User device and method

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable medium. A terminal device receives a DRX cycle configuration from a network device, and determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX configuration and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive SFNs. Then, the terminal device performs downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times. In this way, the start times of the DRX cycles can be approximately aligned with the arrival times of packets without cumulative delay, wasted resources, additional signaling overhead, and SFN period boundary problems.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, with regard to control signaling overhead and scheduling delay, power saving has become an important theme for services with periodic packets, especially extended reality (XR) services such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and cloud games.

[0003] For both the downlink and uplink, video streams are recognized as an important traffic type. Typically, video streams have 60, 90, or 120 frames per second (FPS). This means that packets arrive at the radio access network (RAN) every 1 / 60, 1 / 90, or 1 / 120 seconds. However, the period of the DRX cycle in the current specification is an integer number of milliseconds. It is impossible to set the start time of the DRX cycle to exactly match the arrival time of the packets. Such a mismatch between the packet arrival time and the start time of the DRX cycle is a problem.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium for DRX configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes, at a terminal device, receiving a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle setting from a network device, determining a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive system frame numbers (SFNs), and performing downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times.

[0006] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes, at a terminal device, receiving a DRX cycle setting from a network device, determining a non-uniform set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting, and performing downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times.

[0007] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes, at a network device, transmitting a DRX cycle setting to a terminal device, determining a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive SFNs, and performing downlink transmission based on the set of start times.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes transmitting a DRX cycle setting from a network device to a terminal device, determining a non-uniform set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting, and performing downlink transmission based on the set of start times.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a processor configured to execute the method according to the first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes a processor configured to execute the method according to the third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed on at least one processor, the at least one processor is caused to execute the method according to the first or second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed on at least one processor, the at least one processor is caused to execute the method according to the third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

[0013] Other features of the present disclosure should be easily understood from the following description.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] Some embodiments of the present disclosure are further described in the accompanying drawings to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure more apparent.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Here, the principles of the present disclosure will be described with reference to some embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are intended to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from the methods described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

[0017] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, in-vehicle devices for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network, devices for integrated access and backhaul (IAB), satellite-mounted vehicles or aircraft-mounted vehicles in non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including high altitude platforms (HAP) such as satellites and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), extended reality (XR) devices including different types of reality such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) commonly referred to as drones which are aircraft without human pilots, devices on high speed trains (HST), or image acquisition devices such as digital cameras, sensor game devices, music storage and playback devices, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing, etc., but are not limited thereto. The "terminal device" may further have a "multicast / broadcast" function to support V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, wireless services, software delivery via wireless, group communication, and IoT applications that prioritize public safety and missions.One or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), known as multi-SIM, may also be incorporated. The term "terminal device" may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless device.

[0018] The term "network device" refers to a device that can provide or host a cell or coverage with which a terminal device can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), next-generation Node B (gNB), transmission and reception point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), IAB node, femto node, pico node, and low-power nodes such as reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0019] The terminal device or network device may have the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning. Generally, it includes a trained model from a large number of data collected for a specific function and can be used to predict some information.

[0020] The terminal device or network device may operate on several frequency ranges such as, for example, FR1 (410 MHz to 7125 MHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz), frequency bands greater than 100 GHz, and terahertz (THz). Furthermore, it can operate on licensed / unlicensed / shared spectrum. The terminal device may have two or more connections with the network device under a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or network device can operate in full-duplex, flexible-duplex, cross-split duplex modes.

[0021] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in test equipment such as, for example, signal generators, signal analyzers, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, test terminal devices, test network devices, channel emulators, etc.

[0022] In one embodiment, the terminal device can be connected to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is an eNB and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information regarding different RATs may be transmitted from at least one of the first network device or the second network device to the terminal device. In one embodiment, the first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and the second information may be transmitted from the second network device directly or via the first network device to the terminal device. In one embodiment, information regarding the settings of the terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information regarding the re - settings of the terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device directly or via the first network device to the terminal device.

[0023] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms "comprising", "including", and variations thereof are to be construed as open-ended terms, meaning "including, but not limited to". The term "based on" is to be construed as "at least partially based on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" are to be construed as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" is to be construed as "at least one other embodiment". The terms "first", "second", etc. may refer to different or the same objects. There may be additional explicit and implicit definitions hereinafter.

[0024] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "best", "lowest", "highest", "minimum", "maximum", etc. Such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection can be made from among a number of available functional alternatives, and it should be understood that such a selection need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise more preferred than other selections.

[0025] In the context of the present application, the term "symbol" refers to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol. The term "slot" includes a plurality of consecutive symbols, e.g., 14 symbols or 12 symbols. The term "mini-slot" includes one or more consecutive symbols and has fewer symbols than a slot, e.g., 1, 2, 4, or 7 symbols.

[0026] As described above, for some services, such as XR services, it is impossible to set the start time of the DRX cycle to exactly match the packet arrival time. To improve the performance of related services, it is necessary to address such a mismatch between the packet arrival time and the period of the DRX cycle.

[0027] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions to the above and other potential problems. In this solution, the DRX cycle is set such that a set of start times determined from the setting is non-uniform, that is, the gaps between the start times of adjacent DRX cycles are non-uniform. This means that at least two gaps are different. In this way, the periodicity of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the packet arrival time without cumulative delay, wasted resources, and additional signaling overhead.

[0028] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable scenario. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented for XR. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented within one of reduced-capability NR devices, NR multi-input multi-output (MIMO), NR sidelink enhancement, NR systems at frequencies higher than 52.6 GHz, extended NR operations up to 71 GHz, narrowband mono Internet of Things (NB-IoT) / extended machine type communication (eMTC) on non-terrestrial networks (NTN), NTN, UE power saving enhancement, NR coverage enhancement, NB-IoT and LTE-MTC, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), NR multicast and broadcast services, or enhancement of multi-radio dual connectivity.

[0029] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the principles and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

[0030] Example of a communication network FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary communication network 100A in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1A, the communication network 100A may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be served by the network device 120. It should be understood that the numbers of the terminal device and the network device in FIG. 1 are provided for illustrative purposes and do not imply any limitation to the present disclosure. The communication network 100A may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1A, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120 via a channel such as a wireless communication channel. Communication in the communication network 100A may comply with any suitable standard including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Machine Type Communication (MTC), etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be executed according to any generation of communication protocol known currently or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocol, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced network, or sixth generation (6G) network.

[0032] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may send the DRX cycle setting to the terminal device 110. In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform downlink channel monitoring based on the DRX cycle setting. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram 100B showing exemplary operations within a DRX cycle. As shown in FIG. 1B, the DRX cycle 130 includes an active phase 131 (i.e., on-time interval) and an inactive phase 132 (i.e., opportunity for DRX). The terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring, e.g., PDCCH monitoring, only during the active phase 131.

[0033] In some scenarios, the network device may send an XR frame packet to the terminal device, and the terminal device may receive the XR frame packet from the network device. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary scenario 200 of a mismatch between an XR frame packet and a DRX cycle according to a conventional solution. In this example, the XR frame packet includes a 60 FPS XR video stream. That is, the XR frame packet arrives at the RAN approximately every 1 / 60 second (i.e., about 16.67 ms). Assume that the period of the DRX cycle is set to 20 ms. In the context of this application, the start time of the DRX cycle refers to the start time of the active phase (on-time interval) of the DRX cycle.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 2, assume that the arrival time of the XR frame packet 210 exactly coincides with the start time 221 of the DRX cycle 220. Since the time interval between the XR frame packet 210 and the next XR frame packet 211 is 16.67 ms, and the time interval between the start time 221 of the DRX cycle 220 and the start time 231 of the next DRX cycle 230 is 20 ms, the arrival time of the XR frame packet 211 does not match the start time 231 of the DRX cycle 230. In this example, the start time 231 of the DRX cycle 230 is later than the arrival time of the XR frame packet 211.

[0035] Generally, when the start time of a DRX cycle is earlier than the arrival time of a packet, that is, when the on-time interval starts before the packet arrives, the terminal device may need to maintain an awake state for a long time to search for a downlink control channel, such as a PDCCH. Therefore, too much power may be wasted. When the start time of the DRX cycle is later than the arrival time of the packet, that is, when the on-time interval starts after the packet arrives, the overall transmission delay of the packet increases. Furthermore, since there are no packets arriving within or before some of the on-time intervals, these on-time intervals may be wasted.

[0036] According to the current specification, only setting the DRX cycle as an integer millisecond is permitted. Therefore, the inconsistency as shown in FIG. 2 still exists. The dynamic adaptation of DRX has been identified as a potential area for XR and requires further research.

[0037] In view of the above, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for DRX configuration to overcome the above and other potential problems. The DRX configuration is designed such that the gap between the start times of adjacent DRX cycles determined from the DRX configuration is non-uniform. In one aspect, the length of the DRX cycle may be set as a non-integer value. In another aspect, the length of the DRX cycle may be set as an integer value. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A to 9.

[0038] In the context of this application, the term "DRX cycle" may refer to a long DRX cycle, a short DRX cycle, or both.

[0039] Exemplary implementation of a DRX configuration having a non-integer DRX cycle length FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing a process 300A for communication regarding resource configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of explanation, process 300A will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Terminal device 110 and network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1 may be involved in process 300A.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3A, the network device 120 transmits (301) the DRX cycle setting to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, this setting may be configured for a long DRX cycle. In some embodiments, this setting may be configured for a short DRX cycle. In some embodiments, this setting may be configured for both a long DRX cycle and a short DRX cycle.

[0041] In some embodiments, this setting may indicate at least one of the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. The length of the DRX cycle is a non-integer value (also referred to herein as the nominal DRX cycle length). This non-integer value may refer to a non-integer number of time units. In the context of the present application, the time unit may be milliseconds or subframes or slots or minislots or OFDM symbols.

[0042] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based on this setting. In the context of the present application, the start time of the DRX cycle is the time to start the on-time interval timer, where the on-time interval is the time interval at the start of the DRX cycle, and the on-time interval timer is determined based on the RRC information drx-onDurationTimer.

[0043] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the quotient of the index of the time unit and the nominal DRX cycle length, and determine an integer by truncating this quotient. Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the determined integer.

[0044] For example, based on the following formulas (1) and (2), a set of start times may be determined. floor[Ns - floor(Ns / p)*p] = drx_StartOffset (1) Here, floor() represents the function of the floor operation, p represents the length of the DRX cycle, drx_StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and Ns is determined by Equation (2). Ns = SFN * 10 + Nsub (2) Here, SFN represents the system frame number, and Nsub represents the subframe number.

[0045] For the subframe with index Ns, if Equation (1) is true, the DRX cycle should start after drx_SlotOffset (drx_SlotOffset represents the slot offset for the DRX cycle) from the start of the subframe. Thus, the start time of this set can be determined. For clarity, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 4A.

[0046] FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram 400A showing an exemplary setting with a positive non-integer DRX cycle length according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, p = 1000 / 60 ms, drx_StartOffset = 0, and drx_SlotOffset = 0.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4A, assume that data transmission 410 is the first data transmission within the period and SFN = 0. Based on Equation (1) and Equation (2), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 410 starts in subframe 0. After 1000 / 60 ms, data transmission 420 may arrive. Based on Equation (1) and Equation (2), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 420 starts in subframe 17. Similarly, based on Equation (1) and Equation (2), the DRX cycle for data transmission 430 may be determined to start in subframe 34, and the DRX cycle for data transmission 430 may be determined to start in subframe 50.

[0048] Note that in the example of FIG. 4A, although the start time of the DRX cycle is described as being at the subframe level, the start time of the DRX cycle may be any other suitable time unit. For example, the start time of the DRX cycle may be at the symbol level or at the mini-slot level. The present disclosure does not limit this aspect.

[0049] It can be seen that the intervals between the start times of the DRX cycles for adjacent data transmissions 410, 420, 430, 440 during data transmissions are 17 subframes, 17 subframes, and 16 subframes. These gaps are non-uniform. Thus, the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the period of the arrival time of the XR packets, so that additional power consumption due to misalignment can be avoided. Furthermore, since there is no cumulative offset between the DRX cycle and the packet arrival time, it is avoided that packets arrive at times other than the on-time intervals of the DRX cycle.

[0050] In some embodiments, for a short DRX cycle, Equation (1) may be changed to the following Equation (3). floor[Ns - floor(Ns / p)*p] = floor[drx_StartOffset - floor(drx_StartOffset / p)*p] (3) Here, floor() represents a function of the floor operation, p represents the length of the DRX cycle, drx_StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and Ns is determined by the above Equation (2).

[0051] It should be understood that each of Equation (1) and Equation (2) may be equivalent to the following Equation (4). floor(Ns modulo p) = drx_StartOffset and floor(Ns modulo p) = floor(drx_StartOffset modulo p) (4) Here, floor() represents a function of the floor operation, p represents the length of the DRX cycle, drx_StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, Ns is determined by the above formula (2), and modulo represents the remainder operation for rational numbers. For example, for two rational numbers a and b, a modulo b = a - floor(a / b)*b.

[0052] However, when determining the set of start times based on the above embodiments exemplified by formulas (1) to (4), problems may occur at the boundaries of the SFN cycle. The SFN cycle includes, for example, a plurality of consecutive SFNs from SFN 0 to SFN 9, or from SFN 100 to SFN 199. In the context of this application, the term "SFN cycle" may refer to the time interval from SFN 0 to SFN 1023. The SFN cycle is equal to 10.24 seconds (10240 ms) or 10240 subframes. After SFN 1023, the SFN cycle is repeated from SFN 0 to SFN 1023.

[0053] Obviously, the time interval of the SFN cycle (i.e., 10240 ms) is not an integer multiple of the nominal DRX cycle length for some integer DRX cycle lengths such as 3 ms, 7 ms, or 17 ms. Therefore, there may not be enough subframes left for the last DRX cycle in the SFN cycle. For clarity, an example will be described in relation to FIG. 4B.

[0054] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary scenario 400B in the exemplary setting of Figure 4A. Assume that a set of start times is determined based on equations (1) and (2). As shown in Figure 4B, the DRX cycle 450 may be determined to start in subframe 0 and continue for 17 subframes, and the DRX cycle 460 may be determined to start in subframe 10217 and continue for 17 subframes. Similarly, the last DRX cycle may be determined to start in subframe 10234 and continue for 16 subframes. However, in reality, as shown in Figure 4B, only 6 subframes remain in this SFN cycle. That is, the DRX cycle 470 starts in subframe 10234, but there are only 6 available subframes. Furthermore, the next DRX cycle starts at SFN 0 of the next SFN cycle. Therefore, there may not be enough subframes in the SFN cycle for the last DRX cycle.

[0055] To solve the above problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an improved solution for determining the start time of a DRX cycle. In this solution, when receiving a setting, the terminal device 110 determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting and the SFN cycle (302). In this way, a situation where there are not enough subframes in the SFN cycle for the last DRX cycle is avoided.

[0056] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may consider at least one of the following SFN cycle conditions to determine the set of start times: whether the SFN cycle has ended, whether the SFN cycle has started, whether the SFN is 1023, whether the SFN is 0, whether the SFN changes from 1023 to 0, or the index of the SFN cycle. Of course, any other appropriate conditions of the SFN cycle are also possible.

[0057] For the sake of illustration, several exemplary embodiments will be described below in relation to Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 2.

[0058] Embodiment 1 In the present embodiment, the definition of Ns in the above formula (1) is modified so as to avoid a situation where there is no sufficient subframe for the last DRX cycle within the SFN period.

[0059] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine Ns (also referred to as a first value in this specification) based on the index of the SFN period, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, Ns may be modified to be determined by the following formula (5). Ns = (Np*1024 + SFN)*10 + Nsub (5) Here, SFN represents the system frame number, Nsub represents the subframe number, and Np represents the value of the counter for the SFN period (also referred to as the index of the SFN period in this specification).

[0060] In some embodiments, after DRX is set, Np starts from 0, and when the SFN period ends or when the SFN period starts (i.e., at the end of SFN 1023 or at the start of SFN 0), Np is incremented by 1. In some embodiments, in response to receiving a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI) from the network device 120 to activate or modify the DRX setting, the terminal device 110 may set or reset Np to 0.

[0061] Based on both formula (1) and formula (5), the terminal device 110 may determine the start time for the DRX cycle.

[0062] Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, the drx_StartOffset in the above formula (1) is modified so as to avoid a situation where there is no sufficient subframe for the last DRX cycle within the SFN period. That is, the start offset for the DRX cycle may be adjusted.

[0063] In some embodiments, when the SFN period starts (i.e., when the first SFN within the SFN period starts), the terminal device 110 may adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle based on the length of the DRX cycle and the value used to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle (for convenience, also referred to as the second value and represented as delta in this specification). Alternatively, when the SFN period ends (i.e., when the last SFN of the SFN period ends), the terminal device 110 may adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle based on the length of the DRX cycle and the second value.

[0064] In some embodiments, when the SFN period starts or ends before the DRX cycle, the terminal device 110 may apply the second value from the DRX cycle to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, when the SFN period starts or ends within the last DRX cycle of the previous SFN period, the terminal device 110 may apply the second value from the DRX cycle to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. For illustration, some exemplary embodiments for adjusting the start offset and determining the second value will be described below.

[0065] In some embodiments, drx_StartOffset may be updated based on the following formula (6). updated_drx_StartOffset = (drx_StartOffset + delta) modulo p1 (6) Here, updated_drx_StartOffset represents the updated drx_StartOffset, delta represents a second value, modulo represents a remainder operation, and p1 is determined by the following formula (7). p1 = ceil(p) or floor(p) (7) Note that ceil() represents a function of the ceiling operation, floor() represents a function of the floor operation, and p represents the length of the DRX cycle.

[0066] In some embodiments, drx_StartOffset may be updated based on the following formula (8). updated_drx_StartOffset = floor[(drx_StartOffset + delta) modulo p] (8) Here, updated_drx_StartOffset represents the updated drx_StartOffset, delta represents a second value, floor() represents a function of the floor operation, modulo represents a remainder operation of rational numbers, and p represents the length of the DRX cycle.

[0067] In some embodiments, drx_StartOffset may be updated based on the following formula (9). updated_drx_StartOffset = ceil[(drx_StartOffset + delta) modulo p] (9)

[0068] Here, updated_drx_StartOffset represents the updated drx_StartOffset, delta represents a second value, ceil() represents a function of the ceiling operation, modulo represents a remainder operation of rational numbers, and p represents the length of the DRX cycle.

[0069] It should be understood that formulas (6) to (9) are merely examples for illustration purposes, and the start offset of the DRX cycle may be adjusted in any other suitable way based on the second value.

[0070] In some embodiments, the second value may be determined by the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value based on the length of the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value based on the following formula (10). delta = floor[ceil(10240 / p)*p-10240] or floor[ceil(10240 / p)*p]-10240 (10) Here, delta represents the second value, floor() represents the function of the floor operation, ceil() represents the function of the ceiling operation, and p represents the length of the DRX cycle.

[0071] As another example, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value based on the following formula (11). delta = ceil[ceil(10240 / p)*p-10240] or ceil[ceil(10240 / p)*p]-10240 (11) Here, delta represents the second value, ceil() represents the function of the ceiling operation, and p represents the length of the DRX cycle.

[0072] In some embodiments, the second value may be determined by the network device 120. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the setting of the second value from the network device 120 and determine the second value based on the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the setting to the terminal device 110 via RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the setting to the terminal device 110 via MAC CE. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the setting to the terminal device 110 via DCI. It should be understood that any other suitable method is also possible for transmitting the setting.

[0073] In some embodiments, the start time of the adjusted DRX cycle may be later than a threshold time after receiving the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the second value may be applied from the current DRX cycle or the next DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the second value may be applied after the threshold time. In some embodiments, the second value may be applied starting from the start within the next SFN period.

[0074] In some embodiments, the start time of the adjusted DRX cycle may be the first DRX cycle within the current SFN period. In some embodiments, the first DRX cycle within the current SFN period may be the first complete DRX cycle within the current SFN period (i.e., the entire on-time interval and inactive time interval of the DRX cycle are within the current SFN period). In some embodiments, the first DRX cycle within the current SFN period may be the first DRX cycle started within the current SFN period. In some embodiments, the first DRX cycle within the current SFN period may be the first DRX cycle started within the previous SFN period and ended within the current SFN period.

[0075] Returning to FIG. 3A, when the set of start times is determined, the terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring (303) based on the set of start times. For example, the terminal device 110 starts PDCCH monitoring at the set of start times.

[0076] Similarly, when transmitting the DRX setting, the network device 120 also determines (304) the set of start times for the set of DRX cycles. Since the operations for determination 304 are similar to the operations for determination 302, they are not repeated here for brevity. When the set of start times is determined, the network device 120 performs downlink channel transmission (305).

[0077] With the process of FIG. 3A, the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the period of the arrival time of XR packets, so that additional power consumption due to misalignment can be avoided. Since there is no cumulative offset between the DRX cycle and the packet arrival time, packet arrival during times other than the on-time intervals of the DRX cycle is avoided. At the same time, the above problem of the SFN cycle boundary is overcome.

[0078] Exemplary implementation of a DRX setting with an integer DRX cycle length FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing a process 300B for communication regarding resource setting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of explanation, process 300B will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Terminal device 110 and network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1 may be involved in process 300B.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 3B, network device 120 transmits (311) the DRX cycle setting to terminal device 110. In some embodiments, this setting may be set for a long DRX cycle. In some embodiments, this setting may be set for a short DRX cycle. In some embodiments, this setting may be set for both a long DRX cycle and a short DRX cycle.

[0080] In some embodiments, this setting may indicate at least one of the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. The length of the DRX cycle is an integer value. This integer value may refer to an integer number of time units. As described above, in the context of the present application, the time unit may be milliseconds or subframes or slots or minislots or OFDM symbols.

[0081] Upon receiving the setting, the terminal device 110 determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the setting such that the set of start times is non-uniform. In this way, the DRX cycles can be approximately aligned with the period of the arrival time of the XR packets, so that additional power consumption due to misalignment can be avoided. For clarity, some exemplary embodiments regarding the determination of the set of start times will be described in detail in relation to Embodiments 3 to 7.

[0082] Embodiment 3 In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may adjust the start time of the DRX cycle based on an instruction from the network device 120. In other words, the offset to be made is indicated from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110. In this way, the computational complexity in the terminal device 110 is reduced.

[0083] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive an instruction (hereinafter also referred to as a first instruction for convenience in this specification) indicating that one or more start times of one or more DRX cycles within the set of DRX cycles are modified.

[0084] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on this setting. For example, in the case of a short DRX cycle, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of candidate start times based on the following formula (12). [(SFN × 10) + Nsub] modulo (drx-ShortCycle) = (drx-StartOffset) modulo (drx-ShortCycle) (12) Here, SFN represents the system frame number, Nsub represents the sub-frame number, drx-ShortCycle represents the length of the short DRX cycle, drx-StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and modulo represents the remainder operation. For a sub-frame with index [(SFN × 10) + Nsub], if Equation (12) is true, the short DRX cycle should start drx_SlotOffset after the start of the sub-frame.

[0085] In the case of a long DRX cycle, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of a set of the candidates based on the following Equation (13). [(SFN × 10) + Nsub] modulo (drx-LongCycle) = drx-StartOffset (13) Here, SFN represents the system frame number, Nsub represents the sub-frame number, drx-LongCycle represents the length of the long DRX cycle, drx-StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and modulo represents the remainder operation. For a sub-frame with index [(SFN × 10) + Nsub], if Equation (13) is true, the long DRX cycle should start drx_SlotOffset after the start of the sub-frame.

[0086] The terminal device 110 may modify one or more start times among a set of start times of the candidates based on the first instruction, and determine the modified set of start times of the candidates as the set of start times. In some embodiments, the first instruction may include an offset for the one or more start times. In some embodiments, the offset may be applied to adjust the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the offset may be applied to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. For example, the network device 120 may indicate to the terminal device 110 to start the current or next DRX cycle 16 ms after the candidate start time of the previous DRX cycle. It should be understood that the offset may be any appropriate value. It should be understood that the first instruction may adopt any other appropriate format.

[0087] Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, the terminal device 110 may calculate by itself an offset added to the start time of the DRX cycle. Thus, signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0088] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on this setting. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the set of candidate start times based on Equation (12) or Equation (13).

[0089] Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the cumulative offset for the DRX cycle among the set of DRX cycles based on the index of the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and a time value associated with the setting of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the cumulative offset based on the following Equation (14). Oa = N * (P-T) (14) Here, Oa represents the cumulative offset, N represents the index of the DRX cycle, T represents the time value, and P represents the length of the DRX cycle. T is a non-integer value.

[0090] In some embodiments, the time value and the DRX cycle setting may be indicated by the same RRC information. In some embodiments, the time value may be associated with the identity of the DRX cycle setting. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle setting may be associated with the identity of the time value. In some embodiments, the time value and the DRX cycle setting may be associated with the same traffic.

[0091] In some embodiments, the time value may be pre-set or pre-defined. In some embodiments, the time value may be the period of the traffic. Of course, the time value may be any other suitable value or parameter associated with the traffic. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may indicate the time value to the terminal device 110 via an indication (for convenience, also referred to as the second indication in this specification). In some embodiments, the second indication may be an RRC setting. In some embodiments, the second indication may be a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the second indication may be a DCI.

[0092] Based on the cumulative offset, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time of the DRX cycle within a set of candidate start times. In some embodiments, if the cumulative offset is less than a threshold offset (denoted as Th), the terminal device 110 may keep the start time of the DRX cycle unchanged without modification. In some embodiments, if the cumulative offset is greater than the threshold offset Th, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time based on the threshold offset Th. In some embodiments, if the cumulative offset is greater than an integer multiple of the threshold offset Th, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time based on the integer multiple of the threshold offset Th.

[0093] In some embodiments, the threshold offset Th may be applied to adjust the length of the DRX cycle. In some alternative embodiments, the threshold offset th may be applied to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. Thus, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time based on the threshold offset Th.

[0094] In some embodiments, if the cumulative offset is equal to the threshold offset Th, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time based on the threshold offset Th. In some alternative embodiments, if the cumulative offset is equal to the threshold offset Th, the terminal device 110 may keep the start time of the DRX cycle unchanged without modification.

[0095] In some embodiments, the threshold offset Th may be preset or pre-defined. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may indicate the threshold offset Th to the terminal device 110 via an indication (for convenience, also referred to as the third indication herein). In some embodiments, the third indication may be an RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the third indication may be a MAC CE. In some embodiments, the third indication may be a DCI. In some embodiments, when the terminal device 110 does not receive the third indication, the threshold offset Th may be equal to a default value. In some embodiments, the default value may be 1 ms, 1 subframe, 1 slot, 1 mini-slot, or 1 frame. In some embodiments, the default value may be indicated by an RRC configuration.

[0096] In some embodiments, after the modification, the terminal device 110 may reset to zero the counter set to generate the index of the DRX cycle. In other words, N in Equation (14) is reset to 0 after the modification (i.e., after the cumulative offset is compensated).

[0097] Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of a set of modified candidates as the start time of the set. In this way, the cumulative delay is efficiently compensated in an easy and timely manner.

[0098] For illustration, an example will be described below with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram 500 showing an exemplary configuration having a positive integer DRX cycle length according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the length of the DRX cycle (i.e., P) is 17 ms, the time value (i.e., T) is 1000 / 60 ms, and the threshold offset (i.e., Th) is 2 ms.

[0099] As shown in FIG. 5, assume that data transmission 510 is the first data transmission within a period. Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 410 starts in slot n. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 510 is 0, that is, N = 0. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 0 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa < Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 510 is not changed.

[0100] Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 520 starts in slot n + 17. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 520 is 1, that is, N = 1. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 0.33 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa < Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 520 is not changed.

[0101] Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 530 starts in slot n + 34. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 530 is 2, that is, N = 2. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 0.67 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa < Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 530 is not changed.

[0102] Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 540 starts in slot n + 102. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 540 is 6, that is, N = 6. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 2 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa < Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 540 is not changed.

[0103] Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 550 starts in slot n+117. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 550 is 7, i.e., N = 7. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 2.33 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa > Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 550 should be adjusted based on Th. For example, the length of the DRX cycle is adjusted as P+Th. Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13) and P’ = P+Th, the DRX cycle for data transmission 550 may be adjusted to start in slot n+119. Therefore, N is reset to 0.

[0104] Based on Equation (12) or Equation (13), it may be determined that the DRX cycle for data transmission 560 starts in slot n+134. The index of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 540 is 0, i.e., N = 0. Based on Equation (14), it can be seen that Oa = 0.33 ms. Since Th = 2 ms, Oa < Th. In this case, the start time of the DRX cycle corresponding to data transmission 560 is not changed.

[0105] Note that in the example of FIG. 5, the start time was described in relation to the slot offset, but the start time may be any other appropriate time unit. For example, the start time may be an offset at the symbol, mini-slot, or sub-frame level. The present disclosure does not limit this aspect.

[0106] It should be noted that the example described in FIG. 5 is for illustration purposes only and not for limitation. Any other appropriate method is also possible.

[0107] Embodiment 5 In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit information on the DRX cycle pattern for the DRX setting to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the information on the DRX cycle pattern may be the time pattern itself. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may obtain the DRX cycle pattern from this information.

[0108] In some embodiments, the DRX setting may indicate a start offset for the DRX cycle and a DRX cycle pattern for the set of start times. The DRX cycle pattern may include a set of values, and the values within the set of values indicate the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the unit of the values within the set of values may be 1 millisecond, 1 symbol, 1 mini-slot, or 1 slot.

[0109] In some embodiments, the DRX cycle pattern may include K1 integers, where K1 is an integer greater than 1. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle pattern may be (34, 33, 33), (17, 17, 16), (12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11), or (9, 8, 8). For example, the DRX cycle pattern may be determined based on the FPS of XR traffic. In the case of 30 FPS, the DRX cycle pattern may be (34, 33, 33). In the case of 60 FPS, the time pattern may be (17, 17, 16). In the case of 90 FPS, the DRX cycle pattern may be (12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11). In the case of 120 FPS, the DRX cycle pattern may be (9, 8, 8). In some embodiments, the value of K1 may be associated with the FPS. For example, in the cases of 30 FPS, 60 FPS, and 120 FPS, K1 is 3, and in the case of 90 FPS, K1 is 9. In some embodiments, the sum of the K1 integers may be one of 100, 50, and 25. In some embodiments, the sum of the K1 integers may be associated with the FPS. For example, in the cases of 30 FPS or 90 FPS, the sum of the K1 integers is 100, in the case of 60 FPS, the sum of the K1 integers is 50, and in the case of 120 FPS, the sum of the K1 integers is 25. In some embodiments, the difference between any two elements within the DRX cycle pattern may be 0, 1, or 2.

[0110] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a value (for convenience, also referred to as the third value in this specification) within the set of values based on the index of the DRX cycle and the number of values within the set. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the value within the set of values based on the following formula (15). k = (N modulo M) (15) Here, modulo represents the remainder operation, k represents the index of the value within the set, and k = 0, 1, 2,..., M - 1. N represents the index of the DRX cycle, and N ≧ 0. M represents the number of values within this set.

[0111] In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a value within the set of values based on an index of a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set of values. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine a value within the set of values based on the following formula (16). k = [floor(Ns / P) modulo M] (16) Here, floor() represents a function of the floor operation, P represents the length of the DRX cycle, modulo represents the remainder operation, k represents the index of the value within the set, and k = 0, 1, 2,..., M - 1. M represents the number of values within this set. Ns is determined by the above formula (2) or formula (5).

[0112] It should be understood that formula (15) is only an example, and any other suitable method is also possible for determining the value within the set.

[0113] Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the determined value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on formula (12) or formula (13).

[0114] It should be understood that the DRX cycle pattern may be used repeatedly.

[0115] In this way, the start time of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the packet arrival time without cumulative delay, wasted resources, and additional signaling overhead.

[0116] Embodiment 6 In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit information on the start offset pattern for the DRX setting to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the information on the start offset pattern may be the time pattern itself. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may obtain the start offset pattern from this information.

[0117] In some embodiments, the DRX setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle and the start offset pattern for the set of start times. The length of the DRX cycle is an integer value. The start offset pattern includes a set of values, and the values within the set indicate the start offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the unit of the values within the set may be 1 millisecond, 1 symbol, 1 mini-slot, or 1 slot.

[0118] In some embodiments, the start offset pattern may include K1 integers, where K1 is an integer greater than 1. For example, the start offset pattern may be determined as (1, 1, 0). Any other suitable form may also be adopted.

[0119] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the value within the set (for convenience, also referred to as the fourth value in this specification) based on the index of the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the value within the set based on the above formula (16).

[0120] In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value within the set based on the above formula (15). It should be understood that any other suitable method is also possible for determining the values within the set for the start offset pattern.

[0121] Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the determined value, the length of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on Equation (12) or Equation (13).

[0122] It should be understood that the start offset pattern may be used repeatedly.

[0123] In this way, the start time of the DRX cycle can also be approximately aligned with the packet arrival time without cumulative delay, wasted resources, and additional signaling overhead.

[0124] Embodiment 7 In this embodiment, by introducing an index of the DRX cycle, the equation (for example, Equation (12) or Equation (13)) for determining the start time of the DRX cycle is redesigned.

[0125] In this embodiment, the DRX setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle may be an integer value. In some embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle may be a non-integer value. That is, Embodiment 7 may be applied to the case of an integer DRX cycle length and may also be applied to the case of a non-integer DRX cycle length.

[0126] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the reference system frame number (SFN), the length, the start offset, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the following Equation (17). Ns = [S1*10 + floor(N * P) + drx_StartOffset] modulo 10240 (17) Here, S1 represents the reference SFN, floor() represents the function of the floor operation, N represents the index of the DRX cycle, P represents the length of the DRX cycle, drx_StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and Ns is determined by the above formula (2). For the Nth DRX cycle, if formula (17) is true, the DRX cycle should start drx_SlotOffset after the start of the subframe.

[0127] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the reference subframe number, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the following formula (18). Ns = [S2 + floor(N * P) + drx_StartOffset] modulo 10240 (18) Here, S2 represents the reference subframe number, floor() represents the function of the floor operation, N represents the index of the DRX cycle, P represents the length of the DRX cycle, drx_StartOffset represents the start offset for the DRX cycle, and Ns is determined by the above formula (2). For the Nth DRX cycle, if formula (18) is true, the DRX cycle should start drx_SlotOffset after the start of the subframe.

[0128] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the information of the reference SFN from the network device 120 and determine the reference SFN based on the received information. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the reference SFN based on the frame in which the DRX setting is received. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the SFN of the frame in which the DRX setting is received as the reference SFN. As another example, the terminal device 110 may determine the SFN of the frame a predetermined number of frames after the frame in which the DRX setting is received as the reference SFN. The predetermined number may be any positive integer.

[0129] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the reference subframe number, the length, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the following formula (19). Ns = [S2 + floor(N * P)] modulo 10240 (19) Here, S2 represents the reference subframe number, floor() represents the function of the floor operation, N represents the index of the DRX cycle, P represents the length of the DRX cycle, and Ns is determined by the above formula (2). For the Nth DRX cycle, if formula (19) is true, the DRX cycle should start drx_SlotOffset after the start of the subframe.

[0130] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive information on the reference subframe number from the network device 120 and determine the reference subframe number based on the received information. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the reference subframe number based on the subframe in which the DRX setting is received. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the subframe number of the subframe in which the DRX setting is received as the reference subframe number. As another example, the terminal device 110 may determine the subframe number of the subframe a predetermined number of subframes after the subframe in which the DRX setting is received as the reference subframe number. The predetermined number may be any positive integer.

[0131] According to the solution of Embodiment 7, the start time of the DRX cycle can also be approximately aligned with the packet arrival time without cumulative delay, wasted resources, and additional signaling overhead. Also, the SFN cycle boundary problem can be avoided.

[0132] So far, the determination of the set of start times has been described. Returning to FIG. 3B, the terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring (313) based on the set of start times.

[0133] Similarly, when transmitting the DRX setting, the network device 120 also determines the set of start times for the set of DRX cycles (314). Since the operations for determination 314 are similar to the operations for determination 312, they will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity. Once the set of start times is determined, the network device 120 performs downlink channel transmission (315).

[0134] Also by the process of FIG. 3B, the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the period of the arrival time of the XR packets, so additional power consumption due to misalignment can be avoided. Since there is no cumulative offset between the DRX cycle and the packet arrival time, packets are prevented from arriving at times other than the on-time intervals of the DRX cycle.

[0135] Implementation example of the method Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method implemented in a terminal device and a network device. With reference to FIGS. 6 to 9, these methods will be described below.

[0136] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an exemplary communication method 600 implemented in a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 600 may be executed in terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, with reference to FIG. 1, method 600 will be described. Method 600 may include additional blocks not shown and / or some of the blocks shown may be omitted, and it should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0137] In block 610, the terminal device 110 receives a DRX cycle setting from the network device 120. In some embodiments, this setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle is a non-integer value.

[0138] In block 620, the terminal device 110 determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive SFNs.

[0139] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a first value based on the index of the SFN period, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and determine the start time based on the first value, the length, the start offset, and the slot offset. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine a first value (Ns) based on Equation (5) and determine the start time based on Equation (1) and Equation (5). It should be understood that any other suitable method is also possible.

[0140] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a second value used to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value based on the length of the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the second value (delta) based on Equation (10) or Equation (11). It should be understood that any other suitable method is also possible. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive the setting of the second value from the network device 120 and determine the second value based on the setting of the second value.

[0141] In some embodiments, at the start or end of the SFN cycle, the terminal device 110 may adjust the start offset based on the second value and the length of the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may adjust the start offset based on Equation (6) and Equation (7). As another example, the terminal device 110 may adjust the start offset based on Equation (8) or Equation (9).

[0142] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the adjusted start offset, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on Equation (1).

[0143] In some embodiments, the start time of the DRX cycle to be adjusted is later than the threshold time after receiving the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle to be adjusted is the first DRX cycle within the SFN cycle.

[0144] In block 7, the terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times.

[0145] According to the method of FIG. 6, the start time of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the arrival time of the packet without causing an SFN cycle boundary problem.

[0146] FIG. 7 shows another exemplary communication method 700 implemented in a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 700 may be executed in terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, for the purpose of explanation, method 700 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Method 700 may include additional blocks not shown and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and it should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 7, in block 710, terminal device 110 receives a DRX cycle setting from network device 120. In some embodiments, this setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle is a non-integer value.

[0148] In block 720, terminal device 110 determines a set of uneven start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting. In some embodiments, this setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, which is an integer value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0149] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on this setting. For example, terminal device 110 may determine the set of candidate start times based on Equation (12) or Equation (13).

[0150] In some embodiments, in response to receiving, from the network device 120, a first indication indicating that one or more start times of one or more DRX cycles within the set of DRX cycles are modified, the terminal device 110 may modify, based on the first indication, one or more start times within a set of candidate start times, and determine the modified set of candidate start times as the set of start times. In some embodiments, the first indication may include an offset for the one or more start times.

[0151] In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a cumulative offset for a DRX cycle among the set of DRX cycles based on an index of the DRX cycle, a length of the DRX cycle, and a time value associated with the DRX cycle setting. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, a second indication indicating a time value that is a non-integer value. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the cumulative offset based on Equation (14). Of course, any other suitable method is also possible.

[0152] Then, the terminal device 110 may modify a start time of a DRX cycle within a set of candidate start times based on the cumulative offset, and determine the modified set of candidate start times as the set of start times. In some embodiments, when the cumulative offset is less than a threshold offset, the terminal device 110 may keep the start time of the DRX cycle unchanged without modification. When the cumulative offset is greater than the threshold offset, the terminal device 110 may modify the start time based on the threshold offset. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive, from the network device 120, a third indication indicating the threshold offset. In some embodiments, after modification, the terminal device 110 may reset to zero a counter set to generate an index of the DRX cycle.

[0153] In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate a slot offset for a DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a DRX cycle pattern for the set of start times, the DRX cycle pattern including a set of values, the values within the set indicating the length of the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a third value within the set of values based on the index of the DRX cycle and the number of values within the set. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the third value based on Equation (15) or Equation (16). Of course, any other suitable method is also possible. Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the third value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on Equation (12) or Equation (13).

[0154] In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate a slot offset for a DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and a start offset pattern for the set of start times, the start offset pattern including a set of values, the values within the set indicating the start offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a fourth value within the set of values based on the index of the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the fourth value based on Equation (15) or Equation (16). Any other suitable method is also possible. Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on the fourth value, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time of the DRX cycle based on Equation (12) or Equation (13).

[0155] In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the reference SFN, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0156] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive information about the reference SFN from the network device 120 and determine the reference SFN based on the received information. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the reference SFN based on the frame in which the configuration is received.

[0157] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the reference subframe number, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. In some alternative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on the reference subframe number, the length, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0158] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive information about the reference subframe number from the network device 120 and determine the reference subframe number based on the received information. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the reference subframe number based on the subframe in which the configuration is received.

[0159] In block 730, the terminal device 110 performs downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times. By method 700, the start time of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the arrival time of the packet.

[0160] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary communication method 800 implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 800 may be executed in a network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, method 800 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Method 800 may include additional blocks (not shown) and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and it should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0161] In block 810, the network device 120 transmits the DRX cycle configuration to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle is a non-integer value.

[0162] In block 820, the network device 120 determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle configuration and an SFN cycle including a plurality of consecutive SFNs.

[0163] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a first value based on the index of the SFN period, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and determine the start time based on the first value, the length, the start offset, and the slot offset. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a second value used to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a second value based on the length of the DRX cycle. It should be understood that any other suitable method is also possible. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit the setting of the second value to the terminal device 110.

[0164] In some embodiments, at the start or end of the SFN period, the network device 120 may adjust the start offset based on the second value and the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the start time based on the adjusted start offset, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0165] In some embodiments, the start time of the DRX cycle to be adjusted is later than a threshold time after receiving the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle to be adjusted is the first DRX cycle within the SFN period.

[0166] In block 830, the terminal device 110 performs downlink transmission based on the set of start times. By the method of FIG. 8, the start time of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the packet arrival time without causing an SFN period boundary problem.

[0167] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another exemplary communication method 900 implemented in a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, method 900 may be executed in network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, method 900 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Method 900 may include additional blocks not shown and / or some of the blocks shown may be omitted, and it should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0168] As shown in FIG. 9, at block 910, network device 120 transmits the DRX cycle setting to terminal device 110. In some embodiments, this setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the length of the DRX cycle is a non-integer value.

[0169] At block 920, network device 120 determines a set of non-uniform start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting. In some embodiments, this setting may indicate the length of the DRX cycle, which is an integer value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0170] In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on this setting. Network device 120 determines the set of start times by modifying one or more of the start times within the set of candidate start times, and may transmit a first indication to terminal device 110 indicating that one or more of the start times of one or more DRX cycles within the set of DRX cycles are modified. In some embodiments, the first indication may include an offset for the one or more start times.

[0171] In some alternative embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a cumulative offset for a DRX cycle among the set of DRX cycles based on an index of the DRX cycle, a length of the DRX cycle, and a time value associated with the DRX cycle setting. Then, the terminal device 110 may, based on the cumulative offset, correct the start time of the DRX cycle within a set of candidate start times, and determine the corrected set of candidate start times as the set of start times. In some embodiments, if the cumulative offset is less than a threshold offset, the network device 120 may keep the start time of the DRX cycle unchanged without modification. If the cumulative offset is greater than the threshold offset, the network device 120 may correct the start time based on the threshold offset. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a third indication indicating the threshold offset to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, after the correction, the network device 120 may reset a counter set to generate an index of the DRX cycle to zero.

[0172] In some embodiments, this setting may indicate a slot offset for the DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a DRX cycle pattern for the set of start times, the DRX cycle pattern including a set of values, and values within the set of values indicating the length of the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a third value within the set of values based on an index of the DRX cycle and the number of values within the set of values. Then, the network device 120 may determine a start time for the DRX cycle based on the third value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0173] In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate a slot offset for the DRX cycle, a length of the DRX cycle, and a start offset pattern for the set of start times, the start offset pattern including a set of values, with the values within the set of values indicating a start offset for the DRX cycle. In these embodiments, network device 120 may determine a fourth value within the set of values based on an index of a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set of values. Then, network device 120 may determine a start time for the DRX cycle based on the fourth value, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0174] In some embodiments, this configuration may indicate a length of the DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a slot offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the start time based on a reference SFN, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, an index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0175] In some embodiments, network device 120 may transmit information of the reference SFN to terminal device 110. In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine the reference SFN based on the frame in which the configuration is received.

[0176] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, an index of the DRX cycle, a system frame number (SFN), and a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle. In some alternative embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the slot offset, an index of the DRX cycle, an SFN, and a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0177] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit information on the reference subframe number to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the reference subframe number based on the subframe in which the setting is received.

[0178] In block 930, the network device 120 performs downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times. By method 900, the start time of the DRX cycle can be approximately aligned with the arrival time of the packet.

[0179] Example implementations of the device FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a device 1000 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1000 can be considered as another exemplary embodiment of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the device 1000 may be implemented in the terminal device 110 or the network device 120, or as at least a part thereof.

[0180] As shown in the figure, the apparatus 1000 includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1040 coupled to the processor 1010, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1040. The memory 1020 stores at least a part of the program 1030. The TX / RX 1040 is used for two-way communication. The TX / RX 1040 has at least one antenna for facilitating communication, but the access node mentioned in this specification may actually have a plurality of antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements, such as the X2 / Xn interface for two-way communication between eNB / gNB, the S1 / NG interface for communication between the Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / SGW / UPF and eNB / gNB, the Un interface for communication between eNB / gNB and the relay node (RN), or the Uu interface for communication between eNB / gNB and the terminal device.

[0181] It is assumed that the program 1030 includes program instructions that enable the apparatus 1000 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure when executed by the associated processor 1010, as described herein with reference to FIGS. 3A - 9. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1010 of the apparatus 1000, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1010 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, the combination of the processor 1010 and the memory 1020 may form a processing means 1050 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0182] Memory 1020 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and, by way of non-limiting example, may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology such as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, a fixed memory and a removable memory. Although only one memory 1020 is shown within device 1000, there may be several physically different memory modules within device 1000. Processor 1010 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and, by way of non-limiting example, may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 1000 may have an application-specific integrated circuit chip that is temporally dependent on a clock that synchronizes a plurality of processors, such as a main processor.

[0183] In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises a circuit, the circuit receives a DRX cycle setting from a network device, and determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive SFNs, and is configured to perform downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times.

[0184] In some embodiments, this setting indicates a length of a DRX cycle that is a non-integer value, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0185] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining a first value based on the index of the SFN period, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and then determining the start time based on the first value, the length, the start offset, and the slot offset.

[0186] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining a second value used to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle, adjusting the start offset based on the second value and the length of the DRX cycle at the start or end of the SFN period, and then determining the start time based on the adjusted start offset, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0187] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the second value based on the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the second value by receiving the setting of the second value from the network device and then determining the second value based on the setting of the second value.

[0188] In some embodiments, the start time of the DRX cycle is later than a threshold time after receiving the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle within the SFN period.

[0189] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes a circuit, the circuit receives a DRX cycle setting from a network device, determines a set of uneven start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting, and is configured to perform downlink channel monitoring based on the set of start times.

[0190] In some embodiments, this setting indicates the length of the DRX cycle, which is an integer value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0191] In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on the setting, and in response to receiving from the network device a first indication indicating that one or more start times of one or more DRX cycles within the set of DRX cycles are modified, modify the one or more start times within the set of candidate start times based on the first indication, and determine the modified set of candidate start times as the set of start times. In some embodiments, the first indication includes an offset for the one or more start times.

[0192] In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on the setting, determine a cumulative offset for a DRX cycle among the set of DRX cycles based on the index of the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and a time value associated with the setting of the DRX cycle, modify the start time of the DRX cycle within the set of candidate start times based on the cumulative offset, and determine the modified set of candidate start times as the set of start times.

[0193] In some embodiments, the circuit may be further configured to receive, from a network device, a second indication indicating a time value that is a non-integer value.

[0194] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to maintain, without changing, the start time of the DRX cycle according to a determination that the cumulative offset is less than a threshold offset, and to correct the start time based on the threshold offset according to a determination that the cumulative offset is greater than the threshold offset, thereby correcting the start time.

[0195] In some embodiments, the circuit may be further configured to receive, from the network device, a third indication indicating the threshold offset. In some embodiments, the circuit may be further configured to reset, to zero, a counter configured to generate an index of the DRX cycle after the correction.

[0196] In some embodiments, this configuration indicates a slot offset for a DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a DRX cycle pattern for the set of start times, the DRX cycle pattern including a set of values, the values within the set of values indicating the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may determine a third value within the set of values based on the index of the DRX cycle and the number of values within the set of values for the DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles, and determine the start time for the DRX cycle based on the third value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, thereby being configured to determine.

[0197] In some embodiments, this configuration indicates a slot offset for a DRX cycle, a length of the DRX cycle, and a start offset pattern for the set of start times, the start offset pattern including a set of values, where the values within the set of values indicate a start offset for the DRX cycle.

[0198] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine, based on an index of a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set of values, a fourth value within the set of values as the start time for the DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles, and to determine the start time for the DRX cycle based on the fourth value, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0199] In some embodiments, this configuration indicates a length of a DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0200] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for the DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining the start time based on a reference SFN, the length, the start offset, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0201] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to receive information about the reference SFN from the network device and to determine the reference SFN based on the received information.

[0202] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to determine the reference SFN based on the frame in which the configuration is received.

[0203] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the start offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0204] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0205] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to receive information on the reference subframe number from the network device and determine the reference subframe number based on the received information.

[0206] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to determine the reference subframe number based on the subframe in which the setting is received.

[0207] In some embodiments, a network device includes a circuit that transmits a DRX cycle setting to a terminal device, determines a set of start times for a set of DRX cycles based on at least the DRX cycle setting and an SFN period including a plurality of consecutive SFNs, and is configured to perform downlink transmission based on the set of start times.

[0208] In some embodiments, this setting indicates a length of a DRX cycle that is a non-integer value, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0209] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining a first value based on the index of the SFN period, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and then determining the start time based on the first value, the length, the start offset, and the slot offset.

[0210] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining a second value used to adjust the start offset for the DRX cycle, adjusting the start offset based on the second value and the length of the DRX cycle at the start or end of the SFN period, and then determining the start time based on the adjusted start offset, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0211] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the second value based on the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to transmit the setting of the second value to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the start time of the DRX cycle is later than a threshold time after receiving the setting of the second value. In some embodiments, the DRX cycle is the first DRX cycle within the SFN period.

[0212] In some embodiments, the network device includes a circuit, and the circuit transmits a DRX cycle setting from the network device to the terminal device, determines a set of non-uniform start times for a set of DRX cycles based at least on the DRX cycle setting, and is configured to perform downlink transmission based on the set of start times.

[0213] In some embodiments, this setting indicates the length of the DRX cycle, which is an integer value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, and the slot offset for the DRX cycle.

[0214] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on the setting, determine the set of start times by modifying one or more start times within the set of candidate start times, and transmit a first indication to the terminal device indicating that the one or more start times within the set of DRX cycles are modified, thereby determining the set of start times. In some embodiments, the first indication includes an offset for the one or more start times.

[0215] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine a set of candidate start times for the set of DRX cycles based on the setting, determine a cumulative offset for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles based on the index of the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and a time value associated with the DRX cycle setting, modify the start time of the DRX cycle within the set of candidate start times based on the cumulative offset, and determine the modified set of candidate start times as the set of start times, thereby determining the set of start times.

[0216] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to transmit a second indication indicating a time value that is a non-integer value to the terminal device.

[0217] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to maintain the start time of the DRX cycle without change according to a determination that the cumulative offset is smaller than a threshold offset, and to correct the start time based on the threshold offset according to a determination that the cumulative offset is larger than the threshold offset, thereby correcting the start time.

[0218] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to transmit a third indication indicating the threshold offset to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to reset a counter set to generate an index of the DRX cycle to zero after the correction.

[0219] In some embodiments, this configuration indicates a slot offset for the DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a DRX cycle pattern for the set of start times, the DRX cycle pattern including a set of values, and the values within the set of values indicating the length of the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may further determine a third value within the set of values based on the index of the DRX cycle and the number of values within the set of values for the start time of the DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles, and determine the start time for the DRX cycle based on the third value, the start offset for the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, thereby being configured to determine.

[0220] In some embodiments, this setting indicates a slot offset for a DRX cycle, a length of the DRX cycle, and a start offset pattern for the set of start times, the start offset pattern including a set of values, and the values within the set of values indicating start offsets for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine a fourth value within the set of values based on an index of a subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, the length of the DRX cycle, and the number of values within the set of values, and to determine a start time for the DRX cycle based on the second value, the length of the DRX cycle, the slot offset, the SFN, the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and thereby be configured to determine.

[0221] In some embodiments, this setting indicates a length of a DRX cycle, a start offset for the DRX cycle, and a slot offset for the DRX cycle. In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine a start time for the DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles based on a reference system frame number (SFN), the length, the start offset, the slot offset, an index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle, and thereby be configured to determine.

[0222] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to transmit information on the reference SFN to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to determine the reference SFN based on a frame in which the setting is transmitted.

[0223] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the start offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0224] In some embodiments, the circuit may be configured to determine the start time for a DRX cycle within the set of DRX cycles by determining the start time based on a reference subframe number, the length, the slot offset, the index of the DRX cycle, the SFN, and the subframe number associated with the DRX cycle.

[0225] In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to transmit information on the reference subframe number to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the circuit may further be configured to determine the reference subframe number based on the subframe in which the setting is transmitted.

[0226] As used herein, the term "circuit" may mean a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be an analog and / or digital hardware circuit in combination with software / firmware. As yet another example, a circuit may be any portion of a hardware processor having software, such as a digital signal processor, software, and one or more memories, that cooperate to cause a device, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion thereof, that requires software / firmware for operation, but the software may be absent if not required for operation. As used herein, the term "circuit" includes the implementation of only a hardware circuit or one or more processors, or a portion of a hardware circuit or one or more processors and their (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware.

[0227] Overall, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or a dedicated circuit, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software executable by a controller, a microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, by way of non-limiting example, in hardware, software, firmware, a dedicated circuit or logic, a general-purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or any combination thereof.

[0228] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, that are executed within a device on a target physical processor or virtual processor to perform the processes or methods described above with reference to FIGS. 3A-9. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functions of the program modules may be combined or divided among the program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0229] The program code for executing the method of the present disclosure may be described in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes are provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, and when executed by the processor or controller, the program codes implement the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0230] The above program code may be implemented on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can be utilized by or associated with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with the same. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing media. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium may include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0231] Note that although the operations have been described in a particular order, it should be understood that such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, nor is it required that all of the operations described be performed, in order to obtain the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although some specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features described in the context of individual embodiments may be combined in a single embodiment to be implemented. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0232] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message including a discontinuous reception (DRX) setting including a DRX on-time interval timer, a DRX slot offset, and a DRX start offset from a network, the DRX setting being set to include a non-integer DRX cycle; means for discontinuously monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) using DRX operation; and wherein the UE is set to start the DRX on-time interval timer after the DRX slot offset when the non-integer DRX cycle is set and a first equation holds; wherein the left side of the first equation includes a floor operation of a first value that is the sum of 10,240 times a DRX system frame number (SFN) counter, 10 times the SFN, and a subframe number, and a remainder operation of the non-integer DRX cycle; wherein the right side of the first equation includes a floor operation of the sum of a second value for adjusting the DRX start offset and the DRX start offset, and a remainder operation of the non-integer DRX cycle; A user equipment.

2. wherein the UE is set to increment the DRX SFN counter by 1 within a first symbol of a slot in which the SFN changes to 0 when the non-integer DRX cycle is set; The user equipment according to claim 1.

3. wherein the UE is set to set the DRX SFN counter to 0 when DRX is set or reset when the non-integer DRX cycle is set; The user equipment according to claim 1.

4. wherein the non-integer DRX cycle is a long DRX cycle; The user equipment according to claim 1.

5. wherein the non-integer DRX cycle is a short DRX cycle; The user equipment according to claim 1.

6. A method for a user equipment (UE), Receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from a network, the RRC message including a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration that includes a DRX on-duration interval timer, a DRX slot offset, and a DRX start offset, and is configured to include a non-integer DRX cycle. Monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) discontinuously using DRX operation. The UE is configured to start the DRX on-duration interval timer after the DRX slot offset when the non-integer DRX cycle is set and a first equation holds. The left side of the first equation includes a floor operation of a first value that is the sum of 10,240 times a DRX system frame number (SFN) counter, 10 times the SFN, and a subframe number, and a remainder operation of the non-integer DRX cycle. The right side of the first equation includes a floor operation of the sum of a second value for adjusting the DRX start offset and the DRX start offset, and a remainder operation of the non-integer DRX cycle. Method.

7. The UE is configured to increment the DRX SFN counter by 1 within a first symbol of a slot in which the SFN changes to 0 when the non-integer DRX cycle is set. The method according to claim 6.

8. The UE is configured to set the DRX SFN counter to 0 when DRX is set or reset when the non-integer DRX cycle is set. The method according to claim 6.

9. The non-integer DRX cycle is a long DRX cycle. The method according to claim 6.

10. The non-integer DRX cycle is a short DRX cycle. The method according to claim 6.

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