Transmitting scheduling requests and buffer status reports when cells

Abstract

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes receiving configuration information from a base station, the configuration information specifying a plurality of scheduling request (SR) configurations, the plurality of SR configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for communicating with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a current discontinuous transmission or reception (DTX / DRX) cycle. The method includes suspending transmission from the UE to the base station during at least one SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions. The method includes determining that a trigger condition is satisfied. The method includes transmitting a message to the base station in response to determining that the trigger condition is satisfied. A method performed by a base station is also provided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and in particular to transmitting a scheduling request and a buffer status report in case of cell discontinuous transmission or reception. BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication networks provide integrated communication platforms and telecommunication services to wireless user equipment. Example telecommunication services include telephony, data (e.g., voice, audio, and / or video data), messaging, Internet access, and / or other services. Wireless communication networks have wireless access nodes that exchange wireless signals with wireless user equipment using wireless network protocols, such as those described in various telecommunication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Example wireless communication networks include Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), among others. Wireless communication networks use technologies such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), advanced channel coding, massive MIMO, beamforming, and / or other features to facilitate mobile broadband services.

[0003] A base station is a type of wireless access node in a wireless communication network that facilitates connectivity of user equipment (e.g., user equipment, UE) to the network. Recent base stations have implemented a feature of discontinuous transmission or reception (DTX / DRX) that allows the base station to periodically enter a sleep mode and suspend transmission and reception in order to conserve power. Each cycle of DTX / DRX is referred to as a DTX / DRX cycle. Each DTX / DRX cycle includes an active duration in which the base station actively performs transmissions with one or more UEs, and an inactive duration in which the base station enters a sleep mode to conserve power. SUMMARY

[0004] According to one aspect of the disclosure, a method performed by a UE is provided. The method includes receiving, from a base station, configuration information that specifies one or more scheduling request (SR) configurations, the one or more SR configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for communicating with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a current DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes suspending, during at least one SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions, transmission from the UE to the base station. The method includes determining that a trigger condition is satisfied. The method includes transmitting, to the base station, a message in response to determining that the trigger condition is satisfied.

[0005] According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method performed by a base station is provided. The method includes generating configuration information for a UE, where the configuration information specifies one or more SR configurations that indicate a plurality of SR occasions for the UE to communicate with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes entering the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes entering an active duration of a second DTX / DRX cycle that occurs later than the first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes receiving a message from the UE during the active duration of the second DTX / DRX cycle, where the message includes data stored in a buffer of the UE during the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0006] Various features of the disclosure can be implemented as program instructions on a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by one or more processors of a corresponding UE or base station.

[0007] The details of one or more implementations of the systems and methods are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the systems and methods will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 An example wireless network according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0009] Figure 2 An example timing diagram of multiple DTX / DRX cycles according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0010] Figure 3A An example timing diagram in which a UE determines a suspended SR occasion and a non-suspended SR occasion when the base station is in an inactive duration of a DTX / DRX cycle according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0011] Figure 3B An example timing diagram in which a UE determines a timing for transmitting a message after the base station enters an active duration of a DTX / DRX cycle according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0012] Figure 4 A flow diagram of an example method according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 5 A flow diagram of an example method according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 6 An example UE according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 7 An example access node is illustrated in accordance with some implementations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] A base station, such as a g-Node B (gNB) or e-Node B (eNB), can operate in a DTX / DRX cycle while communicating with a UE in an RRC CONNECTED mode. These DTX / DRX cycles are referred to as cell DTX / DRX cycles. The UE and the base station can exchange and process radio resource control (RRC) signaling and / or layer one or layer two (L1 / L2) signaling for the base station to activate or terminate DTX / DRX operation. Currently, when the base station operates in an inactive duration of a DTX / DRX cycle, the base station turns off communication with the UE except for signaling of random access channel (RACH), paging, or system information block (SIB). While turning off such communication can yield a gain in network energy saving (NES), it can disrupt communication performance such as quality of service (QoS). For example, turning off SR transmission when the base station is in an inactive duration can cause the UE to overload the RACH. Furthermore, because the base station does not receive SRs and corresponding buffer status reports (BSRs) during the inactive duration of a DTX / DRX cycle, the base station can be unaware of changes in the state of the UE’s buffer.

[0017] The present disclosure describes techniques for enhancing communication between a base station and a UE when the base station is in a cell DTX / DRX cycle. As described below, in some implementations of the disclosed techniques, the UE is enabled to transmit SRs and corresponding BSRs to provide the base station with buffer status updates that occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a DTX / DRX cycle. Thus, the base station can remain informed of the state of the UE’s buffer and take timely actions accordingly. As also described below, the disclosed implementations do not adversely affect NES gains.

[0018] Figure 1 An example wireless network 100 is illustrated in accordance with some implementations. The wireless network 100 includes a UE 102 and a base station 104 connected via one or more channels 106A, 106B across an air interface 108. The UE 102 and the base station 104 communicate using a system that supports control for managing access by the UE 102 to the network via the base station 104.

[0019] In some implementations, the wireless network 100 can be a non-standalone (NSA) network that incorporates LTE and 5G NR communication standards as defined by 3GPP technical specifications. For example, the wireless network 100 can be an E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access)-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) network or an NR-EUTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) network. However, the wireless network 100 can also be a standalone (SA) network that incorporates only 5G NR. Moreover, other types of communication standards are possible, including future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 technologies (e.g., IEEE 802.11a; IEEE 802.11b; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE 802.11-2007; IEEE 802.11h; IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.11ac; or other current or future developed IEEE 802.11 technologies), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like. While aspects can be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 5G NR, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other systems, such as 3G, 4G, and / or beyond-5G systems (e.g., 6G).

[0020] In the wireless network 100, the UE 102 and any other UEs in the system can be, for example, laptop computers, smartphones, tablet computers, machine-type devices such as smart meters or special-purpose devices, intelligent transportation systems, or any other wireless devices with or without a user interface. In the network 100, the base station 104 provides network connectivity to the UE 102 to a more extensive network (not shown). This UE 102 connectivity is provided via an air interface 108 in a base station service area provided by the base station 104. In some implementations, such a more extensive network can be a wide area network operated by a cellular network provider, or can be the Internet. Each base station service area associated with the base station 104 is supported by antennas integrated with the base station 104. The service area is divided into multiple sectors associated with certain antennas. Such sectors can be physically associated with fixed antennas, or can be assigned to physical areas with tunable antennas or antenna settings that can be adjusted in a beamforming process for directing signals to particular sectors.

[0021] The UE 102 includes control circuitry 110 coupled with transmission circuitry 112 and reception circuitry 114. The transmission circuitry 112 and reception circuitry 114 can each be coupled with one or more antennas. The control circuitry 110 can include various combinations of special-purpose circuitry and baseband circuitry. The transmission circuitry 112 and reception circuitry 114 can be adapted to transmit and receive, respectively, data, and can include radio frequency (RF) circuitry or front-end module (FEM) circuitry.

[0022] In various implementations, aspects of the transmission circuitry 112, reception circuitry 114, and control circuitry 110 can be integrated in various ways to achieve the operations described herein. The control circuitry 110 can be adapted or configured to perform various operations, such as those related to a UE described elsewhere in the disclosure. For example, the control circuitry 110 can cause the UE 102 to enter or exit an inactive duration and an active duration in a DTX / DRX cycle, and can control the transmission circuitry 112 and / or reception circuitry 114 to schedule resources for the UE to transmit SRs and / or BSRs.

[0023] Additionally, the transmission circuitry 112 can transmit a plurality of multiplexed uplink physical channels. The plurality of uplink physical channels can be multiplexed according to time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM), and carrier aggregation. The transmission circuitry 112 can be configured to receive block data from the control circuitry 110 for transmission across the air interface 108.

[0024] Additionally, the reception circuitry 114 can receive a plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels from the air interface 108 and relay the physical channels to the control circuitry 110. The plurality of downlink physical channels can be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM, and carrier aggregation. The transmission circuitry 112 and reception circuitry 114 can transmit and receive both control data and content data (e.g., messages, images, videos, etc.) structured within data blocks carried by the physical channels.

[0025] Figure 1 A base station 104 is also illustrated. In implementations, the base station 104 can be an NG Radio Access Network (RAN) or 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, a non-terrestrial cell, or a legacy RAN such as a UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term “NG RAN” and the like can refer to a base station 104 operating in an NR or 5G wireless network 100, and the term “E-UTRAN” and the like can refer to a base station 104 operating in an LTE or 4G wireless network 100. The UE 102 utilizes connections (or channels) 106A, 106B, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer.

[0026] The base station 104 circuitry can include control circuitry 116 coupled with transmission circuitry 118 and reception circuitry 120. The transmission circuitry 118 and reception circuitry 120 can each be coupled with one or more antennas, which can be used in transmitting and receiving communications over the air interface 108. The transmission circuitry 118 and reception circuitry 120 can be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, to and from any UE connected to the base station 104. The transmission circuitry 118 can transmit a plurality of downlink physical channels including a plurality of downlink subframes. The reception circuitry 120 can receive a plurality of uplink physical channels from various UEs including the UE 102.

[0027] In Figure 1 One or more channels 106A, 106B are illustrated as over-the-air interface communication coupling and can conform to a cellular communication protocol such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) protocol, LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U), a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In implementations, the UEs 102 can exchange communication data directly via a ProSe interface. The ProSe interface can alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface and can include one or more logical channels including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0028] Figure 2 An example timing diagram 200 of multiple DTX / DRX cycles is illustrated in accordance with some implementations. The timing diagram 200 shows three consecutive DTX / DRX cycles 210, 220, and 230, which can be cell DTX / DRX cycles in which a base station communicates with a UE. The following description of the timing diagram 200 is based on implementations in which the communications illustrated therein are between a UE 102 and a base station 104. As shown in the timing diagram 200, the DTX / DRX cycle 210 has an active duration 211 and an inactive duration 212. The DTX / DRX cycle 220 has an active duration 221 and an inactive duration 222. The DTX / DRX cycle 230 has an active duration 231 and an inactive duration 232.

[0029] The base station 104 can configure the UE 102 with multiple SR occasions 201-206 (e.g., by transmitting one or more SR configurations to the UE 102), which are scheduled to occur at times ti-t6, respectively, when the base station 104 is in the inactive duration 212. At each of the SR occasions 201-206, the UE 102 has an opportunity to transmit an SR to the base station 104, even when the base station 104 is inactive. By transmitting an SR, the UE 102 can request the base station 104 to allocate uplink resources for the UE 102, followed by a transmission of a BSR corresponding to the SR.

[0030] Some or all of the SR occasions 201-206 can be suspended when the base station 104 is inactive. In the example timing diagram 200, the SR occasions 201, 202, 205, and 206 are suspended, while the SR occasions 203 and 204 are not suspended. In this case, the UE 102 does not transmit an SR at the suspended SR occasions 201, 202, 205, and 206, but can transmit an SR at the non-suspended SR occasions 203 and 204. After the base station 104 enters the active duration 221 of the DTX / DRX cycle 220, the UE 102 can transmit an SR and a BSR at occasion 207, for example, to account for the suspension at the suspended SR occasions 201, 202, 205, and 206.

[0031] In some implementations, the UE suspends all SR occasions configured for the inactive duration. When the UE suspends all SR occasions for the inactive duration, the UE does not transmit an SR or a BSR during the inactive duration, even if the UE buffer receives data that would normally trigger an SR and / or BSR transmission. The UE can delay the SR and / or BSR transmission until the base station enters the active duration of a later DTX / DRX cycle. By not transmitting an SR or a BSR during the inactive duration, the UE does not consider the validity of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and does not consider whether there is a RACH transmission. The UE also stops one or more timers, such as an SR prohibit timer, a BSR ReTX timer, and an SR delay timer, if running.

[0032] Due to the suspension of SRs and / or BSRs, data arriving from various logical channels (LCHs) or LCGs can accumulate (e.g., form a queue) at the UE’s buffer. The UE can transmit some of the data via a RACH according to preconfigured conditions, rather than utilizing SRs and BSRs to transmit the data in the buffer. For example, according to a preconfiguration from the base station, the UE can determine to transmit data received from certain LCHs or LCGs via a RACH and not transmit data received from other LCHs or LCGs.

[0033] In some implementations, a UE configured with multiple SR occasions scheduled to occur when the base station is inactive can determine which SR occasions to suspend based on various factors. For example, the UE can determine at a given SR occasion whether the buffer has received data from an LCH with a priority above a priority threshold. If the LCH or particular piece of data has a high priority (e.g., is sensitive to queuing delay in the buffer), the UE can determine not to suspend the given SR occasion. Otherwise, the UE can determine to suspend the given SR occasion. Alternatively or additionally, the UE can determine suspended and non-suspended SR occasions based on information received from the base station, as Figure 3A illustrated in Method 200.

[0034] Figure 3A An example timing diagram 300A is illustrated in which a UE determines suspended and non-suspended SR occasions when the base station is in an inactive duration of a DTX / DRX cycle, according to some implementations. The timing diagram 300A shows three consecutive DTX / DRX cycles 310, 320, and 330, which can be a cell DTX / DRX cycle used for the base station to communicate with the UE. The following description of the timing diagram 300A is based on an implementation in which the communications illustrated therein are between the UE 102 and the base station 104. As shown in the timing diagram 300A, the DTX / DRX cycle 310 has an active duration 311 and an inactive duration 312. The DTX / DRX cycle 320 has an active duration 321 and an inactive duration 322. The DTX / DRX cycle 330 has an active duration 331 and an inactive duration 332.

[0035] As shown, the base station 104 configures the UE 102 with multiple SR occasions 301-306, which are scheduled to occur at times ti-t6, respectively, when the base station 104 is in the inactive duration 312. In some implementations, the base station 104 provides the UE 102 with a list, such as an SR configuration list including information of SR occasions to be suspended or not, via RRC signaling. For example, the base station 104 can specify in the list that the SR occasions at t3 and t4 are not to be suspended. Based on the list, the UE 102 can determine to not suspend SR transmissions at occasions 303 and 304, and to suspend SR transmissions at occasions 301, 302, 305, and 306. In some implementations, the base station 104 provides the UE 102 with a time mask (e.g., a time window covering a specified duration) 350. The UE 102 can determine to suspend all SR occasions that occur outside of the time mask 350. For example, the UE 102 can determine to suspend occasions 301, 302, 305, and 306, which occur outside of the time mask 350, and not to suspend occasions 303 and 304, which occur within the time mask 350. In some implementations, the UE 102 can determine to suspend all SR occasions that occur within a time mask specified by the base station 104, according to the UE’s configuration and / or instructions from the base station.

[0036] SR transmissions at non-suspended occasions 303 and 304 do not significantly disrupt NES gains. First, transmissions at non-suspended occasions 303 and 304 typically occupy very small amounts of time in the inactive duration, so the base station 104 only needs to activate its reception functionality very briefly. Moreover, the base station 104 will need to activate its reception functionality for RACH signals, paging signals, and SIB signals even without transmissions at non-suspended occasions 303 and 304. The NES impact from non-suspended occasions 303 and 304 is less significant compared to the NES impact due to reception of these signals.

[0037] After the SR transmissions at non-suspension occasions 303 and 304, the UE 102 can determine whether retransmission is allowed based on, for example, retransmission configuration provided by the base station 104. If retransmission is not allowed, the UE 102 can start a timer, such as a CellDRXInactivity timer, after the SR transmission. Before the timer expires, the UE 102 can wake up to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for signaling from the base station 104 related to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception and / or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission. After the timer expires, the UE 102 can stop monitoring the PDCCH. To avoid retransmission, the UE 102 can keep HARQ-RTT timer and HARQ-ReTX timer off (e.g., not start the HARQ-RTT timer and the HARQ-ReTX timer). Conversely, if retransmission is allowed, the UE 102 can follow a similar procedure as if retransmission is not allowed, except that the UE can start the HARQ-RTT timer after transmitting the PUSCH signal. After the HARQ-RTT timer expires, the UE can start the HARQ-ReTX timer and subsequently monitor the PDCCH. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 102 can determine at least one RACH trigger condition based on configuration information from the base station 104. For example, the configuration information can provide which of the occasions 301, 302, 305, and 306 (or occasions 303 and 304) can trigger a RACH transmission.

[0038] Suspension at the SR occasions 301, 302, 305, and 306 can cause the base station 104 to temporarily forget certain changes that occur at the UE 102 while the base station 104 is inactive. In such cases, after the base station 104 enters an active duration of a next DTX / DRX cycle (e.g., active duration 321 of DTX / DRX cycle 320), the UE 102 can transmit a message 307 to synchronize with the base station 104 regarding the changes. The message 307 can include one or more of the following items: i) a special SR with high priority to indicate a buffer status change between the start of the inactive duration 312 and the end of the inactive duration 312; ii) a special BSR to indicate the buffer status change; iii) a special BSR to indicate a queuing delay (e.g., time that data has been queued in the buffer waiting for processing) change between the start of the inactive duration 312 and the end of the inactive duration 312; or iv) an RRC message (e.g., UE assistance information) to indicate the buffer status change and / or the queuing delay change. For the message with item ii), an extended reality (XR) BSR can be used to indicate the queuing delay. Figure 3B Transmission of the message 307 is illustrated in the middle.

[0039] Figure 3B An example timing diagram 300B is illustrated in which a UE determines timing for transmitting a message after a base station enters an active duration of a DTX / DRX cycle, according to some implementations. The timing diagram 300B, which can be similar to the timing diagram 300A, shows three consecutive DTX / DRX cycles 310, 320, and 330. The DTX / DRX cycle 310 has an active duration 311 and an inactive duration 312. The DTX / DRX cycle 320 has an active duration 321 and an inactive duration 322. The DTX / DRX cycle 330 has an active duration 331 and an inactive duration 332. The following description of the timing diagram 300B is based on implementations in which the communications illustrated therein are between a UE 102 and a base station 104.

[0040] The base station 104 can configure the UE 102 with multiple SR occasions 301-306 to occur during the inactive duration 312, and the UE 102 can determine to suspend the SR occasions 301, 302, 305, and 306. After the base station 104 enters the active duration 321 of the DTX / DRX cycle 320, the UE 102 can determine to transmit a message 307, which can be either of the messages 307-1 and 307-2, to update the base station 104, for example, with a status change that occurs with the buffer of the UE 102.

[0041] In implementations corresponding to the timing diagram 300A, the UE 102 can be set to transmit the message 307 immediately upon determining that the base station 104 enters the active duration 321 in the DTX / DRX cycle 310, which follows the DTX / DRX cycle 320. However, in scenarios where the base station 104 is in the RRC CONNECTED mode with multiple UEs, such a setting can cause multiple UEs to transmit messages at approximately the same time, potentially causing collisions when the base station 104 attempts to receive all of the messages.

[0042] To reduce the risk of collision, the base station can provide each UE with a UE-specific time offset, which can be measured as an absolute time (e.g., in milliseconds), a number of DTX / DRX cycles, or a number of active or inactive durations. The time offset can be fixed or can be randomly determined by the base station. Each UE then holds transmission of the message for a period equal to or greater than the time offset. For example, as shown in timing diagram 300B, the base station 104 can provide the UE 102 with a time offset equal to do, where do can be in units of milliseconds. Thus, after the base station 104 enters the active duration 321, the UE 102 can wait a period of do before transmitting the message 307 (for this case, shown as message 307-1) at time t7-1. Alternatively, the base station 104 can provide the UE 102 with a time offset equal to di, where di can represent one DTX / DRX cycle. Thus, after the base station 104 enters the active duration 321, the UE 102 can wait a period equal to the length of one DTX / DRX cycle (e.g., skip the DTX / DRX cycle 320) until the DTX / DRX cycle 330 before transmitting the message 307 (for this case, shown as message 307-2) at time t7-2.

[0043] In some implementations, the base station 104 entering the next active duration does not necessarily cause the UE 102 to transmit the message 307 (immediately or after the time offset). In these implementations, the UE 102 can also determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied. If the conditions are not satisfied, the UE 102 can determine that the message 307 does not need to be transmitted during this active duration, despite the SR occasion being suspended in the previous inactive duration. These conditions can include one or more of: a) the amount of all buffered data exceeds a volume threshold; b) the amount of buffered data received from certain LCHs or LCGs exceeds a volume threshold; c) any of the buffered data has been held in the buffer for a queuing delay longer than a delay threshold; or d) any of the buffered data received from certain LCHs or LCGs has been held in the buffer for a queuing delay longer than a delay threshold. Performing transmission of the message 307 based on one or more of these conditions being satisfied can help avoid unnecessary transmissions and reduce power consumption.

[0044] Figure 4 A flowchart of an example method 400 according to some implementations is illustrated. For clarity of presentation, the description that follows generally describes method 400 in the context of other figures in this document. For example, method 400 can be performed by Figure 1The method is executed by UE 102. It should be understood that method 400 may be executed, for example, by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or combination of system, environment, software, and hardware. In some specific implementations, the various steps of method 400 may be run in parallel, in combination, in cycles, or in any order.

[0045] At 402, method 400 involves obtaining data from a base station (such as...). Figure 1 Base station 104 receives configuration information. The configuration information specifies one or more SR configurations, which indicate multiple SR timings for communicating with the base station. These multiple SR timings are scheduled for inactive durations of the current DTX / DRX cycle (such as...). Figure 2 The inactivity duration of the DTX / DRX cycle is 210 or 212. Figure 3A and Figure 3B This occurs during the inactivity duration of the DTX / DRX cycle 310 (312).

[0046] At 404, method 400 involves suspending the transmission from the UE to the base station during at least one of a plurality of SR opportunities. The at least one SR opportunity could be, for example... Figure 2 SR timings 201, 202, 205 and 206 or Figure 3A and Figure 3B The SR timings are 301, 302, 305, and 306.

[0047] At 406, method 400 relates to determining that a triggering condition is met. The triggering condition may include the duration of activity for the base station to enter the next DTX / DRX cycle, and may also include one or more of the conditions a) to d) described above.

[0048] At 408, method 400 relates to transmitting a message to the base station in response to determining that a triggering condition has been met. This message may be similar to... Figure 2 Message 207 or Figure 3A and Figure 3B Message 307.

[0049] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating an example method 500 according to some specific implementation is provided. For clarity, the following description generally describes method 500 within the context of the other figures in this specification. For example, method 500 may be derived from... Figure 1 The method is executed by base station 104. It should be understood that method 500 may be executed, for example, by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or combination of system, environment, software, and hardware. In some specific implementations, the various steps of method 500 may be run in parallel, in combination, in cycles, or in any order.

[0050] At 502, the method 500 involves generating configuration information for the UE. The configuration information can specify one or more configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for the UE to communicate with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a first DTX / DRX cycle, such as Figure 2 the inactive duration 212 of the DTX / DRX cycle 210 of FIG. 2, or Figure 3A and Figure 3B the inactive duration 312 of the DTX / DRX cycle 310 of FIG. 3.

[0051] At 504, the method 500 involves entering the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0052] At 506, the method 500 involves entering an active duration of a second DTX / DRX cycle, such as Figure 2 the active duration 221 of the DTX / DRX cycle 220 of FIG. 2, or Figure 3A and Figure 3B the active duration 321 of the DTX / DRX cycle 320 of FIG. 3. The second DTX / DRX cycle occurs later than the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0053] At 508, the method 500 involves receiving a message from the UE during the active duration of the second DTX / DRX cycle. The message includes data stored in a UE buffer during the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0054] Figure 6 An example UE 600 is illustrated in accordance with some implementations. The UE 600 can be similar to Figure 1 the UE 102 of FIG. 1, and can essentially be interchanged with it.

[0055] The UE 600 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a pressure sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, etc.), a video device (e.g., a camera, a camcorder, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch), a loose IoT device.

[0056] The UE 600 can include a processor 602, RF interface circuitry 604, memory / storage 606, user interface 608, sensors 610, drive circuitry 612, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 614, antenna structure 616, and battery 618. The components of the UE 600 can be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic Figure 6 The block diagram of FIG. 6 is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 600. However, some of the components shown can be omitted in some implementations, additional components can be present, and different arrangements of the components shown can occur in other implementations.

[0057] The components of the UE 600 can be coupled through one or more interconnects 620, which can represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or expansion), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc. that allows various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with one another.

[0058] The processor 602 can include processor circuitry such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BB) 622A, central processor unit circuitry (CPU) 622B, and graphics processor unit circuitry (GPU) 622C. The processor 602 can include any type of circuit or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage 606 to cause the UE 600 to perform operations as described herein.

[0059] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuitry 622A can access a communication protocol stack 624 in the memory / storage 606 to communicate over a 3GPP-compatible network. Generally, the baseband processor circuitry 622A can access the communication protocol stack to perform user plane functions at a physical (PHY) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and PDU layer; and control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and non-access stratum (NAS) layer. In some implementations, PHY layer operations can additionally / alternatively be performed by components of the RF interface circuitry 604. The baseband processor circuitry 622A can generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information that is used for communicating in a 3GPP-compatible network. In some implementations, waveforms for NR can be based on cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) “CP-OFDM” in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM “DFT-S-OFDM” in the uplink.

[0060] Memory / storage 606 can include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions (e.g., communication protocol stack 624) executable by one or more of the processors 602 to cause the UE 600 to perform various operations described herein. Memory / storage 606 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile storage medium that can be distributed across the UE 600, in some implementations, some of the memory / storage 606 can reside on the processor 602 itself (e.g., Ll cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 606 resides outside of the processor 602, but can be accessible thereto via a memory interface. The memory / storage 606 can include any suitable volatile memory, such as 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 suitable memory.

[0061] RF interface circuitry 604 can include transceiver circuitry and radio frequency front module (RFEM) that allow the UE 600 to communicate with other devices over a radio access network. The RF interface circuitry 604 can include various elements arranged in transmit or receive paths. These elements can include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0062] In the receive path, the RFEM can receive, via antenna structure 616, radiated signals from the air interface and continue to filter and amplify (with a low noise amplifier) the signals. The signals can be provided to a receiver of the transceiver that down-converts the RF signals to baseband signals that are provided to a baseband processor of the processor 602.

[0063] In the transmit path, a transmitter of the transceiver up-converts baseband signals received from the baseband processor and provides RF signals to the RFEM. The RFEM can amplify the signals through a power amplifier before the RF signals are radiated across the air interface via the antenna 616. In various implementations, the RF interface circuitry 604 can be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0064] Antennas 616 can include antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves for transmission through the air and to convert received radio waves into electrical signals. The antenna elements can be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antennas 616 can have an antenna panel that is omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to enable beamforming and multiple-input multiple-output communication. Antennas 616 can include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. Antennas 616 can have one or more panels designed for a particular frequency band of bands included in FR1 or FR2.

[0065] User interface 608 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable a user to interact with UE 600. User interface 608 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting an input include, inter alia, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, key pad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphone, scanner, or headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for showing information or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information. Output device circuitry can include any number or combinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, 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 display devices or touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays “LCDs,” LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced through the operation of the UE 600.

[0066] Sensors 610 can include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other

[0067] The drive circuitry 612 can include software and hardware elements that operate to control particular devices embedded in, or attached to, or otherwise interfaced with the UE 600. The drive circuitry 612 can include individual drivers that allow other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that can be present within, or connected to, the UE 600. For example, the drive circuitry 612 can include a display driver to control and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver to control and allow access to a touchscreen interface, a sensor driver to obtain sensor readings from sensor circuitry 628 and control and allow access to the sensor circuitry 628, a driver to obtain actuator positions from electromechanical components or control and allow access to electromechanical components, a camera driver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.

[0068] The PMIC 614 can manage power supply to the various components of the UE 600. In particular, with respect to the processor 602, the PMIC 614 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.

[0069] In some implementations, the PMIC 614 can control various power-saving mechanisms of the UE 600, or otherwise be a part of such power-saving mechanisms. The battery 618 can power the UE 600, although in some examples the UE 600 can be installed in a fixed location, and can have a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 618 can be a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 618 can be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0070] Figure 7 An example access node 700 (e.g., a base station or gNB) is illustrated in accordance with some implementations. The access node 700 can be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the base stations 104. The access node 700 can include a processor 702, RF interface circuitry 704, core network (CN) interface circuitry 706, memory / storage circuitry 708, and antenna structure 710.

[0071] The components of the access node 700 can be coupled with various other components over one or more interconnects 712. The processor 702, RF interface circuitry 704, memory / storage circuitry 708 (including communication protocol stack 714), antenna structure 710, and interconnects 712 can be similar to those described with respect to the UE 600, and will not be described in detail here. The processor 702 can include one or more processors, microprocessors, ASICs, FPGAs, or other hardware processors. Figure 6Like-named elements have been shown and described. For example, the processor 702 can include processor circuitry such as, for example, a baseband processor circuit (BB) 716A, a CPU 716B, and a GPU 716C.

[0072] The CN interface circuitry 706 can provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5thGeneration 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 access node 700 via a fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 706 can include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 706 can include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0073] As used herein, the terms“access node,”“access point” and / or the like can describe equipment that provides the radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connectivity between a network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred to as BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and so on, and can include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage in a geographic area (e.g., a cell) or cells. As used herein, the term“NG RAN node” and / or the like can refer to access nodes 700 operating in an NR or 5G system (e.g., gNBs) and the term“E-UTRAN node” and / or the like can refer to access nodes 700 operating in an LTE or 4G system (e.g., eNBs). According to various implementations, the access nodes 700 can be implemented as one or more of: dedicated physical devices such as macrocells, and / or low power (LP) base stations for providing femocells, picocells, or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than macrocells.

[0074] In some implementations, all or a portion of the access node 700 can be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which can be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In V2X scenarios, the access node 700 can be a“roadside unit” or function as a“roadside unit.” The term“roadside unit” or“RSU” can refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU can be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE can be referred to as a“UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB can be referred to as an“eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB can be referred to as a“gNB-type RSU,” and the like.

[0075] For ease of description, various components can be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.” An expression, a component configured to perform one or more tasks, is expressly intended to be interpreted as not invoking 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretation.

[0076] For one or more implementations, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods set forth in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following examples. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth in the Examples section below.

[0077] Example

[0078] In the following sections, additional example implementations are provided.

[0079] Example 1 includes a method performed by a UE. The method includes receiving, from a base station, configuration information that specifies a plurality of SR configurations that indicate a plurality of SR occasions for communicating with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a current DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during at least one of the plurality of SR occasions. The method includes determining that a trigger condition is satisfied. The method includes transmitting a message to the base station in response to determining that the trigger condition is satisfied.

[0080] Example 2 can include the method of example 1, wherein determining the at least one SR occasion comprises: receiving a list of SR configurations from the base station and via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and wherein the at least one SR occasion is determined based on the list.

[0081] Example 3 can include the method of example 1 or 2, wherein suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during the at least one SR occasion comprises: determining, at the at least one SR occasion, whether a UE buffer has received data having a priority equal to or below a priority threshold.

[0082] Example 4 can include the method of any of Examples 1-3, wherein suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during the at least one SR occasion comprises determining a time mask according to the configuration information from the base station; and determining SR occasions of the plurality of SR occasions that are outside of the time mask as the at least one SR occasion for suspending transmissions.

[0083] Example 5 can include the method of any of Examples 1-4, the method further comprising suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during each of the plurality of SR occasions.

[0084] Example 6 can include the method of Example 5, the method further comprising stopping at least one of: an SR prohibit timer, a BSR retransmission timer, or an SR delay timer.

[0085] Example 7 can include the method of any of Examples 1-4, the method further comprising determining at least one non-suspended SR occasion from the plurality of SR occasions, wherein the at least one non-suspended SR occasion is different from the at least one SR occasion; transmitting an SR to the base station at the at least one non-suspended SR occasion; and transmitting a BSR corresponding to the SR.

[0086] Example 8 can include the method of Example 7, the method further comprising determining no retransmission is allowed based on a retransmission configuration; starting a first timer after transmitting the SR to the base station; monitoring a PDCCH after the first timer is started and before the first timer expires; and keeping a HARQ-RTT timer and a HARQ-ReTX timer off.

[0087] Example 9 can include the method of Example 7, the method further comprising determining retransmission is allowed based on a retransmission configuration; starting a first timer after transmitting the SR to the base station; starting a HARQ-RTT timer after transmitting a PUSCH signal; starting a HARQ-ReTX timer after the HARQ-RTT timer expires; and monitoring a PDCCH after the HARQ-ReTX timer is started and before the first timer expires.

[0088] Example 10 can include the method of any of Examples 7-9, the method further comprising determining at least one RACH triggering condition from the at least one SR occasion.

[0089] Example 11 can include the method of any of Examples 1-10, wherein the trigger condition comprises: the base station entering an active duration of a later DTX / DRX cycle that occurs later than the current DTX / DRX cycle.

[0090] Example 12 can include the method of Example 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: the buffer storing data received prior to the base station entering the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle; and an amount of the data being greater than a capacity threshold.

[0091] Example 13 can include the method of Example 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: the buffer storing data received prior to the base station entering the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle from one or more particular logical channels or from one or more particular logical channel groups; and an amount of the data being greater than a capacity threshold.

[0092] Example 14 can include the method of Example 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: the buffer storing data received prior to the base station entering the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle; and the data being present in the buffer for a queuing delay that is longer than a delay threshold.

[0093] Example 15 can include the method of Example 14, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: the data being received from one or more particular logical channels or from one or more particular logical channel groups.

[0094] Example 16 can include the method of any of Examples 1-15, further comprising: receiving a time offset from the base station; and in response to determining that the trigger condition is satisfied, waiting for a period equal to or greater than the time offset prior to transmitting the message to the base station.

[0095] Example 17 can include the method of Example 16, wherein the time offset is in units of at least one of: a number of DTX / DRX cycles, a number of inactive durations, or a number of active durations.

[0096] Example 18 can include the method of Example 16 or 17, wherein the time offset is randomly determined.

[0097] Example 19 can include the method of any of Examples 1-18, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a special SR indicating a buffer status change between a start of the inactivity duration and an end of the inactivity duration, a first special BSR indicating the buffer status change, a second special BSR indicating a queuing delay change between the start of the inactivity duration and the end of the inactivity duration, an RRC message indicating at least one of the buffer status change or the queuing delay change.

[0098] Example 20 includes a UE comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions causing the UE to perform the method of any of Examples 1-19.

[0099] Example 21 includes a UE comprising radio frequency (RF) processing circuitry configured to receive configuration information from a base station, and baseband processing circuitry to execute instructions causing the UE to perform the method of any of Examples 1-19.

[0100] Example 22 includes one or more processors for a UE. The one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory coupled to the one or more processors to perform the method of any of Examples 1-19.

[0101] Example 23 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed, cause a UE to perform the method of any of Examples 1-19.

[0102] Example 24 includes a method performed by a base station. The method includes generating configuration information for a UE, wherein the configuration information specifies a plurality of SR configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for the UE to communicate with the base station. The plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactivity duration of a first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes entering the inactivity duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes entering an active duration of a second DTX / DRX cycle, the second DTX / DRX cycle occurring later than the first DTX / DRX cycle. The method includes receiving a message from the UE during the active duration of the second DTX / DRX cycle, wherein the message comprises data stored in a UE buffer during the inactivity duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0103] Example 25 can include the method of Example 24, further comprising transmitting a list to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0104] Example 26 can include the method of Example 24, further comprising configuring the UE with a time mask, wherein the at least one SR occasion occurs outside of the time mask.

[0105] Example 27 can include the method of any of Examples 24 to 26, further comprising suspending the UE from transmitting at all of the plurality of SR occasions.

[0106] Example 28 can include the method of any of Examples 24 to 26, further comprising suspending the UE from transmitting at at least one SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions; receiving an SR from the UE at at least one non-suspended SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions, the at least one non-suspended SR occasion being different from the at least one SR occasion; and receiving a BSR from the UE corresponding to the SR.

[0107] Example 29 can include the method of any of Examples 24 to 28, further comprising transmitting a time offset to the UE, wherein the message is received from the UE at least the time offset after the base station enters the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

[0108] Example 30 can include the method of Example 29, wherein the time offset is in units of at least one of: a number of DTX / DRX cycles, a number of inactive durations, or a number of active durations.

[0109] Example 31 can include the method of Example 29 or 30, wherein the time offset is randomly determined.

[0110] Example 32 can include the method of any of Examples 24 to 31, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a special SR indicating a buffer status change between a start of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle and an end of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle, a first special BSR indicating the buffer status change, a second special BSR indicating a queuing delay change between the start of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle and the end of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle, an RRC message indicating at least one of the buffer status change or the queuing delay change.

[0111] Example 33 includes a base station comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions causing the base station to perform the method of any of Examples 24-32.

[0112] Example 34 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed, cause a base station to perform the method of any of Examples 24-32.

[0113] Example 35 can include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or any other method or process described herein.

[0114] Example 36 can include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or any other method or process described herein.

[0115] Example 37 can include a method, technique, or process described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or portions or parts thereof.

[0116] Example 38 can include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising 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 or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or portions thereof.

[0117] Example 39 can include a signal described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or portions or parts thereof.

[0118] Example 40 can include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message, or portions or parts thereof, described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0119] Example 41 can include a signal encoded with data described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0120] Example 42 can include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message described in or related to any of the aforementioned embodiments, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0121] Example 43 can 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 the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the exemplary embodiments or portions thereof.

[0122] Example 44 can include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the exemplary embodiments or portions thereof. The operations or actions performed by the instructions executed by the processing element can include the method according to any of the exemplary embodiments described above.

[0123] Example 45 can include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0124] Example 46 can include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0125] Example 47 can include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. The operations or actions performed by the system can include the method according to any of the exemplary embodiments described above.

[0126] Example 48 can include an apparatus for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. The operations or actions performed by the apparatus can include the method according to any of the exemplary embodiments described above.

[0127] The previously described embodiments can be implemented using a computer- implemented method; a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer- readable instructions to perform the computer-implemented method; and a computer system including a computer memory operatively couplable to a hardware processor, the hardware processor configured to execute the computer-implemented method or instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0128] A system (e.g., a base station, an apparatus including one or more baseband processors, etc.) can be configured to perform particular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof installed

[0129] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the embodiments described above can be combined with any other embodiment (or combinations of embodiments) described above. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides functionality and / or technical advantages and that description is provided as an overview of some implementations. Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding description. It is intended that the following claims be construed as including all such alterations and modifications.

[0130] Although the foregoing implementations have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made to the implementations without departing from the scope of the disclosures. It is not intended to limit the scope of the claims to the exact details of the described implementations.

[0131] It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that allows registered users to exercise control over their information and to exercise choices based on how their information is collected and used. These practices may be required by law in some jurisdictions.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration information, the configuration information comprising one or more scheduling request (SR) configurations, the one or more SR configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for communicating with the base station, wherein the plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a current discontinuous transmission or discontinuous reception (DTX / DRX) cycle; suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during at least one SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions; determining that a triggering condition is satisfied; transmitting, to the base station, a message in response to determining that the triggering condition is satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one SR occasion comprises: receiving, from the base station and via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a list of SR configurations, and wherein the at least one SR occasion is determined based on the list.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during the at least one SR occasion comprises: determining, at the at least one SR occasion, whether a UE buffer has received data having a priority equal to or below a priority threshold.

4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, wherein suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during the at least one SR occasion comprises: determining a time mask from the configuration information from the base station; and determining, as the at least one SR occasion for suspending transmissions, an SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions that is outside of the time mask.

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, further comprising: suspending transmissions from the UE to the base station during each SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising stopping at least one of: an SR prohibit timer, a buffer status report (BSR) retransmission timer, or an SR delay timer.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-4, further comprising: determining, from the plurality of SR occasions, at least one non-suspended SR occasion, wherein the at least one non-suspended SR occasion is different from the at least one SR occasion; transmitting, to the base station, an SR at the at least one non-suspended SR occasion; and transmitting a buffer status report (BSR) corresponding to the SR.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining, based on a retransmission configuration, that retransmission is not allowed; starting a first timer after transmitting the SR to the base station; monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) after the first timer is started and before the first timer expires; and keeping a HARQ-RTT timer and a HARQ-ReTX timer off.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining, based on a retransmission configuration, that retransmission is allowed; starting a first timer after transmitting the SR to the base station; starting a HARQ-RTT timer after transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal; ​ starting a HARQ-ReTX timer after the HARQ-RTT timer expires; and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) after the HARQ-ReTX timer starts and before the first timer expires.

10. The method of any of claims 7-9, further comprising: determining, from the at least one SR occasion, at least one random access channel (RACH) trigger condition.

11. The method of any of claims 1-10, wherein the trigger condition comprises: the base station entering an active duration of a later DTX / DRX cycle that occurs later than the current DTX / DRX cycle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: buffer storing data received before the base station enters the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle; and an amount of the data being greater than a volume threshold.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: buffer storing data received from one or more specific logical channels or from one or more specific logical channel groups before the base station enters the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle; and an amount of the data being greater than a volume threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: buffer storing data received before the base station enters the active duration of the later DTX / DRX cycle; and the data existing in the buffer for a queuing delay that is longer than a delay threshold.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the trigger condition further comprises: the data being received from one or more specific logical channels or from one or more specific logical channel groups.

16. The method of any of claims 1-15, further comprising: receiving a time offset from the base station; and in response to determining that the trigger condition is satisfied, waiting a period equal to or greater than the time offset before transmitting the message to the base station.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the time offset is in units of at least one of: a number of DTX / DRX cycles, a number of inactive durations, or a number of active durations.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the time offset is randomly determined.

19. The method of any of claims 1-18, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a special SR indicating a buffer status change between a start of the inactive duration and an end of the inactive duration; a first special buffer status report (BSR) indicating the buffer status change; a second special BSR indicating a queuing delay change between the start of the inactive duration and the end of the inactive duration; a radio resource control (RRC) message indicating at least one of: the buffer status change or the queuing delay change. ​ ​ ​ 20. A user equipment (UE) comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions that cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 1-19.

21. A user equipment (UE) comprising: radio frequency (RF) processing circuitry configured to receive configuration information from a base station; and baseband processing circuitry to execute instructions that cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 1-19.

22. One or more processors for a user equipment (UE), the one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory coupled to the one or more processors to perform the method of any of claims 1-19.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment (UE) to perform the method of any of claims 1-19.

24. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising: generating configuration information for a user equipment (UE), the configuration information specifying a plurality of scheduling request (SR) configurations, the plurality of SR configurations indicating a plurality of SR occasions for the UE to communicate with the base station, wherein the plurality of SR occasions are scheduled to occur when the base station is in an inactive duration of a first discontinuous transmission or discontinuous reception (DTX / DRX) cycle; entering the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle; entering an active duration of a second DTX / DRX cycle, the second DTX / DRX cycle occurring later than the first DTX / DRX cycle; and receiving a message from the UE during the active duration of the second DTX / DRX cycle, wherein the message comprises data stored in a UE buffer during the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: transmitting a list to the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising: configuring a time mask for the UE, wherein the at least one SR occasion occurs outside of the time mask.

27. The method of any of claims 24-26, further comprising: causing the UE to suspend transmissions at all of the plurality of SR occasions.

28. The method of any of claims 24-26, further comprising: causing the UE to suspend transmissions at at least one of the plurality of SR occasions; receiving an SR from the UE at at least one non-suspended SR occasion of the plurality of SR occasions, the at least one non-suspended SR occasion being different from the at least one SR occasion; and receiving a buffer status report (BSR) from the UE corresponding to the SR.

29. The method of any of claims 24-28, further comprising: ​ transmitting a time offset to the UE, wherein the message is received from the UE at least the time offset after the base station enters the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the time offset is in units of at least one of: a number of DTX / DRX cycles, a number of inactive durations, or a number of active durations.

31. The method of claim 29 or 30, wherein the time offset is randomly determined.

32. The method of any of claims 24-31, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a special SR indicating a buffer status change between a start of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle and an end of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle; a first special buffer status report (BSR) indicating the buffer status change; a second special BSR indicating a queuing delay change between the start of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle and the end of the inactive duration of the first DTX / DRX cycle; a radio resource control (RRC) message indicating at least one of: the buffer status change or the queuing delay change.

33. A base station comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions that cause the base station to perform the method of any of claims 24-32.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed, cause a base station to perform the method of any of claims 24-32.

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