Configuring energy efficiency policies in a wireless communication system

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

Description

CONFIGURING ENERGY EFFICIENCY POLICIES IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to the field of configuring energy efficiency policies in a wireless communication system. This document defines a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, a processor for wireless communication, and a method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system.BACKGROUND

[0002] A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE), or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers, or the like). Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G)). A wireless communications system may comprise application / edge enablement functionalities which may reside outside of a core network (at the edge / cloud) as well as at the application layer of the end devices (application and / or edge enablement clients) that are connected to the network.SUMMARY

[0003] An article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a,” “at least one,” “one or more,” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. As usedAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPherein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of’ or “one or more of’ or “one or both of’) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

[0004] Accordingly, there is provided a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the configuration entity comprising at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the configuration entity to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0005] There is further provided a processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger eventAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPoccurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0006] There is further still provided a method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 2 illustrates energy as service criteria for 5G environment adaptation.

[0009] Figure 3 illustrates an on-network SEAL model.

[0010] Figure 4 illustrates an off-network SEAL model.

[0011] Figure 5 shows examples of trigger event-actions for different types of policies.

[0012] Figure 6 illustrates a system for implementing Energy Efficiency Configuration as described herein.

[0013] Figure 7 illustrates a process for Energy Efficiency Configuration in a SEAL or a new enabler.

[0014] Figure 8 illustrates a system for EE Policy Coordination in O-RAN architecture.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0015] Figure 9 illustrates an example of a user equipment in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 10 illustrates an example of a processor in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 11 illustrates an example of a network equipment in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method performed by a network equipment in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] It will become increasingly important to understand and translate the impact of an edge / cloud originated actions to the network / communication layer for improving EE (and vice versa) and this should also consider the end-to-end factor (from device application to server application) and possible impacts which are observable a posteriori. So, there is a need for a process to translate and harmonize energy efficiency policies and actions impacting any combination of network resources, end application resources and cloud computational resources to optimize end to end energy efficiency for an end-to-end application service or session.

[0020] The solution provided herein includes a mechanism for jointly configuring energy efficiency policies for an application or application type in a wireless communications system (comprising both conventional cellular system and edge / cloud resources). Such a mechanism may facilitate configuring at an overarching logical unit end to end polices which consist of per domain (also referred as segment in this solution) EE policies in per service / session granularity (mainly targeting policies for the edge / cloud, user and core network). This mechanism may also include the real time monitoring and adaptation of per segment policies to ensure meeting the EE KPI / consumer’s intent on energy sustainability.

[0021] Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of a wireless communications system.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0022] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more Network Equipment (NE) 102, one or more UE 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communication system 100 may comprise one or more wireless communication platforms at the edge and / or cloud data networks. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as an LTE network or an LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a NR network, such as a 5G network, a 5G- Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultrawideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or code division multiple access (CDMA), etc.

[0023] The one or more NE 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the NE 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN), a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

[0024] An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc.) according to one orAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPmultiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN). In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas may be associated with different NE 102.

[0025] The one or more UE 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Internet-of-Things (loT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (loE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples.

[0026] A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.

[0027] An NE 102 may support communications with the CN 106, or with another NE 102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with other NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., SI, N2, N2, or network interface). In some implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106. In some implementations, one or more NE 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC). An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs).Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0028] The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), or a 5G core (5GC), which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management functions (AMF)) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)). In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc.) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more NE 102 associated with the CN 106.

[0029] The CN 106 may communicate with a packet data network over one or more backhaul links (e.g., via an SI, N2, N2, or another network interface). The packet data network may include an application server. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the CN 106 via an NE 102. The CN 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session). The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the CN 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the CN 106).

[0030] In the wireless communications system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers)) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures). The NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0031] One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., / r=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., / r=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., / r=l) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., / r=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., / r=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., / r=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

[0032] A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames). Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

[0033] Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., / r=0, jU=l, / r=2, / r=3, / r=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols). In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing), a slot may include 12Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPsymbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., / r=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

[0034] In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data). In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

[0035] FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies). For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., / r=0), which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., / r=l), which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., / r=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies). For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., / r=2), which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., / r=3), which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0036] Next generation mobile communication systems (5G-advanced, 6G) are expected to accommodate more demanding services, such as extended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence (Al), Machine Learning (ML), and the Metaverse, for example. Such demanding services will require much energy consumption at the device side as well as theAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPnetwork side. The impact on devices and the network to support these services will be huge and may sometimes be unpredictable.

[0037] 5G will likely be implemented with three or four times as many base stations and each 5G base station will consume two or three times the energy of an LTE base station. 6G is expected to implement millions of Edge Servers, and each Edge Server consumes two to four times the energy of an LTE base station. As such the electricity demand for operating future generations of wireless communication networks can be expected to grow significantly. It should also be noted that the use of Al may be very energy consuming at the network and edge side.

[0038] At the same time, moving of telco services as virtualized functions to edge and cloud and the evolution on networks to support more and more processing and intelligence (for example, supporting also native Al in network elements) poses huge challenges for the energy sustainability of next generation networks (e.g. 5G- Advanced, 6G, ...) to support demanding applications.

[0039] Energy Efficiency (EE) metrics require first the setting of an optimization target (e.g. network element, slice, end to end application service) and then the capture of energy consumption contributor factors (the contributor factors depend on involved UEs, apps, network nodes).

[0040] One key tradeoff in EE metrics is the sacrifice of performance for the entities which utilize the resources or functions for providing network services, directly or indirectly (e.g. impacts on UE performance resulting from energy saving mode in certain functionalities). In this context, multiple entities or domains may be involved and may be operated by different providers. For example:• Network resources provided by an MNO;• UE resources provided by application providers;• Edge and cloud computational resources provided by ECSP / CSP; and• Application layer resources / APIs provided by verticals or ASPs.

[0041] In certain occasions, the resources are provided by different vendors (CU vendors, DU / RU vendors, Core / Cloud vendors, etc.), and optimizing energy efficiencyAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPacross network nodes (network units, remote units, servers) may be challenging since different vendors may have their own EE criteria and policies.

[0042] A further challenge is the consideration of any dependencies among energy saving related actions if the setting of EE policies is not coordinated among all entities. Failing to do so may not exploit the benefits of energy saving due to high signaling costs, delays and complexity. An uncoordinated energy driven optimization of resources may lead to service degradation and possible failure to meet service or application QoS / QoE requirements. Such failure to meet QoS / QoE requirements may not be predicted or easily understood at the time of energy saving decision. One example can be the switching of some RUs off for a certain duration at the RAN side, where it is expected that the load is low (thus the connected UEs may be handed over to another RU which is farthest).However it may happen that a group of UEs with critical services are later moving towards this area in dynamic environments, and the frequent switching off / on at the RUs may lead to high signaling load and frequent handovers which may adversely impact system energy efficiency, particularly in the power consumption at the involved UE(s). Also, another example is when putting a UE in sleep mode to save some battery (e.g. in Discontinuous Reception (DRX)), then when data are expected in DL from the UPF to RAN, the RAN will buffer the data till the UE wakes up and this increases the energy consumption for the network and the end to end service, while the energy saving of the UE is maintained.

[0043] Finally, energy efficiency related actions at the edge or cloud domains may target reducing the power consumption at the platforms in different levels (such as at the level of Infrastructure as a Service (laaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), for example, by minimizing the number of apps / edge servers onboarded or by limiting the number of invocations to network APIs, or by migrating or offloading some power to other edge / cloud platforms of the same provider or by instantiating or deinstantiating / scale in-out of edge / cloud functionalities. Such application layer actions may have unpredictable impacts at the communication / network and UE side, since these actions may affect the edge / cloud service coverage areas and may lead to coverage gaps or service degradations (e.g. moving real time XR gaming server from edge to cloud may increase latency and may affect ongoing QoE for ongoing sessions) or it may also createAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPmisalignments between the Service Level Agreement (SLA) fulfilment (UE to MNO) and any service agreements between the ECSP / CSP and the ASP / vertical.

[0044] In other words, the necessity for understanding and translating the impact of an edge / cloud originated actions to the network / communication layer for improving EE (and vice versa) is crucial and should consider the end-to-end factor (from device application to server application) and possible impacts which are observable post-action.

[0045] There are presented herein arrangements which optimize energy efficiency in a wireless communication system in a coordinated manner, and in particular how to check the feasibility and align energy efficiency policies provided by different entities within the system, while ensuring any system-wide network and service performance requirements are met. There is further presented an arrangement to translate and harmonize energy efficiency policies and actions impacting any combination of network resources, end application resources and cloud computational resources to optimize end to end energy efficiency.

[0046] 3GPP TS 22.261 vl9.3.0 (June 2023) titled “Service requirements for the 5G system”, states that energy efficiency is captured as requirement mainly for the network side to allow an energy saving mode for the RAN side; but also provides requirements for the UE side energy efficiency. The following is an excerpt from 3GPP TS 22.261.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0047] Furthermore, TS 22.261 provides requirements on energy efficiency for the UE side for particular services (e.g. use of ranging services) as well as for different types of UEs (e.g. a relay UE for sidelink communication).

[0048] In 3 GPP Release 19, some use cases and requirements are being specified in Stage 1 (3GPP TR 22.882 vl9.0.0 (June 2023) titled “Study on Energy Efficiency as service criteria”) for Energy Efficiency as Service Criteria which covers the exposure and monitoring of energy efficiency metrics and the requirements for control / user plane to act on per session or service granularity to optimize energy efficiency of the network as well as for the end services. Some requirements listed in 3GPP TR 22.882 are reproduced in the following list.• [PR.5.2.6-1] The 5G system shall support different energy states of network elements and network functions.• [PR.5.2.6-2] The 5G system shall support dynamic changes of energy states of network elements and network functions, based on pre-configured policy with authorised 3rd party.• [PR.5.3.6-1] Subject to operator’s policy and consent by the vertical customer, the 5G system shall be able to acquire energy consumption information of the network functions serving the customer, independently from NG-RAN deployment scenarios, and expose this information to the customer and authorized third parties.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP• [PR.5.6.6-1] The 5G system shall support energy consumption measurement of network functions and exposure to authorised 3rd party.• [PR.5.7.6-1] Subject to Operator policy and consent by the customer, the 5G system shall be able to, collect and expose to the authorized third party, through same update rate e.g. hourly or daily, the energy consumption information for the network functions serving the customer, together with the network performance statistic information for the services provided by that network functions.• [PR.5.8.6-1] Based on operator policy and service agreement between the operator and application service provider, the 5G system shall be able to derive energy efficiency information for one or more application services, and expose energy efficiency information notifications to the application service provider.• [PR.5.8.6-2] Based on operator policy and service agreement between the operator and application service provider, the 5G system shall be able to provide means to predict the energy efficiency per application service, and expose the predictive energy efficiency information to the application service provider.• [PR.5.8.6-3] Based on operator policy and service agreement between the operator and application service provider, the 5G system shall enable the application service provider to subscribe, update, and unsubscribe for energy efficiency information notifications.

[0049] A further use case is that of energy as service criteria for 5G environment adaptation, which is applicable to virtualized networks and allows an operator to monitor their own individual network functions’ power consumption or requirements, and control how they behave with 5GS procedures for end-to-end service quality, considering also energy-based requirements. In addition, individual network functions should be able to process, register, discover, select, load (re)balance and overload-control based on their current or predicted energy consumption. This would allow operators to fully control and optimize energy consumption internally, and / or based on various service plans for verticals and end-users. For example, using a ‘dynamic energy saving plan’ in mind, during a nonbusy hour, the operator should be able to provide a service with a limited number of features, smaller capacity and / or relaxed SLA.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0050] Figure 2 illustrates a use case described in 3GPP TR 22.882 for energy as service criteria for 5G environment adaptation in a system 200. Figure 2 shows a 5G system 220 comprising a base station 225 arranged to communicate with a first UE 210 used by John and a second UE 212 used by David. The 5G system 220 comprises a first network function 231, a second network function 232, a third network function 233 and a fourth network function 234. The 5G system 220 may comprise any number N of further network functions. The 5G system 220 implements a multi-virtualization environment 240. As illustrated in figure 2, the third network function 233 and the fourth network function 234 are implementing energy saving.

[0051] In connection with the above use case, some further requirements listed in 3 GPP TR 22.882 are reproduced in the following list.• [PR.5.13.6.1] Subj ect to operator policy and regulatory requirements, the 5G system shall be able to provide a mechanism for one or more network functions to operate based on energy consumption to meet various end- user’s service requirements.• [PR.5.13.6.2] Subject to operator policy and regulatory requirements, the 5G system shall be able to provide means to coordinate the operation of individual network functions to target optimization of energy consumption within the 5G network.

[0052] The above SAI Release 19 potential requirements which are relevant for the need for coordinating policies related to energy efficiency can be summarized as:• requiring network enhancement to allow network elements / functions (apart from RAN) to operate in energy saving modes;• requiring network enhancements to monitor energy consumption and energy efficiency per network element / function; and / or• requiring network enhancements to expose energy related data per network element (e.g NF) or service or session or application.

[0053] 3GPP TS 28.310 vl8.2.0 (June 2023) titled “Management and orchestration; Energy efficiency of 5G” specifies the work in 3GPP related to energy efficiency, and also specifies use cases relating to energy efficiency such as switching off edge UPFs for low- latency communication in certain geographical areas when no user is actively using them. Requirements to support energy efficiency may include those related to Power, Energy andAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPEnvironmental measurements as well as requirements concerning energy saving. 3 GPP TS 28.310 further defines KPIs related to energy efficiency of NG-RAN and different network slices, and goes on to describe the energy consumption of a network slice being calculated and made available to any authorized consumer via the performance management service producer.

[0054] 3GPP TR 28.813 vl7.0.0 (December 2021) titled “Management and orchestration; Study on new aspects of Energy Efficiency (EE) for 5G”, describes the interaction between NWDAF and MDAS in clause 4.3 thereof, where a potential solution is described requiring that the 3 GPP management system, in particular the MDAF, subscribes to the NWAF output during preparation phase and collects data from the various NFs and management service producers during the observation phases. This includes NWDAF analytics outputs. THE MDAS then provides an analytics report using said data to the management function in charge of saving energy.

[0055] The Management Function, in charge of energy saving, consumes analytics produced by MDAF and takes appropriate decisions to save energy in the 5G core network. In the analytics phase, the following figure provides an illustration of the message exchange between 5GC and 0AM.• NWDAF sends to MDAS UE communication analytics and 0AM data related to UPF / SMF;• MDAS derives UPF energy saving analytics. Such analytics can be about recommendations to RAN nodes and UPFs to enter energy saving mode or to reselect UPF / RAN nodes to ensure low energy consumption;• MDAS exposes such analytics to the MF in charge of energy saving for the network / slice.

[0056] Also, in 3GPP TS 28.554 v 18.2.0 (June 2023) titled “Management and orchestration; 5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI)” and TS 28.310 the 5G KPIs have been defined from management perspective, and these include the Energy Efficiency KPIs related to RAN, CN and slice. For example, for a generic network slice the EE is defined in the following excerpt from 3GPP TS 28.554.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0057] Different EE metrics for different slice types may be implemented. For example, for eMBB or URLLC where the calculation is based on different factors (e.g. URLLC is based on latency).

[0058] 3 GPP SA6 is the application enablement and critical communications applications group for vertical markets. The main objective of SA6 is to provide application layer architecture specifications for 3 GPP verticals, including architecture requirements and functional architecture for supporting the integration of verticals to 3 GPP systems. With respect to application enablement, the main focus is on enablers for vertical applications (e.g., automotive) and service frameworks (e.g. Common API Framework, Service Enabler Architecture Layer, Edge Application enablement).

[0059] 3GPP TR 23.700-36 vl8.1.0 (December 2022) is titled “Study on Application Data Analytics Enablement (ADAE) Service” describes a new enablement service (which can be part of SEAL) and discusses new potential application data analytics services (stats / predictions) to optimize the application service operation by notifying the application specific layer, and potentially 5GS, for expected / predicted application service parametersAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPchanges considering both on-network and off-network deployments (e.g., related to application QoS parameters)

[0060] Figure 3 illustrates an on-network SEAL model.. The illustrated system 300 comprises a VAL UE 310, a wireless communication network 340, a VAL server 350, and an SEAL server 355. The VAL UE 310 may comprise a user equipment apparatus as described herein. VAL UE 310 comprises a VAL client 312 and aSEAL client 314. The VAL client 312 and the VAL server 350 are part of a VAL layer and communicate using VAL-UU. The SEAL client 314 and SEAL server 355 communicate using SEAL-UU. The SEAL server 355 has network interfaces to allow it to communicate with the wireless communication network 340.

[0061] Figure 4 illustrates an off-network SEAL model. The illustrated system 400 comprises a first UE 410 and a second UE 420. This model is used for allowing the local exchanging of application parameters locally between VAL UEs e.g. in out of coverage scenarios or group-based VAL-UE to VAL UE communications. The UEs 410, 420 may each comprise a user equipment apparatus as described herein. The first UE 410 comprises at least one VAL client 412 and an SEAL client 414. The second UE 420 comprises at least one VAL client 422 and an SEAL client 424. The VAL clients 412, 422 of each UE are part of a VAL layer and communicate using VAL-PC5. The SEAL clients 414, 424 communicate using SEAL-PC5.

[0062] With regards to energy constrained devices (e.g., loT devices), application enablement covers in SEAL framework (3GPP TS 23.434 vl8.5.0 (June 2023) titled “Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals (SEAL); Functional architecture and information flows”) the use of the Light-weight Protocol (LWP) for constrained environments and in particularly the use of CoAP (defined by IETF in RFC 7252) as transport protocol for the communication between SEAL server and SEAL clients. CoAP provides a request / response interaction model between application endpoints, supports built-in discovery of services and resources, and includes key concepts of the Web such as URIs and Internet media types. CoAP is designed to easily interface with HTTP for integration with the Web while meeting specialized requirements such as multicast support, very low overhead, and simplicity for constrained environments.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0063] The application enablement layer supports communication over Light-weight Protocol (LWP) for constrained devices; however, it lacks support for defining an energy constrained scenario and for providing specific enablement capabilities for supporting energy constrained devices (e.g. via monitoring energy levels etc).

[0064] There is presented herein a mechanism for configuring jointly energy efficiency policies in a wireless communications system.

[0065] The Wireless Communications System is, for example, a 5G system and comprises one or more of a radio access network, CUs / DUs / RUs, core network, transport network, one or more edge or cloud platforms, remote units / user equipments, enablement layer or platform, management system and services, network and application interfaces, network functions, network services, edge services, network resources, computational resources.

[0066] The Energy Efficiency (EE) Policy is a combination of trigger event - actions which may span across domains for a certain consumer (application or network function). The provider of the policy can be the MNO, the ECSP, CSP or the ASP / vertical customer. Different types of policies which may be either EE policies or may be constituents of the EE policy and may comprise: Edge / Cloud policies; Core / Slice network actions; and / or UE / app level actions.

[0067] Edge / Cloud policies may apply per application ID or application type, or per service / session, and may implement any combination of the following.• Adjust maximum EAS / EES load in terms of number of connections or vCPU usage or number of API invocations,• De-activate or un-instantiate EAS / EES at a target EDN / DN,• Migrate EAS / EES to other EDN / DN (e.g. offloading from edge to a central cloud),• Change the EAS / EES service area coverage / Scale in-out,• Reduce processing power in EDN / DN (setting EDN / DN in energy saving mode) for a certain time of the day,• Reduce processing power per DNAI for a certain time of the day,• Halt or reduce AI / ML model processing for certain duration of time,Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP• Selecting an energy efficient DNAI. The flows of the target application are moved to an edge network that is more energy efficient (e.g. use sustainable resources),• Switch application traffic to DNAI mapping when an edge platform is high energy consuming or in energy saving mode.

[0068] Core / Slice network actions may apply per application ID or application type, or per service / session, and may implement any combination of the following.• QoS downgrade (QoS profile change for one or more sessions), which may include selecting an energy efficient QoS for, e.g. the QoS is downgraded to reduce energy consumption for the application service,• Network slice remapping for one or more sessions (or trigger 0AM to modify e.g. change slice coverage),• Offload traffic to another UPF.

[0069] UE / app level actions may apply per application ID or application type, or per service / session or per group ID, and may implement any combination of the following.• DRX cycle adaptation / app traffic schedule adaptation to lower power consumption (e.g. bulk message transmission),• Encoding rate / quality for video traffic,• Automation level change for apps,• Service requirements degrade,• Grouping change / transmission mode change,• Halt or reduce AI / ML model processing at UE for certain duration of time or for certain area.

[0070] Figure 5 shows example trigger event-actions for different types of policies. An Energy Efficiency Policy may comprise a combination of actions with dependencies or actions which need to be taken together to maximize the EE benefit. Figure 5 illustrates UE-level EE actions 503, EE-Conf 504, Core-level EE actions 505, an 0AM 506, Edge / Cloud-level EE actions 507, and the interoperability thereof. The UE-level EE actions 503 may comprise EE triggers: High energy usage for app / UE, network- triggered, battery status, entering an energy hot area. The EE actions may comprise Service req change, Automation level change, Encoding rate / video quality drop, UE mobility, and / orAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPApp relocation. The core-level EE actions 505 may comprise EE triggers such as 0AM policies; and EE actions such as QoS change, Slice adapt or modify, UPF change, and Traffic steering. Edge / Cloud-level EE actions 507 may comprise EE triggers and EE actions. The EE triggers may comprise: ASP / ECSP policies, high energy cost for given edge area, expecting more traffic, high traffic load in a given cell / edge area, EE KPI target, MNO triggered. The EE actions may comprise: EAS or EES migrate or un- instantiate, EAS or EES limit load / connections, EDN in ES mode, and / or Cut down data processing temporarily (e.g.for ML training).

[0071] One aspect of such EE policies, is the fact that some policies affect the slice resources, some the UE / application resources and some the network resources. So, the combination of policies may be aligned among different granularities. For example, setting RAN in energy saving mode may affect the edge resources and the UE and slice resources, so coordination of policies may be needed to optimize EE target.

[0072] In the high-level flow, the following roles are defined:• Energy Efficiency end to end Configurator (EE-Conf)• EE Agent / Client• EE Objective or Intent• Decision Entity

[0073] Energy Efficiency end to end Configurator (EE-Conf) is a logical entity (who can be a functionality, function, service or server) residing at the data network side or the telco domain (e.g. as enablement layer entity), which is configured to configure the end to end EE policies for a given application service requirement or intent provided by the vertical / ASP. Such entity has a capability of translating the energy related application requirements to network requirements and vice versa, to trigger energy saving actions towards different domains and coordinating the energy efficiency related actions to ensure meeting the end-to-end EE for the given application requirement or intent.

[0074] EE Agent / Client is a software agent at a network equipment (e.g. ran, core, OSS) which is configured by the EE-Conf with the EE policies. Such agent may be embedded for example within a NF or a protocol or an SDN agent or may be instantiated asAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPa separate function to enforce in an automated manner the provided trigger event-action pairs (e.g. check if load < 20% to automatically trigger edge ES mode). An example agent in 0-RAN architecture can be an E2 agent or a NETCONF agent at the RAN node.

[0075] EE Objective or Intent for the Energy Efficiency target, which may be different based on the consumer. This can be maintaining EE for the core network or RAN or edge, or to minimize energy consumption for the UE or group of UEs, or for a certain application service or application session. The objective may be in the form of an Intent / Goal which is provided by the EE-Conf consumer as part of the SLA.

[0076] Decision Entity: Such entity can be any element at the wireless communication system which may provide a decision (e.g., control plane or management plane or application plane) for configuring or adapting resources in the wireless communications system. Such entity can be an RRM function, a Core NF, a MnS, a Scheduler, a UE function, an Edge Enabler Server etc.

[0077] Figure 6 illustrates a system 600 for implementing Energy Efficiency Configuration as described herein. The system 600 comprises a UE 604 within a service area 615 provided by a radio access network 602, and further comprises a core network 606, an edge data network 608, an EE-Conf 625 and a consumer 630. The consumer 630 may comprise an 0AM or a third party customer.

[0078] A pre-condition 670 for operation of the system 600 is that the EE-Conf has knowledge of the wireless communication system domain capabilities (e.g. RAN 602, core 606, edge 608) and has obtained 0AM policies per slice / area w.r.t energy efficiency. For the interactions with 0AM, the EE-Conf 625 is considered as a trusted application function which is consumer of MnS related to EE or can be deployed as new capability in 0AM.

[0079] At 671, the 3rd party consumer 630 sends the intent / goal for the Energy Efficiency for an end-to-end service in a given area or provides the application service requirements (EE KPIs) and requests the EE Config to perform policy provisioning for the application service / session.

[0080] Optionally, upon receiving the EE KPI / intent, the EE-Conf 625 queries the respective segments of the end-to-end path (CN, TN, edge / cloud) on the energy savingAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPrelated features / modes available for the target area and time of the day. The query can be in the form of request-response model or subscribe-notify (to notify when a capability / feature changes).

[0081] At 672, the EE-Conf 625 translates the intent or requirements and determines energy saving goals required and in which resources or domains in the system this is applicable. Domains for this step may be defined as the Core, Edge, UE; and resources may be defined as radio resources, network resources, computational resources.

[0082] Based on the energy saving goals, the EE-Config 625 determines EE policies, the determination of which may include generating, for a set of trigger events (events can be provided by the consumer), a set of trigger actions towards one or more domains or functions / services within the end-to-end path (user plane path and control plane path). Such trigger actions may be per domain or may be a combination of actions across domains along with a time of execution and area of validity.

[0083] The logic for determining the EE policies can be pre- configured or it can be based on the statistical or real time calculation of energy costs per constituent network element of the EE path and the benefit / cost analysis per trigger action.

[0084] The determination of EE policies can be performed using the support of analytics / AI-ML algorithms for predicting the energy sustainability per domain and cross domain, or based on statistical analysis. As example, the edge load analytics can be used to predict the energy consumption for an edge platform under certain load and performance requirements.

[0085] At 673, the EE-Conf 625 provisions the EE policies to the respective domains, and if there is no EE agent instantiated in the target domain, it triggers the instantiation of the EE agents, and configures them with automated trigger event-action pairs as well as with configuration of reporting (periodic monitoring, event-triggered monitoring,..). EE agents respond with a positive or negative acknowledgement of the request.

[0086] At 674, with the support of the EE Agents, in each domain the EE policies (or the constituents of the policies per domain) is communicated with the respective DecisionAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPEntities which are the network elements or application elements which are expected to operate in energy saving mode (e.g. restricted resources). In particular:• In edge DN 608, this may be the EAS / EES processing limitations or migration of EAS / EES to other Edge or Cloud platforms under certain load and performance criteria.• In the UEs 604, this may be the server or network re-selection for a UE if battery drain due to the application activity is high, or the adaptation of the traffic patterns for the UL / SL and the DRX on-off times.• In Core Network 606, the EE-Conf 625 may provide AF policies to the PCF / SMF for QoS profile change (e.g. setting alternative QoS profiles) under certain energy criteria or slice re-selection.

[0087] At 675, the configured EE agents monitor the energy efficiency or energy consumption related to the requested application service / session, and check whether a trigger event is activated. Periodically or if an event is trigger or if an action is performed, then the EE agents of the respective domain notify the EE-Config 625 with the achieved EE metric or the trigger event or with measurements on the energy consumption together with performance data (e.g. RAN throughput and EE metric or EC metric).

[0088] Energy Efficiency per domain per application can be measured as the data volume for the given application ID for a given time granularity, over the power consumption for the vCPU usage for the involved functions as well as the power consumption for the propagation / interfaces.

[0089] At 676, the EE-Config 625 may optionally monitor the received measurements based on the individual domain reporting, and check whether the end-to-end EE is meeting the EE KPI / intent-goal. If not, the EE-Config may re-configure or adapt the policies and repeat step 673.

[0090] At 677, the EE-Config notifies the consumer 630 on the monitoring of EE end to end either periodically or based on an event (e.g. reaching lower EE threshold for gaming service).Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0091] Figure 7 illustrates a process 700 for Energy Efficiency Configuration in a SEAL or a new enabler. The process 700 is performed by a wireless communication device, an 0AM 705, a 5GC 706 a SEAL server or Application Function 725, an edge data network 708, and a Consumer 730. The wireless communication device comprises a UE 704, a SEAL client 703 and a VAL client 702. The SEAL client 703 may be an EE agent. The SEAL server or Application Function 725 may implement the functionality of an EE- Conf described herein. The at least one EDN 708 may comprise an EES, an EAS or a SEAL. The Consumer 730 may comprise a VAL server. The process 700 concerns the case when the EE-Conf is an SA6 functionality (e.g. at SEAL NRM or NSCE or CMS) and EE- Agent is the respective enabler client at the UE. In this case, the VAL server may be the consumer with provides the intent to the EE-Conf, and EE-Conf communicates via APIs to the UE (enabler client), Core Network (via NEF APIs), 0AM (via 0AM APIs) and RAN (via RIC / RNIS).

[0092] The process 700 begins at 77a with the consumer 730 (VAL server or 3rd party service provider) sending a request to SEAL Server (including EE-Conf) 725 to manage the EE policies for the application service or a set of application sessions or UEs within a service area. Such request may include the VAL server ID and address, the UE IDs, the service type or profile or service ID, the Intent / goal descriptor for the energy efficiency, the EE KPIs, the service area for which the request applies, the time validity or horizon, assistance information including the list of subscribed slices, the UE routes / trajectories, etc.

[0093] At 772, the SEAL server 725 sends a response to the request indicating a positive or negative result of the request.

[0094] At 773, the SEAL server 725 determines the requirement for configuring EE policies to one or more domains (from UE, RAN, core, 0AM, edge, cloud), and triggers to send queries to the respective domains.

[0095] At 774a, the SEAL server 725 sends a query to the UE 704 of certain application (or all the UEs within the service area) or the UEs based on step 771 request, to request the UE capabilities with respect to energy saving policies and energy / power consumption information. The UE 704 (via the respective SEAL client 703) sends the capabilities (e.g. supported DRX cycles) and conditions related to energy related modes asAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPwell as the traffic schedules and statistics on the energy consumption in the given service area (which can be the topological area or geographic coordinates). The UE capabilities may comprise any combination of functionalities, supported energy modes, battery status, etc.

[0096] At 774b, the SEAL server 725 queries 0AM 705 regarding energy saving policies and status for the target topological area (e.g. list of cells) or for a destination slice or network elements, as well as the indication of already applied energy saving policy.

[0097] At 774c, the SEAL server 725 queries other application layer entities at the DN side, which are involved in the end-to-end service (SEAL, EDN, EAS / EES, SEALDD or edge GW) on the energy saving options / modes as well as current status of energy consumption as well as the indication of already applied energy saving policy.

[0098] At 775, the SEAL server 725 determines EE policies, the determination of which may include generating for a set of trigger events, although events may instead be provided by the consumer 730. A set of trigger actions may relate towards one or more domains or functions / services within the end-to-end path (user plane path and control plane path). Such trigger actions may be per domain or may be a combination of actions across domains along with a time of execution and area of validity. An EE policy may comprise a trigger event and a trigger action. An EE policy may comprise a trigger event / action pair, the trigger event / action pair comprising a trigger event and a trigger action. A possible format of these policies can be: Policy ID, Policy type, Policy priority, Affected domain, Trigger Event ID / info, Trigger Action ID / info, Area and time of validity.

[0099] At 776, the SEAL server 725 after determining the policies, sends an EE policy provisioning command (which can be provided in a request-response model) to the SEAL clients 703 of the respective UEs, as well as to the DN entities which are relevant for the policies (based on step 774c). This message may include the Policy ID, Policy type, Policy priority, Affected entity IDs (e.g. other UE IDs, session or service ID, Trigger Event ID / info, Trigger Action ID / info, Area and time of validity. This message may also include the reporting configuration for monitoring the EE policy fulfilment and the requirement for monitoring event reporting either periodically or if a trigger event criterion is reached, or if a trigger action is executed at the UE or DN entity. This request may also include theAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPconfiguration needed for the calculation of energy efficiency at the respective domains (for example the time granularity over which EE is measured).

[0100] The SEAL client 703 at the UE side may also interact with the VAL client 702 or with UE modem 704 to apply these policies (or confirm whether these policies can be applied or not). In that case, SEAL client 703 may optionally send a response to the EE policy provisioning message to indicate positive or negative result.

[0101] At 777a, the SEAL server 725, after determining the policies for the EE policies related to Core or RAN or Slice, sends a trigger towards 0AM to apply the policies per managed element (network entity, slice) as part of the EE policy.

[0102] At 777b, the 0AM 705 checks the feasibility of these policies, and approves or rejects these. If approved, 0AM sends the EE policies (per slice or area) to the respective network domain (RAN, Core).

[0103] After enforcement of these policies, the EE agents at the domains continuously monitor whether the trigger event is reached.

[0104] At 778a, the SEAL client 703 is configured to monitor the EE, provide an EE monitoring report either periodically or if a trigger event criterion is reached (e.g. energy consumption high, batter status low, etc.).

[0105] In case of retransmissions, to derive the EE, the data volume is calculated based on the total time x the power consumption on the resources used for the service, or based on the number of retransmissions x the resource utilization x the power per resource. Such calculation may be configured by the SEAL server at step 776 or pre-configured.

[0106] At 778b, the EDN 708 entities configured to monitor the EE, provide an EE monitoring report either periodically or if a trigger event criterion is reached (e.g. energy consumption high per resource)

[0107] At 778c, the 0AM 705 (e.g. ES MnS, based on subscription), provides an EE monitoring report either periodically or if a trigger event criterion is reached for the managed element (e.g. energy consumption high, EE is low per RAN unit).Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0108] At 779, the SEAL server 725 monitors the end-to-end EE metrics based on the individual domain reporting, and check whether the end-to-end EE is meeting the EE KPI / intent-goal. If there is probability or occurrence of mismatch between the EE KPI and the achieved EE metric, SEAL server 725 re-configures the EE policies and repeats steps 775 to 777. As above, an EE policy may comprise a trigger event and a trigger action. An EE policy may comprise a trigger event / action pair, the trigger event / action pair comprising a trigger event and a trigger action.

[0109] At 780, the SEAL server 725 sends a notification to the VAL server to notify on possible change of EE policies, or failure to meet EE KPI, or reporting of the EE metrics end to end together with the achieved performance (or indicating the performance sacrifice due to EE policies).

[0110] Figure 8 illustrates a system 800 for EE Policy Coordination in 0-RAN architecture (xApp, rApp) 0-RAN WG2 (0-RAN. WG2.Use-Case-Requirements-vO7.00) has defined a use case for Energy Saving (use case 8), via allowing rApp to optimize EE by configuring intelligent actions (with the support of AI / ML algorithms) such as changing the coverage per cell or triggering advanced sleep modes. This includes four sub use cases:• Carrier and Cell Switch Off / On: This considers overall network energy efficiency instead of local optimization. The switch off / on decision can optionally be made by an AI / ML model within the inference host, deployed at the Non-RT RIC to further improve decision making. Among others, the AI / ML models' functionality may include prediction of future traffic, user mobility, and resource usage and may also predict expected energy efficiency enhancements, resource usage, and network performance for different ES optimization states. Before switching off / on carrier(s) or cell(s), the E2 Node(s) and O-RU(s) may need to perform some preparation actions for off switching (e.g. check ongoing emergency calls and warning messages, to enable, disable, modify Carrier Aggregation and / or Dual Connectivity, to trigger HO traffic and UEs from cells / carriers to other cells or carriers, informing neighbour nodes via X2 / Xn interface etc.) as well as for on switching (e.g., cell probing, informing neighbour nodes via X2 / Xn interface etc.). This allows the operator to flexibly configure Carrier and Cell Switch Off / On parameters in a cell orAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPin a cluster of cells through 01 configuration formulated by rApp towards E2 Node(s) and O-RU(s) through SMO / Non-RT RIC framework assisted by machine learning (ML) techniques• RF channel reconfiguration which allows to flexibly configure RF Channel reconfiguration parameters in a cell or in a cluster of cells through 01 configuration formulated by rApp towards E2 Node(s) and O-RU(s) through SMO / Non-RT RIC framework assisted by machine learning (ML) techniques.• Advanced Sleep Mode (ASM) Selection which allows the non-RT RIC with the support of near-RT RIC (for ML model inference) to select ASM modes for the RAN entities (mainly RU).

[0111] Apart from the Energy Saving Optimization via non-RT RIC and rApps, it shall be also possible (even if not supported / specified in 0-RAN use cases), that EE policies shall be also configured at xApps / near-RT RIC, or even at external functions which interact with rApps / xApps via Y1 interface. One example for the latter is the case when a Core Network function or an Application Function (operated by a vertical or OEM or ASP) may influence policies related to EE considering different segments of the network (RAN, UE, edge, cloud, RIC, etc.).

[0112] The system 800 concerns the case when the EE-Conf is an rApp or xApp or an external application interacting via Y1 interface to xApps (referred as Y1 consumer). Here, the EE-Conf coordinates all Decision entities (belonging in 0-RAN as well as other domains), for a specific end to end use case.

[0113] The system 900 comprises a UE 804 within an application service area 815 provided by a radio access network 802, and further comprises a Near-RT RIC 812, an SMO / Non-RT RIC 814, an EE-Conf function 825 and a consumer 830. The consumer 830 may comprise an 0AM or a third-party customer.

[0114] At 871, the consumer 830 (3rd party for the 0-RAN network provider) sends the intent / goal for the Energy Efficiency for an end-to-end service in a given area or provides the application service requirements (EE KPIs) and requests the EE Conf Function 825 to monitor the EE across all 0-RAN segments (and optionally the UE) and provide policies.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0115] At 872, the EE-Conf Function 825 translates the intent or requirements (considering end to end requirements) and determines energy saving goals required for the 0-RAN system and in which resources or domains in the 0-RAN system this is applicable. An example of decomposing the requirements would be to isolate the EE requirements for a given hotspot area covered by 0-RAN cells or for energy efficiency targets for all 0-RAN cells which are distributed within the PLMN / NPN.

[0116] Based on the energy saving goals, the EE-Conf Function 825 determines EE policies which can be about generating for a set of trigger events (events can be provided by the consumer) a set of trigger actions towards one or more domains or functions / services within the end-to-end path (user plane path and control plane path). Such trigger actions may be per domain or may be a combination of actions across domains along with a time of execution and area of validity. Such policies can be policies to configure RRM / SON algorithms and Energy Saving mechanisms to ensure meeting the EE targets.

[0117] The following are some non-limiting examples of the EE policies or policy types which may form the end-to-end policies.• EE Policy #1: o Policy Name / Type: Configuring ASM mode selection policy per service o Decision Entity: ES rApp or general rApp o Trigger Event: Energy consumption threshold reached for RAN unit (DU, RU) or for O-Cloud resources o Trigger Action: Trigger to re-select ASM mode, trigger to change of cell coverage and group HO.• EE Policy #2: o Policy Name / Type: Energy-driven RRM Optimization o Decision Entity: RRM / SON opt. xApp (TS, QoS, RAN slice assurance) o Trigger Event: Energy consumption threshold or EE metric reached for RAN unit (DU, RU) or for O-Cloud resources o Trigger Action: Adapt Traffic Steering or QoS optimization or RAN slice assurance policies in an energy efficient manner. For example, adapt criteriaAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPfor triggering cell or carrier re-selection based on meeting an EE target. EE target per policy can be provided at the policy configurations.• EE Policy #3: o Policy Name / Type: Energy-driven edge / RIC operation o Decision Entity: Energy Saving xApp or RIC support function o Trigger Event: High energy consumption for RIC / edge platform and underlying access nodes. o Trigger Action: Set RIC in energy saving mode and offload edge / RIC functions to different edge / cloud.• EE Policy #4: o Policy Name / Type: Adapt Slice RRM policies o Decision Entity: RAN unit (CU or DU) o Trigger Event: high RAN slice load threshold / threshold for aggregated per RAN slice energy consumption (based on active UEs within the slice and RAN processing) o Trigger Action: change the per slice RRM policies to change the bandwidth per RAN slice to minimize energy consumption per slice, and offload UEs to other slices (based on subscription).• EE Policy #5: o Policy Name / Type: QoS aware energy optimization policies o Decision Entity: UE, CU o Trigger Event: high energy load for Data Radio Bearers o Trigger Action: configure the UE / RAN to switch to alternative DRB for the QoS flow(s).• EE Policy #6: o Policy Name / Type: Adapt ML model LCM operations (training / inference) o Decision Entity: O-Cloud, RIC, RAN o Trigger Event: high energy consumption per ML model operation is captured (e.g. high energy cost per ML model inference at near-RT RIC) o Trigger Action: pause or halt ML model inference for certain duration or time horizon and a given area.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0118] At 873, the EE-Conf function 825 provisions the EE policies to the respective decision entities, and if there is no EE agent instantiated in the target domain, it triggers the instantiation of the EE agents, and configures them with automated trigger event-action pairs as well as with configuration of reporting (periodic monitoring, event-triggered monitoring, etc.). Such agents can be the O1 / E2 / Y1 termination points considering the deployment of the EE-Conf function 825 as well as the decision entities and the mean of configuration (for example configuration can be done via 01 or via E2 or via Yl).

[0119] At 874, in each domain, the EE policies (or the constituents of the policies per domain) is communicated with the respective Decision Entities which are the network elements or application elements which are expected to operate in energy saving mode (e.g. restricted resources). Such interaction can be an inner loop for example between xApps with different tasks or rApps or RAN functions, so to get monitoring events related to energy efficiency target and adapt the configuration if the target is not met. One example is the loop between the Energy Saving rApp / xApp and the Traffic Steering xApp, since the switch off of some carriers may require fast group HOs and the decision entities need to align before taking an actions and also monitor the energy conditions jointly.

[0120] At 875, the configured EE agents / termination points at the respective domains monitor the fulfilment of the EE KPIs and check whether a trigger event is activated. Periodically or if an event is trigger or if an action is performed, then the EE agents of the respective domain notify the EE-Config function 825 with the achieved EE metric or the trigger event or with measurements on the energy consumption together with performance data (e.g. RAN throughput and EE metric or EC metric).

[0121] At 876, the EE-Config function 825 monitors the end-to-end EE metrics based on the individual domain reporting, and check whether the end-to-end EE is meeting the EE KPI / intent-goal. If not, the EE-Config function 825 may re-configure or adapt the policies and repeat step 873.

[0122] AT 877, the EE-Config function 825 notifies the consumer 830 on the monitoring of EE end to end either periodically or based on an event (e.g. reaching lower EE threshold for gaming service).Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0123] Accordingly, there is provided a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the configuration entity comprising at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the configuration entity to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0124] Such a configuration entity may facilitate configuring of joint energy efficiency policies for an application or application type in a wireless communications system. Such configuring may include overarching logical unit end to end polices which consist of per domain EE policies in per service / session granularity. This configuring may allow the real time monitoring and adaptation of per segment policies to ensure meeting the EE KPI / consumer’s requirements in respect of energy sustainability.

[0125] The wireless communication system may comprise both conventional cellular system and edge / cloud resources. The policies may target policies for the edge / cloud, user and / or core network.

[0126] The configuration entity may comprise a control unit. The configuration entity may comprise an application entity on top of core network. The application entity may comprise an application enablement, or application function. The configuration entity may comprise a network function in a core network. The configuration entity may comprise an EE-Conf function.

[0127] The at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system may comprise an application session. The energy efficiency requirement may comprise an energy efficiency service requirement. The energy efficiency service requirement may provide any combination of: an energy efficiency target, Key Performance Indicator (KPI),Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPan energy efficiency intent, and / or an energy efficiency goal. The energy efficiency service requirement may relate to a particular service. The particular service may comprise an application service or a communication service.

[0128] The one or more energy efficiency related policies are for meeting the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0129] The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to obtain energy efficiency related information related to the at least one application service and / or session from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system; and the one or more energy efficiency related policies are determined based on the obtained efficiency related information.

[0130] The energy efficiency related information may comprise any combination of: energy related monitoring results, energy related monitoring information, energy consumption data, energy related capability information, and / or energy saving capability. The energy efficiency related information may be obtained by querying the at least one segment of the wireless communications system.

[0131] The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to monitor fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement. Monitoring fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement may be based on the one or more energy efficiency related policies.

[0132] The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to receive, from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system, a monitoring report related to the fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0133] The monitoring report may be related to energy efficiency policy status. This report may be received periodically, or if a trigger event occurs, or if a trigger action is executed. Such a trigger action may be executed at the UE or DN entity.

[0134] The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to send, to the at least one segment, a request for the monitoring report. The requestAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPfor the monitoring report may comprise a request to subscribe to receive the monitoring report.

[0135] The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement. The configuration entity may update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement in real-time. The configuration entity may update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement based on monitoring.

[0136] The energy efficiency service requirement may be provided by at least one consumer entity. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the configuration entity to notify the at least one consumer about an energy efficiency policy status.

[0137] The one or more energy efficiency related policies may be automated policies. Automated policies may comprise policies that, when implemented at a device, cause the device to automatically trigger an action based on an event. The automated policies may comprise automated trigger actions. An automated policy may comprise a definition of an event and / or action that triggers the policy. The event and / or action may be identified by a device. The device may implement the automated policy.

[0138] The one or more of the trigger actions is an action related to the at least one application service and / or session selected from the group of actions consisting of: changing an operational status of an Edge Enabler Server, EES, or Edge Application Server, EAS; changing an operational status of an Edge Data Network, EDN, or data network, DN; changing processing to an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, AI / ML, model; DNAI remapping; changing one or more QoS profiles associated with the at least one application service and / or session; network slice remapping; offloading traffic to another entity in the wireless communications system; and user equipment or app level actions.

[0139] The configuration entity may be or may be comprised in a Service Enabler Architecture Layer, SEAL, server or Application function, AF. The configuration entityAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPmay be an rApp or an xApp hosted by a Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, system. The O-RAN system may comprise a segment of the wireless communication system.

[0140] There is further provided a processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0141] There is further still provided a method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0142] Such a method may facilitate configuring of joint energy efficiency policies for an application or application type in a wireless communications system. Such configuring may include overarching logical unit end to end polices which consist of per domain EE policies in per service / session granularity. This configuring may allow the real time monitoring and adaptation of per segment policies to ensure meeting the EE KPI / consumer’s requirements in respect of energy sustainability.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0143] The wireless communication system may comprise both conventional cellular system and edge / cloud resources. The policies may target policies for the edge / cloud, user and / or core network.

[0144] The configuration entity may comprise a control unit. The configuration entity may comprise an application entity on top of core network. The application entity may comprise an application enablement, or application function. The configuration entity may comprise a network function in a core network. The configuration entity may comprise an EE-Conf function.

[0145] The at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system may comprise an application session. The energy efficiency requirement may comprise an energy efficiency service requirement. The energy efficiency service requirement may provide any combination of: an energy efficiency target, Key Performance Indicator (KPI), an energy efficiency intent, and / or an energy efficiency goal. The energy efficiency service requirement may relate to a particular service. The particular service may comprise an application service or a communication service.

[0146] The one or more energy efficiency related policies are for meeting the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0147] The method may further comprise: causing the configuration entity to obtain energy efficiency related information related to the at least one application service and / or session from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system; wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies are determined based on the obtained efficiency related information.

[0148] The energy efficiency related information may comprise any combination of: energy related monitoring results, energy related monitoring information, energy consumption data, energy related capability information, and / or energy saving capability.

[0149] The energy efficiency related information may be obtained by querying the at least one segment of the wireless communications system.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0150] The method may further comprise monitoring fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement. Monitoring fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement may be based on the one or more energy efficiency related policies.

[0151] The method may further comprise receiving, from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system, a monitoring report related to the fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0152] The monitoring report may be related to energy efficiency policy status. This report may be received periodically, or if a trigger event occurs, or if a trigger action is executed. Such a trigger action may be executed at the UE or DN entity.

[0153] The method may further comprise causing the configuration entity to send, to the at least one segment, a request for the monitoring report. The request for the monitoring report may comprise a request to subscribe to receive the monitoring report.

[0154] The method may further comprise updating the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement. The configuration entity may update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement in real-time. The configuration entity may update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement based on monitoring.

[0155] The energy efficiency service requirement may be provided by at least one consumer entity. The method may further comprise causing the configuration entity to notify the at least one consumer about an energy efficiency policy status.

[0156] The one or more energy efficiency related policies may be automated policies. Automated policies may comprise policies that, when implemented at a device, cause the device to automatically trigger an action based on an event. The automated policies may comprise automated trigger actions. An automated policy may comprise a definition of an event and / or action that triggers the policy. The event and / or action may be identified by a device. The device may implement the automated policy.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0157] The one or more of the trigger actions may comprise an action related to the at least one application service and / or session selected from the group of actions consisting of: changing an operational status of an Edge Enabler Server, EES, or Edge Application Server, EAS; changing an operational status of an Edge Data Network, EDN, or data network, DN; changing processing to an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, AI / ML, model; DNAI remapping; changing one or more QoS profiles associated with the at least one application service and / or session; network slice remapping; offloading traffic to another entity in the wireless communications system; and user equipment or app level actions.

[0158] The configuration entity may be or may be comprised in a Service Enabler Architecture Layer, SEAL, server or Application function, AF. The configuration entity may be an rApp or an xApp hosted by a Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, system. The O-RAN system may comprise a segment of the wireless communication system.

[0159] It will become increasingly important to understand and translate the impact of an edge / cloud originated actions to the network / communication layer for improving EE (and vice versa) and this should also consider the end-to-end factor (from device application to server application) and possible impacts which are observable a posteriori. So, there is a need for a process to translate and harmonize energy efficiency policies and actions impacting any combination of network resources, end application resources and cloud computational resources to optimize end to end energy efficiency for an end-to-end application service or session.

[0160] The solution provide herein includes a mechanism for configuring jointly energy efficiency policies for an application or application type in a wireless communications system (comprising both conventional cellular system and edge / cloud resources). Such a mechanism configures at an overarching logical unit end to end polices which consist of per domain EE policies in per service / session granularity (mainly targeting policies for the edge / cloud, user and core network). This mechanism also includes the real time monitoring and adaptation of per segment policies to ensure meeting the EE KPI / consumer’s intent on energy sustainability.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0161] Known solutions do not consider the translation and alignment between per slice / network / area energy saving strategy and the per application service / session energy saving strategies to synchronize energy driven optimizations considering both the network limitations and the energy goals per application service. In contrast, the solution presented herein can pro-actively set automated policies considering all objectives and is beneficial for breaking the tie in interactions among domains which involve multiple stakeholders (MNO, vertical, ASP, ECSP, CSP).

[0162] A first arrangement relates to the case when the EE-Conf is an SA6 functionality (e.g. at SEAL NRM or NSCE or CMS) and EE-Agent is the respective enabler client at the UE. A second arrangement relates to the case when the EE-Conf is an rApp or xApp or an external application interacting via Y1 interface to xApps. According to the second arrangement, the EE-Conf coordinates all Decision entities (belonging in O- RAN as well as other domains) targeting mainly the RAN nodes as well as the user and edge / cloud resources, for a specific end to end service (e.g. gaming service or V2X service).

[0163] Accordingly, there is provided a method for configuring an energy efficiency policy for at least one application service and / or session, wherein the at least one application service and / or session is communicated via at least one wireless communications system, the method comprising:• Receiving an energy efficiency service requirement;• Obtaining energy related monitoring information from at least one segment related to an application service and / or session based on the requirement, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network or a combination thereof;• Determining automated energy related policies for the at least one application service and / or session, wherein the policies comprise combination of trigger events and actions for meeting the energy efficiency service requirement; and• Sending the automated energy related policies to at least one entity of the at least one segment the wireless communications system.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0164] The energy efficiency service requirement may comprise an intent provided by at least one consumer. The method may further comprise obtaining energy related capability information.

[0165] The method may further comprise querying the energy saving capabilities of the plurality of wireless communication system segments, based on the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0166] The method may further comprise translating the energy efficiency service requirement to a requirement for determining energy efficiency policies for a plurality of wireless communication system segments.

[0167] The method may further comprise monitoring the energy efficiency service requirement fulfilment, based on the determined energy related policies.

[0168] The monitoring may further comprise receiving a monitoring event related to energy efficiency policy status.

[0169] The method may further comprise determining whether the at least one application service is meeting the energy efficiency criteria for a destination service area, based on the energy efficiency service requirement.

[0170] The method may further comprise updating the configuration of the at least one energy efficiency related policy, based on the requirement.

[0171] The method may further comprise notifying the at least one consumer about the energy efficiency policy status

[0172] The policy may comprise an action related to DNAI remapping / QoS change / ... . The method may further comprise harmonizing between per network / slice and per service policies. Monitoring may comprise requesting or subscribing and receiving. The energy efficiency service requirement comprises a request.

[0173] Figure 9 illustrates an example of a UE 900 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 900 may include a processor 902, a memory 904, a controller 906, and a transceiver 908. The processor 902, the memory 904, the controller 906, or the transceiver 908, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may beAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPexamples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0174] The processor 902, the memory 904, the controller 906, or the transceiver 908, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0175] The processor 902 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general- purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 902 may be configured to operate the memory 904. In some other implementations, the memory 904 may be integrated into the processor 902. The processor 902 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 904 to cause the UE 900 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

[0176] The memory 904 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 904 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 902 cause the UE 900 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such the memory 904 or another type of memory. Computer-readable media includes both non- transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0177] In some implementations, the processor 902 and the memory 904 coupled with the processor 902 may be configured to cause the UE 900 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 902, instructions stored in the memory 904). For example, the processor 902 may support wireless communication at the UE 900 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The UE 900 may be configured to support a means for a method performed by a configuration entity in a wirelessAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPcommunication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0178] The controller 906 may manage input and output signals for the UE 900. The controller 906 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 900. In some implementations, the controller 906 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 906 may be implemented as part of the processor 902.

[0179] In some implementations, the UE 900 may include at least one transceiver 908. In some other implementations, the UE 900 may have more than one transceiver 908. The transceiver 908 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 908 may include one or more receiver chains 910, one or more transmitter chains 912, or a combination thereof.

[0180] A receiver chain 910 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 910 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 910 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low- noise amplifier (LNA)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 910 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 910 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0181] A transmitter chain 912 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmitter chain 912 may include at leastAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPone modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmitter chain 912 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 912 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0182] Figure 10 illustrates an example of a processor 1000 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 1000 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1000 may include a controller 1002 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1000 may optionally include at least one memory 1004, which may be, for example, an L1 / L2 / L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 1000 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 1006. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses).

[0183] The processor 1000 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), flash memory, phase change memory (PCM), and others).

[0184] The controller 1002 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting,Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPforwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 1000 to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 1002 may operate as a control unit of the processor 1000, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 1000. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

[0185] The controller 1002 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 1004 and determine subsequent instruction(s) to be executed to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 1002 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 1004. The controller 1002 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 1002 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 1000 to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 1002 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 1000. The controller 1002 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs), and other functional units of the processor 1000.

[0186] The memory 1004 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 1000 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 1004 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 1000). In some other implementations, the memory 1004 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 1000).

[0187] The memory 1004 may store computer- readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1000, cause the processor 1000 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. TheAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPcontroller 1002 and / or the processor 1000 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1004 to cause the processor 1000 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 1000 and / or the controller 1002 may be coupled with or to the memory 1004, the processor 1000, the controller 1002, and the memory 1004 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 1000 may include multiple processors and the memory 1004 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

[0188] The one or more ALUs 1006 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 1006 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000). In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 1006 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000). One or more ALUs 1006 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 1006 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 1006 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 1006 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR), not-OR (NOR), and not- AND (NAND), enabling the one or more ALUs 1006 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

[0189] The processor 1000 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 1000 may be configured to or operable to support a means fora method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policiesAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPcomprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0190] Figure 11 illustrates an example of a NE 1100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 1100 may include a processor 1102, a memory 1104, a controller 1106, and a transceiver 1108. The processor 1102, the memory 1104, the controller 1106, or the transceiver 1108, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

[0191] The processor 1102, the memory 1104, the controller 1106, or the transceiver 1108, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry). The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0192] The processor 1102 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general- purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof). In some implementations, the processor 1102 may be configured to operate the memory 1104. In some other implementations, the memory 1104 may be integrated into the processor 1102. The processor 1102 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1104 to cause the NE 1100 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

[0193] The memory 1104 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 1104 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 1102 cause the NE 1100 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such theAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPmemory 1104 or another type of memory. Computer- readable media includes both non- transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0194] In some implementations, the processor 1102 and the memory 1104 coupled with the processor 1102 may be configured to cause the NE 1100 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 1102, instructions stored in the memory 1104). For example, the processor 1102 may support wireless communication at the NE 1100 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The NE 1100 may be configured to support a means fora method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

[0195] The controller 1106 may manage input and output signals for the NE 1100. The controller 1106 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 1100. In some implementations, the controller 1106 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®, WINDOWS®, or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 1106 may be implemented as part of the processor 1102.

[0196] In some implementations, the NE 1100 may include at least one transceiver 1108. In some other implementations, the NE 1100 may have more than one transceiver 1108. The transceiver 1108 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1108Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPmay include one or more receiver chains 1110, one or more transmitter chains 1112, or a combination thereof.

[0197] A receiver chain 1110 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 1110 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 1110 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA)) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 1110 may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receiver chain 1110 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

[0198] A transmitter chain 1112 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets). The transmitter chain 1112 may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The transmitter chain 1112 may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmitter chain 1112 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

[0199] Figure 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a NE as described herein. In some implementations, the NE may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the NE to perform the described functions.

[0200] At 1202, the method 1200 may include receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system. The operations of 802 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 802 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 11.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

[0201] At 1204, the method may 1200 include based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs. The operations of 1204 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1204 may be performed by a NE as described with reference to Figure 11.

[0202] At 1206, the method may include sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof. The operations of 1206 may be performed in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, aspects of the operations of 1206 may be performed a NE as described with reference to Figure 11.

[0203] The following abbreviations are relevant in the field addressed by this document: ECSP, Edge Computing Service Provider; CSP, Cloud Service Provider; ASP, Application Service Provider; CU, Central Unit; DU, Distributed Unit; RU, Remote Unit; EE, Energy Efficiency; MDAS, Management Domain Analytics Service; SEAL, Service Enabler Architecture Layer; LWP, Light-weight Protocol; EDN, Edge Data Network (DN); DNAI, Data Network Access Identifier; DRX, Discontinuous Reception; EE-ConfEE- Configurator; MnS, Management Service; UL, Uplink; SL, Sidelink; NRM, Network Resource Management; NSCE, Network Slice Capability Enablement; CMS, Configuration management server; RIC, RAN Intelligent Controller; RNIS, Radio Network Information Service; VAL, Vertical Application Layer; ASM, Advanced Sleep Mode; and DRB, Data Radio Bearer.

[0204] It should be noted that the method described herein describes A possible implementation, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.

[0205] The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparentAttorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPto a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the configuration entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the configuration entity to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

2. The configuration entity of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to obtain energy efficiency related information related to the at least one application service and / or session from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system; and the one or more energy efficiency related policies are determined based on the obtained efficiency related information.

3. The configuration entity of claim 2, wherein the energy efficiency related information is obtained by querying the at least one segment of the wireless communications system.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP4. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to monitor fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.

5. The configuration entity of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to receive, from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system, a monitoring report related to the fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.

6. The configuration entity of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to send, to the at least one segment, a request for the monitoring report.

7. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to update the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement.

8. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the energy efficiency service requirement is provided by at least one consumer entity; and the at least one processor is further configured to cause the configuration entity to notify the at least one consumer about an energy efficiency policy status.

9. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies are automated policies.

10. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein one or more of the trigger actions is an action related to the at least one application service and / or session selected from the group of actions consisting of: changing an operational status of an Edge Enabler Server, EES, or Edge Application Server, EAS;Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NPchanging an operational status of an Edge Data Network, EDN, or data network, DN; changing processing to an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, AI / ML, model;DNAI remapping; changing one or more QoS profiles associated with the at least one application service and / or session; network slice remapping; offloading traffic to another entity in the wireless communications system; and user equipment or app level actions.

11. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the configuration entity is or is comprised in a Service Enabler Architecture Layer, SEAL, server or Application function, AF.

12. The configuration entity of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the configuration entity is an rApp or an xApp hosted by a Open Radio Access Network, 0-RAN, system.

13. A processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determine one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and send the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP14. A method performed by a configuration entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving an energy efficiency requirement for at least one service communicated via the wireless communications system; based on the received energy efficiency requirement, determining one or more energy efficiency related policies for the at least one application service and / or session communicated via the wireless communication system, wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies comprise a combination of trigger events and associated trigger actions to be performed if a respective trigger event occurs; and sending the energy efficiency related policies to at least one entity of at least one segment of the wireless communications system, wherein the segment is a data network, a user equipment, a core network, an access network, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: causing the configuration entity to obtain energy efficiency related information related to the at least one application service and / or session from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system; and wherein the one or more energy efficiency related policies are determined based on the obtained efficiency related information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the energy efficiency related information is obtained by querying the at least one segment of the wireless communications system.

17. The method of any of claims 14 to 16, further comprising monitoring fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving, from the at least one segment of the wireless communications system, a monitoring report related to the fulfilment of the energy efficiency service requirement.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP19. The method of claim 18, further comprising causing the configuration entity to send, to the at least one segment, a request for the monitoring report.

20. The method of any of claims 14 to 19, further comprising updating the one or more energy efficiency related policies based on the energy efficiency service requirement.Attorney Docket No. SMM920230053-GR-NP

Images