layer 1 (L1) processing and real-time layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) 108 (also known as a centralized unit), which can be used for non-real-time L2 and layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU 108 can be connected to one or more DUs 105 via, for example, an F1 interface. Such a split can centralize the CU relative to the cell site and the DUs, while the DUs can be more widely distributed and can even remain at the cell site. The CU and the DUs together can also be referred to as the baseband or baseband unit (BBU). The CU and the DUs can also be included in a radio access point (RAP).

[0047] The CU 108 can be defined as a logical node that hosts higher-layer protocols of the access node (such as radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and / or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)). The DU 105 can be defined as a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and / or physical (PHY) layer of the access node. The operation of the DU can be at least partially controlled by the CU. The CU can include a control plane (CU-CP), which can be defined as a logical node that hosts the control plane part of the RRC and PDCP protocols of the CU for the access node. The CU can also include a user plane (CU-UP), which can be defined as a logical node that hosts the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol of the CU for the access node.

[0048] A cloud computing platform can also be used to run the CU 108 and / or the DU 105. The CU can run in a cloud computing platform that can be called a virtualized CU (vCU). In addition to the vCU, a virtualized DU (vDU) can also run in the cloud computing platform. Furthermore, there can also be a combination of so-called bare-metal solutions for the DU, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or customer-specific standard product (CSSP) system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. It should also be understood that the functional distribution between the above-mentioned access node units, or different core network operations and access node operations, can be different.

[0049] Edge clouds can be introduced into the radio access network (RAN) by leveraging network function virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN). Using edge clouds can mean performing access node operations at least partially in a server, host, or node operatively coupled to a remote radio head (RRH) or radio unit (RU) or an access node including radio components. Node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes, or hosts. The application of the cloud RAN architecture enables RAN real-time functions to be executed on the RAN side (e.g., in DU 105), and non-real-time functions to be executed in a centralized manner (e.g., in CU 108).

[0050] It should also be understood that the functional distribution between core network operations and access node operations may be different from that of LTE or even non-existent. Some other technological advancements that can be used include big data and all-IP, which can change the way the network is built and managed. 5G (or New Radio, NR) networks can be designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and access nodes. It should be understood that MEC can also be applied to 4G networks.

[0051] 5G can also utilize non-terrestrial communications such as satellite communications to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G services, for example, by providing backhaul. Possible use cases can be to provide service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or for in-vehicle passengers, or to ensure the service availability of critical communications and future railway / maritime / aviation communications. Satellite communications can utilize geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite systems and can also utilize low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, especially mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds (nanos) of satellites are deployed). A given satellite 106 in a mega-constellation can cover several network entities of supporting satellites that create a terrestrial cell. The terrestrial cell can be created by terrestrial relay nodes or by an access node 104 located on the ground or in a satellite.

[0052] It is expected that 6G networks will adopt flexible decentralized and / or distributed computing systems and architectures as well as pervasive computing, based on mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short packet communications, and blockchain technologies, to achieve local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing, and intelligent automation management. The key features of 6G may include intelligent interconnected management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduced energy footprint, trustworthy infrastructure, scalability, and affordability. In addition to this, 6G also targets new use cases, which cover integrating positioning and sensing functions into the system definition to unify the user experience across the physical and digital worlds.

[0053] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the depicted system is merely an example of a part of a radio access system, and in practice, the system may include multiple access nodes, user equipment may access multiple radio cells, and the system may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one access node may be a Home eNodeB or a Home gNodeB.

[0054] Furthermore, in the geographical area of a radio communication system, multiple different types of radio cells and multiple radio cells may be provided. A radio cell may be a macro cell (or umbrella cell), which may be a large cell with a diameter of up to dozens of kilometers, or a smaller cell such as a micro cell, a femto cell, or a pico cell. Figure 1 The access node of can provide any type of these cells. The cell radio system may be implemented as a multi-layer network including several radio cells. In a multi-layer network, one access node may provide one or more radio cells, and thus multiple access nodes may be required to provide such a network structure.

[0055] To meet the need to improve the deployment and performance of a communication system, the concept of a "plug and play" access node may be introduced. In addition to a Home eNodeB or a Home gNodeB, a network capable of using a "plug and play" access node may also include a Home Node B Gateway or HNB-GW ( Figure 1 not shown in ). The HNB-GW may be installed within the operator's network and may aggregate traffic from a large number of Home eNodeBs or Home gNodeBs back to the core network.

[0056] Currently, a UE may need to wake up periodically once within each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. When the UE wakes up, the power consumption of the UE increases. If the UE is only woken up when they are triggered (e.g., via paging), the power consumption can be reduced. This can be achieved by using a wake-up signal (WUS) to trigger the main radio of the UE and a separate receiver (wake-up receiver) that can monitor the wake-up signal with ultra-low power consumption. The power consumption for monitoring the wake-up signal depends on the wake-up signal design and the hardware module of the wake-up receiver for signal detection and processing.

[0057] The working principle of WUS is that in each wake-up period, called a w-period, the Wake-up Receiver (WURx) monitors a specified set of subcarriers for a short duration to determine if it receives a Wake-up Indicator (WI). The network can use the WI to notify the UE to decode the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) with a specified time offset called w-offset. Once the WURx successfully detects the WI, the Baseband Processor (BBP) will be turned on. After that, the BBP decodes the active PDCCH messages during a pre-configured turn-on duration and then starts its inactivity timer. After starting the inactivity timer, if a new PDCCH message is received before the timer expires, the BBP restarts its inactivity timer. However, if no PDCCH message is received before the inactivity timer expires, the sleep period begins, the UE switches to its sleep state, and the WURx operates according to its w-period.

[0058] In other words, in the WURx approach, the UE is in the sleep mode unless it is paged by the network or has a message to exchange. No power is consumed except for monitoring whether the UE is paged. To page the UE, the network can broadcast a wake-up signal including the UE's unique address to all UEs within its coverage area. The power consumption of the WURx is in the micro-watt domain, while the UE (e.g., an IoT device) can consume at least a few milliwatts. For such ultra-low-power devices, harvesting energy from the environment can provide sufficient power (e.g., approximately 1 micro-watt) to keep the WURx charged and thus operate in a self-sustaining manner.

[0059] Figure 2 Representative power consumption curves 201, 202 of DRX and WUS are shown. Box 201 shows the power consumption curve of DRX, and box 202 shows the power consumption curve of WUS. In Figure 2 the black area indicates the power consumption under the scheduled PDCCH. As Figure 2 can be seen, compared with the baseline DRX, WUS reduces the energy consumption of the UE because it avoids the energy consumption associated with decoding non-scheduled PDCCHs. In addition, since the w-period can be short and basically does not increase the energy consumption, the buffering delay can be reduced compared with DRX.

[0060] In some use cases such as intelligent logistics, intelligent warehouses, wearable devices, etc., providing a simplified handover process can be beneficial. For handovers between adjacent cells, an idle-mode UE can rely on the cell reselection process. The purpose of the cell reselection process is to ensure that an idle-mode UE always camps on a suitable cell. The network can influence this process by adjusting the broadcast information of each cell in different System Information Blocks (SIBs). These SIBs can include configuration parameters that a UE can use to evaluate the radio quality of the currently camped cell and adjacent cells when the UE moves across the boundaries of different cells, in order to switch the camped cell. Currently, the cell reselection process can be slice-agnostic, i.e., the UE may not consider the slice support of adjacent cells when evaluating them.

[0061] Passive IoT devices and Low-Capacity (RedCap) devices can rely on energy harvesting. Energy harvesting can be considered in several use cases where the UE can collect and store a limited amount of energy from the environment. Some examples of RedCap devices may include (but are not limited to) industrial wireless sensors, video monitoring cameras, and wearable devices (such as smartwatches, rings, health-related electronic devices, personal protective equipment, medical monitoring devices, etc.). RedCap devices can also be referred to as NR Simplified (NR-Lite) devices or NR Light (NR-Light) devices.

[0062] A passive IoT device (or part of the UE operation, or a UE or part of a device configured to operate as a passive IoT device) can support communication with a reader UE via reflection (backscattering) or similar means, which can be supported by very low-complexity hardware. A passive IoT device can collect energy from the environment, such as from radio frequency (RF) signals, solar energy, vibration, thermal energy, etc., to power the passive IoT device for self-sustained communication. A passive IoT device can potentially be equipped with a small-capacity battery or capacitor that can be charged with the collected energy. A passive IoT device can also be referred to as a passive device or tag or energy harvesting device in this document.

[0063] For example, sensors powered by solar energy, especially for small sensors deployed outdoors for monitoring, are becoming increasingly popular. Due to their smaller battery size or lack of a battery, the maximum transmit power of such passive IoT devices can also be significantly smaller. For example, passive IoT devices can be used for delay-tolerant IoT types of services (such as reporting temperature, traffic conditions, etc.). For energy harvesting devices, the focus can be on using the energy when available, rather than necessarily on energy conservation all the time.

[0064] The following areas may need to be enhanced to support passive IoT devices: 1) Simplified and adaptive procedures for operating with intermittently available energy and interrupted connections (e.g., random access procedures, RRC protocol / RRC state handling, cell (re)selection); 2) Lightweight protocols for ultra-low power consumption; and 3) Energy-neutral sustainable operation of the device.

[0065] Currently, the UE can perform the cell reselection process based on Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) measurements. However, continuously monitoring the SSB is costly in terms of power consumption. Therefore, in some example embodiments, WUS is introduced into the cell reselection process to reduce the UE power consumption.

[0066] Some example embodiments provide a cell reselection process that integrates a wake-up signal into the evaluation method. For example, the UE can be configured with a WUS threshold via broadcast signaling from the network to determine whether to perform the cell reselection process. Some example embodiments can reduce the monitoring of the SSB by performing the cell reselection process when the WUS-related value is below the WUS threshold, and thus reduce the power consumption of the UE.

[0067] Some example embodiments are described below using the principles and terms of 5G technology, but the example embodiments are not limited to 5G communication systems.

[0068] Figure 3 A signaling diagram according to an example embodiment is shown. In this example embodiment, the user equipment (i.e., UE) is configured to monitor the WUS at a cell (e.g., the first cell, serving cell). The user equipment monitors the WUS received power or received quality and compares it with a threshold to detect whether the WUS received power or received quality is below the threshold. If this is the case, the user equipment will initiate an SSB-based cell reselection process. Otherwise, the user equipment does not initiate the cell reselection process, and the user equipment continues to monitor the WUS according to the w period. In the case where the user equipment does not receive the WUS for a certain period of time, the user equipment can fallback to the SSB-based cell reselection.

[0069] Reference Figure 3 , in block 301, the user equipment camps on the first cell (Cell 1). In other words, the first cell can be the serving cell of the user equipment.

[0070] In block 302, the user equipment receives information about the first cell, such as system information, where the information indicates one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters. The information can be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0071] For example, one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters may include at least a threshold for the received power or received quality of WUS on a first cell. If the received power or received quality of WUS on the first cell is lower than or equal to the threshold, the information may indicate to perform a cell reselection procedure.

[0072] Alternatively, the threshold may be predefined at the user equipment (e.g., defined in a specification or hard-coded into the user equipment), in which case the first cell may not need to transmit the information.

[0073] In one example, WUS-based cell reselection may be used at the cell center. In other words, the user equipment may monitor the wake-up signal (instead of the SSB) based on determining that the user equipment is located in the central area of the serving cell (the first cell). When the user equipment is located in the central area of the cell, it is less likely to need cell reselection soon, and thus WUS monitoring can be used instead of SSB monitoring to reduce power consumption. In the case where the user equipment is located outside the central area of the cell, the user equipment does not monitor WUS but monitors the SSB to decide whether to perform cell reselection. The user equipment may determine whether it is located in the central area of the cell based on radio measurement values. For example, if the received power or received quality of the signal received on the cell is high, e.g., higher than a radio threshold, the user equipment may determine that it is located at the central area of the cell.

[0074] In another example, WUS-based cell reselection may be based on the previous SSB measurement values or location of the user equipment. In other words, the user equipment may monitor the wake-up signal (instead of the SSB) based on the received power or received quality of one or more synchronization signal blocks previously received on the serving cell (the first cell). For example, if the received power or received quality of one or more SSBs is high, i.e., higher than a certain threshold, the user equipment may monitor the wake-up signal instead of monitoring the SSB.

[0075] In block 303, a first wake-up signal is transmitted to the user equipment on the first cell, and the user equipment receives the first wake-up signal. In other words, the first wake-up signal may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0076] In block 304, the user equipment may determine whether to perform a cell reselection procedure by comparing the received power or received quality of the first wake-up signal with a threshold. In this example, the received power or received quality of the first wake-up signal is higher than the threshold, and thus the user equipment determines not to perform a cell reselection procedure, and the user equipment may switch to the sleep mode based on the w period.

[0077] Comparing the received power or received quality with a threshold may mean comparing the measured received power value or the measured received quality value with a threshold, where the threshold indicates the threshold of the received power or quality of the WUS.

[0078] In block 305, a second wake-up signal is transmitted to the user equipment on the first cell. In other words, the second wake-up signal may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell. The second wake-up signal may be transmitted at a different time from the first wake-up signal. The user equipment receives the second wake-up signal.

[0079] In block 306, the user equipment determines whether to perform a cell reselection process by comparing the received power or received quality of the second wake-up signal with a threshold. In this example, the user equipment determines to perform a cell reselection process based at least on a comparison indicating that the received power or received quality of the second wake-up signal is equal to or lower than the threshold.

[0080] The cell reselection process may at least include monitoring synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) on one or more radio cells.

[0081] In block 307, based on determining to perform a cell reselection process, the user equipment starts monitoring synchronization signal blocks on one or more cells such as the first cell and the second cell (Cell 2). The second cell may be an adjacent cell of the first cell. For example, the first cell may operate on frequency range one (FR1), and the second cell may operate on frequency range two (FR2); vice versa. Additionally, a single gNB may manage the first cell and the second cell. Alternatively, the first cell and the second cell may be managed by different gNBs respectively.

[0082] Here, the terms "first cell" and "second cell" are used to distinguish the cells, and they do not necessarily mean a specific order or specific identifier of the cells.

[0083] In block 308, the user equipment receives a first SSB on the first cell. The first SSB may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0084] In block 309, the user equipment receives a second SSB on the second cell. The second SSB may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the second cell. This network node may be the same as or different from the network node providing the first cell.

[0085] The user equipment may also receive other SSBs on other cells ( Figure 3 not shown).

[0086] In block 310, the user equipment determines that one of one or more cells is the best ranked cell. For example, the second cell may be determined as the best ranked cell among one or more cells. More specifically, the user equipment may measure the received power or received quality of the first SSB and the second SSB. If the received power or received quality of the second SSB is higher than that of the first SSB, the user equipment may determine that the second cell is the best ranked cell.

[0087] In block 311, the user equipment determines whether the second cell is a cell suitable for residence.

[0088] For example, if the user equipment operates in the Standalone Non-Public Network (SNPN) access mode, then if the following conditions are met, the second cell may be considered suitable: 1) The second cell is part of the selected Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or the registered PLMN or a PLMN in the equivalent PLMN list; 2) And for the PLMN: The PLMN ID of the PLMN is broadcast by the second cell that does not have an associated Closed Access Group (CAG) ID, and the only CAG indication for the PLMN in the user equipment does not exist or is false; 3) The allowed CAG list for the PLMN in the user equipment includes the CAG-ID broadcast by the second cell for the PLMN; 4) The cell selection criteria are met; and according to the latest information provided by the Non-Access Stratum (NAS): 5) The second cell is not prohibited; and 6) The second cell is part of at least one Tracking Area (TA) that is not part of the "roaming prohibited tracking area" list belonging to the PLMN that meets the above first condition.

[0089] If the user equipment operates in the SNPN access mode, then if the following conditions are met, the second cell may be considered suitable: 1) The second cell is part of the selected SNPN or the registered SNPN of the user equipment; 2) The cell selection criteria are met; and according to the latest information provided by the NAS: 3) The second cell is not prohibited; and 4) The second cell is part of at least one TA that is not part of the "roaming prohibited tracking area" list belonging to the selected SNPN or the registered SNPN of the user equipment.

[0090] In block 312, the user equipment camps on the second cell based on determining that the second cell is a cell suitable for residence.

[0091] In the case where it is determined that the second cell is not suitable, the user equipment may measure another frequency band to find another best ranked cell in the another frequency band. For example, there may be two different best ranked cells in two different frequency bands.

[0092] Figure 4A flowchart of an example embodiment according to a method performed by a device is shown. For example, the device may be or include a user equipment, or be included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment (UE). The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 one or Figure 3 of the user equipments 100, 102.

[0093] If the service cell WUS strength / quality is lower than or equal to a certain threshold, this example embodiment enables the device to initiate a cell reselection process.

[0094] Referring to Figure 4 , in block 401, the device performs WUS monitoring in the service cell of the device. In other words, the device monitors at least one wake-up signal on the service cell.

[0095] In block 402, the device receives at least one wake-up signal on the service cell based on the monitoring, and compares the received power or received quality of the at least one wake-up signal with a first threshold to determine whether to perform a cell reselection process. The device may measure the received power or received quality based on the received wake-up signal.

[0096] If the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal is higher than the first threshold (block 402: No), the process may return to block 401, that is, the device determines that it is not necessary to perform a cell reselection process and continues WUS monitoring at the service cell based on the w period.

[0097] If the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal is equal to or lower than the first threshold (block 402: Yes), then in block 403, the device determines to perform a cell reselection process, and thus the device performs SSB monitoring in the service cell. In other words, the cell reselection process may at least include SSB monitoring. The device receives an SSB on the service cell based on the SSB monitoring.

[0098] In block 404, the device compares the received power or received quality of the SSB with a second threshold.

[0099] If the received power or received quality of the SSB received on the service cell is higher than the second threshold (block 404: No), the process may return to block 401, that is, the device continues WUS monitoring.

[0100] In block 405, if the received power or reception quality of the SSB received on the serving cell is lower than or equal to a second threshold (block 404: yes), the device performs SSB monitoring on one or more neighboring cells of the serving cell. Based on the SSB monitoring, the device receives SSBs on one or more neighboring cells (e.g., one SSB per cell).

[0101] In block 406, the device ranks a plurality of cells, namely the serving cell and one or more neighboring cells, based on the received power or reception quality of the SSBs received on the plurality of cells.

[0102] In block 407, the device selects a cell from the plurality of cells based on the ranking. For example, the device may select the cell with the highest SSB received power or quality among the plurality of cells.

[0103] In block 408, the device determines whether the selected cell is suitable for camping.

[0104] In block 409, based on determining that the selected cell is suitable for camping (block 408: yes), the device camps on the selected cell.

[0105] Alternatively, if the device determines that the selected cell is not suitable (block 408: no), the process may return to block 405, i.e., the device may measure more cells (e.g., on different frequency bands) and eventually find a suitable cell.

[0106] Figure 5 A signaling diagram according to another exemplary embodiment is shown. In this exemplary embodiment, WUS cell reselection information may be provided to a user equipment. The WUS cell reselection information may include a WUS frequency priority, and the time domain and frequency domain positions of one or more wake-up signals transmitted on one or more neighboring cells. The WUS time domain and frequency domain positions of the neighboring cells may be the same or different.

[0107] The frequency priority may indicate the order of frequencies (e.g., frequency bands or sub-bands) on which the user equipment should monitor the WUS. The user equipment may monitor the WUS starting from the highest priority band to the lowest priority band. In the case where no cell in a particular frequency band supports WUS (i.e., the user equipment cannot receive any WUS in the particular frequency band), the user equipment may de-prioritize the particular frequency band and monitor the next priority band.

[0108] The user equipment can monitor the WUS reception power / quality and compare it with a threshold to detect whether the WUS of the measured cell is higher than the threshold. If this is the case, the user equipment selects the cell as a candidate cell and also measures the SSB for the same cell to determine whether the candidate cell is a suitable cell. If no WUS is found on any cell in the measured frequency band, the user equipment can fallback to SSB-based cell reselection.

[0109] Reference Figure 5 , in block 501, the user equipment camps on the first cell (Cell 1). In other words, the first cell can be the serving cell of the user equipment.

[0110] In block 502, the WUS cell reselection information is received by the user equipment via the first cell (e.g., in the system information broadcast), where the WUS cell reselection information indicates one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters. The WUS cell reselection information can be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0111] For example, one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters can at least include a WUS threshold for the reception power or reception quality of the WUS from an adjacent cell. Alternatively, the threshold can be predefined at the user equipment (e.g., defined in the specification or hard-coded into the user equipment).

[0112] One or more WUS-specific parameters can also indicate the priority order of the frequency bands of the wake-up signals for monitoring WUS-specific cell reselection.

[0113] One or more WUS-specific parameters can also indicate one or more WUS ranking parameters for WUS-specific cell reselection. For example, one or more WUS ranking parameters can indicate the hysteresis of the serving cell and may indicate an offset for prioritizing or de-prioritizing the ranking of adjacent cells.

[0114] In block 503, the user equipment monitors the wake-up signals on multiple radio cells starting from the highest priority frequency band in the frequency band according to the priority order. As a non-limiting example, FR1 can be the highest priority frequency band for WUS-specific cell reselection.

[0115] In block 504, a first wake-up signal is transmitted to the user equipment on the first cell. The first wake-up signal can be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell. The user equipment receives the first wake-up signal. For example, the first cell can operate on FR1.

[0116] In block 505, the user equipment compares the received WUS power or the reception quality of the WUS with a threshold. In this case, the user equipment may determine that there is no cell above the WUS threshold on the highest priority frequency band.

[0117] In block 506, when the user equipment fails to receive any wake-up signal on the highest priority frequency band, the user equipment monitors wake-up signals on multiple radio cells on a frequency band different from the highest priority frequency band based on the priority order. For example, the user equipment may continue to monitor on the frequency band with the second highest priority according to the priority order. In other words, the user equipment may deprioritize the highest priority frequency band (e.g., FR1). As a non-limiting example, FR2 may be the frequency band with the second highest priority for WUS-specific cell reselection.

[0118] In block 507, one or more second wake-up signals are transmitted to the user equipment via one or more radio cells of different frequency bands. The one or more second wake-up signals may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the one or more radio cells. This network node may be the same as or different from the network node providing the first cell. The user equipment receives the one or more second wake-up signals. The one or more radio cells may include at least a second radio cell (Cell 2). The second cell may be an adjacent cell of the first cell. For example, the second cell may operate on FR2.

[0119] Here, the terms "first cell" and "second cell" are used to distinguish the cells, and they do not necessarily mean a specific order or specific identifier of the cells.

[0120] In block 508, the user equipment determines whether to perform a cell reselection process by comparing the received power or reception quality of the second wake-up signal with a threshold. In this example, the user equipment determines to perform a cell reselection process based at least on a comparison indicating that the received power or reception quality of the second wake-up signal is higher than the threshold.

[0121] In block 509, in the case where the user equipment receives wake-up signals on multiple radio cells on the same frequency band, the user equipment may sort the multiple radio cells based on the received power or reception quality of the wake-up signals, and select a radio cell from the multiple radio units based on the sorting.

[0122] For example, based on the WUS sorting parameter, the user equipment may determine that the second cell is the best sorted cell. For example, if the received power or reception quality of the WUS received on the second cell is higher than the received power or reception quality of the WUS received on other cells on the same frequency band, the user equipment may determine that the second cell is the best sorted cell.

[0123] In block 510, based on determining to perform a cell reselection procedure and the second cell being the best ranked cell, the user equipment starts monitoring the SSB on the second cell.

[0124] In block 511, the user equipment receives the SSB on the second cell. The SSB may be transmitted by a network node (such as a gNB or a TRP) providing the second cell.

[0125] In block 512, the user equipment determines whether the second cell is a cell suitable for residence based on the received power or received quality of the SSB on the second cell.

[0126] In block 513, the user equipment resides on the second cell based on determining that the second cell is a cell suitable for residence.

[0127] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example embodiment of a method performed by a device is shown. For example, the device may be or include a user equipment, or be included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device (UE). The user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 one of user equipments 100, 102 Figure 5 of the user equipment.

[0128] In this example embodiment, the device determines a frequency band for WUS monitoring based on the WUS frequency priority. The device scans the WUS of all candidate cells starting from the highest priority frequency (such as a frequency band or a sub - band). If the device does not receive any WUS in a given frequency band, the device may de - prioritize the frequency band. The device ranks the cells based on the received WUS strength or quality. The device selects the best ranked cell based on the ranking of the cells. The device measures the SSB of the best ranked cell. Based on the SSB measurement, the device determines whether the selected cell is suitable.

[0129] Refer to Figure 6 In block 601, the device receives information indicating at least the priority order of the frequency bands to be monitored for the wake - up signal.

[0130] In block 602, the device selects a frequency band from the frequency bands based on the priority order. For example, the device may select the highest priority frequency band according to the priority order.

[0131] In block 603, the device monitors the wake - up signal on a plurality of radio cells of the selected frequency band. For example, the monitoring may start from the highest priority frequency band in the frequency band according to the priority order.

[0132] In block 604, based on the monitoring, the device receives wake-up signals on multiple radio cells and compares the received power or received quality of the wake-up signals with a threshold to determine whether to perform a cell reselection process. The device can measure the received power or received quality based on the received wake-up signals.

[0133] If the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal is not higher than the first threshold (block 604: No), the process can return to block 602, that is, the device selects another frequency band based on the priority order and continues to perform WUS monitoring on that frequency band. In other words, in this case, when the device fails to receive any wake-up signals on the highest-priority frequency band, the device can monitor wake-up signals on a frequency band different from the highest-priority frequency band based on the priority order. Therefore, the wake-up signal can be received on the highest-priority frequency band or on a different frequency band.

[0134] If no WUS is found on any cell in any of the monitored frequency bands, the device can fallback to SSB-based cell reselection.

[0135] In block 605, if the received power or received quality of at least one of the wake-up signals among the wake-up signals is higher than the threshold (block 604: Yes), the device sorts multiple cells based on the received power or received quality of the wake-up signals received by the device.

[0136] In block 606, the device selects a cell from the multiple cells based on the sorting. For example, the device can select the cell with the highest WUS received power or quality among the multiple cells.

[0137] In block 607, the device performs SSB monitoring on the selected cell and receives the SSB on the selected cell based on the monitoring.

[0138] In block 608, the device determines whether the selected cell is suitable for residence. For example, if the received power or received quality of the SSB received on the selected cell is higher than the threshold, the device can decode the system information of the cell to determine whether the cell is applicable to other items.

[0139] In block 609, based on determining that the selected cell is suitable for residence (block 608: Yes), the device resides on the selected cell.

[0140] Alternatively, if the device determines that the selected cell is not suitable (block 608: No), the process can return to block 606, that is, the device can select another cell based on the sorting (WUS received power / quality higher than the threshold) and monitor the SSB on that cell to determine whether it is suitable for residence. In the case where no sorted cell is suitable, the device can restart the cell reselection process.

[0141] Figure 7 A signaling diagram according to another exemplary embodiment is shown. In this exemplary embodiment, the frequency priority of WUS-based cell reselection is adjusted according to the energy storage or harvesting capabilities of the user equipment. If the user equipment has sufficient energy, it can prioritize the frequency of the gNB. If the user equipment has low energy, it can prioritize the frequency for the relay / reader. After detecting another energy state, the user equipment can maintain its connection to its current serving cell until the WUS threshold condition is met. Alternatively, after the energy state changes, the user equipment can directly measure the strength or quality of WUS on one or more cells (e.g., reader / FR1 cell / FR2 cell) based on the frequency priority.

[0142] This exemplary embodiment can enable triggering efficient WUS-based cell reselection, for example, for energy harvesting devices (such as RedCap devices or passive IoT devices).

[0143] Reference Figure 7 , in block 701, the user equipment camps on a first cell (Cell 1). In other words, the first cell can be the serving cell of the user equipment. For example, the user equipment can be an energy harvesting device, such as a passive IoT device.

[0144] In block 702, the user equipment receives information about the first cell, such as system information, where the information indicates one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters. The information can be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0145] For example, one or more WUS-specific cell reselection parameters can at least include a WUS threshold for the received power or received quality of WUS on the first cell. Alternatively, the threshold can be predefined at the user equipment (e.g., defined in the specification or hard-coded into the user equipment).

[0146] In block 703, the user equipment receives a first wake-up signal on the first cell. The first wake-up signal can be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell.

[0147] In block 704, the user equipment determines the energy state of the user equipment, where the energy state indicates the amount of harvested or stored energy available or predicted to be available at the device. As an alternative to the currently available amount of energy, a prediction of future energy arrival can be used to define the energy state (e.g., to reduce state switching or ping-pong). For example, in the case of solar energy, the prediction of energy arrival during the day may be higher than at night. The user equipment determines the frequency band to monitor based on the energy state.

[0148] As an example, the user equipment may have three different energy states based on the collected or stored energy.

[0149] In the first energy state (sleep mode), i.e., if the amount of energy is below the first energy threshold, the user equipment may prioritize the frequency of the reader or repeater. The reader or repeater may be located very close to the user equipment, and thus it may be easier for the user equipment to communicate with the reader or repeater compared to the gNB (i.e., less power is required).

[0150] Here, the reader may refer to another user equipment with passive IoT reader functionality. For example, the reader may receive data from multiple sensors connected to the reader. The reader can be a passive IoT reader, a fixed passive IoT reader, or a mobile passive IoT reader. A passive IoT reader is a user equipment with receiver functionality. The fixed passive IoT reader can be fixedly deployed in a more dense area. The mobile passive IoT reader may have the mobility of probabilistic deployment.

[0151] The user equipment may distinguish the reader from the cell (e.g., gNB) after decoding some system information from each cell, or by knowing the frequency band where the reader is deployed.

[0152] In the second energy state (low energy state), i.e., if the amount of energy is equal to or higher than the first energy threshold but lower than the second energy threshold, the user equipment may prioritize FR1. In the second energy state, the user equipment may, for example, transmit or receive paging messages, short messages, and / or small data transmissions (SDT).

[0153] In the third energy state (high energy state), i.e., if the amount of energy is equal to or higher than the second energy threshold, the user equipment may prioritize FR2. In the third energy state, the user equipment may transmit and receive (e.g., compared to the first and second energy states) a large amount of data.

[0154] In block 705, a second wake-up signal is transmitted to the user equipment via the first cell. The second wake-up signal may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., gNB or TRP) providing the first cell. The user equipment receives the second wake-up signal. For example, the first cell may operate on FR1.

[0155] In block 706, the user equipment determines whether to perform a cell reselection process by comparing the received power or received quality of the second wake-up signal with the WUS threshold. In this example, the received power or received quality of the second wake-up signal is below the threshold, and thus the user equipment determines to perform a cell reselection process.

[0156] In block 707, based on determining to perform a cell reselection process, the user equipment monitors a wake-up signal on a frequency band determined based on the energy state in block 704. In other words, when the received power or received quality of the second wake-up signal is lower than or equal to the WUS threshold, the user equipment monitors radio cells on the frequency band determined in block 704.

[0157] For example, if the user equipment determines that it is in the first energy state (sleep mode), the user equipment may monitor a wake-up signal from a reader or a repeater. From the perspective of the user equipment, the reader or the repeater may operate as a base station with limited capabilities. In this example, the user equipment receives a third wake-up signal from at least one reader or repeater.

[0158] In the case where the user equipment receives a wake-up signal on multiple radio cells of the determined frequency band, the user equipment may sort the multiple radio cells based on the received power or received quality of the received wake-up signal, and select a radio cell from the multiple radio cells based on the sorting.

[0159] In block 708, the user equipment determines whether the reader or the repeater is suitable for residence. For example, if the received power or received quality of the SSB received from the reader or the repeater is higher than a threshold, the user equipment may decode the system information of the reader or the repeater to determine whether it is suitable for residence.

[0160] In block 709, the user equipment resides on the reader or the repeater based on determining that it is suitable for residing on the reader or the repeater.

[0161] In blocks 710 and 711, the user equipment receives one or more wake-up signals (e.g., a fourth wake-up signal and a fifth wake-up signal) from the reader or the repeater.

[0162] For example, the user equipment may monitor multiple wake-up signals (e.g., a fourth wake-up signal and a fifth wake-up signal) over time to perform an estimation of taking an average of the multiple signals.

[0163] In block 712, the user equipment may detect a change in the energy state while residing on the reader or the repeater. Based on the change in the energy state, the user equipment determines a different frequency band to monitor (compared to the frequency band determined in block 704).

[0164] For example, the user equipment may collect energy from the fourth wake-up signal and the fifth wake-up signal, and thus the user equipment may transition from the first energy state to the third energy state (high energy state). Therefore, the user equipment determines a corresponding cell reselection priority, such as FR2.

[0165] In block 713, the reader or the repeater transmits a sixth wake-up signal to the user equipment. The user equipment receives the sixth wake-up signal.

[0166] In block 714, the user equipment determines whether to perform a cell reselection process by comparing the received power or received quality of the sixth wake-up signal with a threshold. In this example, the received power or received quality of the sixth wake-up signal is lower than the threshold, and thus the user equipment determines to perform a cell reselection process.

[0167] In block 715, based on determining to perform a cell reselection procedure (in block 714), the user equipment monitors a wake-up signal on a different frequency band (e.g., FR2) and receives a seventh wake-up signal on a second cell (e.g., in FR2) operating on a different frequency band. The seventh wake-up signal may be transmitted by a network node (e.g., a gNB or a TRP) providing the second cell. The network node may be the same as or different from the network node providing the first cell.

[0168] In block 716, the user equipment determines whether the second cell is a suitable cell to camp on, for example, based on the received power or the received quality of the SSB received on the second cell.

[0169] In block 717, based on determining that the second cell is suitable for camping, the user equipment camps on a second cell of a different frequency band.

[0170] Figure 7 As explained in the example, 1) blocks 703 to 706, 2) blocks 707 to 709, and 2) blocks 710 to 717 may also be performed independently of each other. Figure 8 A flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus is shown. For example, the apparatus may be or include a user equipment, or be included in a user equipment. A user equipment may also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, a RedCap device, a passive IoT device, an energy harvesting device, or a user equipment (UE). A user equipment may correspond to Figure 1 One of the user equipment 100, 102 or Figure 7 user device.

[0171] In this example embodiment, the device determines a WUS measurement value based on an energy state. The device scans the WUS of a candidate cell based on the energy state. The device ranks each cell based on the received WUS strength / quality. The device determines the best ranked cell based on the ranking of each cell. The device measures the SSB of the best ranked cell to determine whether the selected cell is suitable.

[0172] refer to Figure 8, in block 801, the device receives a first wake-up signal on its serving cell and compares the received power or received quality of the first wake-up signal with a threshold to determine whether to perform a cell reselection process. In this case, the device determines to perform a cell reselection process based on a comparison indicating that the received power or received quality of the first wake-up signal is lower than or equal to the threshold.

[0173] It should be noted that block 801 can be optional. For example, if the current serving cell is not managed by the reader and if the device is in a low energy state or sleep mode, it can use the energy state change as a trigger to switch from the current serving cell to the reader (even if the WUS received power / quality of the serving cell is higher than the threshold).

[0174] In block 802, the device determines the energy state of the device, where the energy state indicates the amount of energy available or predicted to be available at the device.

[0175] As an example, the device can have three different energy states based on the collected or stored energy.

[0176] In the first energy state (sleep mode), i.e., if the amount of energy is below a first energy threshold, the device can prioritize the frequencies of the reader or repeater. The reader or repeater can be located very close to the device, and thus the device can communicate with the reader or relay more easily (i.e., requires less power) compared to the gNB.

[0177] In the second energy state (low energy state), i.e., if the amount of energy is equal to or higher than the first energy threshold but lower than a second energy threshold, the device can prioritize FR1. In the second energy state, the device can, for example, transmit or receive paging messages, short messages, and / or small data transmissions (SDT).

[0178] In the third energy state (high energy state), i.e., if the amount of energy is equal to or higher than the second energy threshold, the device can prioritize FR2. In the third energy state, the device can transmit and receive (e.g., compared to the first and second energy states) a large amount of data.

[0179] In block 803, the device determines the frequency bands to monitor for the cell reselection process based on the energy state.

[0180] In block 804, when the received power or received quality of the first wake-up signal on the serving cell is equal to or lower than the threshold, the device monitors the wake-up signals on multiple radio cells of the determined frequency bands.

[0181] In block 805, the apparatus receives a wake-up signal on a plurality of radio cells based on the monitoring and compares a received power or a received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold. The apparatus may measure the received power or the received quality based on the received wake-up signal.

[0182] If the received power or the received quality of the wake-up signal is not higher than the first threshold (block 805: No), the process may return to block 804, i.e., the device may continue to perform WUS monitoring on the frequency band. If WUS is not detected on the frequency band within a certain amount of time, the device may fall back to SSB-based cell reselection.

[0183] It should be noted that block 805 may be optional. As an alternative, the process may proceed directly from block 804 to block 806.

[0184] In box 806, if the reception power or reception quality of at least one of the wake-up signals is higher than the threshold (in the case of box 805: yes), the device sorts multiple cells based on the reception power or reception quality of the wake-up signals received by the device.

[0185] In block 807, the device selects a cell from the plurality of cells based on the ranking. For example, the device may select a cell with the highest WUS reception power or quality from the plurality of cells.

[0186] In block 808, the device performs SSB monitoring at the selected cell and receives the SSB on the selected cell based on the SSB monitoring.

[0187] In block 809, the device determines whether the selected cell is suitable for camping based on the SSB received on the selected cell and the system information. For example, if the received power or the received quality of the SSB received on the selected cell is above a threshold, the device may decode the system information of the selected cell to determine whether it is suitable for camping. To determine whether the selected cell is suitable, the device may also determine whether the selected cell is a reader. For example, in a low energy state or sleep mode, if the selected cell is a reader, it is suitable.

[0188] In block 810, based on determining that the selected cell is suitable for camping (block 809: YES), the apparatus camps on the selected cell.

[0189] Alternatively, if the device determines that the selected cell is not suitable (block 809: No), the process can return to block 807, i.e., the device can select another cell based on sorting (WUS received power / quality higher than the threshold) and monitor the SSB on that cell to determine whether it is suitable for camping. In the case where no sorted cell is suitable, the device can restart the cell reselection process.

[0190] Figure 9 A flowchart of an example embodiment of a method performed by a device is shown. For example, the device can be or include a user equipment, or be included in a user equipment. The user equipment can also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device (UE). The user equipment can correspond to Figure 1 one of the user equipments 100, 102, or Figure 3 , 5 or any one of the user equipments in 7.

[0191] Referring to Figure 9 , in block 901, the device receives a wake-up signal.

[0192] In block 902, the device compares the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold.

[0193] In block 903, the device determines whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

[0194] Figure 10 A flowchart of an example embodiment of a method performed by a device is shown. For example, the device can be or include a network node of a radio access network, or be included in a network node of a radio access network. The network node can correspond to Figure 1 the access node 104, or Figure 3 , 5 or cell 1 of any one of 7.

[0195] Referring to Figure 10 , in block 1001, the device transmits information indicating at least a threshold for comparison with the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal, and performs the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison. The comparison and cell reselection process can be performed at another device (e.g., at a user equipment) based on the threshold.

[0196] Above with the aid of Figure 3-10The described boxes, related functions, and information exchanges (messages) do not have an absolute chronological order, and some of them can be executed simultaneously or in an order different from the described order. Other functions can also be executed between or within them, and other information can be sent and / or other rules can be applied. Some boxes or parts of boxes or one or more pieces of information can also be omitted or replaced with corresponding boxes or parts of boxes or one or more pieces of information.

[0197] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <list of two or more elements>” and similar phrases (where the list of two or more elements is joined by “and” or “or”) refer to at least any one element, or at least any two or more elements, or at least all elements.

[0198] Figure 11 An example of device 1100 is shown, which includes means for performing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, device 1100 can be or include a device such as a user equipment, or be included in a user equipment. The user equipment can correspond to Figure 1 one of user equipments 100, 102, or Figure 3 , 5 or any one of 7. The user equipment can also be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device (UE).

[0199] Device 1100 can include circuitry or a chipset suitable for implementing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, device 1100 can include at least one processor 1110. The at least one processor 1110 interprets instructions (e.g., computer program instructions) and processes data. The at least one processor 1110 can include one or more programmable processors. The at least one processor 1110 can include programmable hardware with embedded firmware and, alternatively or additionally, can include one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0200] At least one processor 1110 is coupled to at least one memory 1120. The at least one processor is configured to read data from and write data to the at least one memory 1120. The at least one memory 1120 may include one or more memory cells. The memory cells can be volatile or non-volatile. Note that there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells and one or more volatile memory cells, or alternatively, one or more non-volatile memory cells, or alternatively, one or more volatile memory cells. Volatile memory can be, for example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory can be, for example, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage, or magnetic storage. Generally, each memory can be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, rather than a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM). The at least one memory 1120 stores computer-readable instructions executed by the at least one processor 1110 to perform one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, the non-volatile memory stores the computer-readable instructions, and the at least one processor 1110 executes the instructions using the volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions. The computer-readable instructions can refer to computer program code.

[0201] The computer-readable instructions may have been pre-stored in the at least one memory 1120, or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer-readable instructions by the at least one processor 1110 causes the device 1100 to perform one or more of the above-described example embodiments. That is, the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions can provide means for providing or causing the execution of any of the above methods and / or blocks.

[0202] In the context of this document, "memory" or "computer-readable medium" or "computer-readable media" can be any non-transitory medium or media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device such as a computer. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, rather than a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM).

[0203] Device 1100 may also include or be connected to an input unit 1130. The input unit 1130 may include one or more interfaces for receiving inputs. The one or more interfaces may include, for example, one or more temperature, motion, and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons, and / or one or more touch detection units. Additionally, the input unit 1130 may include an interface to which external devices may be connected.

[0204] Device 1100 may also include an output unit 1140. The output unit may include or be connected to one or more displays capable of presenting visual content, such as light-emitting diode (LED) displays, liquid crystal displays (LCD), and / or liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) displays. The output unit 1140 may also include one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be, for example, speakers.

[0205] Device 1100 further includes a connection unit 1150. The connection unit 1150 enables a wireless connection with one or more external devices. The connection unit 1150 may include at least one transmitter and at least one receiver 1151, which may be integrated onto the device 1100 or to which the device 1100 may be connected. The at least one transmitter includes at least one transmitting antenna, and the at least one receiver includes at least one receiving antenna. The connection unit 1150 may also include a wake-up receiver (WURx) 1152 for monitoring wake-up signals. The connection unit 1150 may include an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provides the wireless communication capabilities for the device 1100. Alternatively, the wireless connection may be a hard-wired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The connection unit 1150 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: power amplifiers, digital front-ends (DFE), analog-to-digital converters (ADC), digital-to-analog converters (DAC), frequency converters, (de)modulators, and / or encoder / decoder circuits.

[0206] It should be noted that device 1100 may also include Figure 11 various components not shown. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0207] Figure 12 An example of a device 1200 is shown, which includes means for performing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, the device 1200 may be a device such as a network node of a radio access network, or may include or be included in a network node of a radio access network. The network node may correspond to Figure 1 the access node 104, or Figure 3 、 5Cell 1 of any one of or 7. A network node may also be referred to as, for example, a network element, a radio access network (RAN) node, a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node, a Node B, an eNB, a gNB, a base transceiver station (BTS), a base station, an NR base station, a 5G base station, an access node, an access point (AP), a relay node, a repeater, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, an IAB donor node, a distributed unit (DU), a central unit (CU), a baseband unit (BBU), a radio unit (RU), a radio head, a remote radio head (RRH), or a transmit and receive point (TRP).

[0208] Device 1200 may include, for example, circuitry or a chipset suitable for implementing one or more of the above example embodiments. Device 1200 may be an electronic device including one or more electronic circuits. Device 1200 may include a communication control circuit 1210 such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 1220 storing instructions 1222 that, when executed by the at least one microprocessor, cause device 1200 to perform one or more of the above example embodiments. For example, such instructions 1222 may include computer program code (software), where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured with the at least one processor to cause device 1200 to perform one or more of the above example embodiments. The at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide means for providing or causing the execution of any of the above methods and / or blocks.

[0209] The processor is coupled to the memory 1220. The processor is configured to read data from and write data to the memory 1220. The memory 1220 may include one or more memory units. The memory units can be volatile or non-volatile. Note that there may be one or more non-volatile memory units and one or more volatile memory units, alternatively, one or more non-volatile memory units, or one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory can be, for example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory can be, for example, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage, or magnetic storage. Generally, the memory can be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, rather than a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM). The memory 1220 stores computer-readable instructions executed by the processor. For example, the non-volatile memory stores the computer-readable instructions, and the processor uses the volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions to execute the instructions.

[0210] The computer-readable instructions may have been pre-stored in the memory 1220, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer-readable instructions causes the device 1200 to perform one or more of the above functions.

[0211] The memory 1220 can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and / or removable memory. The memory may include a configuration database for storing configuration data. For example, the configuration database may store a current list of neighboring cells and, in some example embodiments, the structure of the frames used in the detected neighboring cells.

[0212] Device 1200 may also include a communication interface 1230, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing a communication connection according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 1230 includes at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx), which may be integrated into the device 1200 or the device 1200 may be connected thereto. The communication interface 1230 may provide means for performing some of the boxes of the one or more example embodiments described above. The communication interface 1230 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or an encoder / decoder circuit.

[0213] The communication interface 1230 provides the device with radio communication capabilities for communicating in a cellular communication system. For example, the communication interface may provide a radio interface to one or more user devices. Device 1200 may also include another interface towards a core network (such as a network coordinator device or an AMF) and / or towards an access node of the cellular communication system.

[0214] Device 1200 may also include a scheduler 1240, which is configured to allocate radio resources. The scheduler 1240 may be configured together with the communication control circuit 1210 or may be configured separately.

[0215] It should be noted that device 1200 may also include Figure 12 various components not shown in the figure. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0216] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) only a hardware circuit implementation (such as only an implementation in analog and / or digital circuits); and (b) a combination of hardware circuits and software, such as (if applicable) (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) a hardware processor and software (including a digital signal processor), any part of the software and memory, which work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone to perform various functions); and (c) a hardware circuit and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor, which requires software (such as firmware) to operate, but the software may not exist when it is not required to operate.

[0217] This definition of circuitry applies throughout the present disclosure, including any and all uses of the term in any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations that include only hardware circuitry or a processor (or processors) or a portion of the hardware circuitry or processor and their (or its) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example and if applicable to the particular claim elements, a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cell network device, or other computing or networking device.

[0218] The various techniques and methods described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, an example embodiment of the device may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation may be through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) of at least one chipset that perform the functions described herein. The software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor. In the latter case, it may be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means known in the art. Additionally, the components of the various systems described herein may be rearranged and / or supplemented by other components in order to facilitate the implementation of the various aspects, etc., and as will be understood by those skilled in the art, they are not limited to the exact configurations listed in the given figures.

[0219] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, as technology progresses, the inventive concept may be implemented in various ways. The embodiments are not limited to the example embodiments described above, but may vary within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, all words and expressions should be construed broadly, and they are intended to illustrate rather than limit the example embodiments.

Claims

1. A device, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least perform the following: Receive a wake-up signal; Compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and Determine whether to perform a cell reselection process based at least on the comparison.

2. The device according to claim 1, which is further caused to: Receive information indicating at least the threshold.

3. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The cell reselection process at least includes monitoring synchronization signal blocks on one or more radio cells.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Receive the wake-up signal on the serving cell of the device, and perform the cell reselection process based at least on the comparison indicating that the received power or the received quality of the wake-up signal is lower than or equal to the threshold.

5. The device according to claim 4, which is further caused to: Monitor the wake-up signal based on determining that the device is located in the central area of the serving cell, or based on the received power or received quality of one or more synchronization signal blocks received on the serving cell.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1-3, which is further caused to: Receive information indicating at least the priority order of frequency bands for monitoring wake-up signals including the wake-up signal; Monitor the wake-up signal on multiple radio cells by starting from the highest priority frequency band in the frequency bands according to the priority order; Receive the wake-up signal on the multiple radio cells based on the monitoring; Sort the multiple radio cells based on the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal; Select a radio cell from the multiple radio cells based on the sorting; And Reside on the selected radio cell based on determining that the selected radio cell is suitable for residence.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein Receive the wake-up signal on the highest priority frequency band.

8. The device according to claim 6, which is further caused to: When the device fails to receive any wake-up signal on the highest priority frequency band, monitor the wake-up signal on a frequency band different from the highest priority frequency band based on the priority order.

9. The device according to any one of claims 1-5, which is further caused to: Determine the energy state of the device, where the energy state indicates the amount of energy available or predicted to be available at the device; Determine the frequency band to be monitored based on the energy state; When the received power or the received quality of the wake-up signal is lower than or equal to the threshold, monitor multiple radio cells of the frequency band; And Receive wake-up signals on the multiple radio cells based on the monitoring of the frequency band; Select a radio cell from the multiple radio cells; And Reside on the selected radio cell based on determining that the selected radio cell is suitable for residence.

10. The device according to claim 9, which is further caused to: Sort multiple radio cells based on the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal, Among them, Select the radio cell from the multiple radio cells based on the sorting.

11. The device according to any one of claims 9-10, which is further caused to: Detect a change in the energy state when resident on the radio cell; Based on the change in the energy state, determine different frequency bands to be monitored; Receive a wake-up signal on the radio cells of the different frequency bands by monitoring the different frequency bands; And Reside on the radio cells of the different frequency bands based on determining that the radio cells of the different frequency bands are suitable for residence.

12. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following: Transmit information indicating at least a threshold for comparison with the received power or received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process at least based on the comparison.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, The information further indicates at least a priority order of frequency bands for monitoring the wake-up signal.

14. A method comprising: Receive a wake-up signal; Compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; And Determine whether to perform a cell reselection process at least based on the comparison.

15. A method comprising: Transmit information indicating at least a threshold for comparison with the received power or received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process at least based on the comparison.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: Receive a wake-up signal; Compare the received power or received quality of the wake-up signal with a threshold; and Determine whether to perform a cell reselection process at least based on the comparison.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: Transmit information indicating at least a threshold for comparison with the received power or received quality of a wake-up signal, and perform the cell reselection process at least based on the comparison.

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