Techniques for paging in wireless networks

Abstract

The application relates to devices and components including apparatuses, systems, and methods for paging inactive devices in a wireless network.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to communication networks, and more particularly to techniques for paging user equipment in wireless networks. Background Art

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specifications (TS) define a paging mechanism that allows the network to reach a User Equipment (UE) that is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive or idle state. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Figure 1 A network environment according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0004] Figure 2 A signaling diagram according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0005] Figure 3 A paging diagram is illustrated according to some embodiments.

[0006] Figure 4 A paging diagram is illustrated according to some embodiments.

[0007] Figure 5 Paging configurations according to some embodiments are illustrated.

[0008] Figure 6 Overlapping paging superframes according to some embodiments are illustrated.

[0009] Figure 7 Another overlapping paging superframe according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0010] Figure 8 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0011] Figure 9 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0012] Figure 10 User equipment according to some embodiments is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 11 A network node according to some embodiments is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different figures to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces and / or technologies, are set forth for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of some embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure that various aspects of the various aspects may be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various aspects due to unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B) or (A and B); and the phrase "based on A" means "based at least in part on A", for example, it can be "based only on A" or it can be "based in part on A".

[0015] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0016] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable system on a chip (SoC)), and / or a digital signal processor (DSP) configured to provide the described functionality. In some aspects, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code for executing the functionality of the program code. In these aspects, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0017] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that is capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations; or recording, storing, or transferring digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to an application processor; a baseband processor; a central processing unit (CPU); a graphics processing unit; a single-core processor; a dual-core processor; a triple-core processor; a quad-core processor; or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code); a software module; or a functional process.

[0018] As used herein, the term "interface circuitry" refers to circuitry that enables, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuitry" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces; for example, a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, or a network interface card.

[0019] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can represent a remote user of network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0020] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computing devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computing devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing resources or networked resources.

[0021] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, database, and application, workload units, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computer, storage, or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computer, storage, or network resources provided by a virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The terms "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources accessible to a computer device / system via a communication network. The term "system resource" may refer to any type of shared entity that provides a service and may include computing resources or network resources. System resources may be considered a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services that can be accessed through a server, where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0022] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for conveying data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term representing a path or medium through which data is conveyed. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices for sending and receiving information.

[0023] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0024] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, etc.

[0026] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element or a data element that contains the contents. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0027] Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some embodiments is illustrated. The network environment 100 may include a UE 104, a radio access network (RAN) 106 including a base station 108, and a core network (CN) 112. The RAN 106 may also be referred to as a next generation RAN (NG RAN), and the CN 112 may also be referred to as a fifth generation core (5GC). The base station 108 may provide one or more radio access cells through which the UE 104 may communicate with the RAN 108. The base station 108 may provide an air interface compatible with 3GPP technical specifications, such as those defining fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) or higher system standards. The base station 108 may provide the UE 104 with access to other networks (e.g., CN 112, data networks, etc.). Depending on the technology of the RAN 106 and CN 112, the base station 108 may be referred to as an eNB, gNB, ng-NB, etc.

[0028] The base station 108 may handle various functions related to managing the access stratum of the UE 104. These functions may include inter-cell radio resource management (RRM), radio bearer control, connection mobility control, radio admission control, measurement configuration and provisioning, and uplink / downlink resource allocation. The CN 112 may have a service-based architecture with network functions that may operate independently of each other. These network functions may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) that provides non-access stratum (NAS) security and idle state mobility handling, a user plane function (UPF) that provides mobility anchoring and protocol data unit (PDU) processing, and a session management function (SMF) that provides Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and PDU session control.

[0029] UE 104 can be configured to operate in one of the following protocol states: RRC idle state; RRC inactive state; or RRC connected state. When UE 104 is in the RRC connected state, UE 104 can have established connections with both base station 108 and CN 112 and can perform uplink and downlink unicast data transfer. To reach UE 104 when it is in the RRC idle state or RRC inactive state, CN 112 or base station 108 can send a paging message to UE 104. Paging can be initiated by RAN 106 (referred to as RAN paging) or by CN 112 (referred to as CN paging). Paging operations in the RRC idle state include CN paging for mobile terminal data and discontinuous reception (DRX) for CN paging configured by the NAS. Paging operations in the RRC inactive state include RAN paging and DRX configured by the RAN 106 for RAN paging.

[0030] Paging DRX has been defined to avoid requiring the UE 104 to continuously monitor the paging channel and, therefore, reduce battery consumption of the UE 104. Paging DRX allows the UE 104 to monitor the paging channel only during one or more defined paging occasions (PO) per DRX cycle when in RRC idle or inactive state. The UE-specific paging DRX cycle can be configured by NAS signaling for CN paging and by RRC signaling for RAN paging.

[0031] Extended DRX (eDRX) has been defined with a larger DRX cycle to further reduce UE battery consumption. This may be particularly useful for lower capability UEs that may have constraints on battery size due to smaller form factors.

[0032] 3GPP TS Release 17 defines eDRX as follows. The eDRX configuration for RAN paging may be determined and configured by the NG RAN. In RRC Inactive, the UE may monitor both RAN and CN paging. In RRC Idle, the eDRX configuration for CN paging is configured by higher layers using, for example, NAS signaling. In RRC Idle, the UE 104 may monitor only CN paging. Information regarding whether eDRX for CN and RAN paging is permitted on a specific cell may be provided separately in system information.

[0033] Release 17 defines the maximum value of the eDRX cycle as 10,485.76 seconds (2.91 hours) for RRC Idle and 10.24 seconds for RRC Inactive, and defines the minimum value of the DRX cycle as 2.56 seconds for both RRC Idle and RRC Inactive.

[0034] To facilitate the management of longer DRX cycles, a hyperframe number (H-SFN), a paging superframe (PH), and a paging time window (PTW) are defined. The H-SFN is broadcast by the base station 108 and increments by 1 when the system frame number (SFN) wraps around. The PH refers to the H-SFN that the UE 104 will start monitoring for paging DRX during the PTW used in RRC Idle. The PH and PTW can be determined based on equations known to the AMF, the UE 104, and the RAN 106. If the eDRX cycle is greater than 10.24 seconds, the H-SFN, PH, and PTW can be used. When the RRC Idle eDRX cycle is longer than the system information modification period, the UE 104 can verify that the stored system information remains valid before establishing an RRC connection.

[0035] Support for eDRX Inactive may be optional for both the UE 104 and the network. If the UE 104 supports eDRX Inactive, it should also support eDRX Idle.

[0036] 3GPP TS Release 18 will provide various enhancements to eDRX operation. One enhancement may include extending the inactive eDRX cycle to 10,485.76 seconds (2.91 hours). When the UE 104 is in the RRC inactive state and configured with a long eDRXRAN paging cycle, the UPF of the CN 106 can perform data buffering and push data only when a PTW arrives.

[0037] Figure 2 is a signaling diagram 200 of paging operations according to some embodiments. The signaling diagram 200 may include signals and operations performed by the UE 104, the RAN 106, and the CN 112.

[0038] At 204, UE 104 may send a registration request message to CN 112. The registration request message may include an indication of UE capabilities and support for eDRX.

[0039] CN 112 may respond with a registration accept message at 208. The registration accept message may include the eDRX configuration generated by CN 112 for UE 104.

[0040] At 212 , the CN 112 may also send the eDRX configuration to the RAN 106 .

[0041] The eDRX configuration may configure the UE 104 to periodically wake up to monitor for paging messages. For example, the eDRX configuration may configure the UE 104 to monitor for paging messages at 216 and 220 when in an idle state.

[0042] Figure 2 The RAN PO of illustrates the PO to which the UE 104 will wake up to monitor for paging messages when the UE 104 is not in eDRX. The eDRX PO illustrates the PO to which the UE 104 will wake up to monitor for paging messages when in eDRX.

[0043] At 224, CN 112 may provide a CN page for UE 104 to RAN 106. RAN 106 may suppress delivery of the CN page until 228, which corresponds to the next eDRX PO in 220.

[0044] Figure 3 A paging pattern 300 that may be used in a longer eDRX cycle according to some embodiments is illustrated. As shown, the paging pattern 300 includes H-SFN 0-H-SFN 60, where H-SFN 28 and H-SFN 60 are designated as PHs.

[0045] In each PH, the UE 104 may be configured to monitor the eDRX PO within the PTW. The eDRX PO may correspond to the SFN that the UE 104 is to monitor. The PTW may be UE-specific and may be determined by the PH, the starting position within the PH (PTW), and the PTW. start ) and the end position within PH (PTW end The starting position of the continuous PTW can be determined by the eDRX cycle length (T eDRX )separate.

[0046] RAN 106 may configure a PH / PTW for RAN paging, while CN 112 may configure a PH / PTW for CN paging. The RAN PTW length may be different from the CN PTW length. When the RAN PH and CN PH overlap in the same PH, the PTW starting position may be the same.

[0047] Given that CN and RAN PTW / PH can be configured differently, and RAN PTW / PH is configured only by RAN 106, there may be configurations where the RAN PH does not overlap with the CN PH. This may be the case even if the periodicity is the same for both RAN eDRX and CN eDRX. If such a configuration occurs, and RAN 106 and CN 112 are not synchronized on the UE context, CN 112 may not be able to reach UE 104. Therefore, embodiments may provide fail-safe procedures for RAN paging of UEs in an inactive state when the eDRX period is greater than 10.24 seconds. These procedures may provide power-efficient RAN PTW / PH operation and ensure that inactive UEs 104 can receive CN pages even if CN 112 assumes that the inactive UE 104 is idle (which may be the case if CN 112 has not received signaling for a certain period of time). Additional embodiments describe the general operation within and outside of the PTW and RAN mechanisms for paging allocation for inactive UEs.

[0048] Figure 4 Illustrated is a paging configuration 400 according to some embodiments. The paging configuration 400 may ensure at least some overlap between the RAN PH provided by the RAN eDRX configuration and the CN PH provided by the CN eDRX configuration.

[0049] As shown in the figure, RAN PH may occur once every four H-SFNs, for example, at H-SFN 1, H-SFN 5, H-SFN 9, H-SFN 13, and H-SFN 17, while CN PH occurs once every eight H-SFNs, for example, at H-SFN 5 and H-SFN 13. Therefore, RAN PH overlaps with CN PH at both H-SFN 5 and H-SFN 13.

[0050] In some embodiments, when both the RAN eDRX cycle and the CN eDRX cycle are greater than 10.24 seconds and PTW / PH is configured accordingly, the RAN eDRX cycle can be less than or equal to the CN eDRX cycle. This can help ensure that CN paging of the UE 104 is not missed during the PTW of the CN 112. To ensure this relationship, the RAN 106 can use the paging configuration from the CN 112 to select a possible RAN eDRX cycle. The RAN 106 can receive the paging configuration from the CN 112 in the UE-PAGING-INFORMATION information element (IE).

[0051] To ensure the above overlap and eDRX cycle relationship, the RAN 106 may generate a RAN eDRX configuration such that the RAN PH satisfies H-SFN mod T eDRX_RAN =(UE ID_H mod T eDRX_RAN ) of H-SFN, where T eDRX_RAN is the UE-specific eDRX cycle of the RANeDRX configuration in the superframe, and the UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE. ID_H includes the 13 most significant bits of the hashed UE ID, and T eDRX_RAN It can be configured by RAN 106. As discussed above, T eDRX_RAN Can be configured with a lower or equal CN eDRX configuration (T eDRX_CN In some embodiments, T eDRX_RAN and T eDRX_CN Both can take values ​​from {2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024} superframes. In paging configuration 400, T eDRX_RAN =4 and T eDRX_CN =8.

[0052] Figure 5 A paging diagram 500 is illustrated according to some embodiments. The paging diagram 500 may facilitate discussion of operations within and outside of the RAN eDRXPTWs 504 and 508.

[0053] In a long eDRX cycle, the UE 104 may move in an inactive state and may be in different cells during different PTWs. Some cells may support the newer eDRX operation (e.g., Release 18 eDRX operation) while other cells may not. Some cells may even be legacy cells that do not support the latest 3GPP releases. Therefore, in some embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to use legacy operation when operating in a cell that does not support the newer eDRX operation. To facilitate this operation, the UE 104 may determine a paging cycle (T), which defines the distance between the start points of consecutive paging cycles (e.g., RAN eDRXPTW 504 and RAN eDRX PTW 508) and is the shortest of: if configured by upper layers, a UE-specific DRX value (T DRX_RAN or T DRX_CN );T eDRX_RAN ; and the default DRX value broadcast in the system information (T Default ).

[0054] In some embodiments, UE 104 may follow T eDRX_RAN Additionally / alternatively, UE 104 may follow T only if the network supports R17 eDRX feature. eDRX_RAN .

[0055] Outside of the PTW, it may not be critical for the UE 104 to follow system information changes. Furthermore, since the UE 104 follows the RAN eDRX cycle within the PTW, which is shorter than or equal to the CN eDRX cycle, the UE 104 will be reachable if needed. Therefore, in some embodiments, the UE 104 can be configured not to monitor RAN paging outside of the RAN eDRX PTW.

[0056] As briefly discussed above, in overlapping PHs, the RAN PTW can be timed to start with the CN PTW. However, each PTW can have a different length. Thus, the RAN PTW can be longer or shorter than the CN PTW. The paging operation of UE 104 can be described below with respect to these scenarios.

[0057] Figure 6An example of an overlapping PH 600 according to some embodiments is illustrated. Overlapping PH 600 may include a CN PTW 604 and a RAN PTW 608. CN PTW 604 may include multiple CN eDRX POs, and RAN PTW 608 may include multiple RAN eDRX POs. CN PTW 604 and RAN PTW 608 may start simultaneously, but in this embodiment, CN PTW 604 may be shorter than RAN PTW 608. In this case, one or more of the following three options may be considered.

[0058] In a first option, the UE 104 may monitor the RAN eDRX PO in the RAN PTW 608 and may monitor the CN eDRX PO in the CNPTW 604. This option may be useful for detecting when the RAN 106 is out of sync with the CN 112, but it may also be associated with higher power consumption during the portion where the CN PTW 604 overlaps with the RAN PTW 608.

[0059] In the first sub-option of the first option, the UE 104 uses an index (i_s) for each PO. The index (i_s) may indicate the index of the PO and may be determined by i_s=floor(UE_ID / N) mod N, where N is the number of total paging frames in the paging cycle and N is the number of POs of the paging frame. Unless otherwise specified herein, the index (i_s) may be determined and used as described in clause 7.1 of 3GPP TS38.304v17.3.0 (2022-12). In the second sub-option of the first option, the UE 104 performs both CN and RAN PO monitoring, but from the UE's perspective, the index i_s is used only for the overlapping portion.

[0060] In a second option, the RAN configuration may ensure that the CN eDRX PO will be aligned with the RAN eDRX PO in the overlapping portion corresponding to the CN PTW 604. The RAN 106 may configure the RAN 106 based on e.g. Figure 2 This is ensured by the CN eDRX configuration received at message 212. The aligned CN and RAN eDRX POs are shown with cross hatching.

[0061] In a third option, UE 104 may monitor only the RAN eDRX PO in RAN PTW 608. The RAN eDRX PO may be monitored for both RAN and CN paging. RAN 106 may buffer CN paging and provide CN paging within the RAN eDRX PO. In this case, CN 112 may not be aware that UE 104 is awake after the CN PTW. Therefore, CN paging may be sent only in the overlapping portion.

[0062] Figure 7 An example of an overlapping PH 700 according to some embodiments is illustrated. Overlapping PH 700 may include a CN PTW 704 and a RAN PTW 708. CN PTW 704 may include multiple CN eDRX POs, and RAN PTW 708 may include multiple RAN eDRX POs. CN PTW 704 and RAN PTW 708 may start simultaneously, but in this embodiment, CN PTW 704 may be longer than RAN PTW 708. In this case, one or more of the following two options may be considered.

[0063] In a first option, the UE 104 may monitor only the RAN eDRX PO in the RAN PTW 708. The RAN eDRX PO may be monitored for both RAN paging and CN paging (because the CN eDRX PO may be aligned with the RAN eDRX PO within the RAN PTW 708). In this option, the UE 104 may not monitor the CN eDRX PO that occurs in the CN PTW 704 after the RAN PTW 708.

[0064] In a second option, the UE 104 may monitor RAN paging in the eDRX PO of the overlapping portion corresponding to the RAN PTW 708, and may monitor CN paging in the CN eDRX PO occurring in the CN PTW 704 following the RAN PTW 708. Thus, this option may mean that the PO to be monitored by the UE 104 is extended to the length of the CN PTW 704.

[0065] The second option can be achieved by adding PTW end This is achieved by defining the last radio frame of the PTW with an SFN that satisfies the following equation: SFN = (PTW start +L*100–1)mod 1024, where if PH has RAN and CN PTW startsIf both are available, L is given by the following equation: L = max{PTW length configured by upper layers (in seconds); PTW length configured by RAN (in seconds)}; otherwise, L = PTW length configured by RAN (in seconds). The PTW length configured by upper layers may correspond to the length of CNPTW 704, while the PTW length configured by RAN may correspond to the length of RAN PTW 708.

[0066] In some embodiments, if both the PTW for RAN eDRX and the PTW for CN eDRX (in an overlapping PH such as the overlapping PH 700) share the same starting point PTW start PTW can be determined as follows start PTW start It can be defined as the first radio frame of the PH that is part of both the RAN PTW and the CN PTW and has a SFN that satisfies the following equation: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN )mod 8.

[0067] More generally, the above equation can be used to determine PTWstart in overlapping PHs, but another equation can be used to determine PTWstart in non-overlapping PHs. For example, PTW start It can be defined as the first radio frame of the PH, which is part of the PTW and has an SFN that satisfies the following equation: For the case where the RAN eDRX_PH and the CN eDRX_PH are the same, SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8; otherwise, SFN = 128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod 8.

[0068] In some embodiments, it may be desirable for the base station 108 to allocate the RAN PTWs configured for each UE in the cell over time. This can avoid paging multiple UEs in the same SFN. start , the RAN 106 may provide a RAN eDRX PTW / PH configuration that varies for each UE.

[0069] In some embodiments, the RAN 106 may have a CN PTW available within the PH.start For example, the RAN 106 may have 16 or 32 allocations, which may allow the RAN 106 to further allocate opportunities for different UEs in an inactive state with longer eDRX. In some embodiments, this may not be applicable to PHs where the RAN PTW overlaps with the CNPTW.

[0070] In some embodiments, RAN PTW start It can represent the first radio frame of the PH, which is part of the RAN PTW and has an SFN that satisfies the following equation: For the case where the RAN eDRX_PH and CN eDRX_PH are the same, SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8; otherwise, SFN = 1024 / N*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN ) mod N. N can be, for example, 8, 16 or 32.

[0071] Figure 8 An operational flow / algorithm structure 800 for paging according to some embodiments is illustrated. The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may be implemented by a RAN device (eg, base station 108, network device 1100) or a component thereof (eg, processing circuit 1104).

[0072] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may include identifying a CN paging configuration at 804. The CN paging configuration may be an eDRX configuration that configures the CN PH / PTW to have an eDRX paging cycle greater than 10.24 seconds. In some embodiments, the CN paging configuration may be received in a UE paging information message from a core network device.

[0073] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include generating a RAN paging configuration at 808. The RAN paging configuration may be an eDRX configuration that configures the RAN PH / PTW to have an eDRX paging cycle greater than 10.24 seconds. Aspects of the RAN paging configuration may be generated based on the CN paging configuration. For example, the RAN paging configuration may be generated using an eDRX paging cycle that is the same as or smaller than the eDRX paging cycle of the CN paging configuration. The RAN / CN eDRX paging cycle may be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

[0074] The RAN paging configuration may be generated in such a way that at least some of the RAN PHs overlap with some CN PHs. The RAN PH may include an H-SFN defined by the following equation: H-SFN mod TeDRX_RAN=(UE ID_H mod T eDRX_RAN ), where T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle configured by RAN paging, and UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE. In some embodiments, the predetermined number may be 13.

[0075] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include, at 812, sending the RAN paging configuration to the UE.

[0076] A CN / RAN paging configuration can provide overlapping CN / RAN PHs at the H-SFN. Within the overlapping PHs, each configuration can define a corresponding PTW. The CN / RAN PTWs can start at the same point but end at different points. Therefore, the CN eDRX PO within the CN PTW can extend beyond the RAN eDRX PO within the RAN PTW.

[0077] In the event that the RAN PTW extends beyond the CN PTW, the RAN may ensure that the RAN paging configuration is generated such that the RAN eDRX PO is aligned with the CN eDRX PO in the overlapping portion of the PTW. Additionally, in some embodiments, the RAN may buffer the CN paging message and provide the CN paging message to the UE in the RAN eDRX PO that overlaps with the CN eDRX PO.

[0078] In the case where the CN PTW extends beyond the RAN PTW, the RAN can operate according to one of two options. In the first option, the UE can monitor only the RAN eDRX PO and may not monitor the CN eDRX PO that occurs after the RAN PTW. Therefore, the RAN can provide both RAN and CN paging messages during the RAN PTW and can buffer paging messages received outside the RAN PTW. In the second option, the UE can monitor the RAN paging message in the eDRX PO of the overlapping PTW and can monitor the CN paging message in the CN eDRX PO that occurs after the RAN PTW. Therefore, the RAN can provide both RAN and CN paging messages during the RAN PTW and can provide CN paging messages received in the CN PTW outside the RAN PTW.

[0079] In some embodiments, the RAN may generate RAN paging configurations for different UEs in such a way that UE-specific RAN PTWs are distributed over the RAN PH. In the case where the RAN PH overlaps with the CN PH, the SFN corresponding to the start of the RAN PTW may be given by: SFN = 128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the eDRX cycle of the CN paging configuration. In the case that the RAN PH does not overlap with the CN PH, the SFN corresponding to the start of the RAN PTW can be given by the following equation: SFN = 1024 / N*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod N, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the UE's hash identifier, T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN paging configuration, and N is the number of available UE-specific paging allocations (e.g., 8, 16, or 32).

[0080] Figure 9 An operational flow / algorithm structure 900 for paging according to some embodiments is illustrated. The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may be implemented by a UE (such as, for example, UE 104 or 1000) or a component therein (eg, processing circuit 1004).

[0081] The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may include identifying a CN paging configuration at 904. The CN paging configuration may be an eDRX configuration that configures the CN PH / PTW to have an eDRX paging cycle greater than 10.24 seconds. In some embodiments, the CN paging configuration may be received in a UE paging information message from a core network device.

[0082] The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include identifying a RAN paging configuration at 908. The RAN paging configuration may be an eDRX configuration that configures the RAN PH / PTW to have an eDRX paging cycle greater than 10.24 seconds. The RAN paging configuration may include an eDRX paging cycle that is the same as or smaller than the eDRX paging cycle of the CN paging configuration. The RAN / CN eDRX paging cycle may be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

[0083] The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include monitoring RAN paging messages based on the RAN paging configuration at 912. The monitoring may be performed when the UE is in an inactive state.

[0084] In some embodiments, the UE may identify the PTW based on the RAN paging configuration and monitor only the RAN paging messages within the PTW. For example, the UE may monitor the RAN paging messages within the PTW and avoid monitoring the RAN paging messages outside the PTW.

[0085] As mentioned above about Figure 8 As discussed, in some instances, a CN / RAN paging configuration can provide overlapping CN / RAN PHs at the H-SFN. Within the overlapping PHs, each configuration can define a corresponding PTW. The CN / RAN PTWs can start at the same point but end at different points. Therefore, the CN eDRX PO within the CN PTW can extend beyond the RAN eDRX PO within the RAN PTW.

[0086] In the case where the RAN PTW extends beyond the CN PTW, the UE may monitor both the RAN eDRX PO and the CN eDRX PO within the corresponding PTW. Additionally / alternatively, the UE may monitor only the RAN eDRX PO. For example, the UE may monitor both the RAN paging message and the CN paging message in the RAN eDRX PO.

[0087] In the case where the CN PTW extends beyond the RAN PTW, the UE may monitor only the RAN eDRX PO and may not monitor the CN eDRX POS occurring after the RAN PTW. Additionally / alternatively, the UE may monitor the RAN / CN paging message in the eDRX PO of the overlapping PTW and may monitor the CN paging message in the CN eDRX PO occurring after the RAN PTW.

[0088] In some embodiments, if the PH has both a RAN PTW and a CN PTW, the first radio frame at the end point of the RAN PTW may be determined as the first SFN (SFN1) given by the following equation: SFN1=(PTW start +L*100–1)mod1024, where PTW startis the second SFN (SFN2) of the second radio frame at the start of the RAN PTW, and L is given by the following equation: L = max{length of the PTW configured by the upper layer (in seconds) (e.g., CN PTW); length of the PTW configured by the RAN (in seconds) (e.g., RAN PTW)}. In some embodiments, if the PH does not have both the RAN PTW and the CN PTW, the first radio frame at the end of the RAN PTW may be determined as the first SFN (SFN1) given by the following equation: SFN1 = (PTW start +L*100–1)mod 1024, where PTW start is the second SFN (SFN2) of the second radio frame at the start of the RAN PTW, and L = the length (in seconds) of the PTW configured by the RAN (eg, RAN PTW).

[0089] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the start of the RAN PTW differently depending on whether the RAN PH overlaps with the CN PH. For example, if the RAN PH overlaps with the CN PH, the SFN corresponding to the start of the RAN PTW may be given by the following equation: SFN = 128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the eDRX cycle of the CN paging configuration. In the case that the RAN PH does not overlap with the CN PH, the SFN corresponding to the start of the RAN PTW can be given by the following equation: SFN = 1024 / N*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod N, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the UE's hash identifier, T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN paging configuration, and N is the number of available UE-specific paging allocations (e.g., 8, 16, or 32).

[0090] Figure 10 UE 1000 according to some embodiments is illustrated. UE 1000 may be similar to Figure 1 UE 104 and is essentially interchangeable therewith.

[0091] UE 1000 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an XR device, glasses, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, or an actuator), a video surveillance / monitoring device (e.g., a camera or a camcorder), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), or an IoT device.

[0092] UE 1000 may include a processor 1004, RF interface circuitry 1008, memory / storage 1012, a user interface 1016, sensors 1020, driver circuitry 1022, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1024, antenna structures 1026, and a battery 1028. The components of UE 1000 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of integrated circuits, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic components, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Figure 10 The block diagram is intended to show a simplified view of some of the components of UE 1000. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0093] Components of UE 1000 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1032, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, or optical connection that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0094] The processor 1004 may include processor circuits such as, for example, a baseband processor circuit (BB) 1004A, a central processor unit circuit (CPU) 1004B, and a graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 1004C. The processor 1004 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage device 1012) to cause the UE 1000 to perform operations as described herein.

[0095] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuit 1004A can access the communication protocol stack 1036 in the memory / storage device 1012 to communicate over a 3GPP-compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 1004A can access the communication protocol stack 1036 to perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC sublayer, PDCP sublayer, SDAP sublayer, and upper layers; and to perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC sublayer, PDCP sublayer, RRC layer, and NAS layer. In some embodiments, PHY layer operations can additionally / alternatively be performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1008.

[0096] The baseband processor circuit 1004A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some embodiments, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0097] The memory / storage device 1012 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions (e.g., the communication protocol stack 1036) that may be executed by one or more processors in the processor 1004 to cause the UE 1000 to perform various paging operations described herein. For example, the processor 1004 may cause the UE to perform the operational flow / algorithm structure 900 or any other method or process described herein.

[0098] The memory / storage 1012 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 1000. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 1012 may be located on the processor 1004 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 1012 is external to the processor 1004 but accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage 1012 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0099] The RF interface circuit 1008 may include a transceiver circuit and a radio frequency front-end module (RFEM) that allow the UE 1000 to communicate with other devices via a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 1008 may include various components arranged in a transmit path or a receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuits, and control circuits.

[0100] In the receive path, the RFEM receives the radiated signal from the air interface via the antenna structure 1026 and further filters and amplifies the signal (using a low-noise amplifier). This signal can be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which down-converts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of the processor 1004.

[0101] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides an RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before radiating the signal across the air interface via the antenna structure 1026.

[0102] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuit 1008 may be configured to send / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0103] The antenna structure 1026 may include antenna elements for converting electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converting received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. The antenna structure 1026 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to achieve beamforming and multiple-input, multiple-output communications. The antenna structure 1026 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, or phased array antennas. The antenna structure 1026 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band, including a frequency band in FR1 or FR2.

[0104] User interface 1016 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable a user to interact with UE 1000. User interface 1016 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual component for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a trackpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, or a headset. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual component for displaying or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information. Output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs), or more complex outputs such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, and a projector), where the output, such as characters, graphics, and multimedia objects, is generated or produced by the operation of UE 1000.

[0105] Sensors 1020 may include devices, modules, or subsystems designed to detect events or changes in their environment and transmit information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, or subsystem. Examples of such sensors include: an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, gyroscope, or magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system or nanoelectromechanical system including a 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, or magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.); a depth sensor; an ambient light sensor; an ultrasonic transceiver; and a microphone or other similar audio capture device.

[0106] The driver circuit 1022 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1000. The driver circuit 1022 may include various drivers to allow other components to interact with or control various I / O devices that may be present in or connected to the UE 1000. In additional examples, the driver circuit 1022 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device; a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface; a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings from the sensor 1020 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor 1020; a driver for obtaining actuator positioning or control of an electromechanical component and allowing access to the electromechanical component; a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device; and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0107] The PMIC 1024 may manage power provided to various components of the UE 1000. Specifically, with respect to the processor 1004, the PMIC 1024 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0108] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1024 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the UE 1000 , including DRX, as discussed herein.

[0109] The battery 1028 can power the UE 1000, but in some examples, the UE 1000 can be installed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. The battery 1028 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 1028 can be a typical lead-acid automobile battery.

[0110] Figure 11 Illustrated is a network node 1100 according to some embodiments. The network node 1100 may be similar to the base station 108 or another device of the RAN 106 and may be substantially interchangeable therewith.

[0111] Network node 1100 may include a processor 1104 , RF interface circuitry 1108 (if implemented as an access node), core network (CN) interface circuitry 1112 , memory / storage circuitry 1116 , and antenna structures 1126 .

[0112] Components of network node 1100 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1128 .

[0113] The processor 1104, RF interface circuit 1108, memory / storage 1116 (including communication protocol stack 1110), antenna structure 1126 and interconnect 1128 may be similar to those of reference Figure 10 Like-named elements are shown and described.

[0114] The memory / storage device 1116 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions (e.g., the communication protocol stack 1110) that are executable by one or more of the processors 1104 to cause the network node 1100 to perform the paging operations described herein. For example, the processor 1104 may cause the network node 1100 to perform the operational flow / algorithm structure 800 or any other method or process described herein.

[0115] The CN interface circuitry 1112 can provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5th Generation Core Network (5GC) using a 5GC-compatible network interface protocol, such as a Carrier Ethernet protocol or some other suitable protocol). Network connectivity can be provided to / from the network node 1100 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 1112 can include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 1112 can include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0116] In some embodiments, the network node 1100 may be coupled to a transmit receive point (TRP) using antenna structures 1126, CN interface circuitry, or other interface circuitry.

[0117] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0118] For one or more aspects, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods described in the following embodiments. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments described below in the embodiments section.

[0119] Example

[0120] In the following sections, additional exemplary aspects are provided.

[0121] Embodiment 1 includes a method of operating a base station, the method comprising: identifying a core network (CN) extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) paging configuration defining a first plurality of paging superframes (PHs); generating a radio access network (RAN) eDRX paging configuration defining a second plurality of PHs, wherein a first PH in the first plurality of PHs overlaps with a second PH in the second plurality of PHs; and sending the RAN eDRX paging configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0122] Embodiment 2 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the second plurality of PHs includes a super system frame number (H-SFN) defined by the following equation: H-SFN mod T eDRX_RAN =(UE ID_H modT eDRX_RAN ), where T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration, and the UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE.

[0123] Embodiment 3 includes the method of embodiment 2 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the predetermined number is 13, and the eDRX cycle of the RAN paging configuration is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

[0124] Embodiment 4 includes the method according to embodiment 1, wherein the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is less than or equal to the eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

[0125] Embodiment 5 includes the method according to embodiment 4 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving the CN eDRX paging configuration in a UE paging information message; and selecting the eDRX cycle based on the CN eDRX paging configuration.

[0126] Embodiment 6 includes a method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein: the first paging time window (PTW) of the first PH has a first plurality of eDRX paging opportunities (POs); the second PTW of the second PH has a second plurality of eDRX POs, a first set of the second plurality of eDRX POs overlaps with the first plurality of eDRX POs, and a second set of the second plurality of eDRX POs occurs after the first PTW and does not overlap with the first plurality of eDRX POs; and the method further includes: buffering CN paging messages in the eDRX POs in the first set of the second plurality of eDRX POs and providing the CN paging messages to the UE.

[0127] Embodiment 7 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein PTWstart is a system frame number (SFN) of a radio frame at which the second PH starts, and the SFN is given by: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

[0128] Embodiment 8 includes the method of embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein PTWstart is a system frame number (SFN) of a radio frame at which a third PH in the second plurality of PHs starts, the third PH not overlapping with any PH in the first plurality of PHs, and SFN is given by the following equation: SFN=1024 / N*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod N, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, N is the number of available UE-specific paging allocations, and T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration.

[0129] Embodiment 9 includes the method of embodiment 8 or some other embodiments herein, wherein N is 8, 16, or 32.

[0130] Embodiment 10 includes a method for operating a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: identifying a core network (CN) extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) paging configuration defining a first plurality of paging superframes (PHs); identifying a radio access network (RAN) eDRX paging configuration defining a second plurality of PHs, wherein a first PH in the first plurality of PHs overlaps with a second PH in the second plurality of PHs; and monitoring a RAN paging message in the second PH while in an inactive state.

[0131] Embodiment 11 includes the method of embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the second plurality of PHs includes a super system frame number (H-SFN) defined by the following equation: H-SFN mod T eDRX_RAN =(UE ID_H modT eDRX_RAN ), where T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration, and the UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE.

[0132] Embodiment 12 includes the method of embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the predetermined number is 13 and the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

[0133] Embodiment 13 includes the method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is less than or equal to the eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

[0134] Embodiment 14 includes the method of embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: identifying a paging time window (PTW) based on the RAN eDRX paging configuration; monitoring RAN paging messages within the PTW; and avoiding monitoring RAN paging messages outside the PTW.

[0135] Embodiment 15 includes the method according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: identifying a first paging time window (PTW) of the first PH, the first PTW starting at a first point, ending at a second point, and having a first plurality of eDRX paging opportunities (PO); and identifying a second PTW of the second PH, the second PTW starting at the first point, ending at a third point, and having a second plurality of eDRX POs.

[0136] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 15 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the third point occurs later than the second point, and the method further comprises: monitoring RAN paging messages and CN paging messages in the second plurality of eDRX POs.

[0137] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to embodiment 15 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the second point occurs later than the third point, the first set of the first plurality of eDRX POs overlaps with the second plurality of eDRX POs, the second set of the first plurality of eDRX POs does not overlap with the first plurality of eDRX POs, and the method further includes: monitoring the RAN paging messages in the first set of the first plurality of eDRX POs; and monitoring the CN paging messages in the second set of the first plurality of eDRX POs, or not monitoring the CN paging messages in the second set of the first plurality of eDRX POs.

[0138] Embodiment 18 includes a method according to embodiment 15 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the first radio frame at the third point has a first system frame number (SFN1) given by the following equation: SFN1 = (PTWstart + L*100–1) mod 1024, where PTWstart is the second SFN (SFN2) of the second radio frame at the first point, and L is given by the following equation: L = max{length of the first PTW; length of the second PTW}; or L = length of the second PTW.

[0139] Embodiment 19 includes the method of embodiment 15 or some other embodiment herein, wherein PTWstart is a system frame number (SFN) of a radio frame at the first point and is given by: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN ) mod 8, where UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

[0140] Embodiment 20 includes the method of embodiment 15 or some other embodiment herein, wherein PTWstart is a system frame number (SFN) of a radio frame at which a third PH in the second plurality of PHs starts, the third PH not overlapping with any PH in the first plurality of PHs, and the SFN is given by the following equation: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN, where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN ) mod 8, where UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of a hash identifier of the UE, and TeDRX_RAN is an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the RAN paging configuration.

[0141] Another embodiment may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0142] Another embodiment may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in accordance with or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0143] Another embodiment may include a method, technique, or process described according to or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof.

[0144] Another embodiment may include a device comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described in accordance with or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 20 or a portion thereof.

[0145] Another embodiment comprises a signal as described or relating to any one of embodiments 1 to 20, or parts or components thereof.

[0146] Another embodiment may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 20 or parts or components thereof or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0147] Another embodiment may include a signal encoded with data as described or associated with any one of embodiments 1 to 20, or portions or components thereof, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0148] Another embodiment may include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 20, or parts or components thereof, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0149] Another embodiment may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 20 or a portion thereof.

[0150] Another embodiment may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 20 or a portion thereof.

[0151] Another embodiment may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0152]

[0011] Another embodiment may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0153]

[0011] Another embodiment may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0154]

[0011] Another embodiment may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0155] Unless expressly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the various aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the various aspects.

[0156] Although the above aspects have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method for operating a base station, the method comprising: identifying a core network (CN) extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) paging configuration defining a first plurality of paging superframes (PH); generating a radio access network (RAN) eDRX paging configuration defining a second plurality of PHs, wherein a first PH in the first plurality of PHs overlaps with a second PH in the second plurality of PHs; as well as The RAN eDRX paging configuration is sent to a user equipment (UE).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of PHs comprises a hypersystem frame number (H-SFN) defined by the following equation: H-SFN mod T eDRX_RAN =(UE ID_H mod T eDRX_RAN ), Where T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration, and the UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined number is 13, and the eDRX cycle of the RAN paging configuration is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is less than or equal to the eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: Receiving the CN eDRX paging configuration in a UE paging information message; as well as The eDRX cycle is selected based on the CN eDRX paging configuration.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A first paging time window (PTW) of the first PH has a first plurality of eDRX paging occasions (POs); a second PTW of the second PH has a second plurality of eDRX POs, a first set of the second plurality of eDRX POs overlaps with the first plurality of eDRX POs, and a second set of the second plurality of eDRX POs occurs after the first PTW and does not overlap with the first plurality of eDRX POs; And the method further includes: A CN paging message is buffered in an eDRX PO in the first set of the second plurality of eDRX POs and provided to the UE.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein PTW start is the system frame number (SFN) of the radio frame at the start of the second PH, and the SFN is given by the following equation: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN )mod 8, Among them, UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein PTW start is the system frame number (SFN) of the radio frame at which a third PH in the second plurality of PHs starts, the third PH not overlapping with any PH in the first plurality of PHs, and the SFN is given by the following equation: SFN=1024 / N*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod N, Among them, UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, N is the number of available UE-specific paging allocations, and T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein N is 8, 16 or 32.

10. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment (UE): identifying a core network (CN) extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) paging configuration defining a first plurality of paging superframes (PH); identifying a radio access network (RAN) eDRX paging configuration defining a second plurality of PHs, wherein a first PH in the first plurality of PHs overlaps with a second PH in the second plurality of PHs; as well as monitoring a RAN paging message in the second PH when in an inactive state.

11. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the second plurality of PHs comprises a hypersystem frame number (H-SFN) defined by the following equation: H-SFN mod T eDRX_RAN =(UE ID_H mod T eDRX_RAN ), Where T eDRX_RAN is the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration, and the UE ID_H is a predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE.

12. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the predetermined number is 13 and the eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024 superframes.

13. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein an eDRX cycle of the RAN eDRX paging configuration is less than or equal to an eDRX cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

14. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: identifying a paging time window (PTW) based on the RAN eDRX paging configuration; monitoring RAN paging messages within the PTW; and Avoid monitoring RAN paging messages outside the PTW.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: identifying a first paging time window (PTW) of the first PH, the first PTW starting at a first point, ending at a second point, and having a first plurality of eDRX paging occasions (POs); and A second PTW of the second PH is identified, the second PTW starting at the first point, ending at a third point, and having a second plurality of eDRX POs.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the third point occurs later than the second point, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: Monitor the RAN paging messages and CN paging messages in the second plurality of eDRX POs.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the second point occurs later than the third point, a first set of the first plurality of eDRX POs overlaps with the second plurality of eDRX POs, a second set of the first plurality of eDRX POs does not overlap with the first plurality of eDRX POs, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: monitoring RAN paging messages in the first set of the first plurality of eDRX POs; and Monitor the CN paging message in the second set of the first multiple eDRX POs, or do not monitor the CN paging message in the second set of the first multiple eDRX POs.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the first radio frame at the third point has a first system frame number (SFN1) given by: SFN1=(PTW start +L*100–1)mod 1024, PTW start is the second SFN (SFN2) of the second radio frame at the first point, and L is given by the following equation: L=max{length of the first PTW; length of the second PTW}; or L = length of the second PTW.

19. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 15, wherein PTW start is the system frame number (SFN) of the radio frame at the first point and is given by: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_CN )mod 8, Among them, UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_CN is the extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the CN eDRX paging configuration.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein PTW start is a system frame number (SFN) of a radio frame at which a third PH in the second plurality of PHs begins, the third PH not overlapping with any PH in the first plurality of PHs, and the SFN is given by: SFN=128*i eDRX_RAN , where i eDRX_RAN =floor(UE ID_H / T eDRX_RAN )mod 8, Among them, UE ID_H is the predetermined number of most significant bits of the hashed identifier of the UE, and T eDRX_RAN is an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the RAN paging configuration.

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