Discontinuous Reception and Network Energy Saving

Abstract

A method for network energy saving includes steps of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter related to a non-energy-saving state of a base station or a non-energy-saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station, and a second DRX configuration parameter related to an energy-saving state of the base station or an energy-saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station; monitoring a control channel based on the first DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non-energy-saving state; and monitoring the control channel based on the second DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy-saving state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - Reference to Related Applications) This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 352,696, filed on June 16, 2022 (the "Provisional Application"), under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Background of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to 5G, the fifth - generation mobile network, which is a new global wireless standard following 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a network designed to connect machines, objects, and devices.

[0003] More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system and / or method for improving the control channel monitoring performance in a user equipment (UE) when the network enters or exits a network energy saving state, for example, improving an existing discontinuous reception (DRX) procedure for improving the control channel monitoring performance in a UE when the network enters or exits a network energy saving state.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] A method for network energy saving includes steps of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter related to a non - energy - saving state of a base station or a non - energy - saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station, and a second DRX configuration parameter related to an energy - saving state of the base station or an energy - saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station; monitoring a control channel based on the first DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non - energy - saving state; and monitoring the control channel based on the second DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy - saving state.

[0005] One or more first cells provided by the base station may be in a non - energy - saving state, one or more second cells provided by the base station may be in an energy - saving state, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may be applicable to one or more first cells, and the second DRX configuration parameter may be applicable to one or more second cells. Alternatively, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round - trip time (RTT) timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second HARQ RTT timer value. The first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round - trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for a HARQ process. Or, the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round - trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for a downlink HARQ RTT timer.

[0006] The method may also include: in response to receiving a first downlink transport block (TB), while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-power-saving state, starting a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer using a first HARQ RTT timer value; and in response to receiving a second downlink TB, while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a power-saving state, starting a second HARQ RTT timer using a second HARQ RTT timer value. Thus, the first HARQ RTT timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for the uplink HARQ RTT timer. Starting the first HARQ RTT timer using the first HARQ RTT timer value may be implemented in response to transmitting a first uplink transport block (TB) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-power-saving state, and starting the second HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value may be implemented in response to transmitting a second uplink TB while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a power-saving state.

[0007] The method also includes that a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter includes a first DRX retransmission timer value, and a second DRX configuration parameter includes a second DRX retransmission timer value. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value can be for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value can be for a downlink DRX retransmission timer. The method also includes that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, starts the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer in response to the expiration of a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer while in a non-energy-saving state, and that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, starts the second DRX retransmission timer in response to the expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer while in an energy-saving state.

[0008] A user equipment (UE) can be in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active time period while the DRX retransmission timer is operating. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value can be for an uplink DRX retransmission timer. The method also includes that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, starts the first DRX retransmission timer using the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value in response to the expiration of a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer while in a non-energy-saving state, and that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, starts the second DRX retransmission timer using the second DRX retransmission timer value in response to the expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer while in an energy-saving state. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter can include a first DRX inactivity timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter can include a second DRX inactivity timer value.

[0009] The method also includes, while a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - energy - saving state, starting a first discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer using a first DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI); and while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy - saving state, starting a second DRX inactivity timer using a second DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI). A user equipment (UE) may be in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while the discontinuous reception (DRX) inactivity timer is running.

[0010] In the method, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX on duration timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX on duration timer value. A user equipment (UE) may be in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active period while the discontinuous reception (DRX) on duration timer is operating. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX slot offset, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX slot offset. The discontinuous reception (DRX) slot offset may include a delay before starting the DRX on duration timer. The method may also include receiving an indication that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. The indication may indicate that the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, has entered an energy saving state. The indication may be based on a radio resource control (RRC) message. The indication may be based on a media access control (MAC) control element (CE). The indication may be based on downlink control information (DCI). The indication may indicate that at least one of the second discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameters is related to an energy saving state. The indication may indicate the timing at which the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, enters an energy saving state.

[0011] In the method, while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non - energy - saving state, the monitoring of the control channel can be for one or more first Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs). The monitoring of the control channel can be for one or more second Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy - saving state. At least one Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of the one or more first RNTIs and second RNTIs may not be monitored while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy - saving state. At least one signal, or at least one channel, or at least one message can be transmitted or received with greater periodicity and less frequency while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy - saving state.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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[0013] FIG. 1 shows an example of a mobile communication system (100) according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The mobile communication system (100) can be operated by a wireless communication system operator such as a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), a private network operator, a Multiple System Operator (MSO), an Internet of Things (IoT) network operator, etc., and can provide services such as voice, data (e.g., wireless Internet access), messaging, vehicular communications services such as Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication services, security services, mission critical services, services in a residence, services in a commercial or industrial environment such as IoT, industrial IoT (IIoT), etc.

[0014] A mobile communication system (100) can enable various types of applications with different requirements regarding latency, reliability, throughput, etc. Examples of supported applications include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). eMBB can support stable connections at high peak data rates and moderate rates for cell-edge users. URLLC can support applications with strict requirements regarding latency and reliability and moderate requirements regarding data rate. Examples of mMTC applications include networks of a huge number of IoT devices that are only sporadically active and transmit small data payloads.

[0015] The mobile communication system (100) may include a radio access network (RAN) part and a core network part. The example shown in FIG. 1 shows a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) (105) and a 5G Core Network (5GC) 110 as examples of the RAN and the core network, respectively. Other examples of the RAN and the core network may be implemented without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other examples of the RAN include an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), etc. Other examples of the core network include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a UMTS core network (UCN), etc. The RAN implements a Radio Access Technology (RAT) and exists between a user equipment (UE) (125) and the core network. Examples of such RATs include New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE) also known as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), etc. The RAT of the exemplary mobile communication system (100) may be NR. The core network exists between the RAN and one or more external networks (e.g., a data network) and is responsible for functions such as mobility management, authentication, session management, setting of bearers, and application of Quality of Services (QoS) for different services. The functional layer between the UE (125) and the RAN (e.g., NG-RAN (105)) may be called the Access Stratum (AS), and the functional layer between the UE (125) and the core network (e.g., 5GC (110)) may be called the Non-access Stratum (NAS).

[0016] The UE (125) may include wireless transmission and reception means for communication with one or more nodes within the RAN, one or more relay nodes, or one or more other UEs, etc. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, wireless transmission and / or reception units in vehicles, V2X or Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) devices, wireless sensors, IoT devices, IIoT devices, etc. Other names such as Mobile Station (MS), terminal device, terminal node, client device, mobile device, etc. may be used for the UE.

[0017] The RAN may include nodes (e.g., base stations) for communication with the UE. For example, the NG-RAN (105) of a mobile communication system (100) may include nodes for communication with the UE (125). For example, different names may be used for the RAN nodes depending on the RAT used by the RAN. The RAN nodes may be called Node B (NB) in a RAN using the UMTS RAT. The RAN nodes may be called evolved Node B (eNB) in a RAN using the LTE / EUTRA RAT. In an exemplary example of the mobile communication system (100) of FIG. 1, the nodes of the NG-RAN (105) may be either a next generation Node B (gNB) (115) or a next generation evolved Node B (NG-eNB) (120). In this specification, the terms base station, RAN node, gNB, and ng-eNB may be used interchangeably. The gNB (115) may provide protocol terminations for the NR user plane and control plane to the UE (125). The ng-eNB (120) may provide protocol terminations for the E-UTRA user plane and control plane to the UE (125). The interface between the gNB (115) and the UE (125), or the interface between the ng-eNB (120) and the UE (125) may be called the Uu interface. The Uu interface may be established together with the user plane protocol stack and the control plane protocol stack. For the Uu interface, the direction from the base station (e.g., gNB (115) or ng-eNB (120)) to the UE (125) may be called the downlink, and the direction from the UE (125) to the base station (e.g., gNB (115) or ng-eNB (120)) may be called the uplink.

[0018] The gNB (115) and the ng-eNB (120) can be interconnected with each other via the Xn interface. The Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The transport network layer of the Xn-U interface can be built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport, and the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) can be used on top of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / IP to carry user plane protocol data units (PDUs). Xn-U can provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support data transfer and flow control. The transport network layer of the Xn-C interface can be built on top of the Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP) over IP. The application layer signaling protocol can be called XnAP (Xn Application Protocol). The SCTP layer can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission can be used to deliver signaling PDUs. The Xn-C interface can support Xn interface management, UE mobility management including context transfer and RAN paging, as well as dual connectivity.

[0019] The gNB (115) and the NG-eNB (120) can also be connected to the 5GC (110) via the NG interface. More specifically, they can be connected to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF (130)) of the 5GC (110) via the NG-C interface, and can be connected to the User Plane Function (UPF) (135) of the 5GC (110) via the NG-U interface. The transport network layer of the NG-U interface can be built on IP transport, and the GTP protocol can be used over UDP / IP to carry user plane PDUs between an NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB (115) or ng-eNB (120)) and the UPF (135). NG-U can provide unguaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs between an NG-RAN node and the UPF. The transport network layer of the NG-C interface can be built on IP transport. For reliable transport of signaling messages, SCTP can be added on top of IP. The application layer signaling protocol can be called the NGAP (NG Application Protocol). The SCTP layer can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. At the transport level, IP layer point-to-point transmission can be used to deliver signaling PDUs. The NG-C interface can provide the following functions: NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, NAS message transmission, paging, PDU session management, configuration transfer, and warning message transmission.

[0020] The gNB (115) or ng-eNB (120) may host one or more of the following functions: radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, dynamic allocation (e.g., scheduling) of resources to the UE in both the uplink and downlink, such as radio resource management functions, IP and Ethernet header compression, data encryption, and integrity protection, selection of the AMF in UE attachment when the routing to the AMF from the information provided by the UE is not determined, routing of user plane data towards the UPF, routing of control plane information towards the AMF, connection setup and release, scheduling and transmission of paging messages, scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (e.g., sent from the AMF), measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling, transport level packet marking in the uplink, session management, support for network slicing, QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers, support for UEs in RRC inactive state, distribution function for NAS messages, radio access network sharing, dual connectivity, tight interaction between NR and E-UTRA, and maintenance of security and radio configuration for user plane 5G System (5GS) Cellular IoT (CIoT) optimization.

[0021] The AMF (130) may host one or more of the following functions: NAS signaling termination, NAS signaling security, AS security control, CN node - to - CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (including control and execution of paging re - transmission), registration area management, support for intra - system and inter - system mobility, access authentication, access authorization including roaming right check, mobility management control (subscription and policy), support for network slicing, selection of session management function (SMF), selection of 5GS CIoT optimization.

[0022] The UPF (135) may host one or more of the following functions: anchor point for RAT - in / RAT - between mobility (if applicable), external PDU session point of interconnection to the data network, packet routing and forwarding, user - plane part of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network, branching point to support multi - home PDU sessions, packet filtering, gating, QoS handling for the user - plane such as UL / DL rate enforcement, uplink traffic verification (mapping from service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow), downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the NG-RAN (105) may support the PC5 interface between two UEs (125) (e.g., UE (125A) and UE (125B)). In the PC5 interface, the direction of communication between two UEs (e.g., from UE (125A) to UE (125B) or vice versa) may be referred to as sidelink. Sidelink transmission and reception via the PC5 interface can be supported when the UE (125) is inside the NG-RAN (105) coverage and when the UE (125) is outside the NG-RAN (105) coverage, regardless of which RRC state the UE is in. Support for V2X services via the PC5 interface can be provided by NR sidelink communication and / or V2X sidelink communication.

[0024] PC5-S signaling can be used for unicast link establishment using a Direct Communication Request / Accept message. The UE can self-assign its source Layer-2 ID for the PC5 unicast link, for example, based on the V2X service type. During the unicast link establishment procedure, the UE can send its source Layer-2 ID for the PC5 unicast link to the peer UE, for example, the UE that has received the destination ID from the upper layer. The pair of the source Layer-2 ID and the destination Layer-2 ID can uniquely identify the unicast link. The receiving UE can verify that the destination ID belongs to the receiving UE and can accept the unicast link establishment request from the source UE. During the PC5 unicast link establishment procedure, the PC5-RRC procedure on the Access Stratum can be invoked for the purpose of UE side-link context establishment and for AS layer configuration, capability exchange, etc. PC5-RRC signaling can enable the exchange of UE capabilities and AS layer configurations such as side-link radio bearer configuration between the pair of UEs for which the PC5 unicast link is established.

[0025] NR side-link communication may support one of three types of transmission modes (e.g., unicast transmission, groupcast transmission, and broadcast transmission) for a pair of source layer-2 ID and destination layer-2 ID in the AS. The unicast transmission mode may be characterized by support for one PC5-RRC connection between peer UEs for the pair, transmission and reception of control information and user traffic between peer UEs in the side-link, support for side-link HARQ feedback, support for side-link transmission power control, support for RLC Acknowledged Mode (AM), and detection of radio link failure for the PC5-RRC connection. Groupcast transmission may be characterized by transmission and reception of user traffic between UEs belonging to a group in the side-link, and support for side-link HARQ feedback. Broadcast transmission may be characterized by transmission and reception of user traffic between UEs in the side-link.

[0026] The source layer-2 ID, destination layer-2 ID, and PC5 Link Identifier can be used for NR sidelink communication. The source layer-2 ID can be a link-layer identity that identifies a device or a group of devices that are the receivers of sidelink communication frames. The destination layer-2 ID can be a link-layer identity that identifies the device that transmits sidelink communication frames. In some examples, the source layer-2 ID and destination layer-2 ID can be assigned by a management function within the core network. The source layer-2 ID can identify the transmitter of data in NR sidelink communication. The source layer-2 ID can be 24 bits in length and can be split into two bit sequences in the MAC layer. One bit sequence can be the LSB part (8 bits) of the source layer-2 ID and can be transferred to the physical layer of the transmitter. This can identify the source of the data intended in the sidelink control information and can be used for packet filtering at the physical layer of the receiver. And the second bit sequence can be the MSB part (16 bits) of the source layer-2 ID and can be carried within the Medium Access Control (MAC) header. This can be used for packet filtering at the MAC layer of the receiver. The destination layer-2 ID can identify the target of data in NR sidelink communication. For NR sidelink communication, the destination layer-2 ID can be 24 bits in length and can be split into two bit sequences in the MAC layer. One bit sequence can be the LSB part (16 bits) of the destination layer-2 ID and can be transferred to the physical layer of the transmitter. This can identify the target of the data intended in the sidelink control information and can be used for packet filtering at the physical layer of the receiver. And the second bit sequence can be the MSB part (8 bits) of the destination layer-2 ID and can be carried within the MAC header. This can be used for packet filtering at the MAC layer of the receiver.The PC5 link identifier can uniquely identify the PC5 unicast link in the UE during the duration of the PC5 unicast link. The PC5 link identifier can be used to indicate a PC5 unicast link for which the sidelink Radio Link failure (RLF) declaration has been made and the PC5-RRC connection has been released.

[0027] Figures 2A and 2B respectively show examples of radio protocol stacks for the user plane and the control plane, according to some aspects, of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2A, the protocol stack for the user plane of the Uu interface (between UE (125) and gNB (115)) includes the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) (201) and SDAP (211), the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) 202 and PDCP (212), the Radio Link Control (RLC) (203) and RLC (213), the sub-layers of the layer 2 MAC (204) and MAC (214), and the Physical (PHY) (205) layer and the PHY (215) layer (layer 1, also referred to as L1).

[0028] PHY(205) and PHY(215) provide transport channel 244 to the sublayers of MAC(204) and MAC(214). The sublayers of MAC(204) and MAC(214) provide logical channel (243) to the sublayers of RLC(203) and RLC(213). The sublayers of RLC(203) and RLC(213) provide RLC channel (242) to the sublayers of PDCP(202) and PCP 212. The sublayers of PDCP(202) and PDCP(212) provide radio bearer (241) to the sublayers of SDAP(201) and SDAP(211). The radio bearer can be classified into two groups, data radio bearers (DRB) for user plane data, and signaling radio bearers (SRB) for control plane data. The sublayers of SDAP(201) and SDAP(211) provide QoS flow (240) to 5GC.

[0029] The main services and functions related to the sublayer of MAC(204) or MAC(214) include the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, the multiplexing / demultiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) belonging to one or different logical channels to / from transport blocks (TBs) delivered to / from the physical layer on the transport channel, scheduling information reporting, error correction by Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in the case of carrier aggregation (CA)), priority handling between UEs by dynamic scheduling, priority handling between logical channels of one UE by Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP), priority handling between overlapping resources of one UE, and padding. A single MAC entity can support multiple numerologies, transmission timings, and cells. Mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s), and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

[0030] The HARQ function can guarantee delivery between peer entities in Layer 1. If the physical layer is not configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process can support one TB, and if the physical layer is configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process can support one or more TBs.

[0031] The sublayer of RLC(203) or RLC(213) may support three transmission modes, Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC configuration may be per logical channel, independent of numerology and / or transmission duration, and Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) may operate for either the numerology and / or transmission duration in which the logical channel is configured.

[0032] The main services and functions of the sublayer of RLC(203) or RLC(213) depend on the transmission mode (e.g., TM, UM, or AM) and may include transfer of upper layer PDUs, sequence numbering independent from that in PDCP (UM and AM), error correction by ARQ (AM only), segmentation (AM and UM) and reassembly (AM only) of RLC SDUs, SDU reassembly (AM and UM), duplicate detection (AM only), RLC SDU discard (AM and UM), RLC re-establishment, and protocol error detection (AM only).

[0033] The Automatic Repeat reQuest within the sublayer of RLC(203) or RLC(213) may have the characteristic that, hereinafter, ARQ may retransmit an RLC SDU segment or RLC SDU segments based on an RLC status report and polling for RLC status reports may be used if required by RLC, and the RLC receiver may also trigger an RLC status report after detecting a missing RLC SDU segment or RLC SDU segments.

[0034] The main services and functions of the PDCP (202) or PDCP (212) sublayer are the transfer of data (user plane or control plane), the maintenance of the PDCP sequence number (SN), header compression and decompression using the Robust Header Compression (ROHC) protocol, header compression and decompression using the EHC protocol, encryption and decryption, integrity protection and integrity verification, timer-based SDU discard, routing for split bearers, duplication, reordering and in-order delivery, out-of-order delivery, and duplicate discard.

[0035] The main services and functions of the SDAP (201) or SDAP (211) include the mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers, and the marking of the QoS flow ID (QFI) in both downlink and uplink packets. A single protocol entity of the SDAP can be configured for each individual PDU session.

[0036] As shown in Figure 2B, the protocol stack of the control plane of the Uu interface (between the UE (125) and the gNB (115)) includes the PHY layer (layer 1), the sub-layers of layer 2 such as MAC, RLC, and PDCP as described above, and further, the sub-layers of RRC (206) and RRC (216). The main services and functions of the RRC (206) sub-layer and the RRC (216) sub-layer on the Uu interface include the broadcast of system information regarding the AS and NAS, paging initiated by the 5GC or the NG-RAN. The establishment, maintenance, and release of the RRC connection between the UE and the NG-RAN (the addition, modification, and release of carrier aggregation, and the addition, modification, and release of dual connectivity in NR or between E-UTRA and NR), security functions including key management, the establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of SRBs and DRBs, mobility functions (handover and context transfer, UE cell selection and reselection, and the control of cell selection and reselection, and inter-RAT mobility), QoS management functions, UE measurement reporting and reporting control, detection and recovery of radio link failures, and the transfer of NAS messages from / to the UE to / from the NAS. The NAS (207) and NAS (227) layers are control protocols (terminated at the AMF on the network side) that perform functions such as authentication, mobility management, and security control.

[0037] The sidelink-specific services and functions of the RRC sub-layer on the Uu interface include the configuration of sidelink resource allocation via system information or dedicated signaling, the reporting of UE sidelink information, the configuration and reporting of measurements related to the sidelink, and the reporting of UE assistance information regarding the SL traffic pattern(s).

[0038] Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary mappings between logical channels and transport channels in the downlink, uplink, and sidelink, respectively, according to some aspects of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Different types of data transfer services can be provided by the MAC. Each logical channel type can be defined by what type of information is transferred. Logical channels can be classified into two groups, control channels and traffic channels. Control channels can be used only for the transfer of control plane information. The Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) is a downlink channel for broadcasting system control information. The Paging Control Channel (PCCH) is a downlink channel for carrying paging messages. The Common Control Channel (CCCH) is a channel for transmitting control information between the UE and the network. This channel can be used for UEs that do not have an RRC connection to the network. The Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bidirectional channel for transmitting dedicated control information between the UE and the network and can be used by UEs with an RRC connection. Traffic channels can be used only for the transfer of user plane information. The Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point channel dedicated to one UE for the transfer of user information. The DTCH can exist in both the uplink and the downlink. The Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting control information (e.g., PC5-RRC messages and PC5-S messages) from one UE to another UE. The Sidelink Traffic Channel (STCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting user information from one UE to another UE.The Sidelink Broadcast Control Channel (SBCCH) is a sidelink channel for broadcasting sidelink system information from one UE to other UEs.

[0039] Downlink transport channel types include the Broadcast Channel (BCH), Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH), and Paging Channel (PCH). The BCH can be characterized by a fixed, predefined transport format and the need to be broadcast across the cell's coverage area as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances. The DL-SCH can be characterized by support for HARQ, support for dynamic link adaptation by varying modulation, coding, and transmit power, the possibility of being broadcast across the cell, the possibility of using beamforming, support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation, and support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. The DL-SCH can be characterized by support for HARQ, support for dynamic link adaptation by varying modulation, coding, and transmit power, the possibility of being broadcast across the cell, the possibility of using beamforming, support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation, support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. The PCH can be characterized by support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving (the DRX cycle is indicated to the UE by the network), the need to be broadcast across the cell's coverage area as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances, and being mapped to physical resources that can also be dynamically used for traffic / other control channels.

[0040] On the downlink, the following connections may exist between the logical channel and the transport channel. The BCCH may be mapped to the BCH, the BCCH may be mapped to the DL-SCH, the PCCH may be mapped to the PCH, the CCCH may be mapped to the DL-SCH, the DCCH may be mapped to the DL-SCH, and the DTCH may be mapped to the DL-SCH.

[0041] Uplink transport channel types include the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) and the random access channel (RACH). The UL-SCH may be characterized by the possibility of using beamforming, changing the transmit power and potential modulation and coding, supporting dynamic link adaptation, supporting HARQ, and supporting both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation. The RACH may be characterized by limited control information and a risk of collision.

[0042] On the uplink, the following connections may exist between the logical channel and the transport channel. The CCCH may be mapped to the UL-SCH, the DCCH may be mapped to the UL-SCH, and the DTCH may be mapped to the UL-SCH.

[0043] The sidelink transport channel types include the Sidelink broadcast channel (SL-BCH) and the Sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH). The SL-BCH can be characterized by a pre-defined transport format. The SL-SCH is characterized by support for unicast transmission, groupcast transmission, and broadcast transmission, support for both UE autonomous resource selection and scheduled resource allocation by the NG-RAN, support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation when the UE is allocated resources by the NG-RAN, support for HARQ, and support for dynamic link adaptation by changing the transmission power, modulation, and coding.

[0044] In the sidelink, the following connections between the logical channel and the transport channel can exist: the SCCH can be mapped to the SL-SCH, the STCH can be mapped to the SL-SCH, and the SBCCH can be mapped to the SL-BCH.

[0045] Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C each show an exemplary mapping between a transport channel and a physical channel in the downlink, uplink, and sidelink, according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Physical channels in the downlink include a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). The PCH and DL-SCH transport channels are mapped to the PDSCH. The BCH transport channel is mapped to the PBCH. The transport channel is not mapped to the PDCCH, and downlink control information (DCI) is transmitted via the PDCCH.

[0046] Physical channels in the uplink include a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). The UL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to the PUSCH, and the RACH transport channel may be mapped to the PRACH. The transport channel is not mapped to the PUCCH, and uplink control information (UCI) is transmitted via the PUCCH.

[0047] The physical channels in sidelink include Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). The Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) may indicate the resources and other transmission parameters used by the UE for the PSSCH. The Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) may transmit the transport block (TB) of the data itself, as well as control information for the HARQ procedure and CSI feedback trigger, etc. At least 6 OFDM symbols within a slot may be used for PSSCH transmission. The Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) may carry HARQ feedback via the sidelink from the UE that is the intended receiver of the PSSCH transmission to the UE that performed the transmission. The PSFCH sequence may be transmitted within one PRB that is repeated over two OFDM symbols near the end of the sidelink resources within a slot. The SL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to the PSSCH. The SL-BCH may be mapped to the PSBCH. The transport channel is not mapped to the PSFCH, but the Sidelink Feedback Control Information (SFCI) may be mapped to the PSFCH. The transport channel is not mapped to the PSCCH, but the Sidelink Control Information (SCI) may be mapped to the PSCCH.

[0048] Figures 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D show examples of radio protocol stacks for NR side-link communication according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The AS protocol stack for the user plane in the PC5 interface (i.e., for STCH) may consist of the SDAP, PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers, as well as the physical layer. The protocol stack for the user plane is shown in Figure 5A. The AS protocol stack for the SBCCH in the PC5 interface may consist of the RRC, RLC, MAC sublayer, and physical layer, as shown below in Figure 5B. As shown in Figure 5C, to support the PC5-S protocol, PC5-S is placed on top of the PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers, as well as the physical layer, in the control plane protocol stack for the PC5-S SCCH. The control plane AS protocol stack for the RRC SCCH in the PC5 interface consists of the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC sublayer, and physical layer. The protocol stack for the control plane for the RRC SCCH is shown in Figure 5D.

[0049] Side-link radio bearers (SLRBs) can be classified into two groups, side-link data radio bearers (SL DRBs) for user plane data, and side-link signaling radio bearers (SL SRBs) for control plane data. Separate SL SRBs using different SCCHs can be configured for PC5-RRC and PC5-S signaling, respectively.

[0050] The MAC sublayer may provide the following services and functions via the PC5 interface: radio resource selection, packet filtering, prioritization between uplink transmission and sidelink transmission for a given UE, and sidelink CSI reporting. Due to the logical channel prioritization restrictions in the MAC, only sidelink logical channels belonging to the same destination can be multiplexed into the MAC PDU for each unicast, groupcast, and broadcast transmission that can be associated with the destination. For packet filtering, an SL-SCH MAC header containing both parts of the source layer-2 ID and the destination layer-2 ID may be added to the MAC PDU. The Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) contained within the MAC subheader can uniquely identify the logical channel within the range of the combination of the source layer-2 ID and the destination layer-2 ID.

[0051] The services and functions of the RLC sublayer may be supported for the sidelink. Both the unacknowledged mode (UM) and the acknowledged mode (AM) of RLC may be used in unicast transmission, and only UM may be used in groupcast or broadcast transmission. In the case of UM, only unidirectional transmission may be supported for groupcast and broadcast.

[0052] The services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the Uu interface may be supported for the sidelink with some restrictions. Out-of-order delivery may be supported only for unicast transmission, and duplication may not be supported via the PC5 interface in some cases.

[0053] The SDAP sublayer may provide the following services and functions, and the mapping between QoS flows and side-link data radio bearers, via the PC5 interface. For each of unicast, groupcast, and broadcast associated with a destination, there may be one SDAP entity per destination.

[0054] The RRC sublayer may provide the following services and functions, and the transfer of PC5-RRC messages between peer UEs, the maintenance and release of PC5-RRC connections between two UEs, and the detection of side-link radio link failures for PC5-RRC connections based on instructions from MAC or RLC, via the PC5 interface. The PC5-RRC connection may be a logical connection between two UEs for a pair of source layer-2 ID and destination layer-2 ID, and may be considered to be established after the corresponding PC5 unicast link is established. There may be a one-to-one correspondence between the PC5-RRC connection and the PCS unicast link. A UE may have multiple PC5-RRC connections with one or more UEs for different pairs of source layer-2 ID and destination layer-2 ID. Separate PC5-RRC procedures and messages may be used for the UE to transfer its side-link configuration, including UE capabilities and SL-DRB configuration, to a peer UE. Both peer UEs may exchange their own UE capabilities and side-link configurations using separate two-way procedures in both side-link directions.

[0055] Figure 6 shows exemplary physical signals in the downlink, uplink, and sidelink, according to some aspects, of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) can be used in the downlink, uplink, and sidelink, and can be used for channel estimation. The DM-RS is a UE-specific reference signal and can be transmitted with a physical channel in the downlink, uplink, or sidelink and can be used for channel estimation and coherent detection of the physical channel. A Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) can be used in the downlink, uplink, and sidelink, can track the phase, and can be used to mitigate performance loss due to phase noise. The PT-RS can be mainly used to estimate and minimize the effect of a Common Phase Error (CPE) on system performance. Due to phase noise properties, the PT-RS signal can have a low density in the frequency domain and a high density in the time domain. The PT-RS can occur in combination with the DM-RS and when the network is configured such that the PT-RS is present. A Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) can be used in the downlink for positioning using different positioning techniques. The PRS can be used to measure the delay of a downlink transmission by correlating the received signal from a base station with a local replica in a receiver. A Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) can be used in the downlink and sidelink. The CSI-RS can be used, among other uses, for channel state estimation, measurement of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) for mobility and beam management, and time / frequency tracking for demodulation.CSI-RS can be configured uniquely for each UE, but multiple users can share the same CSI-RS resources. The UE can determine CSI reports and transmit them to the base station in the uplink using PUCCH or PUSCH. CSI reports can be carried in sidelink MAC CE. The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) can be used for radio frame synchronization. PSS and SSS can be used for the cell search procedure during initial attach or for mobility purposes. The Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) can be used in the uplink for uplink channel estimation. Similar to CSI-RS, SRS can serve as a QCL reference for other physical channels so that other physical channels can be quasi-collocated, configured, and transmitted with SRS. The Sidelink PSS (S-PSS) and the Sidelink SSS (S-SSS) can be used in the sidelink for sidelink synchronization.

[0056] FIG. 7 shows examples of radio resource control (RRC) states and transitions between different RRC states, according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE can be in one of three RRC states: an RRC connected state (710), an RRC idle state (720), and an RRC inactive state (730). After power-on, the UE can be in the RRC idle state 720, and the UE can establish a connection with the network, transfer data, and / or originate / terminate a voice call using initial access and via an RRC connection establishment procedure. As soon as the RRC connection is established, the UE can enter the RRC connected state (710). The UE can transition from the RRC idle state (720) to the RRC connected state (710) or from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC idle state (720) using an RRC connection establishment / release procedure (740).

[0057] The RRC inactive state (730) can be used to reduce signaling load and latency caused by frequent transitions from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC idle state 720 when the UE frequently transmits small data. In the RRC inactive state (730), the AS context can be stored by both the UE and the gNB. This can result in a faster state transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC connected state (710). The UE can transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC connected state (710) or from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC inactive state (730) using an RRC connection resume / invalidation procedure (760). The UE can transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC idle state (720) using an RRC connection release procedure 750.

[0058] Figure 8 shows an exemplary frame structure and physical resources according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Downlink or uplink or sidelink transmissions can be organized into a frame having a duration of 10 ms, consisting of 10 1-ms subframes. Each subframe can consist of 1, 2, 4, ··· slots, and the number of slots per subframe can depend on the subcarrier spacing of the carrier on which the transmission is performed. The slot duration can be 14 symbols with a normal cyclic prefix (CP) and 12 symbols with an extended CP, and can be scaled in time as a function of the subcarrier spacing used so that there are an integer number of slots in a subframe. Figure 8 is a diagram showing a resource grid in the time domain and the frequency domain. Each element of the resource grid includes one symbol in time and one subcarrier in frequency, and is called a resource element (RE). A resource block (RB) can be defined as 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0059] In some examples, packet transmissions can be made over a portion of a slot, e.g., called a mini-slot, which can be two, four, or seven OFDM symbols, with non-slot-based scheduling. Mini-slots can be used for low-latency applications such as URLLC and for operation in unlicensed bands. In some embodiments, mini-slots can also be used for fast flexible scheduling of services (e.g., pre-emption of URLLC for eMBB).

[0060] FIG. 9 shows exemplary component carrier configurations in different carrier aggregation scenarios according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In carrier aggregation (CA), two or more component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated. A UE can receive or transmit simultaneously on one or more CCs according to its capabilities. CA can be supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs in the same band or different bands, as shown in FIG. 9. A gNB and a UE can communicate using a serving cell. The serving cell can be associated with at least one downlink CC (e.g., can be associated with only one downlink CC or can be associated with both a downlink CC and an uplink CC). The serving cell can be a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Secondary cCell (SCell).

[0061] A UE can adjust the timing of its uplink transmissions using an uplink timing control procedure. Timing Advance (TA) can be used to adjust the uplink frame timing relative to the downlink frame timing. A gNB can determine a desired TA setting and provide it to the UE. The UE can use the given TA to determine its uplink transmission timing relative to the UE's observed downlink reception timing.

[0062] In the RRC connected state, the gNB may be involved in maintaining timing advance to keep L1 synchronized. Serving cells that have the same uplink to which the same timing advance is applied and use the same timing reference cell are grouped into a timing advance group (TAG). A TAG may include at least one serving cell with a configured uplink. The mapping of serving cells to a TAG may be configured by RRC. In the case of the primary TAG, the UE may use the PCell as the timing reference cell, except for shared spectrum channel access, in which case the SCell may also be used as the timing reference cell in some cases. In the secondary TAG, the UE may use any of the activated SCells of this TAG as the timing reference cell and may not change it unless necessary.

[0063] The update of the timing advance may be signaled by the gNB to the UE via a MAC CE command. Such a command may restart a TAG-specific timer that may indicate whether L1 can be synchronized. When the timer is running, L1 may be considered synchronized; otherwise, L1 may be considered asynchronous (in which case uplink transmission may only be performed on the PRACH).

[0064] A UE having a single timing advance capability for CA can receive and / or transmit simultaneously on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells (multiple serving cells grouped into one TAG) that share the same timing advance. A UE having multiple timing advance capabilities for CA can receive and / or transmit simultaneously on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells (multiple serving cells grouped into multiple TAGs) using different timing advances. The NG-RAN can ensure that each TAG contains at least one serving cell. A non-CA capable UE can receive on a single CC and can transmit on a single CC corresponding to only one serving cell (one serving cell within one TAG).

[0065] In the case of CA, the multi-carrier nature of the physical layer can be exposed to the MAC layer, and one HARQ entity may be required per serving cell. When CA is configured, the UE may have one RRC connection with the network. In the establishment / re-establishment / handover of the RRC connection, one serving cell (e.g., the PCell) may provide NAS mobility information. Depending on the UE capabilities, the SCell may be configured to form a set of serving cells together with the PCell. The configured set of serving cells for the UE may consist of one PCell and one or more SCells. The reconfiguration, addition, and removal of SCells can be performed by the RRC.

[0066] In a dual connection scenario, the UE can be configured using multiple cells including a Master Cell Group (MCG) for communication with the master base station, a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) for communication with the secondary base station, and two MAC entities, one MAC entity for the MCG for communication with the master base station and one MAC entity for the SCG for communication with the secondary base station.

[0067] Figure 10 shows an exemplary bandwidth part configuration and switching according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE can be configured to use one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) 1010 on a given component carrier. In some examples, one of the one or more bandwidth parts can be active at a time. The active bandwidth part can define the operating bandwidth of the UE within the operating bandwidth of the cell. For initial access and until the configuration of the UE in the cell is received, an initial bandwidth part (1020) determined from the system information can be used. Through bandwidth adaptation (BA), for example, through BWP switching (1040), the receive and transmit bandwidths of the UE can be adjusted, which may not be as large as the cell bandwidth. For example, the width can be instructed to change (e.g., shrink during low activity periods to save power), the location can move in the frequency domain (e.g., to increase scheduling flexibility), and the subcarrier spacing can be instructed to change (e.g., to enable different services). The first active BWP (1020) can be the active BWP at the time of RRC (re)configuration for the PCell or activation of the SCell.

[0068] For a downlink BWP or an uplink BWP in a set of downlink BWPs or uplink BWPs, respectively, the UE may be provided with the following configuration parameters: subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix, common RBs and a number of consecutive RBs, an index within the set of downlink BWPs or uplink BWPs by each BWP-Id, a set of BWP common parameters, and a set of BWP dedicated parameters. A BWP may be associated with an OFDM numerology by the configured subcarrier spacing and the cyclic prefix for the BWP. In the case of a serving cell, the UE may be provided by the default downlink BWP among the configured downlink BWPs. If the UE is not provided with a default downlink BWP, the default downlink BWP may be the initial downlink BWP.

[0069] The downlink BWP may be associated with a BWP inactivity timer. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with the active downlink BWP expires and the default downlink BWP is configured, the UE may perform BWP switching to the default BWP. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with the active downlink BWP expires and the default downlink BWP is not configured, the UE may perform BWP switching to the initial downlink BWP.

[0070] Figure 11 shows examples of 4-step contention-based and contention-free random access processes, according to some aspects, of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 12 shows examples of 2-step contention-based random access processes and contention-free random access processes, according to some aspects, of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The random access procedure can be triggered by several events, such as initial access from the RRC idle state, RRC connection re-establishment procedure, downlink or uplink data arrival during the RRC connected state where the uplink synchronization status is "non-synchronized", uplink data arrival during the RRC connected state when there is no PUCCH resource for the Scheduling Request (SR), SR failure, request by the RRC during synchronization reconfiguration (e.g., handover), transition from the RRC inactive state, establishing time alignment of the secondary TAG, request for other System Information (SI), Beam Failure Recovery (BFR), consistent uplink Listen Before Talk (LBT) failure on the PCell, etc.

[0071] Two types of random access (RA) procedures, a 4-step RA type using MSG1, and a 2-step RA type using MSGA can be supported. Both types of RA procedures can support contention-based random access channel (CBRA) and contention-free random access (CFRA), as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

[0072] Based on the network configuration, the UE may select the type of random access at the start of the random access procedure. If the CFRA resource is not configured, an RSRP threshold may be used by the UE to select between the two-step RA type and the four-step RA type. If the CFRA resource for the four-step RA type is configured, the UE may perform random access using the four-step RA type. If the CFRA resource for the two-step RA type is configured, the UE may perform random access using the two-step RA type.

[0073] The MSG1 of the four-step RA type may consist of a preamble on the PRACH. After transmitting MSG1, the UE may monitor for a response from the network within the configured window. In the case of CFRA, a dedicated preamble for MSG1 transmission may be assigned by the network, and upon receiving a Random Access Response (RAR) from the network, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 11. In the case of CBRA, upon receiving a random access response, the UE may transmit MSG3 using the uplink grant scheduled in the random access response and may monitor for contention resolution as shown in Figure 11. If contention resolution is not successful after (re)transmission of MSGS, the UE may return to MSG31 transmission.

[0074] The 2-step RA type MSGA may include a preamble on the PRACH and a payload on the PUSCH. After the MSGA transmission, the UE may monitor for a response from the network within the configured window. In CFRA, dedicated preamble and PUSCH resources may be configured for MSGA transmission, and upon receiving a network response, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 12. In CBRA, if contention resolution is successful upon receiving a network response, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 12, and if a fallback indication is received in MSGB, the UE may execute MSG3 transmission using the uplink grant scheduled in the fallback indication and may monitor for contention resolution. If contention resolution is not successful after MSG3 (re)transmission, the UE may return to MSGA transmission.

[0075] Figure 13 shows examples of the time and frequency structure of synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks (SSBs) according to some aspects of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The SS / PBCH block (SSB) may consist of primary and secondary synchronization signals (PSS, SSS) each occupying one symbol and 127 subcarriers (e.g., subcarrier numbers 56 to 182 in Figure 13), and a PBCH spanning three OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but as shown in Figure 13, in one symbol, an unused portion for the SSS is left in the middle. The possible time positions of the SSB within a half-frame may be determined by the subcarrier spacing, and the periodicity of the half-frame in which the SSB is transmitted may be configured by the network. Between half-frames, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e., using different beams across the cell coverage area).

[0076] The PBCH can be used to carry the Master Information Block (MIB) that is used by the UE during the cell search and initial access procedures. The UE may first decode the PBCH / MIB to receive other system information. The MIB can provide the terminal with the parameters necessary for acquiring the System Information Block1 (SIB1), more specifically, the information necessary for monitoring the PDCCH for scheduling the PDSCH carrying the SIB1. In addition, the MIB can indicate cell closed state information. The MIB and SIB1 can be collectively referred to as minimum system information (SI), and SIB1 can be referred to as the remaining minimum system information (RMSI). Other system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., SIB2, SIB3, ···, SIB10, and SIBpos) can be referred to as other SI. Other SI can be broadcast periodically on the DL-SCH, can be broadcast on demand on the DL-SCH (e.g., in response to a request from a UE in the RRC idle state, RRC inactive state, or RRC connected state), or can be transmitted to a UE in the RRC connected state in a dedicated manner on the DL-SCH (e.g., when configured by the network, upon request from a UE in the RRC connected state, or when the UE has an active BWP that does not constitute a common search space).

[0077] FIG. 14 shows an example of SSB burst transmission according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The SSB burst may include N SSBs, and each SSB of the N SSBs may correspond to a beam. The SSB burst may be transmitted according to a periodicity (e.g., an SSB burst period). During a contention-based random access process, the UE may perform a random access resource selection process, where the UE first selects an SSB before selecting a random access preamble. The UE may select an SSB having an RSRP above a configured threshold. In some embodiments, the UE may select any SSB if no SSB having an RSRP above the configured threshold is available. A set of random access preambles may be associated with the SSB. After selecting the SSB, the UE may select a random access preamble from the set of random access preambles associated with the SSB and transmit the selected random access preamble to initiate the random access process.

[0078] In some embodiments, a certain beam of the N beams may be associated with a CSI-RS resource. The UE may measure the CSI-RS resource and select a CSI-RS having an RSRP above a configured threshold. The UE may select a random access preamble corresponding to the selected CSI-RS and transmit the selected random access process to initiate the random access process. If there is no random access preamble associated with the selected CSI-RS, the UE may select a random access preamble corresponding to a quasi-collocated SSB with the selected CSI-RS.

[0079] In some embodiments, based on UE measurements of CSI-RS resources and UE CSI reports, the base station may determine a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state and may indicate the TCI state to the UE, where the UE may use the indicated TCI state for receiving downlink control information (e.g., via PDCCH) or data (e.g., via PDSCH). The UE may use the indicated TCI state to use a beam appropriate for receiving data or control information. The indication of the TCI state may be using the RRC configuration or a combination of RRC signaling and dynamic signaling (e.g., via a MAC control element (MAC CE) and / or based on the value of a field in the downlink control information that schedules the downlink transmission). The TCI state may indicate a quasi-collocation (QCL) relationship between a downlink reference signal such as CSI-RS and a DM-RS associated with a downlink control or data channel (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH, respectively).

[0080] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with a list of up to M TCI-State configurations using physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration parameters to decode the PDSCH according to the detected PDCCH with DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell, where M may depend on the UE's capabilities. Each TCI-State may include parameters for configuring a quasi-collocation relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH, the DM-RS ports of the PDCCH, or the CSI-RS ports of the CSI-RS resources. The quasi-collocation relationship may be configured by one or more RRC parameters. The quasi-collocation type corresponding to each DL RS may take one of the following values: "QCL-TypeA": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}, "QCL-TypeB": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}, "QCL-TypeC": {Doppler shift, average delay}, "QCL-TypeD": {spatial Rx parameters}. The UE may receive an activation command (e.g., MAC CE) used to map the TCI state to the code point of the DCI field.

[0081] FIG. 15 shows examples of components of a user equipment and a base station for transmission and / or reception according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. All or subsets of the blocks and functions in FIG. 15 can be within the base station (1505) and the user equipment (1500) and can be executed by the user equipment (1500) and the base station (1505). The antenna (1510) can be used for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic signals. The antenna (1510) can include one or more antenna elements and can enable different input / output antenna configurations, including Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) configurations, Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) configurations, and Single-Input Multiple-Output (SIMO) configurations. In some embodiments, the antenna (150) can enable a massive MIMO configuration with tens or hundreds of antenna elements. The antenna (1510) can enable other multi-antenna techniques such as beamforming. In some examples, the UE (1500) can support only a single antenna depending on the capabilities of the UE (1500) or the type of the UE (1500) (e.g., a low-complexity UE).

[0082] The transceiver (1520) can communicate bidirectionally via a wireless link through the antenna (1510) as described herein. For example, the transceiver (1520) can represent a wireless transceiver in a UE and can communicate bidirectionally with a wireless transceiver in a base station, or vice versa. The transceiver (1520) can include a modem for modulating packets and supplying the modulated packets to the antenna (1510) for transmission and demodulating the packets received from the antenna (1510).

[0083] The memory (1530) may include a RAM and a ROM. The memory (1530) may store computer-readable, computer-executable code (1535) that includes instructions to cause a processor to perform various functions described herein during execution. In some examples, the memory (1530) may include, among other things, a Basic Input / output System (BIOS) that may control basic hardware operations or software operations, such as interactions with peripheral components or peripheral devices.

[0084] The processor (1540) may include a hardware device having processing capabilities (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some examples, the processor (1540) may be configured to operate the memory using a memory controller. In other examples, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor (1540). The processor (1540) may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory (1530)) to cause the UE (1500) or the base station (1505) to perform various functions.

[0085] The central processing unit (CPU) (1550) can execute basic arithmetic operations, logical operations, control operations, and input / output (I / O) operations specified by computer instructions in the memory (1530). The user device (1500) and / or the base station (1505) can include additional peripheral components such as a graphics processing unit (GPU) (1560) and a global positioning system (GPS) (1570). The GPU (1560) is specialized circuitry for the rapid operation and modification of the memory (1530) to accelerate the processing performance of the user device (1500) and / or the base station (1505). The GPS (1570) can be used to enable location-based services or other services, for example, based on the geographical location of the user device (1500).

[0086] In an exemplary embodiment, the MAC entity can be configured by the RRC having a DRX function that controls the UE's PDCCH monitoring activity for the C-RNTI, CI-RNTI, CS-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, AI-RNTI, SL-RNTI, SLCS-RNTI, and SL semi-persistent scheduling V-RNTI (SL Semi-Persistent Scheduling V-RNTI) of the MAC entity. In RRC_CONNECTED, when DRX is configured, for the activated serving cell, the MAC entity can use DRX operation to discontinuously monitor the PDCCH.

[0087] In some examples, the RRC may control DRX operation by configuring the following parameters: drx-onDurationTimer, the duration at the start of a DRX cycle; drx-SlotOffset, the delay before starting drx-onDurationTimer; drx-InactivityTimer, the duration after a PDCCH occasion indicating a new UL or DL transmission to the MAC entity; drx-RetransmissionTimerDL (for each DL HARQ process except broadcast processes), the maximum duration until a DL retransmission is received; drx-RetransmissionTimerUL (for each UL HARQ process), the maximum duration until a grant for UL retransmission is received; drx-LongCycleStartOffset, the Long DRX cycle, and DRX-StartOffset that defines the subframe in which the Long DRX cycle and the Short DRX cycle start; drx-ShortCycle (optional), the Short DRX cycle; drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional), the duration for which the UE can follow the Short DRX cycle; drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL (for each DL HARQ process except broadcast processes), the minimum duration until a DL allocation for HARQ retransmission is expected by the MAC entity; drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL (for each UL HARQ process), the minimum duration until a UL HARQ retransmission grant is expected by the MAC entity.

[0088] In some examples, the serving cell of a MAC entity can be configured by RRC in two DRX groups having different DRX parameters. If RRC does not configure a secondary DRX group, there is only one DRX group and all serving cells belong to that one DRX group. When two DRX groups are configured, each serving cell is uniquely assigned to one of the two groups. The DRX parameters that can be set separately for each DRX group can be drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer. The DRX parameters that can be common to the DRX groups can be drx-SlotOffset, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, drx-LongCycleStartOffset, drx-ShortCycle (optional), drx-ShortCycleTimer (optional), drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL, and uplinkHARQ-Mode (optional).

[0089] In some examples, when DRX is configured, the active time of the serving cell in the DRX group is hereinafter, while the drx-onDurationTimer or drx-InactivityTimer configured for the DRX group is running, or while the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, or drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running on any serving cell within the DRX group, or while the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer or msgB-ResponseWindow is running, or while a scheduling request is being transmitted and pending on the PUCCH. If this serving cell is part of a non-terrestrial network, the active time can start after the first scheduling request transmission and UE-gNB RTT, or after successfully receiving a random access response for a random access preamble not selected by the MAC entity among contention-based random access preambles, and after not receiving a PDCCH indicating a new transmission addressed to the C-RNTI of the MAC entity.

[0090] In some examples, when DRX is configured and received in a downlink allocation in which a MAC PDU is configured, the MAC entity may start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the completion of the corresponding transmission carrying the DL HARQ feedback. The MAC entity may top the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process.

[0091] In some examples, if the MAC PDU is transmitted in the configured uplink grant and no LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer, if this serving cell is not configured in uplink HARQ-Mode, or if this serving cell is configured in uplink HARQ-Mode and the corresponding HARQ process is configured as HARQ Mode A, the MAC entity may start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the end of the first transmission of the corresponding PUSCH transmission (within the bundle). The MAC entity may stop the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first transmission of the corresponding PUSCH transmission (within the bundle).

[0092] In some examples, if the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL expires and the data of the corresponding HARQ process is not successfully decoded, the MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the expiration of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL.

[0093] In some examples, if the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL expires, the MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the expiration of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL.

[0094] In some examples, when the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL expires, if the HARQ NACK feedback for the corresponding HARQ process is transmitted on the PUCCH, or if, due to UL / SL prioritization, the HARQ NACK feedback for the corresponding HARQ process is not transmitted on the PUCCH, the MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerSL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the expiration of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL.

[0095] In some examples, when a DRX command MAC CE or a Long DRX command MAC CE is received, the MAC entity may stop the DRX-onDurationTimer for each DRX group and may stop the DRX-InactivityTimer for each DRX group.

[0096] In some examples, when the drx-InactivityTimer for a DRX group expires and a Short DRX cycle is configured, the MAC entity may start or resume the drx-ShortCycleTimer for this DRX group in the first symbol after the expiration of the drx-InactivityTimer, and the MAC entity may use the Short DRX cycle for this DRX group. Otherwise, the MAC entity may use the Long DRX cycle for this DRX group.

[0097] In some examples, when a DRX command MAC CE is received and a Short DRX cycle is configured, the MAC entity may start or resume the DRX-ShortCycleTimer for each DRX group in the first symbol after the end of the DRX command MAC CE reception, and may use the Short DRX cycle for each DRX group. Otherwise, the MAC entity may use the Long DRX cycle for each DRX group.

[0098] In some examples, when the DRX-ShortCycleTimer for a DRX group expires, the MAC entity may use a Long DRX cycle for this DRX group.

[0099] In some examples, when a Long DRX command MAC CE is received, the MAC entity may stop the drx-ShortCycleTimer for each DRX group and may use a Long DRX cycle for each DRX group.

[0100] In some examples, when a Short DRX cycle is used for a DRX group and [(SFN × 10) + subframe number] modulo (drx-ShortCycle) = (drx-StartOffset) modulo (drx-ShortCycle), the MAC entity may start the drx-onDurationTimer for this drx group after drx-SlotOffset from the start of the subframe.

[0101] In some examples, when a Long DRX cycle is used for a DRX group and [(SFN × 10) + subframe number] modulo (DRX-LongCycle) = drx-StartOffset, the MAC entity may start the drx-onDurationTimer for this drx group after drx-SlotOffset from the start of the subframe.

[0102] In some examples, when the DRX group is in the active time, the MAC entity may monitor the PDCCH on the serving cell within this DRX group. If the PDCCH indicates a DL transmission, or if the PDCCH indicates a one-shot HARQ feedback, or if the PDCCH indicates a retransmission of HARQ feedback, the MAC entity may start or resume the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process(es) for which the HARQ feedback is reported in the first symbol after the completion of the corresponding transmission that carries the DL HARQ feedback. If the HARQ feedback is deferred by the timing of PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback that indicates an inapplicable k1 value, the corresponding transmission opportunity for transmitting the DL HARQ feedback may be indicated in the PDCCH after the PDCCH that requests the HARQ-ACK feedback. The MAC entity may stop the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process for which the HARQ feedback is reported. If the timing of PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback indicates an inapplicable k1 value, the MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL in the first symbol after the completion (of the last one) of the PDSCH transmission (within the bundle) for the corresponding HARQ process. In some examples, if the PDCCH indicates a UL transmission, the MAC entity may start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the completion of the first transmission (within the bundle) of the corresponding PUSCH transmission, and the MAC entity may stop the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process.

[0103] In some examples, the power consumption of a base station can be split into two parts: a dynamic part that can be consumed when data transmission / reception is in progress, and a static part that can be consumed (e.g., always) to maintain the necessary operations of the base station even when data transmission / reception is not in progress. The static power consumption can be determined by the sleep mode and can be a fixed value.

[0104] In some examples, for the dynamic part, the power consumption can be optimized based on traffic. Considering the various requirements of different UEs and different services in different transmission time intervals (TTIs), transmission parameters such as the active TRX chain set and transmission power can be adjusted based on the service requirements to maximize potential power savings without incurring significant performance losses. In some examples, some transmission parameters can be adjusted according to the UE's data rate requirements and the expected transmission capacity. In one example, when the traffic is low and the transmission capacity can be redundant, some of the transceiver chains or components can be turned off to reduce power consumption. Exemplary techniques to enable NES can include power reduction in the time domain, spatial domain, frequency domain, and / or power domain. For example, dynamic on / off and optical common signaling can be for the time domain.

[0105] In some examples, in the time domain, when there is no data, the base station can reduce power consumption by symbol muting. More efficient symbol muting can be achieved by simplifying some always-on signals / channels. In some examples, to ensure that the cell is detectable by the UE, some always-on common signals (e.g., SSB and SIB1) can be transmitted by the base station. These always-on common signals can occupy a certain number of symbols, and the BS may not enter the sleep mode for energy saving.

[0106] In some examples, some parts of the symbol may be active at times when the network transmits only SSB and SIB1.

[0107] In some examples, to reduce the ratio of SSB and SIB1, the periodicity of SSB and SIB1 can be changed when the network is idle. Changing the periodicity can increase the access delay of the UE and there may be a risk that a legacy UE cannot correctly identify a cell with a longer periodicity of SSB.

[0108] In some examples, when a carrier on which the UE can receive SSB / SIB1 already exists, the common signal for other carriers can be simplified and / or assisted by the signal received from the first carrier.

[0109] In some examples, for SSB, a discovery reference signal (DRS) that occupies fewer symbols (e.g., 2 symbols) than an existing SSB may be transmitted on an energy-saving carrier so as not to significantly affect UE performance such as synchronization accuracy. In some examples, when the BS can maintain synchronization between different carriers (such as an anchor carrier and an energy-saving carrier), the SSB on the energy-saving carrier can be completely skipped, for example, it can be SSB-less, achieving additional sleep time. The UE on the energy-saving carrier can acquire time and synchronization based on the SSB on the anchor carrier. In some examples, a legacy UE may not access the network via an energy-saving carrier, but due to the presence of an anchor carrier, the legacy UE can receive normal SSB and SIB1 on the anchor carrier. In some examples, since the UE can obtain synchronization information from the PCell, skipping the SSB on the energy-saving carrier can reduce the latency of SCell activation and improve throughput performance. For example, the latency of high-speed SCell activation can be reduced.

[0110] In some examples, the use of an SSB received from one carrier for other carriers in a multi-carrier scenario can result in an energy saving gain as well as lower latency in the SCell activation procedure.

[0111] In some examples, for an FR2 carrier that can be deployed in a standalone manner, due to different activations between beams, there may be further room to reduce the need for always-on common signals such as SSB / SIB1, for example, replacing these signals with on-demand SSB / SIB1.

[0112] In some examples, the transmission of common signals, such as SSB and SIB1, in single-carrier and multi-carrier scenarios can be optimized to minimize energy consumption.

[0113] Existing UE and network processes can result in high energy consumption in the network / base station. Network energy saving can be important for environmental sustainability and operating cost savings. Existing DRX processes can lead to degraded control channel monitoring when the base station or the cell provided by the base station moves from a non-energy saving state to an energy saving state and vice versa. There is a need to enhance the existing DRX procedure to improve the control channel monitoring performance at the UE when the network enters or exits the network energy saving state. Exemplary embodiments enhance the existing DRX procedure to improve the control channel monitoring performance at the UE when the network enters or exits the network energy saving state.

[0114] As shown in FIG. 16, in an exemplary embodiment, the UE may receive one or more messages, including configuration parameters (e.g., RRC configuration parameters). The one or more messages may include one or more RRC messages. The configuration parameters may include a first parameter used while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non-energy saving state. The configuration parameters may include a second parameter used while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a network energy saving state.

[0115] The energy-saving state of a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, may be associated with minimizing power consumption by the base station by not transmitting / receiving one or more messages (e.g., RRC messages), channels (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, PRACH, PBCH, etc.) or signals (e.g., SSB / reference signals, CSI-RS, SRS, etc.), or by transmitting / receiving one or more messages, signals, or channels at a lower periodicity or less frequently, in a time pattern that results in transmitting / receiving them less frequently.

[0116] The first configuration parameter may include a first DRX configuration parameter used in the DRX process at the UE while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non-energy-saving state. The second configuration parameter may include a second DRX configuration parameter used in the DRX procedure while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy-saving state.

[0117] The DRX process may be used by the UE to monitor control channels for some RNTIs. The UE may determine whether the UE is in the DRX active time or not based on the DRX procedure. During the DRX active time, the UE may monitor control channels for one or more RNTIs. During the non-DRX active time, the UE may not monitor control channels for one or more RNTIs.

[0118] While the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non-energy-saving state, the UE may execute the DRX procedure for determining the DRX active time using the first DRX configuration parameter. The UE may monitor control channels based on the determination of the DRX active time using the first DRX configuration parameter.

[0119] While the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, are in a non - energy - saving state, the UE may execute a DRX procedure to determine the DRX active time using a second set of DRX configuration parameters. The UE may monitor a control channel based on the determination of the DRX active time using the second set of DRX configuration parameters.

[0120] In some examples, a cell provided by a base station may include one or more first cells and one or more second cells. One or more first cells provided by the base station may be in a non - energy - saving state, and one or more second cells provided by the base station may be in an energy - saving state. The UE may execute a DRX procedure to determine the DRX active time for one or more first cells in a non - energy - saving state and using a first set of DRX configuration parameters. The UE may execute a DRX procedure to determine the DRX active time for one or more second cells in an energy - saving state and using a second set of DRX configuration parameters. The first set of DRX configuration parameters may be applicable to one or more first cells, and the second set of DRX configuration parameters may be applicable to one or more second cells.

[0121] In some examples, the first DRX configuration parameter may include a first HARQ RTT timer parameter indicating a first HARQ RTT timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second HARQ RTT timer parameter indicating a second HARQ timer value. The first HARQ RTT timer and the second HARQ RTT timer may be HARQ process specific (e.g., for a given HARQ process). For example, the first HARQ RTT timer may be a first downlink HARQ RTT timer, and the UE may start the first downlink HARQ RTT timer using the first HARQ RTT timer value in response to receiving a first downlink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The second HARQ RTT timer may be a second downlink HARQ RTT timer, and the UE may start the second downlink HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value in response to receiving a second downlink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state. For example, the first HARQ RTT timer may be a first uplink HARQ RTT timer, and the UE may start the first uplink HARQ RTT timer using the first HARQ RTT timer value in response to transmitting a first uplink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The second HARQ RTT timer may be a second uplink HARQ RTT timer, and the UE may start the second uplink HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value in response to transmitting a second uplink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state.

[0122] In some examples, the first DRX configuration parameter may include a first DRX retransmission timer parameter indicating a first DRX retransmission timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX retransmission timer parameter indicating a second DRX retransmission value. The first DRX retransmission timer and the second DRX retransmission timer may be HARQ process specific (e.g., for a given HARQ process). The UE may be in the DRX active time while the DRX retransmission timer is running. For example, the first DRX retransmission timer may be a first downlink DRX retransmission timer, and the UE may start the first downlink DRX retransmission timer using the first DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of the first HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The second DRX retransmission timer may be a second downlink DRX retransmission timer, and the UE may start the second downlink DRX retransmission timer using the second DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of the second HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state. For example, the first DRX retransmission timer may be a first uplink DRX retransmission timer, and the UE may start the first uplink DRX retransmission timer using the first DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of the first HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The second DRX retransmission timer may be a second uplink DRX retransmission timer, and the UE may start the second uplink DRX retransmission timer using the second DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of the second HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state.

[0123] In some examples, the first DRX configuration parameter may include a first DRX inactivity timer parameter indicating a first DRX inactivity timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX inactivity timer parameter indicating a second DRX inactivity timer value. The UE may start the first DRX inactivity timer using the first DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling DCI (e.g., including scheduling information for uplink transmission, downlink transmission, or sidelink transmission) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non-energy-saving state. The UE may start the second DRX inactivity timer using the second DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling DCI (e.g., including scheduling information for uplink transmission, downlink transmission, or sidelink transmission) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy-saving state. While the DRX inactivity timer is operating, the UE may be in DRX active time.

[0124] In some examples, the first DRX configuration parameter may include a first DRX on-duration timer parameter indicating a first DRX on-duration timer value, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX on-duration parameter indicating a second DRX on-duration timer value. While the DRX on-duration timer is operating, the UE may be in DRX active time.

[0125] In some examples, the first DRX configuration parameter may include a first DRX slot offset parameter indicating a first DRX slot offset, and the second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX slot offset parameter indicating a second DRX slot offset. The DRX slot offset may be a delay before starting the DRX on-duration timer.

[0126] In some examples shown in FIG. 17, the UE may determine that the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state, or the UE may determine whether it has entered an energy saving state for the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station. This determination may be based on an instruction from the base station. In some examples, the instruction may further include one or more parameters for UE operation (e.g., one or more DRX parameters, etc.) while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the instruction may be based on physical layer signaling and may use DCI (e.g., based on the value of a field in the DCI). In some examples, the instruction may be based on MAC layer signaling (e.g., based on MAC CE). In some examples, the instruction may be based on an RRC message.

[0127] In some examples shown in FIG. 18, at least some of the RNTIs may be excluded from monitoring while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the UE may monitor one or more first RNTIs while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - energy saving state, and the UE may monitor one or more second RNTIs while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the one or more second RNTIs may be a subset of the one or more first RNTIs, and at least some of the RNTIs may be excluded from monitoring while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the one or more second RNTIs may include additional RNTIs from the RNTIs being monitored while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state.

[0128] In an exemplary embodiment, a user equipment (UE) may receive a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter and a second DRX configuration parameter. The first DRX configuration parameter may be associated with a non - energy - saving state of a base station or one or more cells provided by the base station. The second DRX configuration parameter may be associated with an energy - saving state of a base station or one or more cells provided by the base station. The UE may monitor a control channel based on the first DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non - energy - saving state. The UE may monitor a control channel based on the second DRX configuration parameter while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy - saving state.

[0129] In some examples, one or more first cells provided by the base station may be in a non - energy - saving state. One or more second cells provided by the base station may be in an energy - saving state. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may be applicable to the one or more first cells. The second DRX configuration parameter may be applicable to the one or more second cells.

[0130] In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value. The second DRX configuration parameter may include a second HARQ RTT timer value. In some examples, the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for a HARQ process. In some examples, the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for a downlink HARQ RTT timer. In some examples, the UE may start the first HARQ RTT timer using the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value in response to receiving a first downlink transport block (TB) while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The UE may start the second HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value in response to receiving a second downlink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state. In some examples, the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value may be for an uplink HARQ RTT timer. In some examples, the UE may start the first HARQ RTT timer using the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value in response to transmitting a first uplink transport block (TB) while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - power - saving state. The UE may start the second HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value in response to transmitting a second uplink TB while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power - saving state.

[0131] In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX retransmission timer value. The second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX retransmission timer value. In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value may be for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process. In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value may be for a downlink DRX retransmission timer. In some examples, the user equipment (UE) may start the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value in response to expiration of a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non-power saving state. The UE may start the second DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power saving state. In some examples, the user equipment (UE) may be in discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while the discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer is operating. In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value may be for an uplink DRX retransmission timer. In some examples, the UE may start the first DRX retransmission timer using the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value in response to expiration of a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non-power saving state. The UE may start the second DRX retransmission timer using the second DRX retransmission timer value in response to expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer while the base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a power saving state.

[0132] In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX inactivity timer value. The second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX inactivity timer value. The UE may start a first DRX inactive timer using the first DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in a non - energy - saving state. The UE may start a second DRX inactive timer using the second DRX inactivity timer value in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI) while the base station or one or more cells provided by the base station are in an energy - saving state. In some examples, the user equipment (UE) may be in the discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while the discontinuous reception (DRX) inactive timer is running.

[0133] In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX on - duration timer value. The second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX on - duration timer value. In some examples, the user equipment (UE) may be in the discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while the discontinuous reception (DRX) on - duration timer is running.

[0134] In some examples, the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter may include a first DRX slot offset. The second DRX configuration parameter may include a second DRX slot offset. In some examples, the discontinuous reception (DRX) slot offset may be a delay before starting the DRX on - duration timer.

[0135] In some examples, the UE may receive an indication that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state. In some examples, the indication may indicate that a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, has entered an energy saving state. In some examples, the indication may be based on a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. In some examples, the indication may be based on a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE). In some examples, the indication may be based on Downlink Control Information (DCI). In some examples, the indication may indicate at least one of a second Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration parameter associated with the energy saving state. In some examples, the indication may indicate the timing at which a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, enters an energy saving state.

[0136] In some examples, monitoring a control channel while a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in a non - energy saving state may be for one or more first Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs). In some examples, monitoring a control channel while a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state may be for one or more second Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs). In some examples, at least one Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) may not be monitored while a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state.

[0137] In some examples, while a base station, or one or more cells provided by the base station, is in an energy saving state, at least one signal or at least one channel or at least one message may be transmitted or received with a greater periodicity and less frequency.

[0138] With respect to various exemplary embodiments, the exemplary blocks and modules described in this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Examples of general-purpose processors include, but are not limited to, microprocessors, any conventional processor, controllers, microcontrollers, or state machines. In some examples, the processor can be implemented using a combination of devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0139] The functions described in this disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Instructions or code can be stored or transmitted on a computer-readable medium for implementation of the functions. Other examples for implementation of the functions disclosed herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. The implementation of the functions can be via physically collocated elements, or distributed elements (e.g., at various locations), including where portions of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0140] Computer-readable media includes, but is not limited to, non-transitory computer storage media. Non-transitory storage media can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Examples of non-transitory storage media include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices. The non-transitory media can be used to carry or store desired program code means (e.g., instructions and / or data structures) and can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, or a general purpose processor or special purpose processor. In some examples, software / program code can be transmitted from a remote source (e.g., a website, server, etc.) using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave. In such examples, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are within the scope of the definition of media. Combinations of the above examples are also within the scope of computer media.

[0141] As used in this disclosure, the use of the term "or" in a list of items indicates an inclusive list. The list of items can be preceded by phrases such as "at least one of" or "one or more of". For example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C includes A or B or C or AB (i.e., A and B) or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used in this disclosure, prefacing a list of conditions with the phrase "based on" should not be construed to mean "based only on" that set of conditions, but rather should be construed to mean "based at least in part on" that set of conditions. For example, a result described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0142] As used herein, the terms "comprise", "include", or "contain" may be used interchangeably, have the same meaning, and should be construed as inclusive and non-limiting. The terms "comprise", "include", or "contain" may be used before a list of elements and indicate that at least all of the recited elements in the list are present, but that other elements not in the list may also be present. For example, if A comprises B and C, then both {B, C} and {B, C, D} are within the scope of A.

[0143] This disclosure describes exemplary configurations that are not necessarily representative of all examples that can be implemented or all configurations within the scope of the disclosure, in relation to the accompanying drawings. The term "exemplary" should not be construed as "preferred to other examples" or "advantageous compared to other examples", but rather as "an illustration, an instance or an example". By reading this disclosure, including the description of the embodiments and the drawings, those skilled in the art will understand that the techniques disclosed herein can be implemented using alternative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments, or certain features of the embodiments described herein, can be combined to arrive at still other embodiments for practicing the techniques described in this disclosure. Accordingly, this disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for network energy saving, comprising: by a user equipment (UE), receiving a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter related to a non-energy-saving state of a base station or a non-energy-saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station, and receiving a second DRX configuration parameter related to an energy-saving state of the base station or an energy-saving state of one or more cells provided by the base station; monitoring a control channel based on the first DRX configuration parameter while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non-energy-saving state; monitoring a control channel based on the second DRX configuration parameter while the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy-saving state. A method comprising the above steps.

2. One or more first cells provided by the base station are in the energy-saving state, One or more second cells provided by the base station are in the energy-saving state, The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter is applicable to the one or more first cells, The second DRX configuration parameter is applicable to the one or more second cells. The method according to claim 1.

3. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter includes a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value, The second DRX configuration parameter includes a second HARQ RTT timer value. The method according to claim 1.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for a HARQ process.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for a downlink HARQ RTT timer.

6. While the base station, or the one or more cells provided by the base station, is in the non-energy-saving state, in response to receiving a first downlink transport block (TB), starting a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer using the first HARQ RTT timer value; While the base station, or the one or more cells provided by the base station, is in the energy-saving state, in response to receiving a second downlink TB, starting a second HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value; The method according to claim 5, further comprising. **Claim 7** The method according to claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for an uplink HARQ RTT timer. **Claim 8** While the base station, or the one or more cells provided by the base station, is in the non-energy-saving state, in response to transmitting a first uplink transport block (TB), starting the first HARQ RTT timer using the first HARQ RTT timer value; While the base station, or the one or more cells provided by the base station, is in the energy-saving state, in response to transmitting a second uplink TB, starting a second HARQ RTT timer using the second HARQ RTT timer value; The method according to claim 7, further comprising. **Claim 9** The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter includes a first DRX retransmission timer value, The method according to claim 1, wherein the second DRX configuration parameter includes a second DRX retransmission timer value. **Claim 10** The method according to claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value are for a hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ process. **Claim 11** The method according to claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value are for a downlink DRX retransmission timer. **Claim 12** While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non - energy - saving state, in response to the expiration of a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Round - Trip Time (RTT) timer, starting the first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) re - transmission timer; While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy - saving state, in response to the expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer, starting the second DRX re - transmission timer The method according to claim 11, further comprising.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the user equipment (UE) is in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active period while the discontinuous reception (DRX) re - transmission timer is operating.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) re - transmission timer value and the second DRX re - transmission timer value are for an uplink DRX re - transmission timer.

15. While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non - energy - saving state, in response to the expiration of a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Round - Trip Time (RTT) timer, using the first discontinuous reception (DRX) re - transmission timer value to start the first DRX re - transmission timer; While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy - saving state, in response to the expiration of a second HARQ RTT timer, using the second DRX re - transmission timer value to start the second DRX re - transmission timer The method according to claim 14, further comprising.

16. The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter includes a first DRX non - activity timer value, The method according to claim 1, wherein the second DRX configuration parameter includes a second DRX non - activity timer value.

17. While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the non - energy - saving state, in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI), using the first discontinuous reception (DRX) non - activity timer value to start a first DRX non - active timer; While the base station or the one or more cells provided by the base station are in the energy-saving state, in response to receiving scheduling downlink control information (DCI), starting a second DRX non-activity timer using the second DRX non-activity timer value The method according to claim 16, further comprising: **Claim 18** The method according to claim 17, wherein the user equipment (UE) is in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while the discontinuous reception (DRX) non-activity timer is operating. **Claim 19** The first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameter includes a first DRX on-duration timer value,[[]] The method according to claim 1, wherein the second DRX configuration parameter includes a second DRX on-duration timer value. **Claim 20** The method according to claim 19, wherein the user equipment (UE) is in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active period while the discontinuous reception (DRX) on-duration timer is operating.

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