Access network node, user equipment, and method performed thereby

Abstract

A method for providing network energy saving configuration information for energy saving of an access network node to a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The UE determines whether the measurement of a reference signal (RS) is restricted for energy saving of the access network node, and the UE configures the operation of the UE for the measurement of the RS based on the determination.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication system. The present disclosure is particularly, but not exclusively, related to wireless communication systems and devices operating in accordance with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards or their equivalents or derivatives (including LTE-Advanced, next generation or 5G networks, future generations, and beyond). The present disclosure is particularly, but not exclusively, related to network energy saving extensions and technologies in wireless access networks. Recent developments in 3GPP standards are referred to as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and are also commonly referred to as "4G". Further, the terms "5G" and "new radio" (NR) refer to evolving communication technologies expected to support various applications and services. Various details of 5G networks are described, for example, in the "NGMN 5G White Paper" V1.0 by the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance, which is available from https: / / www.ngmn.org / 5g-white-paper.html. 3GPP intends to support 5G via the so-called 3GPP Next Generation (NextGen) radio access network (RAN) and 3GPP NextGen core network.

Background Art

[0002] In the 3GPP standard, a NodeB (or eNB in LTE, gNB in 5G) is a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (or simply an "access node" or "base station"), through which a communication device (user equipment or "UE") connects to the core network and communicates with other communication devices or remote servers. For simplicity, in this specification, the terms RAN node or base station are used to refer to such access nodes.

[0003] In the current 5G architecture, for example, the gNB structure is split into two parts called the Central Unit (CU) and the Distributed Unit (DU) connected by the F1 interface. This enables the use of a "split" architecture, whereby the usually "upper" CU layer (e.g., PDCP, but not necessarily or exclusively) and the usually "lower" DU layer (e.g., RLC / MAC / PHY, but not necessarily or exclusively) are implemented separately. Thus, for example, the upper layer CU functions for multiple gNBs can be implemented centrally (e.g., in a single processing unit, cloud-based or virtualized system, etc.), and the lower layer DU functions can be held locally in each gNB.

[0004] For simplicity, in this specification, the terms mobile device, user device, or UE are used to refer to any communication device that can connect to the core network via one or more base stations. Although the mobile device can be referred to in the description in this specification, it is understood that the technology described can be implemented in any communication device (mobile and / or generally fixed) that can connect to a communication network to send and receive data, regardless of whether the communication device is controlled by human input or software instructions stored in memory.

[0005] As 5G spreads across industrial and geographical domains and deals with more advanced services and applications (e.g., extended reality (XR)) that require extremely high data rates, the network is becoming denser, using more antennas, and using a wider bandwidth and more frequency bands. In this context, network energy saving is of great importance for environmental sustainability, reduction of environmental impact, and reduction of operating costs. For example, the energy cost of cellular networks is reported to account for about 23% of the total operator cost.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Much of the energy consumption in modern networks is related to wireless access networks, especially Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The power consumption of wireless access can be divided into two important parts: a dynamic part that is consumed only when data communication is taking place, and a static part that is continuously consumed to maintain the operation of the wireless access network even when no communication is taking place. Therefore, although the power consumption of UEs has been widely studied and considered, it is also necessary to consider the power consumption on the network side, especially that of base stations. Some technologies (e.g., cell activation / deactivation mechanisms) have been defined to facilitate energy saving in base stations, and some UE power-saving technologies (e.g., discontinuous reception (DRX) and cell sleep mechanisms) can also provide energy saving in base stations through careful selection of parameters. Furthermore, base stations can achieve a certain degree of energy saving based on the appropriate configuration of physical channels / signals and UE resources. However, energy saving on the network side has not been considered in detail at the system level.

[0007] Therefore, it can be seen that it is necessary to develop new solutions to improve network energy efficiency in consideration of the impact on the 5G environment. The present disclosure aims to provide an apparatus and a related method that at least partially address the above needs. The inventors have considered various techniques and extensions for network energy savings. These can be grouped into many different broad categories including (but not particularly limited to) time-domain techniques, frequency-domain techniques, spatial-domain techniques, and power-domain techniques.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] Available techniques and extensions that can be considered to increase the opportunity for time-domain energy savings by the base station include, but are not particularly limited to, the following. - Potential ways to reduce or adapt common channels and / or signals (such as, for example, synchronisation signal block (SSB), system information block (such as SIB1), other system information (SI), paging, and / or physical random access channel (PRACH)), and the potential impact on the transmission and reception of such shared channels / signals, such as initial access procedures, cell (re)selection, handover, synchronisation, and / or measurements performed by UEs (idle, inactive, or connected): - Potential ways to reduce the transmission and reception of common channels / signals can include, for example, no transmission and reception or reduced transmission and reception, increased periods, on-demand transmission and reception of common channels / signals, or offloading of common channels / signals to other carriers, or "light" or "relaxed" versions of common channels / signals. - Potential ways to reduce / adapt the transmission and reception of periodic and semi-persistent signals and channel configurations (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), group-common / UE-specific physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), semi-persistently scheduled physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrying scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI) reporting carrying PUCCH / PUSCH, PUCCH carrying hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), configured grant physical uplink shared channel (CG-PUSCH), sounding reference signal (SRS), positioning reference signals (PRS), etc.). - Semi-static and / or dynamic cell on / off at one or more granularities (e.g., subframe, slot, and / or symbol granularity). For example: - Activation request of the cell / network node by the UE using signals / channels from the UE for the wake-up request of the base station - Layer 1 / Layer 2 (L1 / L2)-based mobility extension to enable network nodes (e.g., transmission and reception point (TRP), repeater, etc.) to efficiently perform on / off operations within the cell, and - Extension of signaling to indicate semi-static and / or dynamic cell / subframe / slot / symbol on / off periods. - Support for periodic and / or one or more on-demand reference signals from the base station to assist in cell detection. - Dynamic adaptation of UE connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX) settings in a UE group- or cell-specific manner. - A mechanism that utilizes cell on / off opportunities to exploit potential energy-saving states or sleep modes and transitions between states, including the following: - User traffic, user density, or the likelihood of the base station waking up due to receiving a wake-up signal, and - The possibility of enabling detection and measurement of sleeping or idle cells. - Use of UE assistance information to facilitate time domain adaptation of the base station.

[0009] It will be understood that all of these time domain techniques are potentially applicable to single component carriers and multi-component carriers. Furthermore, the interaction between the use of UE grouping and the above techniques is being investigated.

[0010] Available techniques, enhancements, and related matters considered for frequency domain adaptation by the base station include, but are not particularly limited to, the following. - For operation within a single carrier or single component carrier (CC): - Enhancement of dynamic bandwidth adaptation: Enhancement of dynamic bandwidth adaptation, including adjustment of resource blocks (RBs) and / or bandwidth parts (BWPs) used by the UE for transmission and reception, reduction of BWP switch delay, BWP switching for UE groups, and co-adaptation of transmission bandwidth and power spectral density. - Support for UE group common BWPs, cell-specific BWPs, or dedicated BWPs for network energy saving, and related BWP switching mechanisms. - Enhancements for frequent BWP switching, such as resource configuration for SPS PDSCH and type 2 CG PUSCH. - For operation in multi-carriers: - Reduction and / or adaptation of common channels / signals of one or more CCs in multi-carrier operation. - In the case of inter-band carrier aggregation (CA), it includes enabling SSB-less secondary cell operation for one or more CCs. In SSB-less cell operation, the necessary conditions and constraints, and related procedures for idle, inactive, or connected UEs, including the activation procedure of the secondary cell (SCell), are considered. - This includes enabling SIB-less operation on one or more CCs in the case of intra-band and inter-band CA. - This reduces and / or adapts the base station transmission / reception of other common channels / signals (other than SSB) and the timing reference signal (TRS) for one or more CCs. - Extension of SCell activation and deactivation, extension of SCell suspension and dynamic primary cell (Pcell) switching. - Includes trigger conditions and methods for signaling activation / deactivation. - Includes dynamic Pcell switching common to a UE group.

[0011] Available technologies and extensions considered for adaptation of spatial elements by the base station, and related matters, include, but are not limited to, the following. - Dynamic adaptation of spatial elements such as measurement, CSI feedback, power control, PUSCH / PDSCH repetition, SRS transmission, transmission configuration indicator (TCI) configuration, beam management, beam outage recovery, radio link monitoring, cell (re)selection, handover, initial access, etc., and related impacts on UE operation. - Feedback / support information from the UE required to support dynamic spatial element adaptation: - For example, CSI measurement and report, SR, etc. - Signaling methods including reduced signaling to enable dynamic adaptation of spatial elements: - For example, group common L1 signaling, broadcast signaling, media access control (MAC) control element (CE), etc. - Dynamic transmission reception point (TRxP) adaptation. For example: - Triggering the on / off state of one or more TRxPs (which may depend on network implementation), and - Reconfiguration of SSB, path loss reference signal (PL-RS), TRS, and CSI-RS, and the related impacts on the initial access procedure, and / or synchronization and measurement performed by idle, inactive, or connected UEs. - Dynamic adaptation of logical ports and efficient port reconfiguration. For example: - Signaling of ports (such as non-zero power CSI-RS (NZP-CSI-RS) ports) if they need to be recognized by the UE, and - Dynamic adaptation (including activation / deactivation) of CSI measurement or report settings for port adaptation. - Co-adaptation of settings in the spatial domain, frequency domain, and / or power domain to avoid coverage loss. - Grouping of UEs to reduce the transmission and reception footprint at the base station, including (but not particularly limited to) grouping of users in the spatial domain.

[0012] It should be understood that the spatial element may include one or more antenna elements, transceiver unit (TxRU) (with sub-array or full connection), antenna panel, multiple TRxPs (either at the same location or geographically separated from each other), and / or logical antenna ports (corresponding to specific signals and channels).

[0013] According to one aspect, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method receives, from an access network node, at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, identifies when the at least one network energy saving configuration is activated, and configures the operation of the UE based on the at least one network energy saving configuration and when the at least one network energy saving configuration is activated.

[0014] The at least one network energy saving configuration may include at least one of: at least one time domain configuration including a configuration of at least one time domain resource for energy saving of the access network node; at least one frequency domain configuration including a configuration of at least one frequency domain resource for energy saving of the access network node; at least one spatial domain configuration including a transmitter or receiver configuration applied to provide energy saving in the access network node; and at least one power domain configuration including a power configuration applied to provide energy saving in the access network node.

[0015] When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one time domain configuration, the at least one time domain configuration may define at least one period during which the at least one network energy saving configuration is active.

[0016] At least one time domain configuration may include at least one cycle of at least one period, at least one offset representing the start time of at least one period, at least one granularity of at least one period, at least one duration of at least one period, at least one timer value for timing at least one period, and at least one indication of at least one time corresponding to at least one period. The at least one time domain configuration may include timing information indicating at least one portion of at least one period during which network energy saving is activated or deactivated. The timing information may indicate at least one pattern of at least one time domain resource within at least one period during which network energy saving becomes active or inactive. The timing information may include at least one bitmap indicating at least one pattern of at least one time domain resource. The timing information may be included. The at least one time domain configuration may include the granularity of the timing information. At least one network energy saving configuration includes a plurality of time domain configurations, and each time domain configuration of the plurality of time domain configurations defines each period during which the network energy saving configuration is activated, and each period defined by each of the plurality of time domain configurations may have a different cycle.

[0017] The method may further include determining whether a reference signal to be measured coincides with a time when network energy saving is active, and excluding the reference signal to be measured from the measurement if the reference signal to be measured coincides with a time when network energy saving is active.

[0018] The method may further include determining whether a reference signal to be transmitted coincides with a time when network energy saving is active, and excluding the reference signal to be transmitted from the transmission if the reference signal to be transmitted coincides with a time when network power saving of the network is active. At least one network energy-saving configuration includes an indication of the time when at least one network energy-saving configuration is activated, and the identification is based on the indication of the time when at least one network energy-saving configuration is performed.

[0019] When at least one network energy-saving configuration includes at least one frequency-domain configuration, the at least one frequency-domain configuration may define a reconfiguration of at least one frequency resource applied when at least one network energy-saving configuration is active.

[0020] At least one frequency domain configuration may include an indication indicating that a reduced reference signal density is applied when at least one network energy saving configuration is active. The indication indicating that a reduced reference signal density is applied may indicate a density scaling factor applied to the current reference signal density to reach the reduced reference signal density. At least one frequency domain configuration may indicate at least one reduced bandwidth applied when at least one network energy saving configuration is active. At least one frequency domain configuration may include a frequency offset indicating the start position of the bandwidth used by the UE within at least one reduced bandwidth. At least one frequency domain configuration may indicate a UE-specific bandwidth portion used when at least one network energy saving configuration is active. At least one frequency domain configuration may indicate at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor applied to at least one bandwidth portion to reach at least one reduced bandwidth. At least one frequency domain configuration may indicate a mapping between at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor and at least one bandwidth portion to which the bandwidth portion scaling factor is applied. At least one frequency domain configuration may indicate at least one pattern of frequency domain resources that are activated or deactivated when at least one network energy saving configuration is active. At least one frequency domain configuration may include at least one bitmap indicating a pattern of frequency domain resources. At least one frequency domain configuration may include the granularity of a pattern of frequency domain resources.

[0021] The UE can be configured with a default bandwidth part. If the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, configuring it includes redefining the currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving as the new default bandwidth part. The UE can be configured with a default bandwidth part and an inactive timer for timing an inactive period during which the UE later returns to the default bandwidth part. If the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, configuring it includes prohibiting the operation of the inactive timer and allowing the UE to continue using the currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving. The UE can be configured with at least one first bandwidth part used when network energy saving is not active and at least one second bandwidth part used when network energy saving is active. Configuring it includes switching from at least one first bandwidth part to at least one second bandwidth part.

[0022] The method can further include receiving, from an access network node, a reference signal reporting configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals for reporting to the access network node and at least one transceiver configuration associated with the at least one set of reference signals, measuring the at least one set of reference signals, and reporting the results of the measurement to the access network node. If at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one spatial domain configuration, the at least one spatial domain configuration can indicate at least one transceiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving based on measurements reported by the UE for at least one set of reference signals associated with the at least one transceiver configuration selected by the access network node.

[0023] The method may further include receiving, from an access network node, a reference signal resource configuration indicating at least one resource set for transmission of at least one set of reference signals, and at least one receiver configuration associated with the at least one set of reference signals, and transmitting, using the at least one resource set, the at least one set of reference signals to the access network node. When at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one spatial domain configuration, the at least one spatial domain configuration may be associated with at least one receiver configuration selected by the access network node, and may indicate at least one receiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving based on measurements of at least one set of reference signals transmitted by the UE.

[0024] When at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one power domain configuration, the at least one power domain configuration may indicate at least one of a power scaling factor and a type of sleep mode applied at the access network node for network energy saving.

[0025] The at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one common configuration indication indicating a mapping between a plurality of different configurations, and the plurality of different configurations may include at least two of a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, a spatial domain configuration, and a power domain configuration.

[0026] According to one aspect, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE includes means for receiving, from an access network node, at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, means for identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration becomes effective, and means for configuring the operation of the UE based on the at least one network energy saving configuration and when the at least one network energy saving configuration becomes effective.

[0027] According to one aspect, a method performed by an access network node is provided. The method includes transmitting to a user equipment (UE) at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration is to be activated, activating the at least one network energy saving configuration, and configuring the operation of the access network node based on the at least one network energy saving configuration transmitted to the UE. According to one aspect, an access network node is provided. The access network node includes means for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, means for identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration is to be activated, means for activating the at least one network energy saving configuration, and means for configuring the operation of the access network node based on the at least one network energy saving configuration transmitted to the UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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[0029] SUMMARY With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary communication system will be described only as an example.

[0030] FIG. 1 schematically shows a mobile ("cellular" or "wireless") communication system 1 to which an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable.

[0031] In network 1, user equipment (UE) 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 (for example, mobile phones and / or other mobile devices) can communicate with each other via a radio access network (RAN) node 5 that operates according to one or more compatible radio access technologies (RAT). In the illustrated example, RAN node 5 includes an NR / 5G base station or "gNB5" that operates one or more associated cells 9. Communication via base station 5 is typically routed via a core network 7 (for example, a 5G core network or an evolved packet core network (EPC)).

[0032] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, in FIG. 1, three UEs 3 and one base station 5 are shown for illustrative purposes, but the system, when implemented, will typically include other base stations and UEs.

[0033] Each base station 5 controls one or more associated cells, either directly or indirectly via one or more other nodes (such as home base stations, relays, remote radio heads, distributed units, etc.). Base station 5 can be configured to support both 4G and 5G, and / or any other 3GPP or non-3GPP communication protocol.

[0034] UEs 3 and their serving base stations 5 are connected via an appropriate air interface (for example, the so-called "Uu" interface and / or the like). Adjacent base stations 5 can be connected to each other via an appropriate inter-base station interface (such as the so-called "X2" interface, "Xn" interface, etc.).

[0035] The core network 7 includes a number of logical nodes (or "functions") to support communication in the communication system 1. In this example, the core network 7 includes a control plane function (CPF) 10 and one or more user plane functions (UPF) 11. The CPF 10 includes one or more Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 10-1, one or more Session Management Function (SMF), and a number of other functions 10-n.

[0036] The base station 5 is connected to the core network nodes via appropriate interfaces (or "reference points") such as the N2 reference point between the base station 5 and the AMF 10-1 for control signaling communication and the N3 reference point between the base station 5 and each UPF 11 for user data communication. Each UE 3 is connected to the AMF 10-1 via a logical non-access stratum (NAS) connection via the N1 reference point (similar to the S1 reference point in LTE). It will be understood that the N1 communication is transparently routed via the base station 5.

[0037] One or more UPF 11 are connected to an external data network (such as an IP network like the Internet) via a reference point N6 for user data communication.

[0038] The AMF 10-1 performs mobility management related functions, maintains non-NAS signaling connections with each UE 3, and manages UE registration. The AMF 10-1 is also responsible for paging management. The SMF 10-2 provides session management functions (forming part of the MME function in LTE) and further combines some control plane functions (provided by the serving gateway and packet data network gateway in LTE). The SMF 10-2 also assigns IP addresses to each UE 3.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 2 showing a typical frame structure that can be used in the communication system 1, the base station 5 and the UE 3 of the communication system 1 communicate with each other using resources organized into frames of length 10 ms in the time domain. Each frame has 10 equal-sized subframes of length 1 ms. Each subframe is divided into one or more slots having 14 orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols of the same length.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, the communication system 1 supports multiple different numerologies (subcarrier spacing (SCS), slot length, and thereby OFDM symbol length). Specifically, each numerology is identified by the parameter μ. Here, μ = 0 represents 15 kHz (corresponding to LTE SCS). Currently, the SCS for other values of μ can be derived, in effect, by scaling up from μ = 0 by a power of 2, i.e., SCS = 15 × 2 μ kHz. The relationship between the parameter μ and the SCS (Δf) is as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

[0041] In the communication system 1, the cell bandwidth can be divided into a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), each starting with its own common resource block (RB) and each having a set of consecutive RBs with a given numerology (sub-carrier spacing "SCS" and cyclic prefix "CP") on a given carrier. Conventionally, it will be understood that the number of downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and flexible symbols in each slot of a (e.g., common or dedicated) slot configuration is common to each BWP configured.

[0042] The UE3 and the base station 5 of the communication system 1 are configured to operate using BWPs in this way. For each serving cell of the UE3, the base station 5 can configure at least one downlink (DL) BWP (for example, the initial DL BWP). The base station 5 can configure the UE3 with a maximum (usually four) additional DL BWPs, only one of which is active at a given point in time. The UE3 is not expected to receive PDSCH, PDCCH, or CSI-RS outside the active bandwidth part (except for radio resource management (RRM)). If the serving cell is configured in the uplink (UL), the base station 5 can configure at least one UL BWP (for example, the initial UL BWP). The base station 5 can configure the UE3 with a maximum (usually four) additional UL BWPs, only one of which is active at a given point in time. The UE3 does not transmit PUSCH or PUCCH outside the active bandwidth part. For the active cell, the UE3 does not transmit SRS outside the active bandwidth part.

[0043] A BWP identifier or index (BWP-ID) is used to reference a BWP (individually in UL and DL). Thus, various radio resource control (RRC) configuration procedures can be associated with a specific BWP using the BWP-ID.

[0044] Specifically, the base station 5 can configure the initial DL BWP (e.g., by the initialDownlinkBWP IE) via system information (e.g., System Information Block 1 (SIB1)) and / or dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration, RRC resume, or RRC setup message (such as RRC)). For example, the common parameters of the initial DL BWP are provided via system information, and the UE-specific parameters are provided via dedicated signaling (e.g., ServingCellConfig IE in an RRC message including dedicated UE-specific BWP configuration). The dedicated signaling may also include some cell-specific information useful for specific scenarios (such as handover).

[0045] The base station 5 can configure the initial UL BWP (e.g., by the initialUplinkBWP IE) via system information (e.g., via System Information Block 1 (SIB1)) and / or dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration, RRC resume, or RRC setup up message (such as RRC)). For example, the common parameters of one or more initial UL BWPs may be provided via system information, and the UE-specific parameters may be provided via dedicated signaling (e.g., ServingCellConfig IE in an RRC message including dedicated UE-specific BWP configuration). This provides the configuration information for either a so-called special cell (SpCell), which is the primary cell of a master cell group (MCG) or a secondary cell group (SCG), or a secondary cell (SCell).

[0046] The initial DL and UL BWPs are used for at least the initial access before the RRC connection is established. The initial BWP is known as BWP#0 because the BWP identifier (or "index") is 0. Before receiving the system information that defines the UE's initial DL BWP, the DL BWP of each UE3 has a frequency range and numerology corresponding to a control resource set (CORESET) defined by the master information block (MIB), or in some cases, dedicated RRC signaling, e.g., CORESET#0. The CORESET is used to transmit the downlink control information (DCI) transmitted via the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to schedule system information blocks.

[0047] After receiving the system information (such as SIB1), UE3 configures the initial DL BWP and the initial UL BWP using the BWP configuration defined by that system information. The configured initial UL BWP is then used to initiate the random access procedure for setting up the RRC connection. The base station 5 configures the frequency domain position and bandwidth of the initial DL BWP in the system information such that the initial DL BWP includes the entire CORESET#0 within the frequency domain.

[0048] For each DL BWP within the set of DL BWPs of the primary cell, UE3 can be configured with a CORESET of all types of common search space (CSS) sets and UE-specific search space (USS) sets. For each UL BWP within the set of UL BWPs of the primary cell or PUCCH - secondary cell, UE3 configures a resource set for PUCCH transmission. Additional DL BWP and additional UL BWP may be constituted by downlink BWP information and uplink BWP information provided via dedicated signaling (such as the BWP-Downlink IE and BWP-Uplink IE in the ServingCellConfig IE within the RRC message respectively). The downlink BWP information includes, for example, the identifier (or index) of the configured BWP (such as the BWP-ID IE), the common downlink BWP information (such as the BWP-DownlinkCommon IE) for configuring the common parameters (cell-specific) of the downlink BWP, and the dedicated BWP information (such as the BWP-DownlinkDedicated IE) for configuring the dedicated (UE-specific) parameters of the downlink BWP.

[0049] The dedicated downlink BWP information includes the information (such as the PDCCH-Config IE) for configuring the UE-specific PDCCH for the BWP, and the information (such as the PDSCH-Config IE) for configuring the UE-specific PDSCH for the BWP. The configuration of CORESET and CSI-RS is also done via the dedicated downlink BWP information (CORESET via the PDCCH configuration, CSI-RS via the PDSCH configuration).

[0050] The uplink BWP information includes, for example, the identifier (or index) of the configured BWP (such as the BWP-ID IE or BWPIndex), the common uplink BWP information (such as the BWP-UplinkCommon IE) for configuring the common parameters (cell-specific) of the uplink BWP, and the dedicated BWP information (such as the BWP uplink dedicated IE) for configuring the dedicated (UE-specific) parameters of the uplink BWP. The dedicated uplink BWP information includes the information (such as the PUCCH-Config IE) for configuring the UE-specific PUCCH for the BWP, and the information (such as the PUSCH-Config IE) for configuring the UE-specific PUSCH for the BWP.

[0051] The starting position and bandwidth of the DL BWP are defined via the respective position and bandwidth information (e.g., locationAndBandwidth IE) of the corresponding common downlink BWP information of the downlink BWP information identified by the identifier (or index) of the configured BWP (e.g., BWP-ID IE or BWPIndex).

[0052] The starting position and bandwidth of the UL BWP are defined via the respective position and bandwidth information (e.g., locationAndBandwidth IE) of the corresponding common uplink BWP information of the uplink BWP information identified by the identifier (or index) of the configured BWP (e.g., BWP-ID IE or BWPIndex).

[0053] UE3 is configured to switch the active BWP between the configured BWPs as necessary. For example, the switching in UE3 can be initiated by receiving scheduling DCI, expiration of an inactive timer (such as BWPInactivityTimer), and / or starting a random access procedure.

[0054] In a general use case, the idle mode BWP (such as the initial BWP) is smaller than the connected mode BWP. In addition to the initial BWP, there are two main UE-specific types of BWPs, namely the first active BWP and the default BWP. Similar to the initial BWP, the first active BWP can also be used to perform the initial access. The first active BWP is also the first BWP for UE3 to start data transfer after RRC configuration / reconfiguration. The default BWP is the UE-specific BWP that the corresponding UE returns to when the inactive timer expires if it is configured for the UE. If the default BWP is not configured for the UE, the initial BWP can be treated as the default BWP.

[0055] Advantageously, communication network 1 implements many advantageous techniques and enhancements for implementing a network energy saving (NES) configuration at base station 5 and for performing related adjustments to the communication between UE 3 and the base station in view of the NES configuration at the base station. These techniques and enhancements include techniques in the time domain, frequency domain, spatial domain, and power domain. Nevertheless, it will be understood that the advantages of NES can be achieved without implementing all of the techniques and enhancements described. In particular, the advantages can be achieved by implementing only the NES techniques in the time domain, NES techniques in the frequency domain, NES techniques in the spatial domain, or NES techniques in the power domain, or a subset of such techniques.

[0056] More specifically, base station 5 and UE 3 are mutually configured to support the implementation of NES modes in the time, frequency, spatial, and / or power domains. As will be described in more detail below, base station 5 configures (or updates) the NES mode and signals the UE 3 with appropriate signaling (such as RRC signaling) an information element (IE) that defines various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and / or power domains to notify the UE 3 of the (updated) NES configuration, thereby pre-configuring the NES mode in the UE 3. When NES is enabled, the appropriate NES configuration is properly activated at base station 5. The related IEs that form part of that NES configuration are autonomously applied each time base station 5 enters the corresponding NES mode until the NES configuration is updated.

[0057] UE 3 can identify when a particular NES configuration (such as a time, frequency, spatial, or power domain configuration or a "joint" configuration representing a combination of those configurations) is activated (if non-active) or deactivated (if active) at base station 5.

[0058] The timing of activation / deactivation of the NES configuration can be determined, for example, based on explicit signaling (e.g., dynamically via the NES activation indication in the downlink control information (DCI)). For example, 2 bits of the NES field in the DCI can be used for the dynamic activation of a specific NES configuration (such as a preconfigured time, frequency, space, and / or power domain configuration).

[0059] Specifically, different combinations of bits (binary values) can be used to activate / deactivate different configuration types in the UE (e.g., 00 for time, 01 for frequency, 10 for space, 11 for power, etc.). It will be understood that it is also possible to simultaneously activate two or more different configurations (such as time, frequency, space, power, etc.) using a 4-bit DCI field where each bit represents activation / deactivation. Alternatively, a single bit can be used to indicate that all semi-statically configured (not released) NES configurations are activated at the time of activation of the network energy saving time domain. However, it will be understood that activation / deactivation may alternatively or additionally be implicitly identified, for example, based on stored NES configuration information. Implicit activation / deactivation may be based on, for example, an activation (or deactivation) after the expiration of a delay timer / period (e.g., T NES ) that represents the delay between the NES configuration and the start timing of activation / deactivation of the NES configuration (especially for semi-static activation of the NES).

[0060] Implicit activation / deactivation can be based on, for example, activation (or deactivation) during a predetermined period during the day or at night, deactivation (or activation) triggered by the expiration of a timer or the occurrence of a specific event, periodic activation (or deactivation) at regular pre-set intervals, deactivation (or activation) for a specific period after activation (or deactivation), etc.

[0061] As will be described in detail later, the communication network 1 implements many advantageous techniques and extensions for providing flexible time-domain energy savings that both the UE 3 and the base station 5 can identify the timing when energy savings is active within the network. Based on this, the base station 5 and / or the UE 3 can determine whether a particular instance of NZP-CSI-RS or SRS should be excluded from measurements / reports at the UE 3 (or the base station 5) by determining whether the zero power CSI-RS (NZP-CSI-RS) (or sounding reference signal (SRS)) is within the identified NES timing period when NES is active at the base station 5.

[0062] In one beneficial technique described in more detail below, the NES configuration provided to the UE 3 includes time-domain configuration information including configurable periods and offsets that define windows that occur regularly (periodically) during the period when the energy-saving NES mode is active. The time-domain configuration in the exemplary communication system 1 also defines one or more time-domain patterns that define specific timings (such as slots, groups of slots, or other periods, etc.) within the NES window when NES becomes active or inactive. The period, offset, and time-domain pattern can be defined at any appropriate level of timing granularity (which can vary between releases and generations of communication technologies).

[0063] In another beneficial technique, (alternatively or additionally,) the time-domain configuration information includes information identifying a predetermined period, a timer value, and / or a time representing the period during which the NES is active. In this case, since the UE3 / base station 5 implicitly knows when the NES becomes inactive, explicit deactivation is not required thereafter. This is particularly suitable for scenarios where there is known / repetitive user traffic only during a specific period (such as when user traffic occurs at specific timings and / or during a specific period). Beneficially, the base station 5 of the communication system 1 can also be configured for the simultaneous activation and / or deactivation of multiple configurations of time-domain energy saving (such as a long-period time-domain pattern and a short-period time-domain pattern, for example). Specifically, one configuration (such as a short period) can be activated simultaneously when another configuration (such as a long period) is activated. Multiple different configurations can be activated or deactivated independently.

[0064] This provides the flexibility of the base station 5 to achieve a greater degree of power saving while having the ability to respond quickly to data arrival, especially when there are multiple different traffic characteristics. Different time-domain configurations can form part of a list defining multiple NES configurations that can be used, for example, to configure multiple NES configurations simultaneously.

[0065] As will be described in more detail later, the communication network 1 also implements some advantageous techniques and enhancements for providing network energy-saving patterns configurable in the frequency domain.

[0066] Advantageously, in one technique described in more detail below, the NES configuration provided to UE3 includes frequency domain configuration information that includes information defining a reduced CSI-RS density. CSI-RS is a flexible multi-purpose signal that can be used for beam management. During the network energy saving mode, however, beam refinement may not be supported and frequent RRC reconfigurations are not desirable. Therefore, the reduced density can be shown as part of the NES configuration in the frequency domain. This reduced density can then be applied autonomously (at base station 5 and UE3) each time base station 5 enters the NES mode until the NES configuration is updated.

[0067] Here, assuming that the transmission power of the resource element is fixed, it is understood that the overall transmission power nevertheless decreases due to the reduction in the number of resource elements used for transmission. Advantageously, this does not affect legacy UEs. In another advantageous technique described in more detail below, (alternatively or additionally,) the frequency domain configuration information is configured to define a reduced NES bandwidth, and UE3 performs UE-BWP switching to operate within the NES bandwidth (if necessary) when NES is activated. The reduced bandwidth for NES is signaled to the UE via the NES configuration. Advantageously, base station 5 can also define one or more new NES BWPs within the NES bandwidth. The NES BWP may be a UE-specific BWP specifically defined for NES that is used when the UE's active BWP needs to be changed for operation within the reduced NES bandwidth. Alternatively (or additionally), the NES BWP may be an "effective NES BWP" defined by a starting offset (with respect to the start position of the configured NES bandwidth) where the remaining parameters (configuring the lengths of the BWP, CORESET, CSI-RS, etc.) are reused even though it is shifted in the frequency domain by an offset. In this scenario, the portions of the BWP / CORESET / CSI-RS that extend outside the NES bandwidth are excluded.

[0068] In another beneficial technique, frequency domain configuration information is configured (alternatively or additionally) for semi-static or dynamic BWP switching / adaptation to adapt the UE configuration to different traffic activities. Specifically, for BWP adaptation for NES, specific frequency resources (such as resource blocks / resource block groups) of the BWP can be (re)configured, and / or specific BWPs can be (re)configured. The frequency resources / BWPs may be configured for all UEs or a "group" of one or more UEs. The frequency domain configuration information can include, for example, scaling factors and / or information for constructing a frequency domain bitmap "energy saving" pattern for BWP adaptation when entering the NES mode. When a frequency domain bitmap is used, this can provide an indication of the frequency resources used within a set of group-common BWPs (where each BWP is several consecutive resource block groups (RBGs)) (e.g., at the granularity of one or more resource block groups (RBGs)). For example, "1" in the frequency domain pattern bitmap can indicate an active frequency resource and "0" can indicate an inactive frequency resource (or vice versa).

[0069] This frequency domain configuration can be provided via RRC (re)configuration, as will be described in detail later. The group common DCI or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) may be extended to include a scaling factor and / or a frequency domain pattern for faster (dynamic) activation / deactivation of the NES mode to which the scaling factor and / or frequency domain pattern is applied. As will be described in detail later, one or more bandwidth scaling factors may be used to configure one or more reduced scale NES BWPs used for a particular UE3 when the NES configuration is active. The advantage of the "bandwidth scaling factor" is that dedicated BWP switching signaling is not required for each individual UE to enter the NES mode and use the NES BWP. The base station 5 can currently configure up to 4 DL BWPs per cell and up to 4 UL BWPs per cell using dedicated signaling, but in an optional (but beneficial) extension, the communication system 1 supports the configuration of one or more additional DL NES-BWPs per cell and one or more additional UL NES-BWPs per cell while operating in the NES mode.

[0070] As will be described in detail later, the communication network 1 also implements many advantageous techniques and extensions for providing network energy savings in the spatial domain.

[0071] Specifically, in one beneficial example, the base station 5 generates one or more virtual transceiver (TRX) on / off configurations for one or more groups of UEs, and the virtual TRX on / off configurations are used to determine an appropriate TRX configuration for network energy saving. For each virtual TRX on / off configuration, a respective set of ports (such as 64 / 32 / 8 / 4, etc.) and one or more associated CSI-RS configurations can be determined. The UE 3 measures and reports each CSI-RS corresponding to the TRX configuration, which enables the base station 5 to identify the best directional beam and thereby select the on / off of the associated TRX ports. Next, the TRX configuration for NES can be (re)configured by mapping the selected TRX port settings to the relevant index in the spatial domain configuration information provided as part of the NES configuration. A field for this index is also added to each group of NZP-CSI-RS configurations in the information for configuring the CSI report, for the reference signal resource configuration and the measurement report. In the uplink, as will be described in more detail later, a similar technique can be implemented for the measurement of the SRS transmitted by the UE 3 at the base station 5.

[0072] The communication network 1 also beneficially provides network energy saving in the power domain.

[0073] Beneficially, the NES configuration provided to the UE 3 includes power domain configuration information defining the power scaling factor applied between NESs and / or information indicating the sleep mode in which the base station 5 can operate when NES is activated. The information indicating the sleep mode can identify the "type" of sleep mode (such as micro sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, etc.) based only on the power level. The power domain configuration information can also identify one or more specific cells to which the sleep mode is applied and / or the timing of the wake-up cycle from the sleep mode.

[0074] It should be understood that the information elements in the NES configuration need not be limited to one of the time, frequency, space, and power domains. The NES configuration can include, for example, information for the co - adaptation of the frequency domain, space domain, power domain, and / or time domain when the NES is active. In one particular example, it can include a mapping table that defines the mapping between a TRX index representing a specific TRX port on / off setting (described above), a BWP index (e.g., corresponding to the BWP associated with the on / off setting of the TRX port), and the relevant power scaling factor applied to the active TRX.

[0075] User Equipment Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the main components of the UE3 for the communication system 1 shown in Figure 1.

[0076] As shown, the UE3 has a transceiver circuit 31 operable to transmit signals to and receive signals from the base station 5 via one or more antennas 33. The UE3 has a controller 37 for controlling the operation of the UE3. The controller 37 is associated with a memory 39 and connected to the transceiver circuit 31. The UE3 may have all the normal functions of a conventional UE3, which are not necessarily required for its operation, but of course, (such as a user interface 35 like a touch screen / keypad / microphone / speaker, etc., which enables direct control by the user and interaction with the user), and this may be provided by any one or any suitable combination of hardware, software, and firmware. The software may be pre - installed in the memory 39 and / or downloaded, for example, from a communication network or a removable data storage device (RMD).

[0077] In this example, the controller 37 is configured to control the overall operation of the UE 3 by program instructions or software instructions stored in the memory 39. As shown in the figure, these software instructions include, among other things, an operating system 41, a communication control module 43, a control information management module 45, a NES configuration management module 47, an RRC module 51, and a system information module 53.

[0078] The communication control module 43 is operable to control the communication between the UE 3 and one or more base stations 5 (and other communication devices connected to the base stations 5 such as other UEs and / or core network nodes) that provide its services. The communication control module 43 is configured for the overall processing of uplink communications including both dynamic and (including semi-static signaling, such as SRS via related uplink channels (such as physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and / or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH))). The communication control module 43 is also configured for the overall processing of the reception of downlink communications (such as CSI-RS) via related downlink channels (such as physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and / or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) including both dynamic and semi-static signaling. The communication control module 43 determines the resources used by the UE 3 and determines how the frequency resources and / or slots / symbols are configured (for example, for UL communication, DL communication, etc.) and determines which one or more bandwidth parts are configured for the UE 3.

[0079] The control information management module 45 is responsible for managing tasks related to the reception of downlink control information (DCI) from the base station.

[0080] The RRC module 51 is responsible for receiving RRC signaling from the base station 5 and transmitting RRC signaling to the base station 5.

[0081] The NES configuration management module 47 is responsible for maintaining up-to-date information on one or more network energy-saving configurations implemented in the network, particularly in the base station 5. These configurations may include, for example, one or more of one or more time-domain NES configurations 47a, one or more frequency-domain NES configurations 47b, one or more spatial-domain NES configurations 47c, and / or one or more power-domain NES configurations 47d. The NES configuration management module 47 is also responsible for identifying when a particular NES configuration (whether a time, frequency, spatial, or power domain configuration, or a "joint" configuration representing a combination of these configurations) is to be activated (if inactive) or deactivated (if active) in the base station 5. The timing of activation / deactivation of the NES configuration can be determined explicitly based on signaling (e.g., dynamically via the NES activation indication in DCI) or implicitly based on stored NES configuration information. Implicit activation / deactivation can be based on, for example, activation (or deactivation) during a predetermined period during the day or night, deactivation (or activation) triggered by the expiration of a timer or the occurrence of a particular event, periodic activation (or deactivation) at regular pre-configured intervals, deactivation (or activation) for a particular period after activation (or deactivation), etc.

[0082] The system information module 53 is responsible for receiving and interpreting system information from the base station 5.

[0083] Base station FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the main components of the base station 5 of the communication system 1 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the base station 5 includes a transceiver circuit 51 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from a communication device (such as UE3) via one or more antennas 53 (for example, an antenna array / massive antenna), and a core network interface 55 (including N2, N3, and other reference points / interfaces) for transmitting and receiving signals to and from a network node in the core network 7. Although not shown, the base station 5 may be connected to other base stations via a suitable interface (such as the so-called "Xn" interface of NR). The base station 5 has a controller 57 for controlling the operation of the base station 5. The controller 57 is associated with a memory 59. Software may be pre-installed in the memory 59 and / or downloaded, for example, via the communication network 1 or from a removable data storage device (RMD). In this example, the controller 57 is configured to control the overall operation of the base station 5 by program instructions or software instructions stored in the memory 59.

[0084] As shown, these software instructions include, among other things, an operating system 61, a communication control module 63, a control information management module 65, a NES configuration management module 67, an RRC module 71, and a system information module 73. The communication control module 63 is operable to control communication between the base station 5 and the UE 3 and other network entities connected to the base station 5. The communication control module 63 is configured for overall control of reception of uplink communication (such as SRS) via related uplink channels (such as, for example, the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and / or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) including both dynamic and semi-static signaling. The communication control module 43 is also configured for overall processing of transmission of downlink communication (such as CSI-RS) via related downlink channels (such as, for example, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and / or the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)) including both dynamic and semi-static signaling.

[0085] The control information management module 65 is responsible for managing tasks related to transmission of downlink control information from the base station.

[0086] The NES configuration management module 67 is responsible for generating, maintaining, and notifying the UE 3 of one or more network energy-saving configurations implemented in the network, particularly in the base station 5. These configurations may include, for example, one or more of the following: one or more time-domain NES configurations 67a, one or more frequency-domain NES configurations 67b, one or more spatial-domain NES configurations 67c, and / or one or more power-domain NES configurations 67d. The NES configuration management module 67 is also responsible for identifying when a particular NES configuration (either a time, frequency, spatial, or power domain configuration, or a "joint" configuration representing a combination of those configurations) is activated (if inactive) or deactivated (if active) in the base station 5, and, if necessary, notifying the UE 3 accordingly. The timing of activation / deactivation of the NES configuration can be explicitly notified to the UE 3 (e.g., dynamically via a NES activation indication in DCI). The timing of activation / deactivation of the NES configuration can also be implicitly notified based on the NES configuration information provided to the UE 3. Implicit activation / deactivation can be based on, for example, activation (or deactivation) during a predetermined period during the day or night, deactivation (or activation) triggered by the expiration of a timer or the occurrence of a specific event, regular activation (or deactivation) at regularly configured intervals, deactivation (or activation) for a specific period after activation (or deactivation), etc.

[0087] The RRC module 71 is responsible for receiving RRC signaling from the UE 3 and transmitting RRC signaling to the UE 3.

[0088] The system information module 73 is responsible for transmitting system information to UEs within one or more cells 9 of the base station.

[0089] Network energy-saving configuration Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a generalized method for configuring network energy saving will be described in more detail as only an example.

[0090] FIG. 5 is a simplified timing diagram showing procedures that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 to configure network energy saving at the UE3.

[0091] As seen in FIG. 5, when the base station 5 determines that it is necessary to implement NES, the base station 5 transmits (at S510) to the UE3 an RRC reconfiguration message carrying information for configuring (or reconfiguring) NES at the UE3 indicating the (updated) NES configuration.

[0092] The NES (re)configuration information may include information representing the time-domain NES configuration, information representing the frequency-domain NES configuration, information representing the spatial-domain NES configuration, and / or information representing the power-domain NES configuration (or any combination of such information). The NES (re)configuration information may include, for example, common configuration information for mapping a particular aspect of one configuration to a particular aspect of another configuration. For example, the NES (re)configuration information may include, for each of a plurality of transceiver on / off configurations providing corresponding energy-saving beam patterns, and / or for each of a plurality of BWPs (optionally at a specific timing), common configuration information identifying the respective specific power scaling factors applied by the base station 5. Further, the NES configuration information may include a list (such as the NESConfig-List IE) defining a plurality of NES configurations.

[0093] Examples of specific time-domain, frequency-domain, spatial-domain, and power-domain configurations, and related information elements, will be described in more detail below. However, purely by way of example, the NES configuration may include the following information. - Time-domain NES configuration information: - Identify the periodicity and timing offset that define the start of the timing window during which NES is activated (for at least some of the slots / symbols), information such as (PeriodicityAndOffset IE). - A bitmap that defines one or more time domain patterns or a sequence of such patterns (e.g., Sequence <timedomainpatternbitmap>Identify the information such as IE, and the timing offset that identifies a specific slot (or symbol) of the timing window in which the NES is activated and / or a specific slot (or symbol) of the timing window in which the NES is deactivated (each offset for each time domain pattern, information such as IE). - Indicate one or more timer values that indicate the timing of the delay between the configuration (or other event as required) and the activation (or deactivation) (e.g., T NES such as) information, and / or - Information indicating the period of the timing window (or the period is fixed or implicitly determined). - Frequency domain NES configuration information: - Information (such as NESLocationAndBandwidth IE) that identifies the reduced NES bandwidth in the frequency domain, - Information (such as NESBWP IE) that identifies one or more new UE-specific BWPs dedicated to the NES, - Information (such as NESBWPOffset IE) that identifies the offset for the reduced NES bandwidth in the frequency domain, - Information indicating that a reduced CSI density is applied, and in some cases, the reduced CSI density is indicated absolutely (e.g., 1, 0.5,...) or relatively (e.g., 1 / 3, 1 / 2,...), - Information indicating one or more BWP scaling factors applied, information identifying the NES BWP corresponding to each BWP scaling factor, and / or information (such as BWPIndex IE) identifying the existing BWP to which each scaling factor is applied, and / or - Information identifying the energy-saving frequency domain pattern. - Spatial domain NES configuration information: - Information (such as TRX port (64 / 32 / 8 / 4) IE) that identifies a specific transceiver port setting for the energy-saving beam configuration; - Information (such as CSI-RS configuration (ON / OFF) IE) that identifies one or more CSI-RS configurations that can be turned on or off, and / or - Information (such as a TRXPoolIndex IE) that identifies an index associated with a specific transceiver configuration implemented at the base station for NES and mapped to a specific reference signal configuration (such as NZP-CSI-RS) within a separately provided reference signal report configuration. - Power domain NES configuration information: - Information that identifies a power scaling factor applied to the transmission of the base station; and / or - Information that defines a sleep mode applied at base station 5.

[0094] UE3 stores the (updated) configuration information at S512 and transmits an appropriate RRC reconfiguration response message to base station 5. The RRC reconfiguration response may be, for example, an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0095] At base station 5, the "network side" NES configuration is activated at S514a after receiving the RRC reconfiguration response message. It should be understood that the activation does not have to occur immediately and may occur at any appropriate timing. UE3 identifies at S514b when the activation at base station 5 occurred, uses the stored NES configuration information, and identifies how to apply the NES configuration to adapt UE3's operations (such as communication and / or measurement operations) while the NES is activated. In practice, UE3 activates the NES (the "UE side" NES) configuration at UE3, but the main operations for network energy saving occur within the network and are controlled by the network.

[0096] UE3 can identify, for example, based on the NES (re)configuration information stored in UE3, when the activation occurs implicitly. For example, the activation is a configured (e.g., T between the configuration of the NES and the start of the activation (seen at S514d)) NES It can occur after the delay (indicated by). In the procedure of FIG. 5, the delay is shown for illustrative purposes as timing from the transmission / reception of the RRC response message, but the delay can be timed from any suitable point (in order to ensure that the start of the delay is properly synchronized between the UE and the base station, appropriate timing offsets may be applied at the UE and / or the base station).

[0097] However, it will be understood that the NES can be explicitly activated by signaling from base station 5. For example, as shown in S514c, the NES configuration (or its specific time, frequency, space, and / or power domain part) can be activated at UE3 by a properly formatted "dynamic activation" DCI or the like. For example, 2 bits of the NES field in the activation DCI can be used for the dynamic activation of a specific NES configuration (such as a pre-configured time, frequency, space, and / or power domain configuration).

[0098] When the NES configuration is activated at base station 5 and UE3, the NES operation between base station 5 and UE3 is started at S516. These NES operations continue until the NES configuration is updated as shown in S518 or deactivated as shown in S520. In the case of updating the NES configuration, base station 5 transmits an RRC reconfiguration message to UE3 that carries information for reconfiguring (updating) the NES configuration stored in UE3 (as shown in S518a). UE3 updates the stored NES configuration and responds with an appropriate RRC reconfiguration response at S518b, as described above.

[0099] In the case of deactivation, the UE3 can identify, for example, based on the NES (re)configuration information stored in the UE3, when the deactivation occurs implicitly. However, it will be understood that the NES configuration may be explicitly deactivated by signaling from the base station 5. For example, as shown in S520c, the NES configuration (or its specific time, frequency, space, and / or power domain part) may be deactivated in the UE3 by an appropriately formatted "dynamic activation" DCI or the like. For example, the 2 bits of the NES field in the above-mentioned activation DCI may also be used for the dynamic deactivation of a specific NES configuration (such as a preconfigured time, frequency, space, and / or power domain configuration).

[0100] When configuring / updating the NES mode, it will be understood that the network does not need to indicate a complete set of IEs, and only the relevant IEs need to be provided in the time, frequency, space, and / or power domain. This may be, for example, only the IEs required for a specific type of energy saving (time / frequency / space / power), or only the IEs representing changes from the previous configuration notified to the UE3.

[0101] Network energy saving in the time domain Display of the energy saving pattern in the time domain A general method for configuring the network energy saving in the time domain will be described in more detail by way of example only, with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0102] FIG. 6 is a simplified timing diagram showing procedures that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (for example, as part of the procedure of FIG. 5) to configure the network energy saving in the time domain in the UE3.

[0103] As shown in Fig. 6, (as described with reference to Fig. 5, for example), the base station 5 provides the (updated) NES configuration information to the UE 3 at S610, and the UE 3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes time domain energy saving information (such as the periodicityAndOffset IE) indicating the NES period and an offset defining a window (NES period) that occurs regularly (periodically).

[0104] During this NES period, the NES configuration is activated, but specific NES operations at the base station 5 can be activated / deactivated only for a part (such as a specific slot, group of slots, half frame, frame, etc.) of that NES period. The time domain configuration also defines one or more time domain patterns that define specific timings during the NES period when the network energy saving operation becomes active or inactive. The time domain pattern can be signaled, for example, by an appropriate bitmap (such as the TimeDomainPatternBitmap IE). Further, (Seq <timedomainpatternbitmap>"Sequence" type IEs such as IE) may be used to define one or more sequences of time domain configurations.

[0105] FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram of how network energy saving in the time domain can be implemented in the procedure of FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 7, for each time domain pattern, each bitmap may use bits set to "1" to represent the period during which NES is active (such as a slot, a group of slots, or other periods), and bits set to "0" to represent the period during which NES is inactive (such as a slot, a group of slots, or other periods). The start of each pattern constituted by each bitmap may be predefined (such as at a fixed interval within the NES period), but information defining an offset (relative to the start / end of the NES period or relative to the start / end of the previous pattern) may be provided as part of the NES configuration information.

[0106] The period, offset, and time domain pattern can be defined at any appropriate level of timing granularity (which can vary between releases and generations of communication technologies). The granularity can be configurable by itself (such as being part of the NES configuration information). The granularity of the period and / or pattern can be configurable in multiples of frames, milliseconds, or seconds (such as {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10...}). The configurable period can include multiples of one or more "5 ms" (or half frame) or "10 ms" (or radio frame), for example. The granularity of the period and / or pattern can be configurable in multiples of symbols or slots (such as {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10,...}).

[0107] The "network side" NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 at the start of the NES period defined by the time-domain energy-saving information indicating the NES period and offset in S614a. The UE3 identifies in S614b when the activation at the base station 5 occurs, uses the stored NES configuration information to identify a specific timing at which the NES operation is active / inactive, and thus appropriately adapts its own operations (such as communication and / or measurement operations) while the NES configuration is activated.

[0108] It will be understood that the configuration of the NES period does not exclude NES activation using other explicit or implicit methods as described above, such as activation after a configured delay between the configuration of the NES and the start of activation and / or dynamic activation at the UE3 by a properly formatted "dynamic activation" DCI. When the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 and the UE3, in S616, the NES operation between the base station 5 and the UE3 is started. In this example, the operation includes performing communication (and optionally measurement of reference signals at the UE3 and the base station 5) between the UE3 and the base station 5 based on the NES time main pattern indicated in the NES configuration information (in S616a and S616b).

[0109] The NES operation continues until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as shown in S618a and S618b (for example, as described with reference to FIG. 5). Application of Time-Domain Energy Saving for Reference Signals With reference to FIG. 8, a general method of how time-domain energy saving is applied to reference signals will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0110] FIG. 8 is a simplified timing diagram showing procedures that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (for example, as part of the procedure of FIG. 5) to configure reference signals and / or reference signal measurements while the NES is active.

[0111] As shown in FIG. 8, (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example,) the base station 5 provides the (updated) NES configuration information to the UE 3 at S810, and the UE 3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes time-domain energy-saving information indicating a time-domain NES configuration (as described with reference to FIG. 6, for example).

[0112] For the purpose of CSI reporting, when the CSI report is configured at the UE 3 by the base station 5 (at S812), the UE 3 determines (at S814) an instance of NZP-CSI-RS expected to occur during the NES timing period (e.g., the time when the NES operation is active) based on the time-domain NES configuration and the reporting configuration. The UE 3 can then perform measurements of NZP-CSI-RS while excluding the instances of NZP-CSI-RS expected to occur during the NES timing period (at S816). The results are then reported to the base station 5 at S818. The base station 5 can determine (as shown at S820) the instances of NZP-CSI-RS to be excluded from the received report based on the time-domain NES configuration.

[0113] For SRS measurement, when the SRS resource is configured at the UE 3 by the base station 5 (at S822), the UE 3 determines (at S826) an instance of SRS transmission expected to occur during the NES timing period (e.g., the time when the NES operation is active) based on the time-domain NES configuration and the reporting configuration. And the UE 3 can avoid the SRS transmissions occurring during the NES timing period (as shown at S828). The base station 5 can determine the instances of SRS to be avoided (as shown at S830) and perform SRS measurements accordingly.

[0114] Configuration of a Specific Period for Network Energy Saving Referring to FIG. 9, another generalized method for configuring time-domain network energy saving will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0115] Figure 9 is a simplified timing diagram showing another procedure that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (e.g., as part of the procedure of FIG. 5) to configure network energy in the time domain at UE3.

[0116] As seen in FIG. 9, (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example), the base station 5 provides the (updated) NES configuration information to UE3 at S910, and UE3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes time domain energy saving information that defines one or more configured periods during which the NES configuration is active (or inactive). This information can define, for example, a period (e.g., from activation or other timing), one or more activation / deactivation timer values, and / or specific periods such as days, weeks, months, years, etc. Next, the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 at (S914a) and at UE3 at (S914b) at the start of the configured period defined by the time domain energy saving information. It will be understood that the configuration of the configured time does not prevent the activation of NES using other explicit or implicit methods as described above, for example, activation after a configured delay between the configuration of NES and the start of activation, and / or dynamic activation at UE3 by a properly formatted "dynamic activation" DCI, etc. When the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 and UE3, NES operation is performed between the base station 5 and UE3 at S916.

[0117] The NES operation continues until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated), as shown at S918a and S918b (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example).

[0118] Network Energy Saving in the Frequency Domain Indicating a Reduced CSI-RS Density Referring to FIG. 10, another general method for configuring network energy saving in the time domain will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0119] FIG. 10 is a simplified timing diagram showing procedures that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (as part of the procedure of FIG. 5, for example) to configure network energy saving in the frequency domain at the UE 3.

[0120] As seen in FIG. 10, (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example), the base station 5 provides the (updated) NES configuration information to the UE 3 at S1010, and the UE 3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes frequency domain configuration information indicating that a reduced CSI-RS density is used when the NES configuration is active. The reduced density can be applied autonomously (at the base station 5 and the UE 3) each time the base station 5 enters the NES mode by activating the NES configuration until the NES configuration is updated or deactivated.

[0121] The information indicating that a reduced CSI-RS density is used can define the reduced CSI-RS density. The information indicating that a reduced CSI-RS density is used may simply indicate that the CSI-RS density is reduced without necessarily defining the density, in which case the density reduction may be pre-configured at the UE 3 and the base station 5. For example, different supported densities (e.g., 0.5 corresponding to every second resource block including one resource element assigned to the CSI signal, 1 corresponding to all resource blocks including one resource element assigned to the CSI signal, 3 corresponding to all resource blocks including three resource elements assigned to the CSI signal) can be advantageously adapted to the current density of NZP-CSI-RS-Resources. And when the NES configuration is activated, a reduced CSI-RS density may be automatically applied such that density 3 becomes density 1, or density 1 becomes density 0.5. Alternatively, or additionally, a scaling factor may be included in the NES configuration information and automatically applied (e.g., a scaling factor of 1 / 3 is configured to reduce the density from 3 to 1, or a scaling factor of 1 / 2 is configured to reduce the density from 1 to 0.5).

[0122] (As described with reference to FIG. 5, for example) When the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 (at S1014a) and at the UE 3 (at S1014b), the UE 5 can adapt its operation to appropriately consider the activation of the NES configuration. Specifically, when the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 and the UE 3, at S1016, NES operation is performed between the base station 5 and the UE 3. For example, the base station 5 can apply a reduced CSI-RS density as seen at S1016a, and the UE 3 can perform reference signal measurements (and related reporting) based on the reduced CSI-RS density at S1016b).

[0123] The NES operation continues as shown at S1018a and S1018b until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example). NES Bandwidth and UE-BWP Switching

[0124] Referring to FIG. 11, another generalized method for configuring network energy saving in the time domain will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0125] FIG. 11 is a simplified timing diagram showing another procedure that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (e.g., as part of the procedure of FIG. 5) in UE3 to configure network energy saving in the frequency domain.

[0126] As seen in FIG. 11, (as described with reference to FIG. 5, for example,) the base station 5 provides (updated) NES configuration information to UE3 at S1110, and UE3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes frequency domain configuration information that defines a reduced NES bandwidth. The reduced NES bandwidth is defined, in this example, by information identifying the start position relative to the first available resource block (i.e., "location") within the frequency domain and the number of resource blocks within the reduced bandwidth (i.e., "bandwidth"). This information may be provided as separate parameters, but the information may also include a single "indication value" that can derive both the position and the bandwidth.

[0127] The NES configuration of this example also includes information that defines at least one NES BWP used by the UE. The information that defines at least one NES BWP can use the remaining parameters reused from an existing BWP configuration (such as setting the lengths of BWP, CORESET, CSI-RS, etc.) by specifying a start offset (such as the NESBWOffset IE) to define an effective NES BWP that is shifted in the frequency domain by the offset from the existing BWP configuration. In this scenario, portions of BWP / CORESET / CSI-RS that extend outside the configured NES bandwidth are excluded.

[0128] The information defining at least one NES BWP can include (in an NES BWP IE similar to the BWP-DL IE) the information necessary to define a new UE-specific NES BWP that is used when there is a need to change the UE's active BWP for operation within the reduced NES bandwidth (including configurations such as CORESET and / or CSI-RS).

[0129] When the NES configuration is activated at the base station (in S1114a) and at UE3 (in S1114b) (as described with reference to FIG. 5 for example), UE5 can adapt its operation to appropriately consider the activation of the NES configuration. Specifically, when the NES configuration is activated at base station 5 and UE3, in S1116, the NES operation between base station 5 and UE3 is performed using the NES BWP configured within the reduced NES bandwidth. For example, (if necessary because the active BWP exceeds the NES bandwidth), in S1116b, UE3 can autonomously switch to the NES BWP and receive communication from base station 5 within the NES BWP. Similarly, base station 5 can use the NES BWP to communicate with UE3.

[0130] NES operation continues (as shown in S1118a and S1118b) until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) (as described with reference to FIG. 5 for example). Nevertheless, it will be understood that the NES BWP associated with the reduced NES bandwidth configuration can remain the same (without the need for an explicit BWP switching indication) upon subsequent occurrence of the NES frequency configuration, since the NES BWP is autonomously activated upon subsequent NES activation. Thus, this configured NES BWP remains the same until the associated NES reconfiguration.

[0131] It will be appreciated that when NES is enabled and the default BWP of a particular UE3 becomes an inactive BWP, the switch to the default BWP can be beneficially suppressed. This can be done, for example, by redefining a new active NES BWP as the new default BWP during NES. Alternatively (or additionally), even if the UE is configured with a BWP-inactive timer, UE3 can be configured to stay in the current (NES) BWP without switching to the default BWP in non-NES mode.

[0132] In the case of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH and in the case of type-1 or type-2 configured grant (CG) PUSCH, both the active BWP in non-NES mode and the active NES BWP in NES mode can be pre-configured, and when UE3 enters or exits NES mode (i.e., when UE3 identifies that NES has been activated at base station 5), a BWP switch to the default NES-BWP can be (automatically switched) performed without the need for an explicit activation or DCI indication.

[0133] NES Bandwidth Scaling / Frequency Domain Pattern Referring to FIG. 12, another generalized method for configuring network energy savings in the time domain will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0134] FIG. 12 is a simplified timing diagram showing another procedure that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (as part of the procedure of FIG. 5, for example) to configure network energy savings in the frequency domain at UE3. As shown in Fig. 12, (as described with reference to Fig. 5 for example), the base station 5 provides the updated NES configuration information to the UE 3 at S1210, and the UE 3 stores the information and responds appropriately. In this example, the NES configuration information includes information defining one or more BWP scaling factors for implementing the BWP bandwidth with a reduced bandwidth, and / or frequency domain configuration information including information (such as a bitmap) defining a frequency domain pattern for BWP adaptation when entering the NES mode. The NES configuration information including one or more scaling factors and frequency domain pattern information may be directed to all UEs or a "group" of one or more UEs. It will be appreciated that one or more scaling factors and / or frequency domain energy patterns may alternatively or additionally be provided in group-common DCI or media access control element (MAC CE) for faster (dynamic) activation / deactivation of the NES mode to which the scaling factor and / or frequency domain pattern is applied.

[0135] Additional flexibility for the frequency domain energy pattern may be provided by including information for configuring the granularity of the energy pattern in the frequency domain configuration information. The granularity may be configured to be, for example, several resource block groups (such as {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10...}) to support a scalable bitmap. The information for configuring the granularity of the energy pattern may be in the form of, for example, an RBG group indication.

[0136] Each bandwidth scaling factor may be configured to map each of a number of dedicated BWPs configured for a particular UE3 to a respective NES BWP. For example, each UE3 may be effectively pre-configured with a series of NES BWPs, and each configured NES BWP has an associated BWP identifier or index (such as NESBWPID / BWPIndex) corresponding to a respective bandwidth scaling factor (e.g., 1 / 5, 1 / 4, 1 / 3, 1 / 2... and / or the like). The bandwidth scaling factor is used to map each new active NES BWP (identified by the corresponding new active BWP ID) to each existing BWP (identified by the corresponding existing BWP ID). For example, each UE3 may be provided with a pre-configured mapping table within the NES configuration. Alternatively, the new active NES BWP where BWP switching occurs may be implicitly determined (e.g., based on an implicit link to an existing BWP ID or a calculation based on an existing BWP ID). The advantage of the "bandwidth scaling factor" is that dedicated BWP switching signaling is not required for each individual UE to enter the NES mode.

[0137] (For example, as described with reference to FIG. 5,) When the NES configuration is subsequently activated at the base station (in S1214a) and at UE3 (in S1214b), UE5 can adapt its operation to appropriately consider the activation of the NES configuration. Specifically, when the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 and UE3, in S1216, the NES operation between the base station 5 and UE3 is performed using the scaled NES BWP and / or the NES frequency domain energy saving pattern. Specifically, the base station 5 can communicate with UE3 in S1216a using the scaled NES BWP and / or the NES frequency domain energy saving pattern. Similarly, UE3 receives communication from the base station 5 in S1316b using the scaled NES BWP and / or the NES frequency domain energy saving pattern.

[0138] (As described with reference to FIG. 5, for example,) the NES operation continues until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated), as shown by S1218a and S1218b. It will be appreciated that instead of reconfiguring the CORESET, CSI-RS, etc., portions of the configured CORESET, CSI-RS, etc. that extend outside the scaled BWP may simply be excluded.

[0139] Spatial domain network energy saving Transceiver on / off configuration Referring to FIG. 13, another generalized method for configuring the time domain network energy saving will be described in more detail by way of example only.

[0140] FIG. 13 is a simplified timing diagram showing another procedure that can be implemented in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1 (as part of the procedure of FIG. 5, for example) to configure the spatial domain network energy saving at the UE3. As seen in FIG. 13, (at S1300,) the base station 5 generates one or more virtual transceiver (TRX) on / off configurations for a group of one or more UEs. (At S1302,) the base station 5 uses the virtual TRX on / off configuration to determine an appropriate TRX configuration for network energy saving. Each set of ports (such as 64 / 32 / 8 / 4, etc.) and one or more associated CSI-RS configurations can be determined for the on / off configuration of each virtual TRX. Next, (at S1304,) the base station 5 configures a UE / UE group for reporting CSI-RS measurements (using, for example, the reportconfig IE). At S1306, the UE3 measures the configured CSI-RS set and reports the results. At S1308, the base station 5 identifies the best directional beam and selects the on / off of the associated TRX ports based on the reported measurements.

[0141] Next, the selected TRX port settings can be (re)configured for the NES by mapping them to the relevant indices (such as the TrxPoolIndex IE) within the spatial domain configuration information provided as part of the NES configuration. The fields for the indices are included in the information (such as the reportConfig IE) for constructing the CSI reports transmitted to the UE3 for each group of reference signal resource configurations and NZP-CSI-RS configurations for measurement reporting. By way of example, the indices can be mapped as follows. {TRX configuration 1} {NZP-CSI-RS set 1...} to TrxPoolIndex_1, {TRX configuration 2} {NZP-CSI-RS set 2...} to TrxPoolIndex_1, ... {TRX configuration n} {NZP-CSI-RS set n,...} to TrxPoolIndex_m.

[0142] (For example, as described with reference to FIG. 5,) the base station 5 provides the (updated) NES configuration information to the UE3 at S1310, and the UE3 stores the information and responds appropriately. The NES configuration information may include information identifying specific transceiver port settings for the energy saving beam configuration (such as the TRX port (64 / 32 / 8 / 4) IE identifying the number of antennas to turn off), and information identifying the CSI-RS configuration (ON / OFF) IE etc. associated with each antenna port. In this context, the index (TrxPoolIndex) identifies the association between the CSI-RS configuration and the antenna ports in order to optimize the capacity performance under network energy saving. The existence of the index effectively ensures that the UE3 and the base station 5 have the same understanding.

[0143] After that, when the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 in S1314a) and at the UE 3 (in S1314b), the UE 5 can adapt its communication to appropriately consider the activation of the NES configuration. Specifically, when the NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 and the UE 3, in S1316, the NES operation between the base station 5 and the UE 3 is performed using the selected beam configuration. Specifically, the base station 5 implements the selected beam configuration in S1316a and communicates with the UE 3 using it. Similarly, the UE 3 receives communication from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration in S1316b.

[0144] (For example, as described with reference to FIG. 5,) the NES operation continues as shown in S1318a and S1318b until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated). In the uplink, it will be understood that similar techniques can be implemented at the base station 5 for the measurement of SRS transmitted by the UE 3. Specifically, each SRS index (e.g., SrsPoolIndex) can be used for the related measurement acquisition enabled by the SRS resource configuration and network energy saving. The SRS index can be associated with each of the multiple uplink receiver (Rx) port configurations for Rx "on / off". In a similar manner to the downlink CSI-RS, the base station 5 can generate one or more virtual RX on / off configurations, which can be used to determine the appropriate RX configuration for network energy saving.

[0145] Each set of ports and one or more associated SRS resource configurations can be determined for each virtual RX on / off configuration. The base station can measure each SRS corresponding to the RX configuration, enabling the base station 5 to select the on / off of the best RX port. Next, the selected RX port settings can be notified to the UE3 in the spatial domain configuration information provided as part of the NES configuration. Therefore, the UE3 can identify the energy-saving SRS resource configuration to be used for the uplink SRS.

[0146] Changes and Alternatives Detailed embodiments have been described above along with several changes and alternatives. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, many changes and alternatives can be applied to the above embodiments while benefiting from the disclosure embodied therein. For example, for the sake of clarity, terms specific to a cellular communication generation (such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, etc.) may be used to refer to a particular communication entity, but it will be understood that the technical features described for a given entity are not limited to devices of that particular communication generation. The technical features can be implemented in any functionally equivalent communication entity regardless of any differences in the terms used to refer to them.

[0147] In the above description, the UE and the base station have been described as having a number of individual functional components or modules for ease of understanding. These modules can be provided in this way when a particular application, for example, when an existing system is modified to implement the present disclosure, but in other applications, for example, in a system designed from the start with the features of the present invention in mind, these modules may be incorporated into the overall operating system or code, and thus these modules may not be distinguishable as individual entities. In the above embodiments, a number of software modules have been described. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, software modules may be supplied to a base station, a mobility management entity, or a UE, in compiled or uncompiled form, as a signal via a computer network, or on a recording medium. Further, the functions executed by some or all of this software may be executed using one or more dedicated hardware circuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred because it facilitates updating the base station, the mobility management entity, or the UE to update their functions.

[0148] Each controller may include a processing circuit in any suitable form, including, but not limited to, for example, one or more hardware-implemented computer processors, microprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), arithmetic logic units (ALUs), input / output (IO) circuits, internal memory / cache (program and / or data), processing registers, communication buses (e.g., control bus, data bus, and / or address bus), direct memory access (DMA) functions, hardware or software-implemented counters, pointers, and / or timers, etc. Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are not described in further detail here.

[0149] The base station may include a "distributed" base station having a central unit "CU" and one or more separated distributed units (DUs).

[0150] User Equipment (i.e., "UE", "mobile station", "mobile device", or "wireless device") in the present disclosure is an entity connected to a network via a wireless interface. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to dedicated communication devices and can be applied to any device having a communication function as described in the following paragraphs.

[0151] The terms "User Equipment" or "UE", "mobile station", "mobile device", and "wireless device" (as terms used by 3GPP) are generally intended to be synonymous with each other and include terminals, mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, cellular IoT devices, IoT devices, and stand-alone mobile stations such as machines. It will be understood that the terms "mobile station" and "mobile device" also include devices that remain stationary for a long period of time.

[0152] A UE can be, for example, an item of equipment for production or manufacturing (such as equipment or machines including boilers, engines, turbines, solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric generators, thermal power generators, nuclear power generators, batteries, nuclear systems and / or related equipment, heavy electrical machinery, pumps including vacuum pumps, compressors, fans, blowers, hydraulic equipment, pneumatic equipment, metalworking machines, manipulators, robots and / or their application systems, tools, molds or dies, rolls, conveying equipment, elevators, material handling equipment, textile machines, sewing machines, printing and / or related machines, paper processing machines, chemical machines, mining machines and / or construction machines and / or related equipment, machinery and / or appliances for agriculture, forestry, and / or fisheries, safety and / or environmental protection equipment, tractors, precision bearings, chains, gears, power transmission equipment, lubrication equipment, valves, pipe fittings, and / or application systems for any of the foregoing equipment or machines) and / or an item of energy-related machinery.

[0153] A UE can be, for example, an item of transportation equipment (such as transportation equipment including rolled materials, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, trains, buses, carts, human-powered vehicles, ships and other watercraft, aircraft, rockets, satellites, drones, balloons, etc.).

[0154] The UE can be an item of information and communication equipment (such as information and communication equipment like electronic computers and related equipment, communication and related equipment, electronic components, etc.).

[0155] The UE can be, for example, an item of a refrigerator, a refrigerator application product, a product and / or service industry equipment, a vending machine, an automatic service machine, an office machine or equipment, a consumer electronics device, and (such as consumer electronics devices like audio devices, video devices, loudspeakers, radios, televisions, microwave ovens, rice cookers, coffee machines, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, electric fans or related equipment, vacuum cleaners, etc.) an electronic device.

[0156] The UE can be, for example, an electrical application system or equipment (such as an electrical application system or equipment like an X-ray system, a particle accelerator, a radioisotope device, a sound wave device, an electromagnetic application device, an electric application device, etc.).

[0157] The UE can be, for example, an electronic lamp, a lighting fixture, a measuring instrument, an analyzer, a tester, or (such as a measuring or detecting device like a smoke alarm, a human sensor, a motion sensor, a wireless tag, etc.) a measuring or detecting device, a wristwatch or clock, an inspection device, an optical device, a medical device and / or system, a weapon, an item of a cutting tool, a hand tool, etc.

[0158] The UE can be a portable information terminal or related equipment of wireless equipment (such as a wireless card or module designed to be attached to or inserted into another electronic device (such as a personal computer, an electrical measuring instrument)).

[0159] The UE can be part of a device or system that uses various wired and / or wireless communication technologies to provide applications, services, and solutions described later regarding the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0160] Internet of Things devices (or "things") can be equipped with appropriate electronic devices, software, sensors, network connections, etc. that enable these devices to collect and exchange data with each other and with other communication devices. IoT devices may include automated devices that follow software instructions stored in internal memory. IoT devices can operate without the need for human supervision or interaction. IoT devices can also remain stationary and / or inactive for long periods of time. IoT devices may be implemented as part of a device that (usually) does not move. IoT devices may also be incorporated into non-fixed devices (e.g., vehicles) or attached to animals or people being monitored / tracked.

[0161] It will be understood that IoT technology can be implemented on any communication device that can be connected to a communication network to send / receive data, whether or not such a communication device is controlled by human input or software instructions stored in memory.

[0162] It will be understood that IoT devices are sometimes also referred to as Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices or Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication devices. It will be understood that a UE can support one or more IoT or MTC applications. Some examples of MTC applications are listed in Table 1 below. This list is not exhaustive and is intended to show some examples of machine type communication applications.

Table 2

[0163] Applications, services, and solutions can be Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, emergency wireless communication systems, Private Branch eXchange (PBX) systems, PHS / digital cordless communication systems, Point of Sale (POS) systems, advertising call systems, Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS), Vehicle to Everything (V2X) systems, train wireless systems, location-related services, disaster / emergency wireless communication services, community services, video streaming services, femtocell application services, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, charging services, wireless on-demand services, roaming services, activity monitoring services, telecommunications carrier / communication NW selection services, function-limited services, Proof of Concept (PoC) services, personal information management services, ad-hoc network / Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) services, etc.

[0164] Furthermore, the UE categories described above are merely application examples of the technical ideas and exemplary embodiments described in this document. Needless to say, these technical ideas and exemplary embodiments are not limited to the UEs described above, and various modifications can be made thereto.

[0165] Various other changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are not described in further detail here.

[0166] All or part of the above-described embodiments can be described as the following supplementary explanations, but are not limited thereto. (Appendix 1) A method executed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Receive at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node from the access network node, Identify when the at least one network energy saving configuration was activated, A method for configuring the operation of the UE based on the at least one network energy saving configuration and when the at least one network energy saving configuration was activated. (Appendix 2) The at least one network energy saving configuration is At least one time domain configuration including a configuration of at least one time domain resource for energy saving of the access network node, At least one frequency domain configuration including a configuration of at least one frequency domain resource for energy saving of the access network node, At least one spatial domain configuration including a transmitter or receiver configuration applied to provide energy saving in the access network node, and The method according to Appendix 1, including at least one of at least one power domain configuration including a power configuration applied to provide energy saving in the access network node. (Appendix 3) When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one time domain configuration, the at least one time domain configuration defines at least one period during which the at least one network energy saving configuration is active, the method according to Appendix 2. (Appendix 4) The at least one time domain configuration is At least one period of the at least one period, At least one offset representing the start time of the at least one period, At least one granularity of the at least one period, At least one duration of the at least one period, At least one timer value for timing the at least one period, and The method according to appendix 3, comprising at least one indication of at least one of the at least one time corresponding to the at least one period. (Appendix 5) The method according to appendix 3 or appendix 4, wherein the at least one time domain configuration includes timing information indicating at least one part of the at least one period during which network energy saving is activated or deactivated. (Appendix 6) The method according to appendix 5, wherein the timing information indicates at least one pattern of time domain resources within at least one period during which the network energy saving becomes active or inactive. (Appendix 7) The method according to appendix 6, wherein the timing information includes at least one bitmap indicating at least one pattern of time domain resources. (Appendix 8) The method according to appendix 6 or 7, wherein the timing information includes at least one offset indicating the start of at least one pattern of time domain resources. (Appendix 9) The method according to any one of appendix 5 to 8, wherein the at least one time domain configuration includes the granularity of the timing information. (Appendix 10) The method according to any one of appendix 3 to 9, wherein the at least one network energy saving configuration includes a plurality of time domain configurations, each time domain configuration of the plurality of time domain configurations defines a respective period during which the network energy saving configuration is activated, and each respective period defined by each of the plurality of time domain configurations has a different period. (Appendix 11) Furthermore, Determine whether the reference signal of the measurement target coincides with the time when the network energy saving is active, The method according to any one of Appendices 3 to 10, wherein when the reference signal of the measurement target matches the time when the network energy saving is active, the reference signal of the measurement target is excluded from the measurement. (Appendix 12) Furthermore, determine whether the reference signal to be transmitted matches the time when the network energy saving is active, The method according to any one of Appendices 3 to 11, wherein when the reference signal to be transmitted matches the time when the power saving of the network is active, the reference signal to be transmitted is excluded from the transmission. (Appendix 13) The at least one network energy saving configuration includes an indication of the time when the at least one network energy saving configuration is activated, and the identifying is based on the indication of the time when the at least one network energy saving configuration is performed, according to the method of any one of Appendices 1 to 12. (Appendix 14) When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one frequency domain configuration, the at least one frequency domain configuration defines a reconfiguration of at least one frequency resource applied when the at least one network energy saving configuration is active, according to the method of any one of Items 1 to 13 of Appendices 1 to 13. (Appendix 15) The at least one frequency domain configuration includes an indication indicating that a reduced reference signal density is applied when the at least one network energy saving configuration is active, according to the method of Appendix 14. (Appendix 16) The indication indicating that the reduced reference signal density is applied indicates the density scaling factor applied to the current reference signal density to reach the reduced reference signal density, according to the method of Appendix 14 or 15. (Appendix 17) The method according to appendix 14 or 16, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration indicates at least one reduced bandwidth that is applied when the at least one network energy saving configuration is active. (Appendix 18) The method according to appendix 17, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration includes a frequency offset indicating the start position of the bandwidth used by the UE within the at least one reduced bandwidth. (Appendix 19) The method according to any one of appendices 14 to 18, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration indicates a UE-specific bandwidth portion that is used when the at least one network energy saving configuration is active. (Appendix 20) The method according to any one of appendices 14 to 19, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration indicates at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor that is applied to the at least one bandwidth portion in order to reach the at least one reduced bandwidth. (Appendix 21) The method according to appendix 20, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration indicates a mapping between the at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor and at least one bandwidth portion to which the bandwidth portion scaling factor is applied. (Appendix 22) The method according to any one of appendices 14 to 21, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration indicates at least one pattern of frequency domain resources that are activated or deactivated when the at least one network energy saving configuration is active. (Appendix 23) The method according to appendix 22, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration includes at least one bitmap indicating the pattern of the frequency domain resources. (Appendix 24) The method according to appendix 22 or 23, wherein the at least one frequency domain configuration includes the granularity of the pattern of the frequency domain resources. (Appendix 25) The UE is composed of a default bandwidth part, when the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, the configuring includes redefining the currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving as a new default bandwidth part, the method according to any one of Appendices 1 to 24. (Appendix 26) The UE is configured with a default bandwidth part and an inactive timer for timing an inactive period during which the UE later returns to the default bandwidth part, when the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, the configuring includes prohibiting the operation of the inactive timer and enabling the UE to continue using the currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving, the method according to any one of Appendices 1 to 24. (Appendix 27) The UE is configured with at least one first bandwidth part used when network energy saving is not active and at least one second bandwidth part used when network energy saving is active, and the configuring includes switching from at least one first bandwidth part to at least one second bandwidth part, the method according to any one of Appendices 1 to 26. (Appendix 28) Furthermore, receive from the access network node a reference signal reporting configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals for reporting to the access network node and at least one transceiver configuration associated with the at least one set of reference signals, measure the at least one set of reference signals, report the result of the measurement to the access network node, When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one spatial domain configuration, the at least one spatial domain configuration is based on measurements reported by the UE for at least one set of reference signals associated with at least one transceiver configuration selected by the access network node, and indicates at least one transceiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving, according to the method described in any one of Appendices 1 to 27. (Appendix 29) Furthermore, receive from the access network node a reference signal resource configuration indicating at least one resource set for transmission of at least one set of reference signals and at least one receiver configuration associated with the at least one set of reference signals, use the at least one resource set to transmit the at least one set of reference signals to the access network node, When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one spatial domain configuration, the at least one spatial domain configuration is associated with the at least one receiver configuration selected by the access network node and indicates at least one receiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving based on measurements of the at least one set of reference signals transmitted by the UE, according to the method described in any one of Appendices 1 to 28. (Appendix 30) When the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one power domain configuration, the at least one power domain configuration indicates at least one of a power scaling factor and a type of sleep mode applied at the access network node for network energy saving, according to the method described in any one of Appendices 1 to 29. (Appendix 31) The at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one common configuration indication indicating a mapping between a plurality of different configurations, and the plurality of different configurations are a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, a spatial domain configuration, and at least two configurations of a power domain configuration, according to any one of appendices 1 to 30. (Appendix 32) A user equipment (UE) comprising means for receiving, from an access network node, at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, means for identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration becomes effective, and means for configuring the operation of the UE based on the at least one network energy saving configuration and when the at least one network energy saving configuration becomes effective. (Appendix 33) A method performed by an access network node, comprising transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration is activated, activating the at least one network energy saving configuration, and configuring the operation of the access network node based on the at least one network energy saving setting transmitted to the UE. (Appendix 34) An access network node comprising means for transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), at least one network energy saving configuration for energy saving of the access network node, means for identifying when the at least one network energy saving configuration is activated, Means for activating the at least one network energy saving setting An access network node comprising means for configuring the operation of the access network node based on the at least one network energy saving configuration transmitted to the UE

[0167] This application claims the benefit of priority based on UK Patent Application No. 2209589.7 filed on June 29, 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0168] 3 UE 5 Radio Access Network (RAN) node 7 Core network 9 Cell 10 CPF 11 UPF< / timedomainpatternbitmap> < / timedomainpatternbitmap>

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from an access network node, network energy saving configuration information for energy saving of the access network node; determining whether measurement of a reference signal (RS) is restricted for energy saving of the access network node; and configuring, based on the determination, operations of the UE for measurement of the RS.

2. The network energy saving configuration information includes: a time domain configuration including a configuration of at least one time domain resource for energy saving of the access network node; a frequency domain configuration including a configuration of at least one frequency domain resource for energy saving of the access network node; a spatial domain configuration including a configuration of a transmitter or a receiver for energy saving of the access network node; and at least one of a power domain configuration including a power configuration for energy saving of the access network node, wherein the determining includes determining, based on the network energy saving configuration information, whether measurement of the RS is restricted for energy saving regarding at least one of a time domain, a frequency domain, a spatial domain, and a power domain in the access network node. The method according to claim 1.

3. The network energy saving configuration information indicates at least one joint configuration indicating a mapping between a plurality of configurations, the plurality of configurations including: a time domain configuration; a frequency domain configuration; a spatial domain configuration; and at least two of a power domain configuration. The method according to claim 2.

4. further receiving information for activating or deactivating at least one network energy saving configuration indicated by the network energy saving configuration information; and wherein the determining is performed based on at least one activated or deactivated energy saving configuration. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The information for activating or deactivating the at least one network energy saving configuration indicates activation or deactivation of a plurality of network energy saving configurations simultaneously. The method according to claim 4.

6. The information for activating or deactivating the at least one network energy saving configuration is transmitted in at least one of downlink control information (DCI) and a media access control - control element (MAC - CE), according to the method of claim 4 or 5.

7. At least one network energy saving configuration indicated in the network energy saving configuration information is configured to be activated at a predetermined period, according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. When at least one network energy saving configuration includes a time domain configuration, the time domain configuration defines at least one time resource to be energy - saved in the access network node, according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The time domain configuration is a period corresponding to the time domain configuration, an offset representing a start time corresponding to the time domain configuration, a granularity of the time resource, a period of the time resource, a timer value of timing corresponding to the time domain configuration, and includes an indication of at least one of a time corresponding to the time domain configuration, according to the method of claim 8.

10. The time domain configuration defines the at least one time resource to be energy - saved in the access network node and defines the at least one time resource not to be energy - saved, according to the method of claim 8 or 9.

11. The time domain configuration shows a pattern of the at least one time resource to be energy - saved in the access network node and / or the at least one time resource not to be energy - saved in the access network node, according to the method of claim 10.

12. The time domain configuration includes a bitmap showing the at least one time resource to be energy - saved in the access network node and / or the at least one time resource not to be energy - saved in the access network node, according to the method of claim 11.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein when the network energy saving configuration information indicates a frequency domain configuration, the frequency domain configuration defines at least one frequency resource that is a target of network energy saving in the access network node.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the frequency domain configuration includes an indication indicating that a reduced reference signal density is applied when at least one network energy saving configuration indicated in the network energy saving configuration information is active.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the indication indicates a scaling factor to be applied to the current reference signal density to reach the reduced reference signal density.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the frequency domain configuration indicates a reduced bandwidth to be applied when at least one network energy saving configuration indicated in the network energy saving configuration information is active.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the frequency domain configuration includes a frequency offset indicating a start position of a bandwidth used by the UE within the reduced bandwidth.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the frequency domain configuration indicates a UE-specific bandwidth portion to be used when at least one network energy saving configuration indicated in the network energy saving configuration information is active.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein the frequency domain configuration indicates at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor to be applied to at least one bandwidth portion to reach the reduced bandwidth.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the frequency domain configuration indicates a mapping between the at least one bandwidth portion scaling factor and at least one bandwidth portion to which the bandwidth portion scaling factor is applied.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, wherein the frequency domain configuration indicates at least one pattern of at least one frequency resource that becomes active or inactive when at least one network energy saving configuration indicated in the network energy saving configuration information is active.

22. The frequency domain configuration comprises a bitmap indicating a pattern of the at least one frequency resource, the method according to claim 21.

23. The frequency domain configuration comprises a granularity for a pattern of the at least one frequency resource, the method according to claim 21 or 22.

24. The UE is configured with a default bandwidth part, when the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, the configuring includes redefining a currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving as a new default bandwidth part, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

25. The UE is configured with a default bandwidth part and an inactive timer for timing of an inactive period during which the UE later returns to the default bandwidth part, when the default bandwidth part is not the currently active bandwidth part, the configuring includes prohibiting operation of the inactive timer and causing the UE to continue to use a currently active bandwidth part configured for network energy saving at the access network node, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

26. The UE is configured with a first bandwidth part used when network energy saving is not active and a second bandwidth part used when network energy saving is active, the configuring includes a switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25.

27. Furthermore, receive from the access network node a reference signal reporting configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals for reporting to the access network node and at least one transceiver configuration associated with the at least one set of reference signals, measure the at least one set of reference signals, report a result of the measurement to the access network node, When the network energy saving configuration information indicates a spatial domain configuration, the spatial domain configuration is based on measurements reported by the UE for at least one set of reference signals related to the transceiver configuration selected by the access network node, and indicates the transceiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

28. Furthermore, Receive from the access network node a reference signal resource configuration indicating at least one resource set for transmitting at least one set of reference signals, and at least one set of receiver configurations related to the at least one set of reference signals, Use the at least one resource set to transmit the at least one set of reference signals to the access network node, When the network energy saving configuration information indicates a spatial domain configuration, the spatial domain configuration is based on measurements of at least one set of reference signals transmitted by the UE in relation to the receiver configuration selected by the access network node, and indicates at least one receiver configuration selected by the access network node for network energy saving. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

29. When the network energy saving configuration information indicates a power domain configuration, the power domain configuration is applied at the access network node for network energy saving, A power scaling factor, and At least one of the types of sleep mode. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

30. The RS includes At least one of Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The method according to any one of claims 1 to 29.

31. A user equipment (UE), Means for receiving network energy saving configuration information for energy saving of an access network node from the access network node, means for determining whether measurement of a reference signal (RS) is restricted for energy saving of an access network node; a UE comprising means for configuring operation of the UE for measurement of the RS based on the determination. **Claim 32** A method performed by an access network node, comprising transmitting network energy saving configuration information for energy saving of the access network node to a user equipment (UE), the network energy saving configuration information causing the UE to determine whether measurement of a reference signal (RS) by the UE is restricted for energy saving of the access network node; activating at least one of network energy saving configurations indicated by the network energy saving configuration information; configuring operation of the access network node based on the activation. **Claim 33** An access network node, comprising means for transmitting network energy saving configuration information for energy saving of the access network node to a user equipment (UE), the network energy saving configuration information causing the UE to determine whether measurement of a reference signal (RS) by the UE is restricted for energy saving of the access network node; means for activating at least one of network energy saving configurations indicated by the network energy saving configuration information; means for configuring operation of the access network node based on the activation.

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