Method and apparatus for cell dormancy optimization

Abstract

A method for cell dormancy optimization is provided. The method can include transmitting, by a terminal device, at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells) to a network device. The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The method can also include receiving, at the terminal device, a SCell activation message from the network device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells is activated from the dormant state. The method can also include transmitting, by the terminal device, at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to communication networks, and more specifically to methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for optimizing cell sleep. Background Technology

[0002] To enhance network performance, carrier aggregation (CA) technology is implemented in 5G New Radio (NR) networks to enable the simultaneous utilization of multiple component carriers across different cells. This allows a single User Equipment (UE) to combine bandwidth resources from aggregated carriers, significantly increasing achievable data rates and throughput. By combining multiple frequency bands, CA technology overcomes the limitations of segmented spectrum resources, achieving higher data speeds, increased network capacity, and improved user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This section contains examples of possible implementations and is not intended to be limiting.

[0004] According to a first aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell sleep optimization is provided. The method may include a terminal device receiving a request from a network device associated with a primary cell for at least one aperiodic measurement report of one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in a sleep state. The method may further include the terminal device sending at least one aperiodic measurement report to the network device based on the request.

[0005] According to a second aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell hibernation is provided. The method may include sending a request from a network device to a terminal device for at least one aperiodic measurement report of one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in hibernation mode. The method may further include receiving at least one aperiodic measurement report from the terminal device at the network device.

[0006] According to a third aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell sleep optimization is provided. The method may include transmitting at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells) to a network device. The one or more secondary cells are in a sleep state. The method may further include receiving an SCell activation message from the network device at the terminal device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a sleep state. The method may further include transmitting at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell sleep optimization is provided. The method may include receiving, at a network device, at a terminal device, at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells). The one or more secondary cells are in a sleep state. The method may further include activating at least one secondary cell from the one or more secondary cells by the network device based on at least one aperiodic measurement report. The method may further include sending an SCell activation message from the network device to the terminal device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells is activated. The method may further include receiving, at a network device, at the terminal device, at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell.

[0008] According to a fifth aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell sleep optimization is provided. The method may include receiving a configuration message from a network device at a terminal device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a sleep state. The one or more secondary cells are in an active state. The method may further include receiving an SCell sleep indication from the network device by the terminal device to transition the one or more secondary cells to a sleep state. The method may further include disabling periodic measurement reporting for the at least one secondary cell by the terminal device.

[0009] According to a sixth aspect of this disclosure, a method for cell sleep mode optimization is provided. The method may include sending a configuration message from a network device to an end device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a sleep state. The one or more secondary cells are in an active state. The method may further include determining, at the network device, to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state based on network conditions. The method may also include sending an SCell sleep mode indication from the network device to the end device to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state.

[0010] According to a seventh aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to receive a request from a network device associated with a primary cell for at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may also be caused to send at least one aperiodic measurement report to the network device based on the request.

[0011] According to an eighth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to send a request to a terminal device for at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may also be configured to receive at least one aperiodic measurement report from the terminal device.

[0012] According to a ninth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: send at least one aperiodic measurement report to a network device for one or more secondary cells (SCells). The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may also be caused to receive an SCell activation message from the network device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state. The apparatus may also be caused to send at least one measurement report to the network device for the activated secondary cell.

[0013] According to a tenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to receive from a terminal device at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells). The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may also be caused to activate at least one secondary cell from the one or more secondary cells based on at least one aperiodic measurement report. The apparatus may also be caused to send an SCell activation message to the terminal device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state. The apparatus may also be caused to receive at least one measurement report from the terminal device for the activated secondary cell.

[0014] According to an eleventh aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to receive a configuration message from a network device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a sleep state. The one or more secondary cells are in an active state. The apparatus may also receive an SCell sleep indication from the network device to transition the one or more secondary cells to a sleep state. The apparatus may also disable periodic measurement reporting for at least one secondary cell.

[0015] According to a twelfth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus in a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may be adapted to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to send a configuration message to a terminal device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a sleep state. The one or more secondary cells are active. The apparatus may also be configured to determine, based on network conditions, to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state. The apparatus may also be configured to send an SCell sleep indication to the terminal device to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state.

[0016] According to a thirteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include: components for receiving a request from a network device associated with a primary cell for at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may further include components for sending at least one aperiodic measurement report to the network device based on the request.

[0017] According to a fourteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include components for sending a request to a terminal device for at least one aperiodic measurement report of one or more secondary cells. The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may also include components for receiving at least one aperiodic measurement report from the terminal device.

[0018] According to a fifteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include components for sending at least one non-periodic measurement report to a network device for one or more secondary cells (SCells). The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may further include components for receiving an SCell activation message from the network device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state. The apparatus may further include components for sending at least one measurement report to the network device for the activated secondary cell.

[0019] According to a sixteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include components for receiving from a terminal device at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells). The one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. The apparatus may further include components for activating at least one secondary cell from the one or more secondary cells based on at least one aperiodic measurement report. The apparatus may further include components for sending an SCell activation message to the terminal device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state. The apparatus may further include components for receiving from the terminal device at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell.

[0020] According to a seventeenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include components for receiving a configuration message from a network device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a dormant state. The one or more secondary cells are in an active state. The apparatus may further include components for receiving an SCell dormant indication from the network device to transition the one or more secondary cells to a dormant state. The apparatus may also include components for disabling periodic measurement reporting for the at least one secondary cell.

[0021] According to the eighteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for a communication network is provided. The apparatus may include components for sending a configuration message to a terminal device. The configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a sleep state. The one or more secondary cells are in an active state. The apparatus may further include components for determining, based on network conditions, to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state. The apparatus may also include components for sending an SCell sleep indication to the terminal device to transition one or more secondary cells to a sleep state.

[0022] According to a nineteenth aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon is provided. When executed by a collection of one or more processors of a communication device, the computer program causes the communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 An example environment in which exemplary embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented is shown.

[0025] Figure 2 An example signaling flow between a terminal device and a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Figure 3 Example signaling flows between a terminal device and a network device for transitioning SCell from a dormant state to an active state are shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 4 Another example signaling flow for transitioning SCell from a dormant state to an active state between a terminal device 110 and a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Figure 5 Example signaling flows between a terminal device and a network device for transitioning SCell from an active state to a sleep state are shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0030] Figure 7 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0031] Figure 8 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0032] Figure 9 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0033] Figure 10 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0034] Figure 11 A flowchart of an example method for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown.

[0035] Figure 12 A simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0036] Figure 13 A block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a computer-readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0037] Example embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and thus implement the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

[0038] References to "an embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," etc., in the specification indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment includes that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it should be noted that those skilled in the art will recognize, whether explicitly described or not, that such features, structures, or characteristics apply in conjunction with other embodiments.

[0039] It should be understood that although the terms “first” and “second”, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0040] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “possessing,” “containing,” and / or “covering,” as used herein, specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0041] Furthermore, according to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, there is circuitry for performing operations according to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. This circuitry may include any type of circuitry, including content encoding circuitry, content decoding circuitry, processing circuitry, image generation circuitry, data analysis circuitry, etc. Furthermore, this circuitry may include discrete circuitry, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and / or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), as well as processors specifically configured by software to perform corresponding functions, or dual-core processors having software and corresponding digital signal processors, etc. Additionally, necessary inputs to and necessary outputs from the circuitry, functions performed by the circuitry, and interconnections (possibly via inputs and outputs) between the circuitry and other components that may include other circuitry are provided to perform exemplary embodiments of this disclosure as described herein.

[0042] According to the example embodiments disclosed in this disclosure, the provided "circuit" may include at least one or more of the following: Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementations in analog, digital, and / or quantum circuits); A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog, digital, and / or quantum hardware circuitry with software / firmware; and (ii) Any or all portions of the hardware processor (including digital and / or quantum processors(s) with software) and memory that works together to enable a device such as a mobile device, computing device, or server to perform various functions, such as the functionality or operation of the disclosed example embodiments herein; and (c) Any or all parts of the hardware circuitry, such as microprocessors and / or quantum processors, that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may be absent when software is not required to operate. This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this disclosure (including in any claim). As another example, as used in this disclosure, the term circuit system also covers only hardware circuitry or a processor (or processors) or a portion thereof and its accompanying software and / or firmware implementation. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to a particular claim element, baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices or other computing or network devices.

[0043] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), 5G-Advanced, and future sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will certainly be future types of communication technologies and systems that embody the future types of this disclosure. The scope of this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the aforementioned systems.

[0044] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which terminal devices access the network and receive services. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device can refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next-generation Node B (also known as a gNB), a relay, or a low-power node (such as a femtosecond, picosecond, etc.). A base station may include several distributed network elements, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) or remote radio units (RRUs). The number and functionality of these distributed units depend on the chosen split RAN architecture.

[0045] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices can include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal equipment", "communication equipment", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0046] Note that the terms used in this disclosure are for ease of description and differentiation of nodes, devices, or networks, etc. Other terms with similar / identical meanings may be used as technology evolves.

[0047] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0048] Figure 1 An example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown.

[0049] Environment 100, which may be part of a communication network, includes terminal devices 110 and network devices 120 communicating with each other. Communication between terminal devices 110 and network devices 120 can be direct. As an example, terminal devices 110 and network devices 120 can be... Figure 1 It communicates directly with one or more other devices not shown in the diagram.

[0050] To transmit data and / or control information, terminal device 110 may perform communication with network device 120. The link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL).

[0051] Terminal device 110 can be configured with more than one cell. In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can be connected to a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCell) under the control of network device 120.

[0052] In CA (Access Controller) architecture, terminal devices can send / receive data from multiple cells. Among these aggregated cells, the PCell is the initial access cell responsible for critical control signaling and radio resource management, and its corresponding component carrier is called the PCC (Primary Component Carrier). After the terminal device enters the connected state, the network dynamically configures additional cells called SCells, and the component carriers associated with the SCell are designated as SCCs (Secondary Component Carriers). PCell configuration is terminal device-specific, meaning different terminal devices can have different PCells. Similarly, different terminal devices can also have different SCells. The same cell can act as the PCell for one terminal device but as the SCell for another. Furthermore, uplink and downlink aggregation can involve different carriers (or cells), thereby enhancing spectrum utilization flexibility. This architecture optimizes data rates and resource efficiency in different service scenarios.

[0053] Although PCell and SCell are depicted as being under the control of the same network device according to the example embodiments herein, they may be controlled by different network devices or different distributed radio units, depending on the implementation.

[0054] In NR Rel-16, SCell sleep is introduced as an intermediate state between an active SCell (for data communication) and a deactivated SCell (used to conserve terminal device power when data communication does not immediately require the SCell). In the following description, the terms "sleep," "sleeping," "sleeping state," and "sleeping condition" can have similar meanings. SCell sleep is primarily designed to save terminal device power (relative to an active SCell) and to enable rapid SCell activation (relative to a deactivated SCell) when data is available for transmission, as SCell reactivation implies a delay, making complete deactivation of the SCell somewhat impractical. SCells can be configured with a sleep bandwidth portion (BWP), and when this BWP is in sleep mode, the terminal device stops monitoring the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or transmitting Sound Reference Signal (SRS) / Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) on the sleep BWP. If such a process is configured, the UE continues to perform CSI (Channel State Information) measurements, AGC (Automatic Gain Control), and beam management.

[0055] In NR, SCell sleep is implemented using the BWP handover framework. End devices can be configured with either `dormancyGroupWithinActiveTime` or `dormancyGroupOutsideActiveTime`. Different downlink control information (DCI) formats are used to send SCell sleep indications. During active time, DCI format 0_1 ​​or 1_1 on the PCell is used for SCell sleep indication, while outside active time, DCI format 2_6 is used, and the end device needs to indicate its capabilities for DCI format 2_6. Furthermore, different end device capabilities are used for SCell sleep monitoring during and outside active time.

[0056] The current 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) specifications for dormant BWP operations enforce strict constraints. For dormant SCells, only periodic CSI reporting can be performed. Even if there is no data traffic requiring SCell activation, the terminal device must reserve pre-configured periodic CSI reporting resources on the PUCCH for the dormant SCell. This requirement leads to inefficient PUCCH resource utilization because the resources reserved for CSI reporting cannot be reallocated to other terminal devices, and it also reduces the available bandwidth for PUSCH transmissions.

[0057] Furthermore, when transitioning a dormant SCell back to an active state, the gNB can prioritize aperiodic CSI reports for timely channel state updates, thus rendering the pre-configured periodic reports redundant. This redundancy consumes excessive resources, especially for terminal devices with limited capabilities, which may not have sufficient resources to simultaneously monitor both periodically and aperiodically configured Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS). Additionally, while dormant SCells reduce terminal device power consumption relative to the active state by ceasing PDCCH monitoring, the continuous periodic CSI reports across all dormant SCells still result in non-negligible energy consumption.

[0058] According to an example embodiment of this disclosure, a scheme for enhancing the sleep performance of one or more SCells is provided. Using this scheme, an end device can send one or more non-periodic measurement reports for one or more sleeping SCells in response to a request from a network device. With this scheme, the end device can dynamically provide measurement reports for sleeping SCells on demand, thereby reducing the resources consumed by the measurement reports and saving battery consumption. For example, the network device can send a dynamic indication to the end device to trigger a single (one-time) CSI report for one or more sleeping SCells, and this indication can provide uplink resources for the corresponding (one-time) CSI report, thereby allowing the network device to determine and activate the (optimal) SCell for data transmission. Upon receiving a request, the end device can also deactivate periodic measurement reports for one or more sleeping SCells. In this way, CSI reports can be obtained quickly while minimizing resource overhead and maximizing network efficiency and battery life of the end device.

[0059] Figure 2 An example signaling flow 200 between a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1 Discuss signaling flow 200. For example... Figure 2 As shown, PCell, SCell1, and SCell2 are controlled by network device 120.

[0060] According to some example embodiments, when terminal device 110 first connects to network device 120, in step 210, network device 120 may send a configuration message to terminal device to set SCell1 and SCell2 to a sleep state, such as... Figure 2As shown. According to some examples, the configuration message may include a cell status indication indicating the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2. For example, L1 / L2 indications may be used to indicate the sleep state of SCells; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) indication. After receiving the cell status indication, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for SCell1 and SCell2. According to some examples, the configuration message may include an indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2 (e.g., an optimizedDormancyPerformance indication). According to some examples, the optimizedDormancyPerformance indication may be a Boolean parameter for each configured SCell to inform the UE not to send periodic CSI reports, and the network device may request non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep SCell. According to some other examples, the cell status indication and the indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state may be sent separately. In step 220, the terminal device 110 may send an acknowledgment to the network device 120.

[0061] According to some example embodiments, at step 230, terminal device 110 may disable periodic measurement reports for SCell1 and SCell2 after receiving the configuration message. According to some example embodiments, at step 240, network device 120 may decide to request at least one aperiodic measurement report from one or more SCells (e.g., SCell1 and SCell2) to select at least one SCell for transmission. According to some examples, network device 120 may decide to request aperiodic measurement reports from one or more SCells (e.g., SCell1 and SCell2) to activate at least one SCell based on network conditions. According to some examples, if the network device has more traffic to transmit, or the terminal device may require more carriers, the network device may determine to activate at least one SCell. For example, if the network device's buffer size is greater than a buffer threshold, the network device may determine to activate at least one SCell.

[0062] According to some example embodiments, in step 250, network device 120 may send a report request to terminal device 110 for at least one measurement report for one or more SCells. According to some examples, the report request may include a first indication of measurement resources to be measured for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state. For example, measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resources. In this way, the network device may also specify the SCell to be measured. According to some examples, the report request may include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one aperiodic measurement report. As an example, this indication may be an L1 / L2 indication. As an example, the uplink resources are configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform the measurement. Therefore, the network device may, for example, provide the measurement resources at a time offset from receiving the first indication and set the uplink resources far enough to process the report request, monitor the measurement resources, and then have the terminal device provide the aperiodic measurement report. According to some other examples, the first and second indications may be sent in separate signaling.

[0063] According to some example embodiments, at step 260, terminal device 110 may perform measurements for SCell. According to an example embodiment, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on measurement resources indicated in the first indication. According to another example embodiment, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on measurement resources pre-configured upon initial connection to network device 120.

[0064] According to some example embodiments, at step 270, terminal device 110 may transmit an aperiodic measurement report to network device 120 in response to receiving a report request. According to some examples, the measurement report may be a CSI report.

[0065] According to some example embodiments, in step 280, network device 120 may determine to activate at least one SCell based on the received aperiodic measurement report. According to some examples, network device 120 may select the SCell with the best signal quality from one or more SCells based on the received aperiodic measurement report. For example, network device 120 may decide to activate SCell2 from SCell1 and SCell2.

[0066] According to some example embodiments, in step 290, network device 120 may send an SCell activation message to terminal device 120 to notify terminal device 120 of the activation of the selected SCell (e.g., SCell2). Then, terminal device 110 may perform data transmission with network device on PCell and SCell2.

[0067] The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the device's RAM memory, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Alternatively, some or all of the steps in the flowchart process may be embodied as hardware program logic comprising an array of sequential and / or combinational logic circuits and / or state machine logic implementing some or all of the steps performed by embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0068] Figure 2 This is provided as an example of a method according to certain embodiments. Other examples are possible, as discussed above or... Figure 2 One or more of the processes shown can be skipped or executed in a different order, or additional processes can be added.

[0069] Figure 3 An exemplary signaling flow 300 for transitioning an SCell from a sleep state to an active state between a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1 Discuss signaling flow 300. For example... Figure 3 As shown, PCell, SCell1, and SCell2 are controlled by network device 120. The process of steps 310-340 is similar to... Figure 2 The process of steps 210-290 in the document is described below, and some steps are omitted here for the sake of brevity.

[0070] According to some example embodiments, when terminal device 110 first connects to network device 120, in step 310, network device 120 may send a configuration message to terminal device to set SCell1 and SCell2 to a sleep state, such as... Figure 3As shown. According to some examples, the configuration message may include a cell status indication indicating the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2. For example, L1 / L2 indications may be used to indicate the sleep state of SCells; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a MAC CE indication. After receiving the cell status indication, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for SCell1 and SCell2. According to some examples, the configuration message may include an indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2 (e.g., an optimizedDormancyPerformance indication). According to some examples, the optimizedDormancyPerformance indication may be a Boolean parameter for each configured SCell to inform the UE not to send periodic CSI reports, and the network device may request non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep SCell. According to some other examples, the cell status indication and the indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state may be sent separately. In step 320, the terminal device 110 may send an acknowledgment to the network device 120.

[0071] According to some example embodiments, at step 330, terminal device 110 may transmit an aperiodic measurement report to network device 120 in response to receiving a report request. According to some examples, the measurement report may be a CSI report. According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may determine to activate at least one SCell based on the received aperiodic measurement report. According to some examples, network device 120 may select at least one SCell with the best signal quality from one or more SCells based on the received aperiodic measurement report. For example, network device 120 may decide to activate SCell2 from SCell1 and SCell2.

[0072] According to some example embodiments, in step 340, network device 120 may send an SCell activation message to terminal device to activate the selected SCell, such as SCell2. According to some examples, the SCell activation message may include a first indication of measurement resources to be measured for one or more secondary cells that are active. For example, measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resources. According to some examples, the SCell activation message may include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one aperiodic measurement report. As an example, this indication may be an L1 / L2 indication; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a MAC CE indication. As an example, the uplink resources are configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform the measurement. Therefore, the network device may, for example, provide the measurement resources at a time offset from receiving the first indication, and set the uplink resources far enough for terminal device 120 to process the report request, monitor the measurement resources, and then provide the aperiodic measurement report. According to some examples, the SCell activation message may include a third indication of aperiodic measurement reports for active SCells. According to some other examples, the first instruction, second instruction, and third instruction can be sent in separate signaling messages. At step 350, terminal device 110 can send a HARQ to the network device to confirm secure reception of the Scell ​​activation message. According to some other examples, network device 120 can send a report request for at least one measurement report for the SCell to terminal device 110. The report request may have references... Figure 2 For the sake of brevity, similar instructions discussed are not described in detail. Terminal device 110 can then perform data transmission with the network device on PCell and SCell1.

[0073] According to some example embodiments, at step 360, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on the SCell. According to an example embodiment, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on measurement resources indicated in the first indication. According to another example embodiment, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on pre-configured measurement resources upon initial connection to network device 120.

[0074] According to some example embodiments, at step 270, terminal device 110 may transmit an aperiodic measurement report to network device 120 in response to receiving a SCell activation message or a report request. According to some examples, the measurement report may be a CSI report.

[0075] The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the device's RAM memory, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Alternatively, some or all of the steps in the flowchart process may be embodied as hardware program logic comprising an array of sequential and / or combinational logic circuits and / or state machine logic implementing some or all of the steps performed by embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0076] supply Figure 3 This is one example of a method according to certain embodiments. Other examples are possible, as discussed above, or... Figure 3 One or more of the processes shown can be skipped or executed in a different order, or additional processes can be added.

[0077] Figure 4 Another exemplary signaling flow 400 for transitioning an SCell from a dormant state to an active state between a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1 Discuss signaling flow 400. For example... Figure 4 As shown, PCell, SCell1, and SCell2 are controlled by network device 120. The process of steps 410-440 is similar to... Figure 2 The process of steps 210-290 in the document is described below, and some steps are omitted here for the sake of brevity.

[0078] According to some example embodiments, when terminal device 110 first connects to network device 120, in step 410, network device 120 may send a configuration message to terminal device to set SCell1 and SCell2 to a sleep state, such as... Figure 4As shown. According to some examples, the configuration message may include a cell status indication indicating the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2. For example, L1 / L2 indications may be used to indicate the sleep state of SCells; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a MAC CE indication. After receiving the cell status indication, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for SCell1 and SCell2. According to some examples, the configuration message may include an indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state of SCell1 and SCell2 (e.g., an optimizedDormancyPerformance indication). According to some examples, the optimizedDormancyPerformance indication may be a Boolean parameter for each configured SCell to inform the UE not to send periodic CSI reports, and the network device may request non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep SCell. According to some other examples, the cell status indication and the indication for enabling non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state may be sent separately. In step 420, the terminal device 110 may send an acknowledgment to the network device 120.

[0079] According to some example embodiments, in step 425, terminal device 110 may receive a report request from network device 120. According to some example embodiments, in step 430, terminal device 110 may transmit an aperiodic measurement report to network device 120 in response to receiving the report request. According to some examples, the measurement report may be a CSI report. According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may determine to activate at least one SCell based on the received aperiodic measurement report. According to some examples, network device 120 may select at least one SCell with the best signal quality from one or more SCells based on the received aperiodic measurement report. For example, network device 120 may decide to activate SCell2 from SCell1 and SCell2.

[0080] According to some example embodiments, in step 440, network device 120 may send an SCell activation message to terminal device to activate the selected SCell, such as SCell2. At step 350, terminal device 110 may send a HARQ to network device to confirm secure receipt of the SCell activation message.

[0081] According to some example embodiments, at step 460, terminal device 110 may switch to periodic reporting for the active SCell (e.g., SCell2) based on the SCell activation message. According to some examples, the SCell activation message may include an indication for periodic measurement reporting for the active SCell. According to some examples, if there is no indication for non-periodic measurement reporting for the active SCell2 in the SCell activation message, terminal device 110 may switch to periodic reporting for the active SCell2.

[0082] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may send periodic measurement reports to network device 120. According to some examples, at step 470, the measurement report may be a CSI report. According to some examples, terminal device 110 may perform measurements on measurement resources pre-configured for an active secondary cell, and then send periodic measurement reports based on the measurements.

[0083] The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the device's RAM memory, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Alternatively, some or all of the steps in the flowchart process may be embodied as hardware program logic comprising an array of sequential and / or combinational logic circuits and / or state machine logic implementing some or all of the steps performed by embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0084] Figure 4 This is provided as an example of a method according to certain embodiments. Other examples are possible, as discussed above, or... Figure 4 One or more of the processes shown can be skipped or executed in a different order, or additional processes can be added.

[0085] Figure 5 An exemplary signaling flow 500 for transitioning an SCell from an active state to a sleep state between a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to… Figure 1 Discuss signaling flow 500. For example... Figure 5 As shown, PCell, SCell1, and SCell2 are controlled by network device 120.

[0086] According to some example embodiments, when terminal device 110 first connects to network device 120, in step 512, network device 120 may send a configuration message to terminal device to set SCell1 and SCell2 to an active state, such as... Figure 5As shown. According to some examples, the configuration message may include a cell status indication indicating the activity status of SCell1 and SCell2. For example, L1 / L2 indications may be used to indicate the activity status of SCells; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a MAC CE indication. According to some examples, the configuration message may include an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one SCell in a sleep state. For example, the configuration message may include an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state of SCell2 (e.g., an optimizedDormancyPerformance indication). According to some other examples, the cell status indication and the indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting may be sent separately. In step 514, the terminal device 110 may send an acknowledgment to the network device 120. The terminal device 110 may then transmit data with the network device 120 on PCell, SCell1, and SCell2.

[0087] According to some example embodiments, in step 516, network device 120 may decide to put at least one SCell into a sleep state based on network conditions. For example, network device 120 may decide to put SCell1 and SCell2 into a sleep state. According to some examples, if the network device needs to transmit less traffic, or the terminal device may need less carrier, the network device may decide to put at least one SCell into a sleep state. For example, if the buffer size of the network device is less than a buffer threshold, the network device may decide to put at least one SCell into a sleep state.

[0088] According to some example embodiments, in step 518, network device 120 may send a sleep indication for at least one SCell to terminal device 110 to transition at least one SCell to a sleep state. According to some examples, the sleep indication may be an L2 indication. For example, the network device may send sleep indications for SCell1 and SCell2. At step 520, terminal device 110 may send a HARQ to network device 120 to at least confirm secure reception of the sleep indication for the SCell.

[0089] According to some example embodiments, at step 522, terminal device 110 may disable periodic measurements for SCell2 because it has received an instruction to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for SCell2 in sleep mode. At step 524, terminal device 110 may continue sending periodic measurements for SCell1 because it has not received an instruction to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for SCell1.

[0090] According to some example embodiments, in step 526, network device 120 may send a report request for at least one measurement report for SCell2 to terminal device 110. According to some examples, the report request may include a first indication of measurement resources to be measured for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state. For example, measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resources. According to some examples, the report request may include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one aperiodic measurement report. As an example, this indication may be an L1 / L2 indication; for example, the L1 indication may be a DCI indication, and the L2 indication may be a MAC CE indication. As an example, the uplink resources are configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform the measurement. Therefore, the network device may, for example, provide the measurement resources at a time offset from receiving the first indication and set the uplink resources far enough to process the report request, monitor the measurement resources, and then have the terminal device provide the aperiodic measurement report. According to some other examples, the first and second indications may be sent in separate signaling.

[0091] According to some example embodiments, at step 528, terminal device 110 may perform a measurement for SCell2. According to some examples, terminal device 110 may perform a measurement on a measurement resource indicated in the first indication. According to another example embodiment, terminal device 110 may perform a measurement on a measurement resource pre-configured when first connected to network device 120.

[0092] According to some example embodiments, at step 530, terminal device 110 may transmit an aperiodic measurement report to network device 120 in response to receiving a report request. According to some examples, the measurement report may be a CSI report.

[0093] The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the device's RAM memory, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Alternatively, some or all of the steps in the flowchart process may be embodied as hardware program logic comprising an array of sequential and / or combinational logic circuits and / or state machine logic implementing some or all of the steps performed by embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0094] Figure 5 This is provided as an example of a method according to certain embodiments. Other examples are possible, as discussed above, or... Figure 5 One or more of the processes shown can be skipped or executed in a different order, or additional processes can be added.

[0095] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 600 can be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 600 may also include one or more steps performed at terminal device 110, as described above relative to… Figure 2-5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figure 2-5 Details of some steps in method 600 have been discussed, and method 600 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps of the flowchart may represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of the terminal device 110, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0096] According to some example embodiments, at 610, terminal device 110 may receive a request from a network device associated with the primary cell for at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells, wherein the one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. At 620, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one aperiodic measurement report to the network device based on the request.

[0097] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can receive configuration messages from network devices. In some embodiments, the configuration messages include cell status indications that set one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0098] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may receive an instruction to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state.

[0099] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may disable periodic measurement reports for one or more secondary cells after receiving a configuration message from a network device.

[0100] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a first indication of measurement resources to be measured for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state.

[0101] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources may include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0102] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0103] According to some example embodiments, uplink resources can be configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform measurements.

[0104] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can perform measurements for one or more secondary cells on the measurement resources indicated in the first instruction.

[0105] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may further include a third instruction for synchronization resources used to perform synchronization. According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may use synchronization resources to perform synchronization with the network device.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 600 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 600. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0107] Figure 7 A flowchart of an example method 700 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 700 can be implemented at a network device (e.g., terminal device 110 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 700 may also include one or more steps performed at terminal device 110, as described above relative to… Figures 2 to 5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figures 2 to 5 Details of some steps in method 700 have been discussed, and method 700 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of network device 120, which, when executed by a central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0108] According to some example embodiments, at 710, network device 120 may send a request to terminal device for at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells, wherein one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state.

[0109] According to some example embodiments, at 720, network device 120 may receive at least one non-periodic measurement report from terminal device.

[0110] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send configuration messages to terminal devices. In embodiments, the configuration message may include an instruction to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for one or more secondary cells in sleep mode.

[0111] According to some example embodiments, the configuration message may also include a cell status indication to set one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0112] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a first indication of measurement resources to be measured for one or more secondary cells that are in a dormant state.

[0113] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources may include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0114] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0115] According to some example embodiments, uplink resources can be configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform measurements.

[0116] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may further include a third instruction for synchronization resources used to perform synchronization. According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may use synchronization resources to perform synchronization with terminal devices.

[0117] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 can select at least one secondary cell to be activated from one or more secondary cells based on at least one non-periodic measurement report received from one or more secondary cells.

[0118] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send a secondary cell activation message to a terminal device to activate at least one secondary cell. In one embodiment, the secondary cell activation message may include an indication that the at least one secondary cell is to be activated.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 700 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 700. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0120] Figure 8 A flowchart of an example method 800 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 800 can be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 800 may also include one or more steps performed at terminal device 110, as described above regarding... Figures 2 to 5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figures 2 to 5Details of some steps in method 800 have been discussed, and method 800 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of the terminal device 110, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), implement the functionality of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0121] According to some example embodiments, at 810, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells (SCells) to network device, wherein one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state.

[0122] According to some example embodiments, at 820, terminal device 110 can receive an SCell activation message from the network device. In embodiments, the SCell activation message may include a first indication that at least one of one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state.

[0123] According to some example embodiments, at 830, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one measurement report for the active secondary cell to the network device.

[0124] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can receive configuration messages from network devices. In embodiments, the configuration messages may include an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state during the dormant state.

[0125] According to some example embodiments, the SCell activation message also includes a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0126] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one non-periodic measurement report for an active secondary cell to network device according to a second instruction.

[0127] According to some example embodiments, the SCell activation message may include a third indication of measurement resources for the secondary cell to be activated. According to some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform measurements on the measurement resources indicated by the third indication.

[0128] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) resources.

[0129] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may switch to periodic reporting for at least one active secondary cell based on SCell activation messages. According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one periodic measurement report for at least one active secondary cell to network devices on resources pre-configured for periodic measurement reporting.

[0130] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can perform measurements on measurement resources pre-configured for an activated secondary cell.

[0131] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may disable periodic measurement reports for an active secondary cell in response to receiving a second instruction from a network device.

[0132] According to some example embodiments, the configuration message may also include a cell status indication to set one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0133] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may receive a request from a network device for at least one aperiodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells. According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one aperiodic measurement report based on this request.

[0134] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include an indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0135] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may also include an indication of synchronization resources for performing synchronization.

[0136] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may use synchronization resources to perform synchronization with network devices.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 800 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 800. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0138] Figure 9 A flowchart of an example method 900 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 900 can be implemented at a network device (e.g., network device 120 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 900 may also include one or more steps performed at network device 120, as described above regarding... Figures 2 to 5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figures 2 to 5Details of some steps in method 900 have been discussed, and method 900 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of network device 120, which, when executed by a central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0139] According to some example embodiments, at 910, network device 120 can receive at least one non-periodic measurement report from a terminal device for one or more secondary cells (SCells), wherein one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state.

[0140] According to some example embodiments, at 920, network device 120 can activate at least one secondary cell from one or more secondary cells based on at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0141] According to some example embodiments, at 930, network device 120 may send an SCell activation message to terminal device. In embodiments, the SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state.

[0142] According to some example embodiments, at 940, network device 120 can receive at least one measurement report for an active secondary cell from a terminal device.

[0143] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send configuration messages to terminal devices. In embodiments, the configuration message may include an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for one or more secondary cells in a dormant state.

[0144] According to some example embodiments, the SCell activation message may also include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0145] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may receive at least one non-periodic measurement report for an active secondary cell from a terminal device according to a second instruction.

[0146] According to some example embodiments, the SCell activation message may include a third indication of the measurement resources of the secondary cell to be activated.

[0147] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources may include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0148] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 can receive at least one periodic measurement report for an active secondary cell from a terminal device, wherein resources are pre-configured for the measurement report.

[0149] According to some example embodiments, the configuration message may also include a cell status indication to set one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0150] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send a request for at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells.

[0151] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may receive at least one non-periodic measurement report based on the request.

[0152] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include an indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0153] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may also include an indication of synchronization resources for performing synchronization.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 900 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 900. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0155] Figure 10 A flowchart of an example method 1000 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 1000 can be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 1000 may also include one or more steps performed at terminal device 110, as described above regarding... Figures 2 to 5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figures 2 to 5 Details of some steps in method 1000 have been discussed, and method 1000 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of the terminal device 110, which, when executed by the central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0156] According to some example embodiments, at 1010, terminal device 110 can receive a configuration message from a network device, wherein the configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells in a dormant state, wherein the one or more secondary cells are active.

[0157] According to some example embodiments, at 1020, terminal device 110 can receive a SCell hibernation indication from the network device to switch one or more secondary cells to hibernation.

[0158] According to some example embodiments, at 1030, terminal device 110 may disable periodic measurement reports for at least one secondary cell.

[0159] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can receive a cell status indication from a network device that sets one or more secondary cells to an active state.

[0160] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can receive a request from network device for at least one non-periodic measurement report for at least one secondary cell.

[0161] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may, based on the request, transmit at least one non-periodic measurement report to network device according to a first instruction.

[0162] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a first indication of the measurement resources to be measured for at least one secondary cell that is in a dormant state.

[0163] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources may include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0164] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can perform measurements for at least one secondary cell on the measurement resources indicated in the first instruction.

[0165] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0166] According to some example embodiments, uplink resources can be configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform measurements.

[0167] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may also include a third instruction for synchronization resources used to perform synchronization.

[0168] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may use synchronization resources to perform synchronization with network devices.

[0169] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can perform measurements on measurement resources pre-configured for one or more secondary cells, in addition to at least one secondary cell.

[0170] According to some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one periodic measurement report of one or more secondary cells other than at least one secondary cell to network device.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 1000 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 1000. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0172] Figure 11 A flowchart of an example method 1100 for cell sleep optimization according to some example embodiments is shown. Method 1100 can be implemented at a network device (e.g., network device 120 as described above). In some example embodiments, method 1100 may also include one or more steps performed at network device 120, as described above relative to… Figures 2 to 5 As stated above. It should also be understood that the above already addresses... Figures 2 to 5 Details of some steps in method 1100 have been discussed, and method 1100 will be described herein in a simplified manner. The steps in the flowchart represent computer code instructions stored in the RAM and / or ROM memory of network device 120, which, when executed by a central processing unit (CPU), perform the functions of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. These steps may be performed in a different order than those shown, and the individual steps may be combined or separated into component steps.

[0173] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send configuration messages to terminal devices. In embodiments, the configuration message may include an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for at least one of one or more secondary cells (SCells) in a dormant state, wherein the one or more secondary cells are active; According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may decide to put one or more secondary cells into a dormant state based on network conditions.

[0174] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send a SCell hibernation indication to a terminal device to switch one or more secondary cells into hibernation.

[0175] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send a cell status indication to a terminal device to set one or more secondary cells to an active state.

[0176] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may send a request to a terminal device for at least one non-periodic measurement report for at least one secondary cell.

[0177] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may receive at least one non-periodic measurement report from terminal device based on the request.

[0178] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a first indication of the measurement resources to be measured for at least one secondary cell that is in a dormant state.

[0179] According to some example embodiments, measurement resources may include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0180] According to some example embodiments, the request may also include a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0181] According to some example embodiments, uplink resources can be configured to provide sufficient time for the terminal device to perform measurements.

[0182] According to some example embodiments, if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request may also include a third instruction for synchronization resources used to perform synchronization.

[0183] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 may use synchronization resources to perform synchronization with network devices.

[0184] According to some example embodiments, network device 120 can receive at least one periodic measurement report from one or more secondary cells other than at least one secondary cell from a terminal device.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing method 1100 (e.g., terminal device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 1100. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

[0186] Figure 12 A simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1200 suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The apparatus 1200 can be provided to implement, for example... Figure 1The communication device shown is, for example, terminal device 110 or network device 120. As shown, device 1200 may include one or more processors 1210, one or more memories 1220 coupled to processor 1210, and one or more communication modules 1240 coupled to processor 1210.

[0187] It should be understood that in some example embodiments, device 1200 may include an edge cloud server as a distributed computing system, wherein the server and radio nodes may be separate devices communicating with each other via a radio path or via a wired connection, or they may reside in the same entity communicating via a wired connection. For example, in some example embodiments where device 1200 represents a gNB, it may be configured in a central unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) architecture that divides gNB functions. In such an architecture, the CU may be a logical node that includes gNB functions such as user data transmission, mobility control, radio access network sharing, location and / or session management, etc. The CU can control the operation of the DU through a fronthaul interface. Depending on the function splitting option, the DU may be a logical node that includes a subset of gNB functions. It should be noted that those skilled in the art will understand that device 1200 may include Figure 12 Components or features not shown in the diagram.

[0188] The communication module 1240 can be used for bidirectional communication. The communication module 1240 may have at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface can represent any interface required for communication with other network elements.

[0189] As a non-limiting example, processor 1210 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and can include one or more of the following: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 1200 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent on a clock of a synchronous main processor.

[0190] Memory 1220 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories may include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 1224, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, optical disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories may include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 1222 and other volatile memories that will not persist for the duration of a power outage.

[0191] Computer program 1230 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by processor 1210. Program 1230 may be stored in ROM 1224. Processor 1210 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 1230 into RAM 1222.

[0192] The embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by program 1230, enabling device 1200 to perform as described in the reference. Figure 2-11 Any process discussed in this disclosure. Embodiments of this disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0193] In some example embodiments, program 1230 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 1200 (such as in memory 1220) or other storage devices accessible by device 1200. Device 1200 may load program 1230 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 1222 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.

[0194] Figure 13 A block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a computer-readable medium 1300 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. A program 1230 is stored on the computer-readable medium 1300. According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the computer-readable medium 1300 is depicted based on magnetic, electronic, and / or optical technologies, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, semiconductor memory circuit device, and a microSD memory card (SD stands for Secure Digital Standard) for storing data and / or computer program code as an example computer program product. The computer-readable medium 1300 may be any other form suitable for carrying or holding the program 1230.

[0195] Using the description provided herein, embodiments can be implemented as machines, processes, or articles of art by using standard programming and / or engineering techniques to produce programming software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof.

[0196] Any resulting program having computer-readable program code may be embodied on one or more computer-readable media, such as a resident memory device, a smart card, or other removable memory device or transmission device, thereby creating a computer program product or article of manufacture according to embodiments. Therefore, the terms "article of manufacture" and "computer program product" as used herein are intended to cover computer programs that are permanently or temporarily present on any computer-readable medium.

[0197] It should be noted that the example embodiments can be implemented as circuitry in software, hardware, application logic, or a combination of software, hardware, and application logic. In the example embodiments, the application logic, software, or instruction set is maintained on any computer program product or computer-readable medium. In the context of this document, "computer-readable medium" can be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transmit instructions for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a radio access node or user equipment of the example embodiments described above). The term "non-transient" as used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not signaling), not a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM and ROM).

[0198] Example embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions that execute in a device on a target real or virtual processor, such as those included in a program module, to perform the above-referenced... Figure 6-11 Any of the methods described herein. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a specific task or implement a specific abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functionality of a program module can be combined or split among program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for a program module can execute on a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program module can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0199] Program code for performing the methods of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a standalone software package, partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0200] More specific examples of computer-readable media will include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0201] Furthermore, although the operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring that these operations be performed in the specific order shown or sequentially, or that all the operations shown be performed to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while several specific embodiment details are contained in the foregoing discussion, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of individual embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0202] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms for implementing the claims.

[0203] Example 1. A method for communication, comprising: The terminal device transmits at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cell SCells to the network device, wherein one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state; At the terminal device, an SCell activation message is received from the network device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state. The terminal device transmits at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device.

[0204] Example 2. Based on the method in Example 1, it also includes: The terminal device receives a configuration message from the network device, wherein the configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting in sleep mode for one or more secondary cells.

[0205] Example 3. According to the method of Example 1, the SCell activation message further includes a second indication indicating uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0206] Example 4. According to the method of Example 3, transmitting at least one measurement report for the active secondary cell to the network device includes: The terminal device transmits at least one non-periodic measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device according to the second instruction.

[0207] Example 5. According to the method of Example 1, wherein the SCell activation message includes a third indication of the measurement resources for the secondary cell used for activation, and the method further includes: The terminal device performs measurements on the measurement resources indicated by the third instruction.

[0208] Example 6. According to the method of Example 5, wherein the measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0209] Example 7. Based on the method in Example 1, it also includes: Based on SCell activation messages, switch to periodic measurement reports for at least one active secondary cell; and Transmit at least one periodic measurement report for at least one active secondary cell to network devices on resources pre-configured for periodic measurement reports.

[0210] Example 8. Based on the method in Example 1, it also includes: The terminal device performs measurements on the measurement resources pre-configured for the unactivated secondary cell.

[0211] Example 9. Based on the method in Example 3, it also includes: In response to receiving a second instruction from the network device, the terminal device disables the periodic measurement report for the active secondary cell.

[0212] Example 10. According to the method of Example 1, the configuration message further includes a cell status indication of setting one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0213] Example 11. Based on the method of Example 1, it also includes: The terminal device receives a request from the network device for at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells; and The transmission of at least one non-periodic measurement report includes the terminal device transmitting at least one non-periodic measurement report based on a request.

[0214] Example 12. According to the method of Example 11, the request further includes an indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0215] Example 13. Following the method of Example 11, where if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request also includes an indication of synchronization resources for performing synchronization; and The method also includes: The terminal device uses synchronization resources to perform synchronization with the network device.

[0216] Example 14. A method for communication, comprising: At the network device, at the terminal device, at least one non-periodic measurement report is received for one or more secondary cell SCells, wherein one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state. At least one secondary cell is activated by a network device from one or more secondary cells based on at least one non-periodic measurement report; The network device sends an SCell activation message to the terminal device. The SCell activation message includes a first indication that at least one of one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state; and At the network device, at least one measurement report is received from the terminal device for the active secondary cell.

[0217] Example 15. Based on the method of Example 14, it also includes: The network device sends a configuration message to the terminal device, wherein the configuration message includes an instruction to enable non-periodic measurement reporting for one or more secondary cells in sleep mode.

[0218] Example 16. According to the method of Example 14, the SCell activation message further includes a second indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0219] Example 17. According to the method of Example 16, receiving at least one measurement report for an active secondary cell from the terminal device includes: The network device receives at least one non-periodic measurement report for the activated secondary cell from the terminal device according to the second instruction.

[0220] Example 18. According to the method of Example 14, wherein the SCell activation message includes a third indication of the measurement resources of the secondary cell for activation.

[0221] Example 19. According to the method of Example 18, wherein the measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

[0222] Example 20. According to the method of Example 14, receiving at least one measurement report for an active secondary cell from the terminal device includes: The network device uses resources pre-configured for the measurement reports to receive at least one periodic measurement report for an active secondary cell from the terminal device.

[0223] Example 21. According to the method of Example 14, the configuration message further includes a cell status indication for setting one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

[0224] Example 22. Based on the method of Example 14, it also includes: A request from a network device to send at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cells; and Receiving at least one non-periodic measurement report includes: receiving at least one non-periodic measurement report by a network device based on a request.

[0225] Example 23. According to the method of Example 22, the request further includes an indication of uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

[0226] Example 24. The method of Example 22, wherein if no measurement report is sent to the network device within a predefined time period, the request also includes an indication of synchronization resources for performing synchronization.

[0227] Example 25. An apparatus for communication, comprising: At least one processor; and At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least one of the methods according to Examples 1 to 13.

[0228] Example 26. An apparatus for communication, comprising: At least one processor; and At least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least one of the methods according to Examples 14 to 24.

[0229] Example 27. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform a method according to any one of Examples 1 to 24.

[0230] Example 28. An apparatus for communication, comprising components for performing a method according to any one of Examples 1 to 24.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising: The terminal device transmits at least one non-periodic measurement report for one or more secondary cell SCells to the network device, wherein the one or more secondary cells are in a dormant state; The terminal device receives an SCell activation message from the network device, the SCell activation message including a first indication that at least one of the one or more secondary cells has been activated from a dormant state; and The terminal device transmits at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The terminal device receives a configuration message from the network device, wherein the configuration message includes an indication to enable non-periodic measurement reporting in the sleep state for the one or more secondary cells.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCell activation message further includes a second indication indicating uplink resources for at least one non-periodic measurement report.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting at least one measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device comprises: The terminal device transmits at least one non-periodic measurement report for the activated secondary cell to the network device according to the second instruction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCell activation message includes a third indication of measurement resources for the secondary cell to be activated, and the method further comprises: The terminal device performs a measurement on the measurement resource indicated by the third instruction.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the measurement resources include periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the SCell activation message, switch to periodic measurement reports for the at least one active secondary cell; as well as At least one periodic measurement report for the at least one active secondary cell is transmitted to the network device on resources pre-configured for periodic measurement reports.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The terminal device performs measurements on the measurement resources pre-configured for the non-activated secondary cell.

9. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: In response to receiving the second instruction from the network device, the terminal device disables the periodic measurement report for the active secondary cell.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration message further includes a cell status indication for setting the one or more secondary cells to a dormant state.

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