Terminal device, network device, and communication method

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable medium for communication. A terminal device receives a first configuration for a set of UL resources from a network device, and determines a time window for the set of UL resources. The time window is associated with a DRX cycle. UL resources of the set of UL resources within the time window are used for UL transmission, and UL resources of the set of UL resources outside the time window are disabled for transmission. The uplink transmission includes at least one of a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a configured allowed uplink transmission. In this way, the UL resource may be determined based on the time window associated with the DRX cycle, and UL triggered DRX can be realized. This can facilitate alignment between DL transmission and UL transmission and improve power saving.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to communication methods, apparatus, and computer storage media for alignment between downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions. [Background technology]

[0002] For services with periodic packets, especially for extended reality (XR) services such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and cloud gaming, power saving has become an important topic. For DL ​​transmission, discontinuous reception (DRX) operation is adopted for power saving. The terminal device is in active time only during the on-time interval of the DRX cycle. For UL transmission, scheduling request (SR) and buffer status reporting (BSR) are the essential procedures to initiate UL transmission. Compared with misalignment between DL and UL, alignment between DL and UL is more useful for shortening the awake time of the terminal device and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device accordingly.

[0003] Typically, packets for services such as XR services arrive at the radio access network (RAN) every 1 / frames per second (FPS). Due to various factors, the arrivals tend to occur within a jitter range. The impact of jitter has been identified as an important aspect for such services. However, the alignment between DL and UL transmissions considering the impact of jitter is still incomplete and awaits further study. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In general, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for alignment between DL and UL transmissions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In a first aspect, a method of communication is provided, comprising: receiving, in a terminal device, from a network device, a first configuration for a set of uplink resources, and determining a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmissions, and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmissions, the uplink transmissions comprising at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0006] In a second aspect, a method of communication is provided, comprising: in a network device, transmitting to a terminal device a first configuration for a set of uplink resources, and determining a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmission, and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmission, the uplink transmission comprising at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0007] In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus for communications, said apparatus comprising a processor configured to perform a method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for communications, said apparatus comprising a processor configured to perform a method according to the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided having instructions stored thereon that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided having instructions stored thereon that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0011] Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description of several embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings.

[0013] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication network in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0014] [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example operation within a DRX cycle.

[0015] [Figure 1C] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example operation of an on-time interval within a DRX cycle with WUS detection.

[0016] [Figure 2A]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenario of misalignment between DL and UL transmissions;

[0017] [Figure 2B] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example scenario of alignment between DL and UL transmissions;

[0018] [Figure 2C] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of UL resources taking into account the effects of jitter;

[0019] [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary determination of a time window, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] [Figure 4B] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary determination of a time window, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example start of an on-interval timer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example start of an on-interval timer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] [Figure 10] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary communication method implemented in a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] [Figure 11] FIG. 2 illustrates an example communication method implemented in a network device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] In the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only, to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from those described below.

[0032] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0033] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include User Equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, vehicle-mounted devices for V2X communications where X stands for pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network, devices for integrated access and integrated access and backhaul (IAB), satellite-based or airborne vehicles in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) including High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) including satellites and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), extended reality (XR) devices including different types of reality such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are aircraft without a human pilot and commonly referred to as drones. "Terminal Device" includes, but is not limited to, a vehicle (V2X), a device on a high speed train (HST), or an image capture device such as a digital camera, a sensor game device, a music storage and playback device, or an Internet appliance that allows wireless or wired Internet access and browsing, etc. The "Terminal Device" may further have "multicast / broadcast" capabilities to support V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast distribution, IPTV, smart TV, wireless services, over-the-air software distribution, group communication, and IoT applications that are public safety and mission critical. It may also incorporate one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), known as multi-SIMs.The term "terminal equipment" may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless equipment.

[0034] The term "network device" refers to a device capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage in which a terminal device can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a transmit / receive point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), an IAB node, a femto node, a pico node, a low power node such as a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), etc.

[0035] The terminal device or network device may have the capability of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning. Generally, it includes a model trained from a large amount of data collected for a specific function and can be used to predict some information.

[0036] The terminal device or network device may operate on several frequency ranges, such as FR1 (410 MHz-7125 MHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz-71 GHz), frequency bands greater than 100 GHz, and Tera Hertz (THz). It can also operate on licensed / unlicensed / shared spectrum. The terminal device may have two or more connections with the network device under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenarios. The terminal device or network device can operate in full duplex, flexible duplex, and cross division duplex modes.

[0037] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in test equipment, such as, for example, a signal generator, a signal analyzer, a spectrum analyzer, a network analyzer, a test terminal equipment, a test network equipment, a channel emulator, and the like.

[0038] In one embodiment, the terminal device can connect to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is an eNB and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information about the different RATs may be transmitted from at least one of the first network device or the second network device to the terminal device. In one embodiment, the first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and the second information may be transmitted from the second network device to the terminal device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information about the configuration of the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information regarding the reconfiguration of the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device directly to the terminal device or via the first network device.

[0039] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "said" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "comprises" and variations thereof should be understood as open-ended terms meaning "including, but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on." The terms "one embodiment" and "embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment." Terms such as "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. The following may include other explicit and implicit definitions.

[0040] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "best," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to illustrate that selections can be made from among many functional alternatives used, and that such selections are not necessarily better, smaller, higher, or otherwise more preferred than other selections.

[0041] In the context of this application, the term "symbol" refers to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. The term "slot" includes a number of consecutive symbols, for example 14 symbols or 12 symbols. The term "minislot" includes one or more consecutive symbols and has fewer symbols than a slot, for example 1, 2, 4, or 7 symbols. In the context of this application, the term "DRX cycle" may refer to a long DRX cycle, a short DRX cycle, or both.

[0042] As mentioned above, the impact of jitter is identified as an important aspect for services such as XR services. Due to the impact of jitter in the UL and the tight packet delay budget (PDB) requirements, dense uplink resources in the time domain are beneficial to provide a transmission opportunity as soon as possible after a packet arrives. However, for power saving purposes, sparse uplink resources and alignment with DL transmissions are required to avoid frequent wake-ups for UL transmissions such as SR or BSR. It is clear that the two requirements on the density of uplink resources are contradictory and should be resolved.

[0043] In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution to solve the above and other potential problems. In this solution, a time window is defined for UL resource determination. The configured UL resources within the time window are used for UL transmission, and the configured UL resources outside the time window are invalid for transmission. In other words, dense UL resources are configured within the time window, and no valid UL resources are configured outside the time window. The uplink transmission includes at least one of a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or an authorized uplink transmission that is configured. Furthermore, the time window is associated with a DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the time window may be repeated periodically, and each time window may occur before or after a UL traffic packet arrival time, and the length of the time window may be equal to or similar to a jitter range. In some embodiments, the time window may overlap or partially overlap with the on-time interval of the DRX cycle to further save power consumption.

[0044] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, dense UL resources may be set around the UL packet arrival time, so that the UL packet can be transmitted as soon as possible. Moreover, since there is no available UL resource outside the time window, the terminal device may continue to sleep, which is beneficial for power saving. Additionally, the UL transmission may be aligned to the on-time interval (i.e., DRX active time) of the DRX cycle, so that the terminal device may be woken up only once for both DL and UL transmission, which is beneficial for power saving.

[0045] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable scenario. For example, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented for XR. Alternatively, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in one of reduced capability NR devices, NR multiple input multiple output (MIMO), NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems at frequencies higher than 52.6 GHz, enhanced NR operation up to 71 GHz, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IOT) / enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial based networks (NTN), NTN, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage enhancements, NB-IOT and LTE-MTC, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), NR multicast and broadcast services, or multi-radio dual connectivity enhancements.

[0046] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Communication Network Example

[0047] FIG 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary communication network 100A in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG 1A, the communication network 100A may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be served by the network device 120. It should be understood that the number of terminal devices and network devices in FIG 1 is given for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitations to the present disclosure. The communication network 100A may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 1A, terminal device 110 may communicate with network device 120 via a channel, such as a wireless communication channel. Communications in communication network 100A may conform to any suitable standard, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Machine Type Communication (MTC), and the like. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation of communication protocols now known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or sixth generation (6G) networks.

[0049] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a configuration of the DRX cycle to the terminal device 110. In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform downlink channel monitoring based on the configuration of the DRX cycle. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram 100B illustrating an example operation in a DRX cycle. As shown in FIG. 1B, the DRX cycle 130 includes an active time 131 (i.e., an on-time interval) and an inactive time 132 (i.e., an opportunity for DRX). The terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring, e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, only in the active time 131. The inactive time may mean a time other than the active time.

[0050] The DRX timeline may depend mainly on the following parameters: - drx-onDurationTimer: Time interval for the start of a DRX cycle, - drx-SlotOffset: delay before starting drx-onDurationTimer, - drx-InactivityTimer: the time interval after a PDCCH opportunity in which the PDCCH indicates a new uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) transmission for the medium access control (MAC) entity; drx-LongCycleStartOffset: drx-StartOffset defining the subframe in which the long DRX cycle and the short DRX cycle start, - drx-ShortCycle(optional): Short DRX cycle, - drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional): the time interval during which the terminal device should follow the short DRX cycle, - ps-Wakeup (optional): Setting to start the associated drx-onDurationTimer if a DCP is monitored but not detected. DCP refers to a DCI with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by the power saving-radio network temporary identifier (PS-RNTI).

[0051] In some scenarios, the network device may send a wake-up signal (WUS) detection configuration to the terminal device. As an example, the WUS is a DCP. In some embodiments, the WUS detection configuration may include an offset (e.g., ps-Offset) from the start time of the on-time interval and a time interval of the WUS detection. Thus, a WUS window is configured. One or more WUS opportunities may be configured within the WUS window, and each WUS opportunity may occupy one or more OFDM symbols. Then, the terminal device may perform WUS detection within each WUS opportunity based on the WUS detection configuration, and start an on-time interval of the DRX cycle when a WUS is detected. FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram 100C illustrating an example operation of an on-time interval within a DRX cycle with WUS detection.

[0052] 1C , based on the DRX cycle configuration, the terminal device may determine a start time of on-time interval 141, and based on the WUS detection configuration, the terminal device may start WUS detection at a time that is earlier than the start time of on-time interval 141 by offset 151. If WUS 131 is detected and WUS 131 indicates to start on-time interval 141 (i.e., WUS 131 is a positive WUS), the terminal device may start on-time interval 141 (e.g., start drx-onDurationTimer) at the start time of on-time interval 141.

[0053] Similarly, based on the DRX cycle configuration, the terminal device may determine a start time of on time interval 142, and based on the WUS detection configuration, the terminal device may start WUS detection at a time that is earlier than the start time of on time interval 142 by offset 152. If WUS 132 is detected and WUS 132 indicates not to start on time interval 142 (e.g., not to start drx-onDurationTimer), the terminal device may continue to sleep.

[0054] In some scenarios, a BSR may be triggered when UL data becomes available for a logical channel, in other words when an UL packet arrives in the terminal device buffer. The BSR may be transmitted by a dynamically scheduled physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a configured grant PUSCH. The SR may be triggered by the BSR and is used to request UL scheduling for the transmission of the BSR and pending data. The SR may be transmitted by a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). A configured grant may be configured to transmit a BSR for XR, which is beneficial for reducing delays since the SR procedure is skipped.

[0055] In some scenarios, UL transmission may be misaligned with the active time of the terminal device, i.e., UL transmission may be misaligned with the on-time interval of the DRX cycle. Figure 2A is a schematic diagram 200A illustrating an example scenario of misalignment between DL and UL transmission. As shown in Figure 2A, the on-time interval 201 of the DRX cycle is not aligned in the time domain with the UL transmission on the UL resource 202. In this case, the terminal device has to wake up twice for DL ​​reception (e.g., PDCCH monitoring or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception) and UL transmission, which may cause increased power consumption.

[0056] FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram 200B illustrating an example scenario of alignment between DL and UL transmissions. As shown in FIG. 2B, the on-time interval 201 of a DRX cycle is aligned in the time domain with a UL transmission on UL resources 202. In this case, the terminal device needs to wake up only once for DL ​​channel monitoring and UL transmission, which may lead to reduced power consumption. Therefore, alignment between DL and UL transmissions is expected. For power saving purposes, alignment with sparse uplink resources and DL transmissions is required to avoid frequent wake-ups for UL transmissions.

[0057] FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram 200C illustrating an example configuration of UL resources considering the effect of jitter. Assume that the period of arrival times is 16.67 ms on average. It should be understood that this period may take any other suitable value. As shown in FIG. 2C, packet 211 may arrive at the end of jitter range 231, and packet 212 may arrive at the beginning of jitter range 232. Due to the effect of jitter in the UL and the strict PDB requirement, it may be expected that dense UL resources in the time domain are configured, which may be beneficial to provide a transmission opportunity as soon as possible after the packet arrives. In this case, packet 211 may be transmitted on UL resource 221 within a short time after packet 211 arrives, and packet 212 may be transmitted on UL resource 222 within a short time after packet 212 arrives.

[0058] It can be seen that the requirement for dense uplink resources due to jitter effects and strict PDB requirements conflicts with the requirement for sparse uplink resources due to power saving and alignment with DL transmissions.

[0059] In view of the above, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for alignment between DL and UL transmissions to overcome the above and other potential problems. The solution achieves alignment between DL and UL transmissions while transmitting a UL packet as soon as possible after the UL packet arrives. The solution is described below with reference to Figures 3-9. UL resource determination implementation example

[0060] In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for UL resource determination. Some example embodiments of UL resource determination are described with reference to FIG.

[0061] 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication process 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the process 300 will be described with reference to FIG 1. The process 300 may involve a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 as shown in FIG 1.

[0062] As shown in Fig. 3, the network device 120 transmits (310) to the terminal device 110 a configuration for a set of UL resources (for convenience, also referred to as a first configuration in this specification). The set of UL resources refers to at least one UL resource. In some embodiments, the first configuration may include at least one of a periodicity or an offset for the set of UL resources. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the first configuration.

[0063] In some embodiments, the set of UL resources may be configured for SR transmission. In some embodiments, the set of UL resources may be configured for configured grant transmission. In some embodiments, the set of UL resources may be configured for BSR transmission. It should be understood that the set of UL resources may be configured for any other UL transmission.

[0064] The terminal device 110 determines (320) a time window for the set of UL resources. The time window is associated with a DRX cycle. UL resources of the set of UL resources within the time window are used for UL transmission, and UL resources of the set of UL resources outside the time window are disabled for transmission. In this way, alignment between DL transmission and UL transmission can be achieved with reduced power consumption. For illustration, several exemplary embodiments of the determination of the time window are described in relation to embodiments 1 and 2. EMBODIMENT 1

[0065] In this embodiment, the time window is set by the network device 120 .

[0066] 3, network device 120 may send (321) to end device 110 a configuration (also referred to herein as a second configuration for convenience) indicating this time window. In some embodiments, this second configuration may include at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset for this time window.

[0067] In some embodiments, the period of this time window may be the same as the period of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, both the period of this time window and the period of the DRX cycle may be related to the period of the traffic. For example, both the period of the time window and the period of the DRX cycle may be related to the FPS (frames per second) of the video stream. For example, for a 60 FPS video stream traffic, both the period of the DRX cycle and the period of the time window may be equal to 1 / 60 seconds, i.e., approximately 16.67 milliseconds.

[0068] In some embodiments, the time duration of the time window may be specified in milliseconds, or in number of slots or subframes. In some embodiments, the period of the time window may be specified in integer or non-integer number of milliseconds, slots or subframes. In some embodiments, the offset of the time window may be specified by integer number of milliseconds, slots, subframes or OFDM symbols.

[0069] Upon receiving the second configuration, the terminal device 110 may determine the time window based on the second configuration (322). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a time instance (also referred to herein as a first time instance for convenience) based on the reference time, the period, and the index of the time window. In some embodiments, the reference time may be preconfigured by the network device 120 for the terminal device 110. For example, the reference time may be a system frame number (SFN) or a subframe number or a slot number. In some embodiments, the reference time may be predefined. For example, the reference time may be predefined to be 0.

[0070] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (1) below: D = T0 + n*T1 (1) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0071] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (2) below: D = T0 + ceil (n*T1) (2) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (3) below: D = T0 + floor(n*T1) (3) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0073] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (4) or (5) below. D = (T0 + n*T1) mod 1024 (4) D = (T0 + n*T1) mod 10240 (5) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (6) or (7) below. D = [T0 + ceil (n*T1)] mod 1024 (6) D = [T0 + ceil (n*T1)] mod 10240 (7) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first time instance may be determined based on equation (8) or (9) below. D = [T0 + floor (n*T1)] mod 1024 (8) D = [T0 + floor (n*T1)] mod 10240 (9) where D represents the first time instance, T0 represents the reference time, T1 represents the period of the time window, n represents the index of the time window, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0.

[0076] It should be understood that equations (1)-(9) are only examples and any other suitable method for determining the first time instance is also possible.

[0077] Once the first time instance is determined, the terminal device 110 may determine another time instance (also referred to herein as a second time instance for convenience) based on the first time instance. In some embodiments, the second time instance may be equal to the first time instance. In some embodiments, the second time instance may be a starting slot or symbol (i.e., the first slot or symbol) after the first time instance. In some embodiments, the second time instance may be a starting slot or symbol (i.e., the first slot or symbol) after the first time instance that includes a UL resource of the set of UL resources.

[0078] Once the second time instance is determined, the terminal device 110 may determine a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset of the time window. For example, the time window may start after the offset from the second time instance. It should be understood that this is only one example and that the start time of the time window may be determined in any other suitable manner.

[0079] In some embodiments, the time window offset may be adaptively modified by Layer 1 (L1) instructions. In some embodiments, the time window offset may be modified based on the SFN. For example, if the SFN changes from 1023 to 0, the time window offset may be adjusted by adding an adjustment value to the time window offset. The adjustment value may be designed such that the periodicity is maintained when the SFN period ends. In some embodiments, the adjustment value may be set by the network device 120. In some embodiments, the adjustment value may be calculated by the terminal device 110.

[0080] The terminal device 110 may then determine the time window based on the start time and the time interval of the time window. Figure 4A is a schematic diagram 400A illustrating an example determination of the time window according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the period of the arrival times is 16.67 ms on average. It should be understood that the period may take any other suitable value.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 4A, packet 401 may arrive at the end of jitter range 431, and packet 402 may arrive at the beginning of jitter range 432. Based on the time window configuration from network device 120, terminal device 110 may determine periodically repeating time windows 411 and 412. UL resources within time windows 411 and 412 are valid for UL transmission, and UL resources outside time windows 411 and 412 are invalid for UL transmission. Time windows 411 and 412 are associated with a DRX cycle. In this case, packet 401 may be transmitted on UL resource 421 within time window 411 within a short time after packet 401 arrives, and packet 402 may be transmitted on UL resource 222 within time window 412 within a short time after packet 402 arrives. It should be understood that FIG. 4A is merely for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0082] In this way, UL resources may be determined based on a configured time window associated with a DRX cycle, which can facilitate alignment between DL and UL transmissions and improve power savings. EMBODIMENT 2

[0083] In this embodiment, the time window is determined by the terminal device 110 .

[0084] Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the time window based on the configuration of the DRX cycle (323). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the time window based on the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle and an offset value (for convenience, also referred to as a first offset value in this specification) configured for the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the first offset value may be a positive value. In this case, the terminal device 110 may consider the UL resource to be valid after a timing of the first offset value that is earlier than the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the first offset value may be a negative value. In this case, the terminal device 110 may consider the UL resource to be valid after a timing of the absolute value of the first offset value that is later than the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle.

[0085] Terminal device 110 may then determine an end time for this time window (324). In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the end time for the time window based on the time interval of the time window configured for terminal device 110. In other words, network device 120 may directly configure the time interval of the time window for terminal device 110.

[0086] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the end time of the time window based on another offset value (for convenience, also referred to as a second offset value in this specification) configured for the terminal device 110 and the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle. For example, the time window may end at the timing of the second offset value prior to the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle. As another example, the time window may end at the timing of the second offset value after the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle.

[0087] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the end time of the time window based on the second offset value configured for the terminal device 110 and the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle. For example, the time window may end at the timing of the second offset value prior to the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle. As another example, the time window may end at the timing of the second offset value after the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle.

[0088] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the end time of the time window based on the end time of the on-time interval of the DRX cycle. For example, the time window may end when the on-time interval timer expires. As another example, the time window may end when the on-time interval timer is stopped.

[0089] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the end time of the time window based on the time terminal device 110 enters the inactivity time. For example, the time window may end when both the on-time interval timer and the inactivity timer expire. As another example, the time window may end when both the on-time interval timer and the inactivity timer are stopped.

[0090] Thereby, the terminal device 110 may determine the time window based on the start time and the end time of the time window. Figure 4B is a schematic diagram 400B illustrating an example determination of the time window according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the period of the arrival times is 16.67 ms on average. It should be understood that this period may take any other suitable value.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 4B, the packet 441 may arrive at the end of the jitter range 481, and the packet 442 may arrive at the beginning of the jitter range 482. Based on the start time of the on-time interval 461 of the DRX cycle and the offset value T3 (i.e., the first offset value), the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the time window 451. Assume that the second offset value is set by the network device 120. In this example, the terminal device may determine the end time of the time window 451 at the timing of the second offset value later than the start time of the on-time interval 461. Based on the start time of the on-time interval 462 of another DRX cycle and the offset value T3 (i.e., the first offset value), the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the time window 452. In this example, the terminal device may determine the end time of the time window 452 at the timing of the second offset value later than the start time of the on-time interval 462.

[0092] As shown in Figure 4B, UL resources within time windows 451 and 452 are valid for UL transmission, and UL resources outside time windows 451 and 452 are invalid for UL transmission. Time windows 451 and 452 are associated with a DRX cycle. In this case, packet 441 may be transmitted on UL resources 471 within time window 451 within a short time after packet 441 arrives, and packet 442 may be transmitted on UL resources 472 within time window 452 within a short time after packet 442 arrives. It should be understood that Figure 4B is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0093] In this embodiment, for DRX configuration, a set of UL resources may be associated with each DRX cycle. The set of UL resources may occur within a time window, which occurs before and after the UL traffic packet arrival time, and the length of the time window may be equal to or similar to the jitter range. Dense UL resources may be configured within the time window, and there are no available UL resources outside the time window. For better DL and UL alignment, the time window may start before the start time of the ON time interval and end before the end time of the ON time interval.

[0094] In this way, it is possible to determine UL resources based on a time window determined from the start and end of the DRX cycle, which can facilitate alignment between DL and UL transmissions and also improve power saving.

[0095] So far, the determination 320 of the time window by the terminal device 110 has been described in relation to embodiments 1 and 2. As shown in Fig. 3, the network device 120 may also determine the time window (325). The procedure of determination 325 is similar to the procedure of determination 320, and therefore will not be repeated here for brevity. Example of implementation of on-time interval operation

[0096] In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution for on-time interval operation. In the context of the present disclosure, on-time interval operation may include starting an on-time interval timer and monitoring DL transmission. In other words, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a wake-up mechanism based on UL transmission (also referred to herein as UL triggered DRX).

[0097] In this solution, a set of UL resources may be configured to be associated with a DRX cycle (also referred to herein as an associated DRX cycle). Thus, whether to start an on-time interval timer may be determined based on whether an UL transmission has been performed for an UL resource in the set of UL resources. Furthermore, a method of performing DL monitoring may be determined based on the UL transmission and the WUS detection. Some exemplary embodiments of the on-time interval operation are described in relation to embodiment 3 and embodiment 5. EMBODIMENT 3

[0098] In this embodiment, the on-time interval operation is triggered only by UL transmissions, as will be explained in more detail with reference to Figures 5 and 6.

[0099] 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating another communication process 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the process 500 will be described with reference to FIG 1. The process 500 may involve the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as shown in FIG 1.

[0100] 5, terminal device 110 may perform UL transmission to network device 120 (510). For example, terminal device 110 may transmit an SR or a BSR to network device 120 on UL resources within a time window according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0101] In response to performing the UL transmission, the terminal device 110 may start an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (511). In some embodiments in which the UL resources are determined as described in embodiment 1, all UL resources within the time window are associated with the next DRX cycle for the time window. In this case, the associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle for the time window. In some embodiments in which the UL resources are determined as described in embodiment 2, all UL resources within the time window are set based on the timing of a particular DRX cycle (i.e., the current DRX cycle for the time window). In this case, the associated DRX cycle is the current DRX cycle for the time window.

[0102] In some embodiments, if terminal device 110 does not perform an UL transmission on the UL resources within a time window, terminal device 110 may not start 512 on-interval timer 512 for the associated DRX cycle.

[0103] Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine (513) whether a UL transmission was performed on a UL resource within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than the start time of an on-time interval of a DRX cycle by a time interval that is less than the threshold time interval. In other words, the terminal device 110 may determine whether a UL transmission was performed after or before the threshold time interval that is earlier than the start time of the on-time interval. In some embodiments, the threshold time interval may be preset. In some embodiments, the threshold time interval may be predefined. For example, the threshold time interval may be 4 milliseconds. It should be understood that this threshold time interval may take any other suitable value.

[0104] In some embodiments, if a UL transmission is performed before a threshold time interval before the start time of the on time interval, the terminal device 110 may start the on time interval timer. In some embodiments, if a UL transmission is performed after a threshold time interval before the start time of the on time interval, the terminal device 110 may not start the on time interval timer (514). In some embodiments, if a UL transmission is performed after a threshold time interval before the start time of the on time interval, the terminal device 110 may start the on time interval timer based on a time offset configured for the terminal device 110 and the end of the UL transmission (515). For example, the terminal device 110 may start the on time interval timer after a time offset from the end of the UL transmission. In other words, the terminal device 110 may start the on time interval timer at a time instance later than the original start time of the on time interval. In this case, the start time of the on time interval depends on the UL transmission.

[0105] 6 is a schematic diagram 600 illustrating an example start of an on-time interval timer, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the period of arrival times is 16.67 ms on average. It should be understood that the period may take any other suitable value.

[0106] As shown in Fig. 6, packet 601 may reach the end of jitter range 631. In this example, packet 601 may be transmitted on resource 621 as a UL transmission within the time window. In response to transmitting packet 601, terminal device 110 may start an on-time interval timer for on-time interval 611 of the DRX cycle. Similar operations apply to the next jitter range 632 and the next on-time interval 612. It should be understood that Fig. 6 is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0107] 5, upon receiving the UL transmission, the network device 120 performs operations (516) similar to those described in relation to 511-515, the details of which will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0108] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may also set a WUS monitoring window for the terminal device 110. As shown in FIG. 5, the network device 120 may transmit a WUS to the terminal device 110 (520). Thus, the terminal device 110 may perform monitoring for the WUS (i.e., WUS detection). In some embodiments, if a UL transmission is performed, the terminal device 110 may start an on-time interval timer and stop monitoring for the WUS (521). In other words, the UL transmission has a higher priority than the priority of the WUS. If a UL transmission is performed, the terminal device 110 may ignore whether a WUS is detected and what of the WUS is detected.

[0109] In some embodiments, the UL transmission may be associated with a search space set group (SSSG) (also referred to herein as a first SSSG for convenience), and the WUS may be associated with another SSSG (also referred to herein as a second SSSG for convenience). In some embodiments where the on-time interval timer is triggered only by the UL transmission, the network device 120 may perform a DL transmission within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on the first SSSG (522). Thus, the terminal device 110 may perform DL monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on the first SSSG (523).

[0110] In some embodiments, the first SSSG may not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for DL ​​scheduling (e.g., DCI format 1-0, 1-1, or 1-2). In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform DL monitoring on the DCI format for DL ​​scheduling in the first SSSG.

[0111] Thus, an on time interval operation triggered by UL transmissions only has been described. EMBODIMENT 4

[0112] In this embodiment, the on-time interval operation is jointly triggered by the UL transmission and the WUS, which will be described in detail with reference to Figures 7 and 8.

[0113] 7 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication process 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of illustration, the process 700 will be described with reference to FIG 1. The process 700 may involve the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as shown in FIG 1.

[0114] 7, terminal device 110 may perform UL transmission to network device 120 (710). For example, terminal device 110 may transmit an SR or a BSR to network device 120 on UL resources within a time window according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0115] In some embodiments, network device 120 may transmit a WUS to terminal device 110 (710′). In some embodiments, the WUS may indicate to start an on-time interval of a DRX cycle, i.e., to start an on-time interval timer. In this case, the WUS is a positive WUS and has a first value. The positive WUS may also be interpreted as a positive response to the UL transmission performed by terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the WUS may indicate not to start an on-time interval of a DRX cycle, i.e., to not start an on-time interval timer. In this case, the WUS is a negative WUS and has a second value different from the first value. The negative WUS may also be interpreted as a negative response to the UL transmission performed by terminal device 110. Of course, network device 120 may also not transmit a WUS to terminal device 110.

[0116] In response to performing the UL transmission, terminal device 110 may determine whether the WUS was received by terminal device 110 (711). 1. WUS is not received

[0117] In some embodiments, if a WUS is not received, terminal device 110 may not start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (712) (also referred to herein as a first operation for convenience). In some alternative embodiments, if a WUS is not received, terminal device 110 may start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (712') (also referred to herein as a second operation for convenience).

[0118] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may send an indication to the terminal device 110 indicating the first operation or the second operation (713). For example, the indication may be received from RRC signaling from the network device 120. Of course, any other suitable manner is also possible. Based on the indication, the terminal device 110 may perform the first operation or the second operation accordingly, i.e., may or may not start the on-time interval timer.

[0119] Similar to what is described in embodiment 3, the associated DRX cycle may be the next DRX cycle for the time window when the UL resource for the UL transmission is determined as described in embodiment 1, or may be the current DRX cycle for the time window when the UL resource for the UL transmission is determined as described in embodiment 2. Other detailed descriptions of the associated DRX cycle are not repeated here for brevity.

[0120] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram 800 illustrating another example start of an on-time interval timer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that the period of arrival times is 16.67 ms on average. It should be understood that this period may take any other suitable value. As shown in FIG. 8, a packet 801 may arrive at the end of a jitter range 841. In this example, the packet 801 may transmit a UL transmission within a time window on resource 821. If the terminal device 110 does not receive a WUS at WUS opportunity 831 in response to transmitting packet 801, the terminal device 110 may not start an on-time interval timer for the on-time interval 811 of the DRX cycle. It should be understood that FIG. 8 is merely for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0121] 7, upon receiving the UL transmission, network device 120 may perform operations (714) similar to those described in connection with 711, 712, and 712', the details of which will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0122] Similar to what is described in embodiment 3, the UL transmission may be associated with a first SSSG, and the WUS may be associated with a second SSSG. In some embodiments in which the on-time interval timer is triggered by the UL transmission without the WUS being received, the network device 120 may perform a DL transmission within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on the first SSSG (720). Thus, the terminal device 110 may perform DL monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on the first SSSG (721).

[0123] In some embodiments, the first SSSG may not include a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling (e.g., DCI format 1-0, 1-1, or 1-2). In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform DL monitoring on the DCI format for DL ​​scheduling in the first SSSG. 2. WUS is received

[0124] In some embodiments, if a positive WUS is received, terminal device 110 may start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (730). Thus, when a positive WUS is transmitted, network device 120 may start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (731).

[0125] In some embodiments, if a negative WUS is received, the terminal device 110 may not start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (730'). Thus, when a negative WUS is transmitted, the network device 120 may also not start an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (731').

[0126] 8, if terminal device 110 receives a positive WUS at WUS opportunity 831 in response to transmitting packet 801, terminal device 110 may start an on time interval timer for on time interval 811 of the DRX cycle. If terminal device 110 receives a negative WUS at WUS opportunity 831, terminal device 110 may not start an on time interval timer for on time interval 811 of the DRX cycle. It should be understood that FIG. 8 is for illustration purposes only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0127] In some embodiments where the on-time interval timer is jointly triggered by a UL transmission and a positive WUS, the network device 120 may perform a DL transmission within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on both the first SSSG and the second SSSG (740). In some embodiments, the first SSSG may not include a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling (e.g., DCI format 1-0, 1-1, or 1-2). In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling, the network device 120 may not perform a DL transmission on a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling in the first SSSG. In some embodiments, the second SSSG may not include a DCI format for UL scheduling (e.g., DCI format 0-0, 0-1, or 0-2). In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for UL scheduling, the network device 120 may not perform a DL transmission on a DCI format for UL scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0128] In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 120 may perform DL transmission within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined SSSG, for example a default SSSG (740'). In some embodiments, the predetermined SSSG may be a union of the first SSSG and the second SSSG. Of course, the predetermined SSSG may be a different SSSG from the first SSSG and the second SSSG.

[0129] Thus, in some embodiments where the on-time interval timer is jointly triggered by UL transmission and positive WUS, the terminal device 110 may perform DL monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on both the first SSSG and the second SSSG (741). In some embodiments, the first SSSG may not include a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling (e.g., DCI format 1-0, 1-1, or 1-2). In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform DL monitoring on a DCI format for DL ​​scheduling in the first SSSG. In some embodiments, the second SSSG may not include a DCI format for UL scheduling (e.g., DCI format 0-0, 0-1, or 0-2). In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for UL scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform DL monitoring on a DCI format for UL scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0130] In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform DL monitoring within an on time interval of a DRX cycle based on the predetermined SSSG (741').

[0131] Thus, an on time interval operation triggered by both UL transmission and WUS has been described. EMBODIMENT 5

[0132] In this embodiment, the on-time interval operation is triggered only by the WUS, which will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0133] 9 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication process 900 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of illustration, the process 900 will be described with reference to FIG 1. The process 900 may involve a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 as shown in FIG 1.

[0134] As shown in FIG. 9, the network device 120 may transmit a WUS to the terminal device 110 (910). In some embodiments, the WUS may indicate to start an on-time interval of a DRX cycle, i.e., to start an on-time interval timer. In this case, the WUS is a positive WUS and has a first value. The positive WUS may also be interpreted as a positive acknowledgment for the UL transmission performed by the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the WUS may indicate not to start an on-time interval of a DRX cycle, i.e., to not start an on-time interval timer. In this case, the WUS is a negative WUS and has a second value different from the first value. The negative WUS may also be interpreted as a negative acknowledgment for the UL transmission performed by the terminal device 110.

[0135] Terminal device 110 may determine whether no UL transmission occurs on the UL resource in the time window and a positive WUS is received (911). If no UL transmission occurs on the UL resource in the time window and a positive WUS is received, terminal device 110 may start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (912). In some embodiments, if no UL transmission occurs on the UL resource in the time window and a negative WUS is received, terminal device 110 may not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle.

[0136] Thus, network device 120 may determine whether no UL transmission was received on the UL resource within the time window and a positive WUS was sent (913). If no UL transmission was received on the UL resource within the time window and a positive WUS was sent, network device 120 may start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle (914). In some embodiments, if no UL transmission was received on the UL resource within the time window and a negative WUS was sent, network device 120 may not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle.

[0137] 8, since no packets arrive within jitter range 842, no UL transmission is performed on any UL resource within the time window. In this case, if terminal device 110 receives a positive WUS at WUS opportunity 832, terminal device 110 may start an on time interval timer for on time interval 812 of the DRX cycle. If terminal device 110 receives a negative WUS at WUS opportunity 832, terminal device 110 may not start an on time interval timer for on time interval 812 of the DRX cycle. It should be understood that FIG. 8 is for illustration purposes only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0138] In some embodiments where the on-time interval timer is triggered only by the WUS, the network device 120 may perform a DL transmission within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second SSSG associated with the WUS (920). In some embodiments, the second SSSG may not include a DCI format for UL scheduling (e.g., DCI format 0-0, 0-1, or 0-2). In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for UL scheduling, the network device 120 may not perform a DL transmission on a DCI format for UL scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0139] Thus, in some embodiments where the on-time interval timer is triggered only by the WUS, the terminal device 110 may perform DL monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on the second SSSG (921). In some embodiments, the second SSSG may not include a DCI format for UL scheduling (e.g., DCI format 0-0, 0-1, or 0-2). In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for UL scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform DL monitoring on the DCI format for UL scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0140] Thus, an ON time interval operation triggered by the WUS only has been described.

[0141] It can be seen that according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, UL triggered DRX can be realized. For some applications, DL transmission may be triggered by UL transmission. For example, for some VR applications, after a pause or control information is sent in UL, the application server may send a video frame in DL based on the pause or control information. Therefore, UL triggered DRX may be beneficial for this kind of application. Furthermore, for traffic with strict requirements on UL PDB and large UL packet size, UL triggered DRX may be beneficial to meet PDB requirements. In addition, if DL traffic and UL traffic are well aligned, for example by application function (AF), DL WUS may be skipped, so UL triggered DRX may be beneficial for power saving and overhead or complexity reduction. Example of the method

[0142] Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide communication methods implemented in a terminal device and a network device, which are described below with reference to Figures 10-11.

[0143] 10 illustrates an example communication method 1000 implemented in a terminal device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 1000 may be performed in a terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. For purposes of explanation, the method 1000 will be described below with reference to FIG. It should be understood that the method 1000 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0144] At block 1010 , terminal device 110 receives from network device 120 a first configuration for a set of uplink resources.

[0145] In block 1020, the terminal device 110 determines a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, where uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window are used for uplink transmission and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window are disabled for transmission. In some embodiments, the uplink transmission may include at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0146] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive a second configuration from the network device 120 indicating the time window and determine the time window based on the second configuration. In some embodiments, the second configuration may include at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window. In some embodiments, the period of the time window may be the same as the period of the DRX cycle.

[0147] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a first time instance based on a reference time, the period, and an index of the time window, determine a second time instance based on the first time instance, determine a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset, and determine the time window based on the start time and the time interval.

[0148] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the time window based on the start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device, and may determine the end time of the time window based on at least one of the time interval of the time window set for the terminal device, a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time when the terminal device enters an inactive time.

[0149] In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window, the terminal device 110 may start an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring for a wake-up signal.

[0150] In some embodiments, if the UL transmission is performed on the UL resources within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is shorter than a threshold time interval, the terminal device 110 may not start an on time interval timer for the DRX cycle, or may start an on time interval timer based on the end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device.

[0151] In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform monitoring on the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG.

[0152] In some embodiments, if the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal is not received, the terminal device 110 may perform one of a first operation of not starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle or a second operation of starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive an indication from the network device 120 indicating the first operation or the second operation.

[0153] In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform monitoring on the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG.

[0154] In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value is received, the terminal device 110 may start an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a second value is received, the terminal device 110 may not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the first value indicates starting the on time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission.

[0155] In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group associated with the uplink transmission and a second search space set group associated with the wake-up signal, or may perform the monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined search space set group. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform monitoring on the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform monitoring on the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0156] In some embodiments, if no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources in the time window and a wake-up signal indicating starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle is received, the terminal device 110 may start the on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second search space set group associated with the wake-up signal. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling, the terminal device 110 may not perform monitoring on the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0157] In some embodiments, the associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for that time window.

[0158] The method of Fig. 10 may determine UL resources based on a time window associated with a DRX cycle, enabling UL triggered DRX, which can facilitate alignment between DL and UL transmissions and improve power saving.

[0159] 11 illustrates an example communication method 1100 implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 1100 may be performed in network device 120 as shown in FIG. For purposes of explanation, method 1100 will be described below with reference to FIG. It should be understood that method 1100 may include additional blocks not shown and / or omit some blocks that are shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0160] At block 1110, the network device 120 sends to the terminal device 110 a first configuration for a set of uplink resources.

[0161] In block 1120, the network device 120 determines a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window are used for uplink transmission, and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window are disabled for transmission. In some embodiments, the uplink transmission may include at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0162] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a second configuration to the terminal device 110 indicating the time window and determine the time window based on the second configuration. In some embodiments, the second configuration may include at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window. In some embodiments, the period of the time window may be the same as the period of the DRX cycle.

[0163] In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine a first time instance based on a reference time, the period and an index of the time window, determine a second time instance based on the first time instance, determine a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset, and determine the time window based on the start time and the time interval.

[0164] In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine a start time of the time window based on a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device, and may determine an end time of the time window based on at least one of a time interval of the time window set for the terminal device, a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time when the terminal device enters an inactive time.

[0165] In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window, the network device 120 may start an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle.

[0166] In some embodiments, if the UL transmission is performed on the UL resources within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than the start time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is shorter than a threshold time interval, the network device 120 may not start an on time interval timer for the DRX cycle, or may start an on time interval timer based on the end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device.

[0167] In some embodiments, if the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal is not received by the terminal device, network device 120 may perform one of a first operation of not starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle or a second operation of starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, network device 120 may send an indication to terminal device 110 indicating the first operation or the second operation.

[0168] In these embodiments, the network device 120 may perform a downlink transmission within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling, the network device 120 may not perform transmission of the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG.

[0169] In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value is sent, the network device 120 may start an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, if an uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a second value is sent, the network device 120 may not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the first value indicates starting the on time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission.

[0170] In these embodiments, network device 120 may perform a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group associated with the uplink transmission and a second search space set group associated with the wake-up signal. In some alternative embodiments, network device 120 may perform a downlink transmission within the on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predefined search space set group.

[0171] In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling, transmission of the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG is not performed. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling, transmission of the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG is not performed.

[0172] In some embodiments, if no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal is sent indicating starting an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle, network device 120 may start the on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle.

[0173] In these embodiments, the network device 120 may perform downlink transmission within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second SSSG associated with the wake-up signal. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, if the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling, the network device 120 does not perform transmission of the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0174] In some embodiments, the associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for that time window.

[0175] The method of Fig. 11 may determine UL resources based on a time window associated with a DRX cycle, enabling UL triggered DRX, which can facilitate alignment between DL and UL transmissions and improve power saving. Examples of equipment and devices

[0176] Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1200 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1200 may be considered as another exemplary implementation of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the apparatus 1200 may be implemented in the terminal device 110 or the network device 120, or as at least a part thereof.

[0177] As shown, the apparatus 1200 comprises a processor 1210, a memory 1220 coupled to the processor 1210, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1240 coupled to the processor 1210, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1240. The memory 1210 stores at least a portion of a program 1230. The TX / RX 1240 is used for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 1240 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although the access nodes referred to herein may in practice have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 / Xn interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs / gNBs, an S1 / NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / SGW / UPF and an eNB / gNB, an Un interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a relay node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a terminal device.

[0178] The program 1230 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1210, enable the device 1200 to operate according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 1-11. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized by computer software executable by the processor 1210 of the device 1200, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1210 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the combination of the processor 1210 and the memory 1220 may form a processing means 1250 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0179] The memory 1220 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 1220 is shown in the device 1200, there may be several physically different memory modules in the device 1200. The processor 1210 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP) and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 1200 may have multiple processors, for example application specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0180] In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises a circuit configured to receive from a network device a first configuration for a set of uplink resources and to determine a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmissions and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmissions, the uplink transmissions including at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0181] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the time window by receiving a second configuration from the network device indicating the time window and determining the time window based on the second configuration. In some embodiments, the second configuration includes at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window. In some embodiments, a period of the time window is the same as a period of a DRX cycle.

[0182] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the time window by determining a first time instance based on a reference time, the period and an index of the time window, determining a second time instance based on the first time instance, determining a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset, and determining the time window based on the start time and the time interval.

[0183] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the time window by determining a start time of the time window based on a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device, and determining an end time of the time window based on at least one of the time interval of the time window set for the terminal device, a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time when the terminal device enters an inactive time.

[0184] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to: start an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle according to a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to stop monitoring for a wake-up signal.

[0185] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to either not start an on time interval timer for the DRX cycle pursuant to a determination that the UL transmission was performed on the UL resource within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is shorter than a threshold time interval, or to start an on time interval timer based on an end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device.

[0186] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform one of a first operation of not starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle or a second operation of starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle according to a determination that the uplink transmission was performed on the uplink resource within the time window and no wake-up signal was received. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to receive an indication from the network device indicating the first operation or the second operation.

[0187] In these embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform monitoring within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the monitoring following a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling by not performing monitoring on the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG.

[0188] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to start an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle pursuant to a determination that the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value is received, or to not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle pursuant to a determination that the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a second value is received. In some embodiments, the first value indicates starting the on time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission.

[0189] In these embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission and a second SSSG associated with the wake-up signal, or may be configured to perform the monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined search space set group.

[0190] In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the monitoring pursuant to a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling by not performing monitoring on the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the monitoring pursuant to a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling by not performing monitoring on the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG.

[0191] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to start the on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle according to a determination that no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal indicating starting an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle is received. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform monitoring within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second search space set group (SSSG) associated with the wake-up signal. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the monitoring by not performing monitoring on the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG according to a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling.

[0192] In some embodiments, the associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for that time window.

[0193] In some embodiments, the network device comprises a circuit configured to send a first configuration for a set of uplink resources to a terminal device and determine a time window associated with the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a DRX cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmission and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmission, the uplink transmission comprising at least one of an SR, a BSR, or a configured allowed UL transmission.

[0194] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the time window by transmitting a second configuration to the terminal device indicating the time window and determining the time window based on the second configuration. In some embodiments, the second configuration includes at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window. In some embodiments, the period of the time window may be the same as a period of a DRX cycle.

[0195] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to determine the time window by determining a first time instance based on a reference time, the period and an index of the time window, determining a second time instance based on the first time instance, determining a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset, and determining the time window based on the start time and the time interval.

[0196] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the time window by determining a start time of the time window based on a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device, and determining an end time of the time window based on at least one of the time interval of the time window set for the terminal device, a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time when the terminal device enters an inactive time.

[0197] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to, in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window, start an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle.

[0198] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to either not start an on time interval timer for the DRX cycle pursuant to a determination that the UL transmission was performed on the UL resource within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is shorter than a threshold time interval, or to start an on time interval timer based on an end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device.

[0199] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform one of a first operation of not starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle or a second operation of starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle according to a determination that the uplink transmission was performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal was not received by the terminal device. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to send an indication to the terminal device indicating the first operation or the second operation.

[0200] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first SSSG associated with the uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform the downlink transmission by not performing transmission of the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG according to a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling.

[0201] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to start an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle according to a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value has been sent, or to not start an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle according to a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a second value has been sent. In some embodiments, the first value indicates starting the on time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission.

[0202] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group associated with the uplink transmission and a second search space set group associated with the wake-up signal, or to perform a downlink transmission within the on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined search space set group.

[0203] In some embodiments, the first SSSG does not include a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the downlink transmission by not performing a transmission of the DCI format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG in accordance with a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the downlink transmission by not performing a transmission of the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG in accordance with a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling.

[0204] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to start an on time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle according to a determination that no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal indicating starting an on time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle has been transmitted.

[0205] In some embodiments, the circuitry may be further configured to perform a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second SSSG associated with the wake-up signal. In some embodiments, the second SSSG does not include a DCI format for uplink scheduling. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be configured to perform the downlink transmission by not performing transmission of the DCI format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG according to a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling.

[0206] In some embodiments, the associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for that time window.

[0207] The term "circuitry" as used herein may refer to a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware. As yet another example, a circuit may be any portion of a hardware processor having software, including a digital signal processor, software, and one or more memories, that cooperate to cause a device, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion thereof, that requires software / firmware for operation, but the software may not be present if not required for operation. As used herein, the term "circuitry" also includes an implementation of only a hardware circuit or one or more processors, or a portion of a hardware circuit or one or more processors and its (or their) associated software and / or firmware.

[0208] Overall, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described using block diagrams, flow charts, or some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, by way of non-limiting examples, in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or any combination thereof.

[0209] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, that execute in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform a process or method as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-11. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as appropriate. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0210] Program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, and when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a separate software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0211] The above program code may be implemented on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program used by or associated with an instruction execution system, device, or apparatus. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or apparatus, or any suitable combination of the aforementioned media. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium may include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the aforementioned.

[0212] It should be noted that although operations have been described in a particular order, it should not be understood that such operations need to be performed in the particular order shown, or in any sequential order, or that all of the operations described must be performed in order to achieve desired results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although some specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to certain embodiments. Some features described in the context of individual embodiments may be realized in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable subcombination.

[0213] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method of communication comprising: receiving, at the terminal device, a first configuration for a set of uplink resources from a network device; determining a time window for the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmissions and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmissions, the uplink transmissions including at least one of a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a configured granted uplink transmission; The method includes:

2. Determining the time window comprises: receiving a second setting from the network device indicative of the time window; determining the time window based on the second setting; and The method of claim 1 , comprising:

3. The second setting includes at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window. The method of claim 2.

4. The period of the time window is the same as the period of the DRX cycle. The method according to claim 3.

5. Determining the time window based on the second setting includes: determining a first time instance based on a reference time, the period, and an index of the time window; determining a second time instance based on the first time instance; determining a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset; determining the time window based on the start time and the time interval; The method of claim 3 , comprising:

6. Determining the time window comprises: determining a start time of the time window based on a start time of an on-time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device; The end time of the time window is the time interval of the time window set for the terminal device; a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on-time interval of the DRX cycle; the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time at which the terminal device enters an inactive period; determining based on at least one of The method of claim 1 , comprising:

7. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

8. Stop monitoring the wake-up signal The method of claim 7 further comprising:

9. in response to a determination that the uplink transmission was performed on the uplink resource within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is less than a threshold time interval; do not start an on-interval timer for said DRX cycle, or starting an on-time interval timer based on an end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

10. in response to a determination that the uplink transmission was performed on the uplink resources within the time window and that no wake-up signal was received, a first operation of not starting an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle; or a second operation of starting an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. To execute one of the The method of claim 1 further comprising:

11. receiving an indication from the network device indicating the first operation or the second operation; The method of claim 10 further comprising:

12. performing monitoring within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group (SSSG) associated with the uplink transmission; The method of claim 8 or 10, further comprising:

13. The first SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling. The method of claim 12.

14. performing the monitoring, not performing monitoring on a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG in accordance with a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling. The method of claim 12, comprising:

15. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle in accordance with a determination that the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value is received; or and not starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle pursuant to determining that the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and that a wake-up signal having a second value is received. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

16. The first value indicates starting the on-time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on-time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission. The method of claim 15.

17. performing monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first Search Space Set Group (SSSG) associated with the uplink transmission and a second SSSG associated with the wake-up signal; or performing the monitoring within the on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined search space set group; 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

18. The first SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling.

20. The method of claim 17.

19. performing the monitoring, not performing monitoring on a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG in accordance with a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling.

20. The method of claim 17, comprising:

20. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle in accordance with a determination that no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and a wake-up signal indicating starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle is received. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

21. performing monitoring within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second search space set group (SSSG) associated with the wake-up signal; 21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

22. The associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for the time window.

21. The method of claim 7, 10, 15 or 20.

23. The second SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for uplink scheduling.

22. The method of claim 17 or 21.

24. performing the monitoring, not performing monitoring on a downlink control information (DCI) format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG in accordance with a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling.

22. The method of claim 17 or 21, comprising:

25. 1. A method of communication comprising: transmitting, in the network device, a first configuration of a set of uplink resources to a terminal device; determining a time window for the set of uplink resources, the time window being associated with a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, uplink resources of the set of uplink resources within the time window being used for uplink transmissions and uplink resources of the set of uplink resources outside the time window being disabled for transmissions, the uplink transmissions including at least one of a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a configured granted uplink transmission; The method includes:

26. Determining the time window comprises: transmitting to the terminal device a second configuration indicative of the time window; determining the time window based on the second setting; and 26. The method of claim 25, comprising:

27. The second setting includes at least one of a time interval, a period, or an offset of the time window.

27. The method of claim 26.

28. The period of the time window is the same as the period of the DRX cycle.

28. The method of claim 27.

29. Determining the time window based on the second setting includes: determining a first time instance based on a reference time, the period, and an index of the time window; determining a second time instance based on the first time instance; determining a start time of the time window based on the second time instance and the offset; determining the time window based on the start time and the time interval; 28. The method of claim 27, comprising:

30. Determining the time window comprises: determining a start time of the time window based on a start time of an on-time interval of the DRX cycle and a first offset value set for the terminal device; The end time of the time window is the time interval of the time window set for the terminal device; a second offset value set for the terminal device and the start time or end time of the on-time interval of the DRX cycle; the end time of the on time interval of the DRX cycle, or the time at which the terminal device enters an inactive period; determining based on at least one of 26. The method of claim 25, comprising:

31. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle in accordance with a determination that an uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

32. in response to a determination that the uplink transmission was performed on the uplink resource within the time window at a time interval that is earlier than a start time of an on time interval of the DRX cycle by a time interval that is less than a threshold time interval; do not start an on-interval timer for said DRX cycle, or starting an on-time interval timer based on an end of the uplink transmission and a time offset configured for the terminal device; 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

33. in response to a determination that the uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resources within the time window and that a wake-up signal is not received by the terminal device, a first operation of not starting an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle; or a second operation of starting an on-interval timer for the associated DRX cycle. To execute one of the 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

34. transmitting an instruction indicating the first operation or the second operation to the terminal device; 34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

35. performing a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group (SSSG) associated with the uplink transmission; 34. The method of claim 31 or 33, further comprising:

36. The first SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling.

36. The method of claim 35.

37. performing the downlink transmission, and not performing transmission of a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG in accordance with a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling.

36. The method of claim 35, comprising:

38. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle according to a determination that the uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal having a first value has been transmitted; or and not starting an on-time interval timer for the associated DRX cycle pursuant to determining that the uplink transmission has been performed on the uplink resource within the time window and that a wake-up signal having a second value has been transmitted.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

39. The first value indicates starting the on-time interval timer or an acknowledgment of the uplink transmission, and the second value indicates not starting the on-time interval timer or a negative acknowledgment of the uplink transmission.

39. The method of claim 38.

40. performing a downlink transmission within an on-time interval of the DRX cycle based on a first search space set group (SSSG) associated with the uplink transmission and a second SSSG associated with the wake-up signal; or performing downlink transmission within the on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a predetermined search space set group; 40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

41. The first SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling.

41. The method of claim 40.

42. performing the downlink transmission, and not performing transmission of a downlink control information (DCI) format for downlink scheduling in the first SSSG in accordance with a determination that the first SSSG includes a DCI format for downlink scheduling.

41. The method of claim 40, comprising:

43. starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle in accordance with a determination that no uplink transmission is performed on the uplink resource within the time window and a wake-up signal indicating starting an on-time interval timer for an associated DRX cycle has been transmitted.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

44. performing a downlink transmission within an on time interval of the DRX cycle based on a second search space set group (SSSG) associated with the wake-up signal; 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

45. The associated DRX cycle is the next DRX cycle or the current DRX cycle for the time window.

44. The method of claim 31, 33, 38 or 43.

46. The second SSSG does not include a downlink control information (DCI) format for uplink scheduling.

45. The method of claim 40 or 44.

47. performing the downlink transmission, and not performing transmission of a downlink control information (DCI) format for uplink scheduling in the second SSSG in accordance with a determination that the second SSSG includes a DCI format for uplink scheduling.

45. The method of claim 40 or 44, comprising:

48. A processor configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24. Communication equipment.

49. A processor configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 25 to 47. Communication equipment.

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