User Equipment and Base Stations Involved in Paging

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a User Equipment (UE) having: a processor in the UE operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving paging messages; the paging DCI and paging messages are transmitted from a base station; a receiver in the UE receives paging subgroup signaling from the base station; the processor determines a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; and the processor determines how to operate the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure is directed to methods, apparatus, and articles in communication systems, such as 3GPP® communication systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on technical specifications for the next generation of cellular technology, also known as 5th Generation (5G).

[0003] One objective is to provide a single technical framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios (see, for example, Section 6 of Non-Patent Document 1), including at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). For example, deployment scenarios for eMBB may include indoor hotspots, dense urban areas, suburban areas, and urban macro-high-speed environments. Deployment scenarios for URLLC may include industrial control systems, mobile health management (remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, and remote treatment), real-time vehicle control, and wide-area monitoring and control systems for smart grids. Deployment scenarios for mMTC may include scenarios using a large number of devices, such as smart wearables and sensor networks, where the impact of data transmission delays is small. While eMBB and URLLC services are similar in that they both require extremely high bandwidth, URLLC services differ in that they may preferably require extremely low latency.

[0004] A second objective is to achieve forward compatibility: backward compatibility to Long Term Evolution (LTE, LTE-A) cellular systems is not required, which facilitates the design of entirely new systems and / or the introduction of new features. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] TR 38.913 version 15.0.0 [Non-patent document 2] 3GPP TS 38.300 v16.2.0 [Non-patent document 3] 3GPP TS 38.211 v16.2.0 [Non-patent document 4] ITU-R M.20183 [Non-Patent Document 5] TS 23.501 v16.5.1 [Non-patent document 6] 3GPP TS 38.321 v16.1.0 [Non-Patent Document 7] TS 38.331 v16.1.0 [Non-patent document 8] 3GPP TS 38.304 v16.2.0 [Non-Patent Document 9] TS 38.213 v16.3.0 Summary of the Invention

[0006] One non-limiting exemplary embodiment facilitates providing procedures for facilitating a UE to perform paging functions.

[0007] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein features a user equipment (UE) having: a processor in the UE that operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving paging messages; the paging DCI and paging messages are transmitted from a base station; a receiver in the UE that receives paging subgroup signaling from the base station; the processor that determines a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; and the processor that determines how to operate the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE.

[0008] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, an integrated circuit may control processing in a UE or a base station.

[0009] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and various implementations will become apparent from the specification and drawings. These benefits and / or advantages may be obtained individually by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, and it is not necessary for all of them to be present in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Figure 2] Schematic diagram showing the division of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC [Figure 3] Sequence diagram of RRC connection establishment / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 4] Schematic showing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) usage scenarios [Figure 5] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 6] Diagram showing possible RRC state changes [Figure 7] Diagram showing message exchange for paging procedure [Figure 8] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary simplified structure of a UE and a gNB. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a UE according to an exemplary implementation of an improved paging procedure. [Figure 10] 1 is a flow diagram of UE operation according to an exemplary implementation of an improved paging procedure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a base station according to an exemplary implementation of an improved paging procedure. [Figure 12] 1 is a flow diagram of a base station operation according to an exemplary implementation of an improved paging procedure. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates the UE behavior of a first solution for an improved paging procedure. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 illustrates the UE behavior of a second solution for the improved paging procedure. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 illustrates the UE behavior of the third solution for the improved paging procedure. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 illustrates the UE operation of the fourth solution for the improved paging procedure. [Figure 17] FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a UE according to an exemplary implementation of another solution for an improved paging procedure. [Figure 18] 1 is a flow diagram of a UE operation according to an exemplary implementation of another solution for an improved paging procedure. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 shows the structure of a base station according to an exemplary implementation of another solution for an improved paging procedure. [Figure 20] 1 is a flow diagram of a base station operation according to an exemplary implementation of another solution for improved paging procedures. [Figure 21] FIG. 1 illustrates the UE operation of this alternative solution for improved paging procedures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack>

[0013] 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (known simply as "5G"), which includes the development of a new radio access technology (NR) that will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, allowing for the testing and commercial deployment of smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard.

[0014] In particular, the overall system architecture assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) with gNBs, which terminate NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are interconnected with each other via an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to an NGC (Next Generation Core) via a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity that runs the AMF) via an NG-C interface, and to a UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity that runs the UPF) via an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, for example, Section 4 of Non-Patent Document 2).

[0015] The user plane protocol stack in NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of Non-Patent Document 2) includes a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol; see, for example, Section 6.4 of Non-Patent Document 2) sublayer, an RLC (Radio Link Control; see, for example, Section 6.3 of Non-Patent Document 2) sublayer, and a MAC (Medium Access Control; see, for example, Section 6.2 of Non-Patent Document 2) sublayer, and these sublayers terminate at the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of Non-Patent Document 2). NR also defines a control plane protocol stack (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of Non-Patent Document 2). An overview of Layer 2 functions is described in Section 6 of Non-Patent Document 2. The functions of the RRC layer are described in Section 7 of Non-Patent Document 2.

[0016] For example, the Medium-Access-Control (MAC) layer handles scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including multiplexing logical channels and handling various numerologies.

[0017] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The physical layer also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmitting a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels are the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and the PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for the downlink.

[0018] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements for data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps downlink and 10 Gbps uplink) and user-perceived data rates on the order of three times those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL and DL, respectively) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) and mMTC requires high connection density (1 km in urban environments). 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may preferably be required.

[0019] Therefore, an OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not work well for another use case. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol duration (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP duration than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain a similar CP overhead, the subcarrier spacing should be optimized depending on the delay spread. In NR, more than one value of subcarrier spacing may be supported. Therefore, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are currently being considered. Symbol duration T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is given by the formula (Δf=1 / T u ) As in LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0020] In the new wireless system 5G-NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for both the uplink and the downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see Non-Patent Document 3, for example, Section 4). For example, downlink transmission and uplink transmission are organized into frames with a duration of 10 ms, and each frame is composed of 10 subframes with a duration of 1 ms each. In the implementation form of 5G NR, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the setting of the subcarrier spacing. For example, in the case of a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, one subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (similar to an LTE-compliant implementation assuming a normal cyclic prefix). On the other hand, in the case of a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, one subframe has two slots, and each slot contains 14 OFDM symbols.

[0021] <Split of 5G NR functions between NG-RAN and 5GC>

[0022] Figure 2 shows the split of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0023] In particular, gNB and ng-eNB handle the following main functions. - Functions of radio resource management such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to the UE in both the uplink and downlink directions - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data - AMF selection at UE attach time when routing to an AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE - Routing of user plane data to the UPF - Routing control plane information to AMF - Establishing and releasing connections - Scheduling and sending paging messages - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (sent from AMF or OAM) - Configuring measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling - Transport-level packet marking in the uplink - Session Management - Network slicing support - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state - NAS message delivery function - Wireless Access Network Sharing - Dual Connectivity - Tight interworking between NR and E-UTRA

[0024] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) handles the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling - NAS signaling security - Access Stratum (AS) security control - Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks - Reachability for idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions) - Registration Area Management - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility - Access Authentication - Access authentication, including roaming rights checks - Mobility management controls (subscriptions and policies) - Network slicing support - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF)

[0025] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) handles the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) - External PDU session points for interconnection with data networks - Packet routing and forwarding - User plane part of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement - Traffic usage reports - an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network; - Branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions - User plane QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) - Uplink traffic validation (SDF to QoS flow mapping) - Buffering of downlink packets and triggering of downlink data notifications

[0026] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) handles the following major functions: - Session Management - UE IP address allocation and management - UP function selection and control - Configuration of traffic steering in the user plane function (UPF) for routing traffic to the correct destination - Policy enforcement and QoS control part - Downlink data notification

[0027] <Procedures for establishment and reconfiguration of RRC connection>

[0028] Figure 3 shows the interaction among the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see Non-Patent Document 2).

[0029] RRC is the upper layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and gNB. In particular, in this transition, the AMF creates UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, UE security capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB by means of an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST (Initial Context Setup Request). Next, the gNB activates the AS security with the UE, which is executed by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE and the UE responding to the gNB with a SecurityModeComplete message. After that, the gNB executes reconfiguration to establish signaling radio bearer 2 (SRB2) and data radio bearer (DRB: Data Radio Bearer), which is by the gNB sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and the gNB receiving RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, since SRB2 and DRB are not established, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF by means of an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE (Initial Context Setup Response) that the establishment procedure has completed.

[0030] Thus, the present disclosure provides a fifth-generation core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) having, in operation, a control circuit that establishes a next-generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB such that a signaling radio bearer is established between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE), and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection. In particular, the gNodeB transmits radio resource control (RRC) signaling including a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0031] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020>

[0032] Figure 4 shows some use cases for 5G NR. The 3GPP NR (3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio) is considering three use cases envisioned for IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. Phase 1 specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to further extending eMBB support. Figure 4 shows some examples of IMT usage scenarios envisioned for 2020 and beyond (see, for example, Figure 2 in Non-Patent Document 4).

[0033] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements for capabilities such as throughput, latency, and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers of future vertical applications, such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing or production processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation in smart grids, and transportation safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by [Non-Patent Document 1]. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a user plane target latency of 0.5 ms for the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms for the downlink (DL). A typical URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0034] From a physical layer perspective, there are several possible ways to improve reliability. Current scope for improving reliability includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, as NR becomes more stable and developed (a key requirement for NR URLCC), the scope for achieving ultra-high reliability may expand. Specific use cases for NR URLCC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0035] Furthermore, the technology enhancements targeted by NR URLCC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technology enhancements for improving latency include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition of data channels, and downlink preemption. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission requested later with smaller latency / higher priority requirements. Thus, a previously granted transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption applies regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLCC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (e.g., eMBB). Technology enhancements for improving reliability include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0036] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices transmitting relatively small amounts of data that are generally latency sensitive. The devices need to be low cost and have extremely long battery life. From an NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one possible solution to achieve power savings from the UE perspective, enabling long battery life.

[0037] As mentioned above, it is expected that the range of reliability in NR will expand. One key requirement for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered to improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. In general, there are several key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity related to the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability, regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0038] For NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements have been identified, e.g., in factory automation, the transport industry, and power supply. The more stringent requirements include higher reliability (up to 10 times faster) depending on the use case. 6 level), higher availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization on the order of a few microseconds (values ​​range from 1 to a few microseconds depending on the frequency range), and short latency on the order of 0.5 to 1 ms (target latency for the user plane in particular is 0.5 ms).

[0039] Furthermore, in the case of NR URLLC, several technical enhancements have been recognized from the perspective of the physical layer. In particular, enhancements related to PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) include compact DCI, repetition of PDCCH, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, enhancements related to UCI (Uplink Control Information) include enhancements of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. In addition, enhancements of PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission / repetition have also been recognized. The term "mini-slot" means a transmission time interval (TTI: Transmission Time Interval) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot contains 14 symbols).

[0040] <QoS Control>

[0041] The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) that is transmitted within the encapsulation header through the NG-U interface.

[0042] The 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions for each UE. The NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each UE along with the PDU session, and can then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session (as determined by the NG-RAN, e.g., as described above with reference to Figure 3). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, and AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0043] Figure 5 shows the 5G NR non-roaming reference architecture (see Section 4.2.3 of Non-Patent Document 5). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling 5G services as exemplarily illustrated in Figure 4) interact with the 3GPP Core Network to provide services. For example, they support application influence on traffic routing, access Network Exposure Functions (NEFs), or interact with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, application functions (AFs) deemed trusted by the operator can be allowed to interact directly with associated network functions. Application Functions (AFs) not permitted by the operator to directly access network functions interact with associated network functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0044] FIG. 5 shows further functional units of the 5G architecture, namely, the Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), the Network Repository Function (NRF), the Unified Data Management (UDM), the Authentication Server Function (AUSF), the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the Session Management Function (SMF), and the Data Network (DN) (e.g., a carrier service, Internet access, or a third-party service). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be placed and executed in a cloud computing environment.

[0045] Therefore, in the present disclosure, during operation, a request including QoS requirements for at least one of the URLLC service, the eMBB service, and the mMTC service is transmitted to at least one of the functions of the 5GC (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.), and a transmitter that establishes a PDU session including a radio bearer between the gNodeB and the UE according to the QoS requirements, and during operation, a control circuit that executes the service using the established PDU session are provided for an application server (e.g., AF of the 5G architecture).

[0046] <UE Identification Information>

[0047] RNTI is an abbreviation for Radio Network Temporary Identifier. For example, RNTI can be used to distinguish and identify UEs within a radio cell. Furthermore, RNTI can also identify a specific radio channel, a group of UEs in the case of paging, a group of UEs targeted by power control issued by an eNB, and system information transmitted to all UEs by a 5G gNB. In 5G NR, a number of different identification information for UEs is defined, and some of them are shown in the following table (see Section 7.1 of Non-Patent Document 6).

[0048]

Table 1

[0049]

Table 2

[0050] For example, another UE identification information that can be used in relation to paging is UE_ID: 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024.

[0051] <RRC state (RRC_Connected, RRC_Inactive)>

[0052] In LTE, the RRC state machine consists of only two states: the RRC idle state (characterized primarily by high power savings, UE autonomous mobility, and no UE connection with the core network) and the RRC connected state, in which the UE can transmit user plane data while mobility is controlled by the network to support lossless service continuity. In 5G NR, the RRC state machine related to LTE can be extended by an inactive state (see, for example, Figures 4.2.1-1 and 4.2.1-2 of 3GPP TS 26.2014-01-01), as described below.

[0053] In NR 5G RRC (see section 4 of 3GPP TS 36.210.2, 2013), three states are supported: RRC Idle, RRC Inactive, and RRC Connected. When an RRC connection is established, the UE is in either the RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_INACTIVE state. Otherwise, i.e., when an RRC connection is not established, the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state. As shown in Figure 6, the following state transitions are possible: ● For example, following the "Connection Establishment" procedure, from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED ● For example, from RRC_CONNECTED to RRC_IDLE according to the "Connection Release" procedure. ● For example, from RRC_CONNECTED to RRC_INACTIVE according to the "Connection Release Due to Interruption" procedure. ● For example, following the "restart connection" procedure, from RRC_INACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED ● For example, from RRC_INACTIVE to RRC_IDLE (unidirectional) following the "Connection Release" procedure.

[0054] A new RRC state, RRC Inactive, has been defined for 5G 3GPP new radio technologies such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications), and URLLC (Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications) to provide benefits when supporting a wide range of services with very different requirements in terms of signaling, power saving, latency, etc. The new RRC Inactive state is therefore designed to minimize signaling, power consumption, and resource costs in the radio access network and core network, while allowing, for example, data transfer to be initiated with low latency.

[0055] According to an exemplary 5G NR implementation, these different states can be characterized as follows (see section 4.2.1 of Non-Patent Document 7):

[0056] "RRC_IDLE: - UE-specific DRX can be configured by higher layers - UE controlled mobility based on network configuration -UE - Monitor Short Messages sent using P-RNTI over DCI (see section 6.5) - Monitoring a paging channel in CN paging using 5G-S-TMSI; - Perform neighbor cell measurements and cell (re)selection - Can retrieve system information and send SI requests (if configured) - Perform logging of measurements available along with location and time for UEs configured for measurements to be logged. - RRC_INACTIVE: UE-specific DRX can be configured by higher layers or the RRC layer - UE controlled mobility based on network configuration - The UE stores the UE Inactive AS context - RAN-based notification area is configured by the RRC layer -UE - Monitor Short Messages sent using P-RNTI over DCI (see section 6.5) - Monitor the paging channel in CN paging using 5G-S-TMSI and RAN paging using full I-RNTI (full-RNTI) - Perform neighbor cell measurements and cell (re)selection - RAN-based notification area updates are performed periodically and also when moving outside the configured RAN-based notification area - Can retrieve system information and send SI requests (if configured) - Perform logging of measurements available along with location and time for UEs configured for measurements to be logged. - RRC_CONNECTED: - The UE stores the AS context - Forwarding unicast data to and from the UE - Lower layers can configure UE-specific DRX for the UE - For UEs that support CA, use one or more Scells aggregated with an SpCell to increase bandwidth. - For UEs that support DC, use one SCG aggregated with an MCG to increase bandwidth - Network controlled mobility within NR and to / from E-UTRA -UE - if configured, monitor Short Messages sent using P-RNTI over DCI (see section 6.5); - monitoring a control channel associated with the shared data channel to determine whether data is scheduled; - Provides channel quality and feedback information - Perform neighbor cell measurements and measurement reporting - Get system information - Perform immediate MDT measurements with available location reports.

[0057] The RRC Inactive state is characterized by maintaining a connection (both user plane and control plane) with the RAN and core network for an inactive UE. More specifically, in RRC Inactive, the connection still exists but is interrupted, in other words, the connection is no longer active. In contrast, in the RRC Connected state, the connection exists and is active, e.g., used for data transmission. In the RRC Idle state, the UE does not have an RRC connection with the RAN and core network, which means, for example, that the radio base station does not have the UE's context, e.g., does not know the UE's identity, and does not have security parameters for the UE to be able to correctly decode data transmitted by the UE (security, for example, ensures the integrity of transmitted data). The UE's context may be available in the core network but must first be acquired by the radio base station.

[0058] Furthermore, the paging mechanism (e.g., also called notification mechanism) for user equipment in a radio cell is based on so-called Radio Access Network (RAN)-based Notification Areas (RNA for short). The radio access network should be aware of the current RNA where the user equipment is located, and the user equipment can assist the gNB in ​​tracking the UE as it moves between different RNAs. The RNA can be UE-specific.

[0059] <Synchronization signal block measurement timing setting - SMTC-PSS / SSS, PBCH>

[0060] NR introduces the so-called synchronization signal (SS) block (SSB), which consists of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The PSS and SSS can be used by UEs to discover, synchronize to, and identify networks. The PBCH carries a minimal amount of system information, including an indication of where the remaining broadcast system information is transmitted.

[0061] In LTE, these three signals (PSS, SSS, and PBCH) were also used, but were not part of one SSB. In NR, the three SSB elements are always transmitted together. For example, they have the same periodicity. A given SSB may be repeated within an SS burst set. An SS burst set can potentially be used for gNB beam-sweeping transmission. An SS burst set may be limited to a specific time period (e.g., a 5 ms window). For initial cell selection, the UE may assume a default SS burst set period of 20 ms.

[0062] The 5G NR PSS is a physical layer specific signal for identifying radio frame boundaries and is an m-sequence type. The 5G NR SSS is also a physical layer specific signal for identifying subframe boundaries and is also an m-sequence (see, for example, Sections 7.4.2 and 7.4.3 of Non-Patent Document 3).

[0063] According to one exemplary 5G-compliant implementation, the sequence generation for the SSS sequence is defined as follows (see Section 7.4.2.3.1 of Non-Patent Document 3):

[0064] Secondary synchronization signal series d sss (n) is

number

number

number

[0065] The time-frequency structure of the SS / PBCH block carrying the SSS is as follows (see, for example, Section 7.4.3.1 of Non-Patent Document 3): In the time domain, the SS / PBCH block consists of four OFDM symbols, and the SSS is mapped to the symbols shown in the table below. In the frequency domain, the SS / PBCH block consists of 140 consecutive subcarriers. The quantities k and l represent the frequency index and time index within one SS / PBCH block, respectively.

[0066] [Table 3]

[0067] <Reference signal, CSI-RS>

[0068] In 5G NR, several different types of reference signals (RS) are used (see Section 7.4.1 of Non-Patent Document 3). In 5G NR, at least the following reference signals are available: ● Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) that can be used to obtain channel state information and manage beams. ● PDSCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal) that can be used for demodulating PDSCH ● PDCCH DMRS that can be used to demodulate PDCCH ● PBCH DMRS that can be used for PBCH demodulation ● Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS) that can be used for PDSCH phase tracking ● Tracking reference signal that can be used for time tracking ● RIM reference signal ● Positioning reference signal

[0069] As a DL-only signal, the UE receives CSI-RS, which can be used by the UE to estimate the channel and report channel quality information to the gNB (assisting the gNB in ​​modulation and coding scheme selection, resource allocation, beamforming, and MIMO rank selection). CSI-RS can be configured by the gNB with a certain configuration density for periodic, aperiodic (e.g., DCI-triggered), or semi-persistent transmissions. CSI-RS can also be used for interference measurement (IM) and fine frequency / time tracking purposes. Specific instances of CSI-RS can be configured for time / frequency tracking and mobility measurements. During MIMO operation, NR may use different antenna approaches based on carrier frequency. At low frequencies, the system uses a moderate number of active antennas for MU-MIMO and adds FDD operation. In this case, the UE may use CSI-RS to calculate and report CSI in the UL direction.

[0070] Although the CSI-RS is UE-specific, multiple users can share the same CSI-RS resources. In particular, UE-specific configuration of the CSI-RS does not necessarily mean that the transmitted CSI-RS can only be used by a single device, but rather that the same set of CSI-RS resources can be individually configured for multiple devices. This means that a single CSI-RS can be shared among multiple devices.

[0071] For example, a single-port CSI-RS occupies a single resource element within a resource block in the frequency domain and one slot in the time domain. Although the CSI-RS can be configured to occur anywhere within a resource block, in practice, some constraints can be placed on the CSI-RS resource allocation to avoid collisions with other downlink physical channels and signals. As an example, the configured CSI-RS transmission can be prevented from colliding with the CORESET configured for the device, the DM-RS associated with PDSCH transmissions, and SS block transmissions.

[0072] The 5G NR standard supports flexible CSI-RS configuration: in the time domain, a CSI-RS resource can start at any OFDM symbol of a slot and span one, two, or four OFDM symbols, depending, for example, on the number of configured antenna ports.

[0073] An exemplary CSI-RS configuration according to 5G NR compliant configuration according to section 7.4.1.5 of 3GPP TS 36.210.1 is based on the following table:

[0074] [Table 4]

[0075] Resource element (k, l) for CSI-RS p,μ is determined in accordance with the above.

[0076] Furthermore, each resource element carries a reference signal sequence r(m). According to one exemplary 5G-compliant implementation, the sequence generation for the CSI-RS sequence is defined as follows (see Section 7.4.1.5.2 of 3GPP TS 36.211):

[0077] The UE receives the reference signal sequence r(m).

number

number

[0078] <5G NR Paging Procedure>

[0079] An exemplary implementation of a paging function in 5G NR with PDCCH monitoring according to the currently standardized version is described below in a simplified and abbreviated form.

[0080] In 5G NR, there are two different paging procedures: a RAN-based paging procedure (e.g., a procedure based on RAN-based notification areas) and a core network-based paging procedure (see 3GPP TS 26.210, 26.211, 26.212, and 26.213, which refer to RAN paging and CN paging in some chapters, e.g., section 5.3.2 "Paging" in 3GPP TS 26.210, or section 9.2.5 "Paging" in 3GPP TS 26.210, etc.).

[0081] Paging allows the network to reach UEs in RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states via paging messages, and to notify UEs in RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED states of system information changes and public alert information (e.g., ETWS / CMAS (Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System / Commercial Mobile Alert System)) via short messages. Both paging messages and short messages are addressed to the P-RNTI on the PDCCH (e.g., using DCI_format1_0) that should be monitored by the UE. However, the actual paging message (e.g., carrying the paging record) is sent in a message on the PDSCH (indicated by the PDCCH), while the short message can be sent directly on the PDCCH.

[0082] In the RRC_IDLE state, the UE monitors the paging channel for CN-initiated paging, and in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE also monitors the paging channel for RAN-initiated paging. As defined in Section 5.3.2 of 3GPP TS 26.210, the network initiates the paging procedure by sending a paging message at the UE's paging occasion (see, for example, 3GPP TS 26.210, 2011). The network may address multiple UEs in a paging message by including one paging record for each UE. The following exemplary paging message is defined in 3GPP TS 26.210:

[0083] A paging message is used to notify one or more UEs. Signaling Radio Bearer: N / A RLC-SAP:TM Logical channel: PCCH Direction: Network to UE [Table 5]

[0084] [Table 6]

[0085] However, a UE does not need to continuously monitor the paging channel, and a paging DRX function is defined that requires a UE in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state to only monitor the paging channel during one paging occasion (PO) per DRX cycle (see, for example, Sections 6.1 and 7.1 of Non-Patent Document 8). The paging DRX cycle (which may also be called the paging cycle) is configured by the network.

[0086] The UE's PO for CN-initiated paging and RAN-initiated paging is based on the same UE ID, resulting in overlapping POs for both paging. The number of POs in a paging frame (PF) is configurable via system information, and the network may distribute UEs to their POs based on their IDs (e.g., UE_ID below). A PO is a set of PDCCH monitoring opportunities and may consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframes or OFDM symbols) in which paging DCI can be transmitted. One PF is one radio frame and may include one or more POs or the start of a PO.

[0087] According to an exemplary 5G-compliant solution, the 3GPP technical standard, Non-Patent Document 8, defines in section 7.1 the PF and PO for paging using the following formula: where SFN is the abbreviation for System Frame Number:

[0088] SFN of PF is (SFN+PF_offset)mod T =(T div N) × (UE_ID mod N) is determined by The index (i_s) indicating the index of PO is i_s=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns is determined by.

[0089] The following parameters are used in the calculation of PF and i_s above: T: DRX period of the UE (T is determined by the shortest UE-specific DRX value, if configured by RRC and / or higher layers, and the default DRX value broadcast in the system information). In RRC_IDLE state, if UE-specific DRX is not configured by higher layers, the default value is applied. Total number of paging frames in N:T Ns: Number of paging opportunities for PF PF_offset: The offset used to determine the PF UE_ID:5G-S-TMSI mod 1024

[0090] According to this example, the PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging is determined by the pagingSearchSpace specified in Non-Patent Document 9 and, if configured as specified in Non-Patent Document 7, firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO and nrofPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionPerSSB-InPO. If SearchSpaceId=0 is configured in pagingSearchSpace, the PDCCH monitoring occasion for paging is equal to the Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI).

[0091] If SearchSpaceId=0 is set in pagingSearchSpace, Ns is either 1 or 2. If Ns=1, there is only one PO starting from the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity for paging in the PF. If Ns=2, the PO is in either the first frame (i_s=0) or the second frame (i_s=1) of the PF.

[0092] If a SearchSpaceId other than 0 is set in pagingSearchSpace, the terminal monitors the (i_s+1)th PO. PO is a set of S × X consecutive PDCCH monitoring opportunities, where S is the number of actual transmitted SSBs determined according to ssb-PositionsInBurst in SIB1, and X is nrofPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionPerSSB-InPO if set, or equal to 1 if not set. The [x × S + K]th (x = 0, 1, ..., X-1, K = 1, 2, ..., S) PDCCH monitoring opportunity for paging in PO corresponds to the Kth transmitted SSB. PDCCH monitoring opportunities for paging that do not overlap with UL symbols (determined according to tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon) are numbered sequentially from zero, starting from the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity for paging in PF. If firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is present, the number of starting PDCCH monitoring opportunities for the (i_s+1)th PO is the (i_s+1)th value of the firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO parameter, otherwise it is equal to i_s × S × X. If X > 1, when the UE detects a PDCCH transmission addressed to P-RNTI in its PO, the UE does not need to monitor subsequent PDCCH monitoring opportunities for this PO.

[0093] NOTE 1: A PO associated with a PF may start during or after that PF.

[0094] NOTE 2: PDCCH monitoring opportunities for a PO can span multiple radio frames. If a SearchSpaceId other than 0 is set in paging-SearchSpace, PDCCH monitoring opportunities for a PO can span multiple periods of the paging search space.

[0095] The parameters Ns, nAndPagingFrameOffset and nrofPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionPerSSB-InPO as well as the length of the default DRX period are signaled in SIB1. The values ​​of N and PF_offset are derived from the parameter nAndPagingFrameOffset defined in 3GPP TS 36.210. The parameter first-PDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is signaled in SIB1 for paging in an initial DL BWP. In case of paging in a DL BWP other than the initial DL BWP, the parameter first-PDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO is signaled in the corresponding BWP configuration.

[0096] If the UE does not have 5G-S-TMSI, for example, if the UE is not yet registered with the network, the UE shall use UE_ID=0 as the default identity in the above PF and i_s formulas.

[0097] In RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE monitors the paging channel in any PO signaled in the system information for System Information (SI) change notification and / or Public Warning System (PWS) notification. In case of Bandwidth Adaptation (BA) (see 3GPP T2R01.01.02, section 6.10), a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state only monitors the paging channel of the active BWP with a common search space configured.

[0098] The 5G-S-TMSI is a 48-bit string as defined in Non-Patent Document 5

[10] . The 5G-S-TMSI is interpreted as a binary number with the left-most bit representing the most significant bit in the above formula.

[0099] FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified exemplary paging procedure, particularly messages exchanged between a base station and a UE. It is illustratively assumed that the configuration of the paging procedure in the UE is provided by the base station. For example, the configuration information provided by the base station can help define the paging frame and paging occasion of the UE. According to such paging configuration, the UE monitors the paging PDCCH (e.g., also referred to as paging DCI) in the paging frame and paging occasion to receive the paging PDCCH based on its P-RNTI. If the CRC check (based on the P-RNTI) is correct (i.e., the paging PDCCH is addressed to the P-RNTI), the UE receives the scheduled paging message (transmitted on the PDSCH). The UE then needs to search for its paging record in the received paging message.

[0100] When the UE receives a paging message, PDCCH monitoring can be stopped by the UE. Depending on the reason for the paging, the UE may, for example, continue to acquire system information or continue to establish an RRC connection with the base station and receive data (traffic / instructions) from the network.

[0101] <Further improvements>

[0102] 3GPP is constantly exploring further possibilities for UE power savings. The power saving enhancements in Release 17 are aimed at investigating paging extensions to reduce unnecessary UE paging reception for connected mode UEs (possibly without impacting legacy UEs), as well as for idle / inactive UEs.

[0103] Paging procedures are performed by UEs in idle, inactive, and connected states. Paging results in relatively high power consumption for NR UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive states, while it results in relatively low power consumption for UEs in connected states.

[0104] Therefore, optimizing paging can save a large portion of UE power consumption. For example, there are two problems that can cause energy waste.

[0105] First, all idle or inactive mode UEs must wake up at every PF and PO and monitor the paging PDCCH even when there is no paging from the network.

[0106] Second, there may be several UEs assigned within the same paging frame and paging occasion. In such a case, the network likely intends to only page one or a subset of the UEs within the same PF and PO. However, other UEs within the same PF and PO also need to go through the entire procedure of monitoring the paging PDCCH, receiving the paging message, and searching for the paging record to conclude that there is no valid paging record for them.

[0107] For example, from the network's perspective, the PF / PO assignment in each cell takes into account all inactive / idle mode UEs within the same tracking area. A UE can camp on any cell within the tracking area for idle mode cell selection or reselection. In such a scenario, a large number of UEs may share the same PF and PO in a cell. Therefore, when only one UE (or a few UEs) is paged, many other UEs waste considerable energy monitoring and receiving the PDCCH, receiving the PDSCH, and searching for paging records.

[0108] Furthermore, considering that network frequency deployment may be more flexible, some small cells using high frequencies may have a smaller number of available PFs and POs due to the configured large value of ssb-periodicityServingCell, which leads to more UEs sharing the same PF and PO, increasing the false paging rate and resulting energy waste mentioned above.

[0109] The above issues of paging are described above and below primarily in the context of 5G NR, but may also apply to legacy paging functionality in 4G and 5G, e.g., prior to the new Release 17.

[0110] The inventors have identified the potential drawbacks and problems mentioned above. Accordingly, the inventors have identified the possibility of providing an improved paging procedure that makes it possible to avoid or mitigate one or more of the problems identified above. The present invention relates to different solutions and variants for such an improved paging procedure.

[0111] <Embodiment>

[0112] The following describes UEs, base stations, and procedures that meet these needs for new radio access technologies envisioned in 5G mobile communication systems (although they can also be used in LTE mobile communication systems). Several different implementations and variations are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the discussion and findings above.

[0113] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein to explain the principles underlying the present disclosure in a clear and understandable manner. However, it should be understood that these assumptions are merely examples made herein for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles described in the following disclosure and claims can be applied to different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0114] Furthermore, although specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming 3GPP 5G communication systems has not yet been fully determined or may ultimately change, some of the terms used below, such as procedures, entities, and layers, are closely related to the terms used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in current 3GPP 5G standardization. Therefore, the terms may change in the future without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and their scope of protection are not limited to the specific terms illustratively used herein due to the absence of newer or ultimately agreed-upon terms, but should be understood more broadly in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0115] For example, a "mobile station" or "mobile node" or "user terminal" or "user equipment (UE)" is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that performs and / or provides a predetermined set of functions to another functional entity of the same node or another node or network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach it to a communication device or medium through which it can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach a functional entity to a communication device or medium through which it can communicate with another functional entity or a correspondent node.

[0116] The term "base station" or "radio base station" as used herein refers to a physical entity in a communication network. A base station, like a mobile station, may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that performs and / or provides a predetermined set of functions for another functional entity of the same node or another node or network. A physical entity performs several control tasks related to communication devices, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. It should be noted that the functions of a base station and a communication device may be integrated into one device. For example, a mobile terminal may also perform the functions of a base station for another terminal. In LTE, the terminology used is eNB (or eNodeB), while in 5G NR, the terminology currently used is gNB.

[0117] The communication between the UE and the base station is generally standardized and may be defined by different layers such as PHY, MAC, RRC, etc. (see background discussion above).

[0118] The term "monitoring" may be broadly understood as attempting to decode possible candidates for receiving a DCI message, e.g., based on a particular format, or more simply, attempting to decode a DCI message. Such a decoding attempt may also be referred to as blind decoding. A DCI message may be broadly understood as, e.g., a resource allocation message for uplink or downlink radio resources. Therefore, the term "monitoring function" may be broadly understood in this context as relating to a corresponding function performed by a UE to attempt to decode a DCI message.

[0119] The term "index" (eg, the expression "paging subgroup index") may be broadly understood as a decimal value or a bit value.

[0120] For the purposes of the following solution, it is exemplarily assumed that the improved paging procedure is conceptually based on the paging procedure defined according to the 3GPP 4G or 5G standards.

[0121] For example, according to the general illustration of FIG. 7, such a paging procedure includes at least the transmission / reception of a paging DCI on a downlink control channel (such as a PDCCH) and the transmission / reception of a paging message on a subsequent downlink shared channel (PDSCH), where the paging message is transmitted / received according to the information provided by the paging DCI.

[0122] It is also generally envisaged that the improved paging procedure may be performed by a UE in idle mode, inactive mode or connected mode.

[0123] 8 shows a simplified general and exemplary block diagram of a user equipment (also called a communication device) and a scheduling device (here assumed to be located, by way of example, in a base station, e.g., an eLTE eNB (alternatively called an ng-eNB) or a gNB in ​​5G NR). The UE and the eNB / gNB communicate with each other over a (radio) physical channel using their respective transceivers.

[0124] A communication device may include a transceiver and a processing circuit. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or function as both a receiver and a transmitter. The processing circuit may be one or more hardware components, such as one or more processors or any LSI. An input / output point (or node) exists between the transceiver and the processing circuit, and the processing circuit, in operation, controls the transceiver through the input / output point (or node), i.e., controls the receiver and / or transmitter, and exchanges received data / transmitted data. The transceiver as a transmitter and receiver may include an RF (radio frequency) front end, including one or more antennas, amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators, etc. The processing circuit may perform control tasks, such as controlling the transceiver to transmit user data and control data provided by the processing circuit and / or receive user data and control data that are further processed by the processing circuit. The processing circuit may also be responsible for performing other processes, such as judgments, decisions, calculations, and measurements. The transmitter may be responsible for performing transmission processes and other processes related to transmission. The receiver may be responsible for performing the process of reception and other processes related to reception (such as monitoring the channel).

[0125] In the following, various embodiments of the improved paging procedure are described. In this connection, an improved UE and an improved base station that participate in the improved paging procedure are presented. Corresponding methods for the operation of the UE and the operation of the base station are also provided.

[0126] <First set of solutions>

[0127] Figure 9 shows a simplified exemplary UE structure according to one exemplary solution for an improved paging procedure, which may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in connection with Figure 8. The various structural elements of the UE shown in Figure 8 may be interconnected with each other, for example, using corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control data and user data and other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the UE may include additional structural elements.

[0128] As can be seen from FIG. 9, the UE may include a paging subgroup signaling receiver, a paging subgroup index determining circuit, a requirement fulfillment determining circuit, and a paging function operating circuit.

[0129] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the receiver of the UE may therefore be configured to, exemplarily, at least partially perform one or more of the following: receiving paging subgroup signaling, receiving paging DCI, and receiving paging messages.

[0130] Furthermore, in the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry (also referred to as a processor) of the UE may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of, exemplarily, performing paging functions, determining paging subgroup indexes, determining how the paging functions operate, etc.

[0131] Furthermore, in this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the transmitter of the UE may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following, exemplarily: transmitting a response to a paging, etc.

[0132] One exemplary solution, which will be disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a UE including: a processor of the UE operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving a paging message; the paging DCI and paging message are transmitted from a base station; a receiver of the UE receives paging subgroup signaling from the base station; the processor determines a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; and the processor determines how to operate the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving the UE's identity.

[0133] A corresponding sequence diagram of exemplary UE operations along the above-mentioned UE is defined below and shown in Figure 10. The method comprises the following steps performed by the user equipment: ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● receiving paging subgroup signaling from the base station; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; ● determining an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE; It has.

[0134] This improved paging procedure allows for early control of further operation of the paging function based on the received paging subgroup signaling, particularly the paging subgroup index determined from the signaling. Thus, the UE can save power if the paging subgroup index does not meet requirements, e.g., if paging is not intended for the UE. For example, the UE does not need to receive a paging message and search for its own paging record in the paging message.

[0135] Also, as is already clear from the above, the improved paging procedure provides an improved radio base station. Figure 11 shows a simplified exemplary base station structure according to one exemplary solution of the improved paging procedure, which may be implemented based on the general base station structure described in relation to Figure 8. The various structural elements of the radio base station shown in Figure 11 may be interconnected, for example, using corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control data and user data and other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the base station may include further structural elements.

[0136] As can be seen from FIG. 11, the base station may include a paging UE determining circuit, a paging subgroup index determining circuit, a paging subgroup signaling generating circuit, a paging subgroup signaling transmitter, and a paging function operating circuit.

[0137] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the base station receiver may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following, exemplarily: receive a response to a paging;

[0138] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the base station may therefore be configured to, exemplarily, at least in part, perform one or more of: determining the UE to be paged; determining a paging subgroup index; generating paging subgroup signaling; etc.

[0139] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the transmitter of the base station may therefore be configured to exemplarily at least partially perform one or more of the following: transmitting paging subgroup signaling, and transmitting paging DCI and paging messages.

[0140] One exemplary solution, which will be disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a radio base station including: a processor of the base station operates a paging function including transmitting paging downlink control information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by the paging DCI; the processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; the processor determines a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving an identity of the determined UE, and generates paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; and a transmitter of the base station transmits the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UE.

[0141] A corresponding sequence diagram of an exemplary base station operation along the lines described above is shown in Figure 12. The corresponding method includes the following steps performed by the base station: ● activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined UE identity information, and generating paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; ● transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs; It has.

[0142] Thus, the improved base station participates in an improved paging procedure, which facilitates that the operation of the paging function be controlled at an early point based on the transmitted paging subgroup signaling. Thus, UEs that are not addressed by a paging subgroup index can save power because, among other things, the paging subgroup index (which can be derived from the paging subgroup signaling) does not meet the requirements used by the UE to determine how the paging function operates (e.g., paging is not intended for such UEs).

[0143] In the following, various exemplary implementations of the improved paging procedure described above are disclosed. Conceptually, the objective of the various solutions is to allow the UE to indicate the subgroup of UEs for paging at an early stage, allowing the UE to stop continuing the paging function and thus save power by not continuing the paging function if the UE determines that it does not belong to that paging subgroup.

[0144] <First Solution>

[0145] According to a first solution (and its variants and implementations) of the improved paging procedure, a pre-paging DCI is used as paging subgroup signaling, which therefore includes a field with information that enables the UE to determine the above-mentioned paging subgroup index.

[0146] The pre-paging DCI is transmitted at a known time before the paging DCI, thereby enabling the UE to determine whether it needs to proceed to the next step of the paging function of monitoring and receiving the paging DCI (as well as further subsequent steps of the paging function, e.g., ultimately continuing to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI). In particular, the UE determines whether the paging subgroup index derived from the pre-paging DCI meets a requirement; in other words, the UE determines whether it is in a paging subgroup. This requirement is UE-specific in that it may involve, for example, the use of appropriate UE identification information. If the UE then determines that the paging subgroup index meets the requirement, the UE proceeds to the next step of the paging function of monitoring the downlink control channel to receive the paging DCI.

[0147] This sequence of steps performed by the UE is exemplarily and simplifiedly shown in Figure 13. As can be seen from Figure 13, the paging subgroup index is obtained from the pre-paging DCI and is used by the UE to determine whether it belongs to the indicated paging subgroup. If "Yes", the UE continues with the paging function to obtain the paging DCI and then obtains the paging message.

[0148] On the other hand, if the answer is "No," the paging process may be terminated by the UE. For example, the UE will not perform the next step of the paging function and therefore will not monitor the downlink control channel for a paging DCI, and therefore will not receive either a paging DCI or a paging message. Indeed, in such a case, the paging message will not contain a paging record for this UE. This can avoid subsequent operation of the paging function and the corresponding power consumption.

[0149] As mentioned above, the pre-paging DCI is transmitted before the actual paging DCI is transmitted, e.g., before one of the paging occasions configured for the paging frame. The exact time point is known to both the UE and the base station. For example, the pre-paging DCI may be transmitted by the base station in the same paging frame, but a certain number of subframes before, e.g., the first paging occasion of the radio frame. According to another example, the pre-paging DCI is transmitted in a search space that is, e.g., several slots before the first paging occasion of the paging frame.

[0150] There are several possibilities for how to implement the pre-paging DCI and how to achieve its functionality, examples of which are shown below.

[0151] The pre-paging DCI can be configured to enable the UE to save power compared to monitoring and receiving a normal paging DCI. For example, the pre-paging DCI can be one or more of: (1) having a more compact DCI format; (2) being associated with fewer blind decoding candidates; and (3) having a shorter monitoring duration compared to a normal paging DCI.

[0152] For example, the pre-paging DCI may reuse an existing DCI format, such as DCI format 2_6 or 1_0, defined in the appropriate 3GPP 5G standard, or alternatively, a new DCI format may be defined for the pre-paging DCI.

[0153] The important point is that the pre-paging DCI carries information of the paging subgroup index in an appropriate field. For example, when reusing an existing DCI format, a corresponding existing field can be reused to indicate the paging subgroup index. For example, assuming that an existing paging DCI is reused, a short-message-related field therein can be reused. The information in the field regarding the paging subgroup index can have one bit or several bits.

[0154] Furthermore, the normal paging UE identity, P-RNTI, can be used to scramble the pre-paging DCI, or other identification information can be used for the scrambling operation.

[0155] From the base station's perspective, the base station must send a pre-paging DCI to the UE, including a field having information about the paging subgroup index. Therefore, based on the appropriate UE identification information (e.g., see UE_ID below) of the paged UE, the base station determines the paging subgroup index so as to determine that the paged UE belongs to the paging subgroup (based on the requirements described above). Then, before sending the paging subgroup index to the paged UE, the base station generates a pre-paging DCI including the paging subgroup index (or appropriate information about the paging subgroup index) in a field of the pre-paging DCI.

[0156] Based on this first solution, in addition to being able to avoid additional processing for receiving and processing paging messages on the PDSCH, the need for some of the non-paged UEs to monitor and receive the paging DCI is already avoided. Furthermore, by using an appropriate DCI, this first solution provides flexibility in the paging subgroup index.

[0157] <Second Solution>

[0158] According to the second solution of the improved paging procedure (and its variants and implementations), the paging DCI itself is used as paging subgroup signaling. Thus, the paging DCI includes a field with information that enables the UE to determine the above-mentioned paging subgroup index.

[0159] Thus, overall, the UE monitors the downlink control channel to receive a paging DCI carrying information for determining the paging subgroup index. By checking the UE-specific requirements against this indicated paging subgroup index, the UE can decide whether to proceed to the next step of the paging function, in this case, whether to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI.

[0160] This sequence of steps performed by the UE is exemplarily and simplifiedly shown in Figure 14. As can be seen from Figure 14, the paging subgroup index is obtained from the paging DCI and is used by the UE to determine whether it belongs to the indicated paging subgroup or not. If "Yes", the UE continues with the paging function to retrieve the paging message.

[0161] On the other hand, if the answer is "No", the paging process may be terminated by the UE. For example, the UE will not perform the next step of the paging function and therefore will not receive the paging message. Indeed, in such a case, the paging message will not contain a paging record for this UE. This avoids subsequent operation of the paging function and the corresponding power consumption.

[0162] Compared to the first solution described above, the UE needs to monitor and receive the paging DCI to determine the paging subgroup index, whereas providing information for deriving the paging subgroup index in the paging DCI provides good flexibility in distinguishing between several paging subgroups.

[0163] There are several possibilities for how to implement the Paging DCI and achieve its functionality, examples of which are shown below.

[0164] DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI as currently used in the 5G standard is presented below (see, for example, section 7.3.1.2.1 of 3GPP TS 2.0, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.23, 2.24, 2.25, 2.26, 2.27, 2.28, 2.29, 2.30, 2.31, 2.32, 2.33, 2.34, 2.35, 2.36, 2.37, 2.38, 2.39, 2.40, 2.41, 2.42, 2.43, 2.

[0165] [Table 7]

[0166] [Table 8]

[0167] [Table 9]

[0168] The important point is that the paging DCI carries information about the paging subgroup index in an appropriate field, such as the short message field mentioned above. The information in the reused field can have one or more bits.

[0169] <Third Solution>

[0170] According to a third solution of the improved paging procedure (and its variants and implementations), a reference signal or a synchronization signal is used as paging subgroup signaling, and the determination of the paging subgroup index is performed by first determining characteristics of the reference signal or synchronization signal, and then determining the paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristics.

[0171] As mentioned above, the improved paging procedure may also be applicable to idle and inactive UEs, and therefore such UEs must also be capable of receiving reference and synchronization signals.

[0172] The broadcast of system information can be used by the base station to provide configuration information regarding reference signals or synchronization signals to the UE.

[0173] The reference signal or synchronization signal is transmitted before the actual paging DCI so that the UE can first determine whether it needs to monitor and receive the paging DCI. To do this, the UE first derives a paging subgroup index from the received reference signal or synchronization signal, as described below, and then checks whether the determined paging subgroup index meets the appropriate UE-specific requirements, as already described above. If the UE then determines that the paging subgroup index meets the requirements, i.e., if it can understand that the UE actually belongs to the paging subgroup, the UE proceeds to the next step of the paging function, which involves monitoring the downlink control channel to receive the paging DCI and then receive and process the corresponding paging message indicated by the paging DCI. On the other hand, if the requirements are not met, the UE determines that the subsequent paging is not intended for it and does not continue the paging function, e.g., does not monitor the downlink control channel and therefore does not receive the paging DCI and subsequent paging messages.

[0174] This sequence of steps performed by the UE is exemplarily and simplifiedly shown in Figure 15. As can be seen from Figure 15, the paging subgroup index is obtained from the reference signal or synchronization signal and is used by the UE to determine whether it belongs to the indicated paging subgroup. If "Yes", the UE continues with the paging function to obtain the paging DCI and retrieve the paging message.

[0175] On the other hand, if the answer is "No," the paging process may be terminated by the UE. For example, the UE will not perform the next step of the paging function and therefore will not monitor the downlink control channel for a paging DCI, and therefore will not receive either a paging DCI or a paging message. Indeed, in such a case, the paging message will not contain a paging record for this UE. This can avoid subsequent operation of the paging function and the corresponding power consumption.

[0176] As mentioned above, the reference signal or synchronization signal for the subgroup of UEs to be paged is transmitted before the actual paging DCI is transmitted, e.g., before one of the paging occasions configured for the paging frame. The exact time point is known to both the UE and the base station. For example, the reference signal or synchronization signal may be transmitted by the base station in the same paging frame, but a certain number of slots before, e.g., the first paging occasion of the radio frame. Alternatively, the reference signal or synchronization signal may be transmitted in a time window before and / or after the first SSB, but before the first paging occasion of the paging frame.

[0177] When receiving a reference / synchronization signal, the processing procedure is not as complicated as when receiving a normal PDCCH. In a typical implementation, receiving a reference signal involves energy detection and / or sequence correlation operations. However, receiving a PDCCH first involves RS reception, channel estimation, demodulation, and then channel decoding. This requires the processor to consume more power than simply receiving the reference / synchronization signal.

[0178] More specifically, the reference signal is first referred to below as paging subgroup signaling. Such reference signal characteristics may be one or more of a reference signal pattern and a reference signal sequence. The reference signal may be transmitted according to multiple different patterns, e.g., the reference signal may be carried at different locations in the frequency and time domains. The UE determines one of these multiple patterns based on the previously determined time / frequency location of the reference signal. The UE then associates the determined pattern with a specific paging subgroup index, e.g., based on an appropriate association table.

[0179] For example, an example of a reference signal in a 5G-compliant implementation may be CSI-RS, as described in the corresponding section above. In the above CSI-RS-related table, several different patterns are defined, and for example, each row can be understood as one pattern.

[0180] Another characteristic may be the actual sequence transmitted as the reference signal. Typically, the sequence for the reference signal is generated based on various parameters, thereby obtaining various sequences. According to such an implementation, multiple sequences are available for transmission as the reference signal. The UE can then determine which of the multiple sequences is transmitted as the reference signal, thereby determining the intended paging subgroup index from the sequence.

[0181] For example, an example of a reference signal in a 5G compliant implementation is the CSI-RS, as described in the corresponding section above. The above section also illustrates how the reference signal sequence r(m) is generated depending on various different parameters. One of the parameters used to generate the sequence is n ID which is obtained from the higher layer parameter scramblingID or sequenceGenerationConfig. The paging subgroup index is IDThe current 3GPP 5G standard requires each UE to be given a parameter n so that it knows how many sequences to detect and which sequences to detect. ID Candidates for can be broadcast.

[0182] Therefore, the base station generates a sequence of reference signals using appropriate parameters, so that the UE can derive the corresponding paging subgroup index from the sequence of reference signals.

[0183] Furthermore, it is assumed that the synchronization signal is used as paging subgroup signaling, and a characteristic of such a synchronization signal may be a sequence transmitted as the synchronization signal.

[0184] Typically, the sequence for the synchronization signal is generated based on various parameters, resulting in various sequences. According to such an implementation, multiple sequences are available for transmission as the synchronization signal. The UE can then determine which of the multiple sequences is to be transmitted as the synchronization signal, thereby determining the intended paging subgroup index from the sequence.

[0185] For example, an example of a reference signal in a 5G compliant implementation is the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) (see the above section on SSS). Also, in the above section, depending on various parameters, the secondary synchronization signal sequence d SSS This example illustrates how (n) is generated. One of the parameters used to generate the sequence is n ID The paging subgroup index is set to this parameter n ID can be encoded accordingly.

[0186] Further variations of this third solution focus on how to handle scenarios in which the UE cannot reliably identify the characteristics of a reference signal or synchronization signal. For example, the UE may be unable to identify a reference signal pattern among multiple reference signal patterns. In such cases, the UE may hypothetically assume that it will be addressed for subsequent paging and may decide to continue with the steps of the paging function (e.g., monitoring and receiving paging DCI).

[0187] <Solution 4>

[0188] The fourth solution reuses the concepts introduced above in the second and third solutions to provide a two-stage paging subgroup determination at the UE side. More specifically, according to the first stage, a reference signal or synchronization signal is used as paging subgroup signaling. As described for the third solution, the determination of a paging subgroup index (here, the first paging subgroup index) is performed by first determining characteristics of the reference signal or synchronization signal, and then determining the first paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristics. The first paging subgroup index is then used to determine whether the request is satisfied, and the UE determines whether it belongs to the UE's paging subgroup indicated by the first paging subgroup index.

[0189] If the first paging subgroup index satisfies this UE-specific requirement, the UE determines that it belongs to the subgroup of UEs for which the subsequent paging is intended, and as a result, the UE continues the paging function and monitors the downlink control channel to receive paging DCI.

[0190] According to this fourth solution, the paging DCI performs a second stage of paging subgroup determination in that it includes a field with information for the UE to determine the second paging subgroup index. The UE determines whether the second paging subgroup index meets UE-specific requirements to determine whether it belongs to the UE subgroup indicated by the second paging subgroup index.

[0191] If the second paging subgroup index meets this UE-specific requirement, the UE determines that it belongs to the subgroup of UEs to which the subsequent paging message is intended, and therefore continues the paging function and receives the paging message according to the information in the paging DCI.

[0192] This sequence of steps performed by the UE is exemplarily and simplifiedly shown in Figure 16. As can be seen from Figure 16, the first paging subgroup index is obtained from the reference signal or synchronization signal and is used by the UE to determine whether it belongs to the indicated paging subgroup. If "Yes", the UE continues the paging function to obtain the paging DCI. If "No", the UE has already stopped the paging function and may not proceed to receive the paging DCI or any subsequent paging messages.

[0193] According to a second step, the UE determines a second paging subgroup index from the paging DCI and uses this second paging subgroup index to determine whether it belongs again to the indicated paging subgroup. If yes, the UE continues the paging function to obtain the paging message. If no, the paging process can be terminated by the UE so as not to receive the paging message.

[0194] The second solution above provides information and explanations on how the second stage of the decision of this fourth solution can be implemented, in particular how to use a paging DCI as paging subgroup signaling. The various variants and implementations of this second solution above are equally applicable to this second stage of the fourth solution. To avoid repetition, please refer to the above sections for details on the paging DCI format, fields, content, etc.

[0195] Furthermore, the above third solution provides information and explanations on how the first stage of the determination of this fourth solution can be implemented, in particular how to use a reference signal or synchronization signal to convey the paging subgroup index (used as the first paging subgroup index in this fourth solution). The above various variants and implementations of this third solution can be equally applied to this first stage of the fourth solution. To avoid repetition, please refer to the above sections for details on when and how the reference signal or synchronization signal can be received, various characteristics of the reference / synchronization signal, possible 5G-compliant implementations (CSI-RS, SSS), etc.

[0196] Also, a variant of the fourth solution focuses on how to handle scenarios where the UE cannot reliably identify the characteristics of the reference or synchronization signals in the first stage. In such cases, as described for the third solution, the UE may decide to continue with the steps of the paging function (e.g., monitoring and receiving paging DCI), hypothetically assuming that the UE will be addressed for subsequent paging.

[0197] The third and fourth solutions above rely on reference signals as paging subgroup signaling, and in an exemplary implementation, for example, CSI-RS from the 5G standard is used.

[0198] The following describes an improved use of reference signals, such as CSI-RS. In particular, a plurality of different reference signal configurations shall be defined and used to indicate a paging subgroup index. Furthermore, another configuration Y is provided. This configuration is defined by using a pattern (e.g., resource elements in time and frequency) that includes (or consists of) an overlap (or intersection or intersection) of the plurality of different reference signal configurations that indicate a paging subgroup index. Such reference signal configuration Y can then be used by a UE to perform measurements, such as time / frequency tracking and / or serving cell measurements.

[0199] The above variants of the third and fourth solutions allow for a reduction in the overhead of subgrouping indication as well as time / frequency tracking and serving cell measurements (e.g., resources that would otherwise no longer be available for data transmission).

[0200] As mentioned above, the reference signal used as paging subgroup signaling for the improved paging procedure is configurable by the base station using the system information broadcast. According to an example assuming the use of 5G CSI-RS as this reference signal, the configuration can be implemented as follows: In the CSI-RS configuration in the SIB, the bandwidth for CSI-RS transmission is - Set / mapped as initial BWP, or - Configured as the number of RBs in a particular configured BWP.

[0201] Alternatively, the bandwidth of the above-mentioned CSI-RS is assumed to be fixed or equal to the SSBs that define the cell.

[0202] Alternatively, the bandwidth of the above-mentioned CSI-RS is assumed to be fixed or the same as that of CORESET#0.

[0203] One exemplary 5G-compliant implementation relies on the reference signal CSI-RS (see section above). The table provided above for the location of CSI-RS within a slot is assumed exemplarily for the following explanation of the basic concept. An extract of the table, particularly the first eight rows of the table, is reproduced below:

[0204] [Table 10]

[0205] According to the above general description of the variant, a particular CSI-RS configuration Y is defined with a configuration of resource elements according to which there is some or all intersection (overlap) of the CSI-RS configurations used for paging subgrouping.

[0206] According to a first example, the CSI-RS configurations in rows #4 and #5 are used to indicate two different subgroups. For example, it is assumed that the CSI-RS configuration (or more precisely its pattern) in row #4 allows the UE to determine one paging subgroup index, and the CSI-RS configuration (or more precisely its pattern) in row #5 allows the UE to determine another paging subgroup index. As can be seen from the table above, the CSI-RS configurations in rows #4 and #5 are used to indicate resource elements (k 0, l0), which in fact corresponds to the CSI-RS configuration in row #3 and can therefore be considered as CSI-RS configuration Y above.

[0207] Furthermore, the common portion of resource elements is from CDM group 0 (see the corresponding column and parameter j in the table above), and therefore the CSI-RS sequence mapped to the position of the CSI-RS configuration in row #3 may be the same as for the CSI configurations in rows #4 and #5.

[0208] According to a second example, the CSI-RS configuration in row #4 is used for subgrouping into three subgroups #1, #2, and #3 by using separate sequences. The common part corresponds to resource elements (k0, l0) with k′={0, 1} identical to the CSI-RS configuration in row #3 (i.e., CSI-RS configuration Y).

[0209] Furthermore, the common portion of resource elements is from CDM group 0. Therefore, the CSI-RS sequences mapped to the resource element positions may be the same for all these CSI-RS configurations. Also, for the portion of CDM group index 1, the three CSI-RS configurations in row #4 are code division multiplexed.

[0210] The above describes four different solutions for how paging subgrouping can be implemented. These solutions mainly differ in what is transmitted as paging subgroup signaling and how the paging function operates further as a result. Specifically, the UE determines whether to continue the paging function (e.g., whether to receive a paging message after receiving a paging DCI or to continue the next step of receiving a paging message) based on the result of the decision based on the paging subgroup signaling. In other words, if the UE determines that it does not belong to the indicated paging subgroup, the next step of the paging function does not need to be performed, for example, for a short time, so that UEs that are not paged can achieve power saving.

[0211] Below we provide more information on how some of the above four solutions can be adapted or implemented.

[0212] The above description of the four solutions roughly describes how a UE determines whether a paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement. There are several possibilities how this requirement can be implemented. According to a first exemplary variant, the requirement requires that a subset of the bits of the value derived from the UE's identity is the same as, greater than, or smaller than the bits representing the paging subgroup index.

[0213] This subset of bits can be, for example, the number of most significant bits of the value, or the number of least significant bits of the value, or the number of intermediate bits of the value. Additionally, the subset of bits can also be set from bits from non-consecutive bit positions of the value.

[0214] According to a further variant, the requirement can also be expressed using one of the following formulas: (1) UE_ID divided by N_PF == X (2) UE_ID>X divided by N_PF (3) UE_ID divided by N_PF <X (4) UE_ID divided by N_PF == i × X (5) UE_ID mod Y==X divided by N_PF where UE_ID indicates the identity of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in the paging cycle configured for the UE, X indicates the paging subgroup index, i=0, 1, 2, 3, ..., and Y is a number representing the number of subgroups (and can be set by the base station, for example, using the system information broadcast).

[0215] The operator "==" should be broadly understood to mean that the value on its left is equal to or corresponds to the value on its right.

[0216] According to one example, it is assumed that a paging subgroup index derived from any of the above four solutions provides one bit, which can be either 1 or 0. Then, when determining whether this one-bit paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement, for example, it can be determined whether the one bit has the same value as a corresponding one-bit-sized subset (e.g., the most significant bit or its least significant bit) of the bits of (UE_ID divided by N_PF). If the values ​​of the compared two bits are the same, the UE can derive that the one-bit paging subgroup index meets the requirement. Conversely, if the values ​​of the compared two bits are not the same, for example, if the paging subgroup index=0 and the MSB of (UE_ID divided by N_PF)=1, the UE can derive that the one-bit paging subgroup index does not meet the requirement.

[0217] Furthermore, the specific implementation of the requirements according to each of the above options affects the granularity of UE subgrouping for the paging function. For example, according to equation (1), the value (UE_ID divided by N_PF) must correspond to a paging subgroup index, which is a requirement that is less likely to be met than the requirements according to equations (2), (3), or (4). As a result, relatively few UEs are likely to determine that the received paging subgroup index satisfies such UE-specific requirements, and conversely, relatively more UEs are likely to determine that they do not belong to a paging subgroup and that the subsequent paging is not intended for them. This may result in UEs not continuing the paging function and thus saving power.

[0218] Equation (4) allows the requirement to be met more frequently than in equation (1), i.e., every time the value corresponds to a multiple of the paging subgroup index.

[0219] Equation (5) allows the network to flexibly control the subgroup size, i.e., the number of UEs addressed by the paging subgroup index. If the network wants to change the number of UEs addressed, it can reset a new value Y and broadcast it via the SIB.

[0220] However, the above formulas should be understood as examples only: other variations of the requirements according to other formulas are possible as well.

[0221] The number of different values ​​that the paging subgroup index can take affects the granularity of the subgrouping of UEs for the paging function.

[0222] In particular, for example, if we assume that the paging subgroup index only allows for a distinction between two values ​​(e.g., one bit, 0 and 1), the paging subgrouping only allows for a distinction between two groups and therefore provides only a coarse granularity of subgrouping. As a result, on average, half of the UEs processing this paging subgroup index will determine that this paging subgroup index meets their requirements, and the other half will determine the opposite. Thus, overall, on average, half of the UEs may not proceed with the paging function if the paging is not actually addressed to them. However, in the other half, there may still be many UEs that are not actually paged but are still within the indicated paging subgroup and therefore still determine that the paging function should continue.

[0223] Increasing the number of possible values ​​for the paging subgroup index allows for finer granularity of the subgrouping and therefore finer selection of target UEs for paging. For example, assuming exemplarily that the paging subgroup index distinguishes between four different values, e.g., 0, 1, 2, and 3 assuming two bits, the paging subgrouping distinguishes equally between the four different groups. Thus, by providing one particular value of the four available paging subgroup index values, an average of 25% of the UEs can be addressed and an average of 75% of the UEs can be prevented from proceeding with the paging function when in fact paging is not addressed to them.

[0224] Thus, as the paging subgroup index granularity increases, more subgroups can be distinguished and therefore more UEs can benefit from the power savings by not continuing the paging function if they are not actually paged.

[0225] Also, in the above variants and implementations of the four solutions, we have explained how the requirements are UE-specific by considering the appropriate identity of the UE. According to one example, this UE identity can be the identity of the UE used to distribute multiple UEs across multiple paging frames and paging occasions. For example, according to a 5G-compliant solution, this identity of the UE can be the UE_ID, which is defined by the 5G standard as 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024 (5G-S-TMSI: 5G Shortened-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identifier). This UE_ID is used by the UE and the base station to determine the paging frame and paging occasion (see the section on paging above).

[0226] According to the above four solutions, the paging subgroup index, in particular the decision result of whether the UE belongs to a paging subgroup, may be valid for a certain period covering one or more paging occasions (or paging frames). Thus, the UE does not perform the remaining paging functions for these one or more paging occasions (e.g., does not monitor the downlink control channel for receiving paging DCIs (see the first, third, and fourth solutions) or does not receive paging messages (see all solutions)). According to an exemplary implementation, the paging subgroup index, in particular the derived decision result, may be valid for a paging frame.

[0227] <Second set of solutions>

[0228] Figure 17 shows a simplified exemplary UE structure according to one exemplary solution for an improved paging procedure, which may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in connection with Figure 8. The various structural elements of the UE shown in Figure 17 may be interconnected with each other, for example, using corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control data and user data and other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the UE may include additional structural elements.

[0229] As can be seen from FIG. 17, the UE may include a paging UE identity determination circuit, a paging DCI receiver, a paging DCI decoding circuit, a paging message receiver, and a paging function execution circuit.

[0230] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the receiver of the UE may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of, for example, receiving paging DCI and paging messages.

[0231] Further, in the present case as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry (also referred to as a processor) of the UE may therefore be configured to, exemplarily, at least partially perform one or more of: performing paging functions, determining a second paging UE identity, decoding paging DCI, etc.

[0232] Furthermore, in this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the transmitter of the UE may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following, exemplarily: transmitting a response to a paging, etc.

[0233] One exemplary solution, which will be disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a UE including: a processor of the UE operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving a paging message. The paging DCI and the paging message are transmitted from a base station. The processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE. The second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI. A receiver of the UE receives the paging DCI. The processor then decodes the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity. If the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the processor continues operating the paging function to receive a paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI.

[0234] A corresponding sequence diagram of exemplary UE operations along the above-mentioned UE is defined below and shown in Figure 18. The method comprises the following steps performed by the user equipment: ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, where the second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; receiving the paging DCI; ● decoding the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; ● if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, continuing operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; It has.

[0235] This improved paging procedure allows for early control of further operation of the paging function based on defining an appropriate UE-specific paging UE identity. In particular, a second paging UE identity is generated based on the UE identification information such that the second paging UE identity is specific to one or a subgroup of multiple UEs. This allows the UE to save power, for example, when the UE does not successfully decode a paging DCI based on this new second paging UE identity because the paging is not actually intended for the UE. For example, the UE does not waste time receiving a paging message and searching for its own paging record in the received paging message.

[0236] Also, as is already clear from the above, the improved paging procedure provides an improved radio base station. Figure 19 shows a simplified exemplary base station structure according to one exemplary solution of the improved paging procedure, which may be implemented based on the general base station structure described in relation to Figure 8. Various structural elements of the radio base station shown in Figure 19 may be interconnected with each other, for example, using corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control data and user data and other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the base station may include further structural elements.

[0237] As can be seen from FIG. 19, the base station may include a paging UE determining circuit, a second paging UE identity determining circuit, a paging DCI encoding circuit, a paging DCI transmitter, and a paging function operating circuit.

[0238] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the base station receiver may therefore be configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following, exemplarily: receive a response to a paging;

[0239] In the present case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the base station may therefore be configured to, exemplarily, at least partially perform one or more of determining the UE to be paged, determining the second paging UE identity, encoding the paging DCI, etc.

[0240] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the transmitter of the base station may therefore be configured to, exemplarily, at least in part, perform one or more of the following: transmit paging DCI and paging messages.

[0241] One exemplary solution, which will be disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a radio base station including: a processor of the base station operates a paging function including transmitting paging downlink control information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by the paging DCI; the processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; the processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; the processor encodes the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; and a transmitter of the base station transmits the generated paging DCI and the paging message indicated by the paging DCI.

[0242] A corresponding sequence diagram of an exemplary base station operation along the lines described above is shown in Figure 20. The corresponding method includes the following steps performed by the base station: ● activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; ● encoding the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; ● transmitting the generated paging DCI and transmitting the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; It has.

[0243] Thus, by participating in the improved paging procedure, the improved base station facilitates that the operation of the paging function is controlled at an earlier point in time based on the paging DCI, and in particular by the second paging UE identity used to encode the paging DCI.

[0244] For example, using a UE-specific paging UE identity (instead of a paging UE identity that is not specific to a UE at all) facilitates selection of a target UE or subgroup of UEs for paging, thus avoiding the need for all UEs receiving a paging DCI on a particular paging occasion to receive and retrieve subsequent paging messages to determine whether the UE is in fact being paged.

[0245] This sequence of steps performed by the UE is exemplarily and simply shown in Figure 21. As is clear from Figure 21, the UE uses the second paging UE identity to decode the paging DCI. Therefore, the UE determines whether the decoding of the paging DCI is successful. This is the case when the paging DCI is encoded in the base station using the second paging UE identity as well. In particular, this can be understood to mean that the paging may be intended for the UE or at least for the subgroup to which the UE belongs. If the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the UE continues with the paging function to receive the paging message and to search for the corresponding paging record in the paging message.

[0246] On the other hand, if the UE does not successfully decode the paging DCI, the UE may deduce that the subsequent paging message is not intended for the UE, and therefore terminate the paging process, i.e., do not receive the paging message, and of course do not search for its own paging record in the paging message.

[0247] This solution has the advantage that no additional overhead is generated by introducing this UE-specific subgrouping of paging, since the already required paging DCI is reused, and the UE-specific second paging UE identity does not introduce additional bits to be transmitted. On the other hand, a separate paging UE identity is introduced for this solution, which differs from how legacy UEs operate (meaning that legacy UEs do not support using this solution). Furthermore, this solution requires that the UE actually monitors and attempts to receive the paging DCI so that it can determine whether it can be successfully decoded.

[0248] It has been described above that the UE identity is determined based on the first paging UE identity and the UE identification information. This can be implemented in various ways. For example, the second paging UE identity can be determined by adding or subtracting a value derived from the UE identification information to the first paging UE identity. This UE identification-based value can further depend on the number of paging frames configured in the cell.

[0249] Optionally, in addition to adding or subtracting a value based on this UE identity, in further example implementations, an offset value can also be added or subtracted from the first paging UE identity, which can be set, for example, via system information broadcasted for each cell, thus allowing for better differentiation between UEs in different cells.

[0250] Based on the above implementation, the following provides an exemplary formula for how the second paging UE identity P-RNTI′ can be determined. ● P-RNTI′=P-RNTI+(UE_ID divided by N_PF), or P-RNTI′ = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) ● P-RNTI′=P-RNTI+(UE_ID divided by N_PF)+OFFSET, or P-RNTI' = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) - OFFSET Here, P-RNTI′ indicates the second paging UE identity, P-RNTI indicates the first paging UE identity, UE_ID indicates the identification information of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in the paging cycle configured for the UE, and OFFSET indicates an offset value specific to the radio cell.

[0251] Furthermore, the above solution described how the second paging UE identity is determined to be specific to the UE by considering appropriate identification information for the UE. According to one example, this UE identification information can be the UE identification information used to distribute multiple UEs across multiple paging frames and paging occasions. For example, according to a 5G-compliant solution, this UE identification information can be the UE_ID defined by the 5G standard as 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024 (5G-S-TMSI: 5G Shortened-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identifier). This UE_ID is used by the UE and the base station to determine the paging frame and paging occasion (see the section on paging above).

[0252] <Third set of solutions>

[0253] Further solutions are based on a combination of the above first and second sets of solutions, as explained below. According to the above first and second sets of solutions, various concepts and methods for improving the paging procedure are introduced. These concepts and methods have been described above separately from each other. However, the independent support of one of the above solutions is merely an example.

[0254] According to a further solution, the UE and the base station can support two or more of the solutions simultaneously and can execute one of the supported solutions as needed or depending on the configuration.

[0255] According to one example, it is assumed that the UE and the base station support all of the above solutions, for example, solutions 1 to 4 of the first set and solutions of the second set.

[0256] According to one example, which of the supported solutions is actually used between the UE and the base station may be configurable. For example, the base station may decide the appropriate solution to be used and may inform the UE of the result of the decision, for example, by broadcasted system information. Thus, the UE and the base station have the same understanding on how to perform the improved paging procedure.

[0257] The decision as to which of the supported solutions should be used can be made based on parameters of the system, such as resource utilization, paging load, or other suitable parameters, such as whether power saving should be prioritized.

[0258] By providing a flexible selection of an appropriate solution for performing the improved paging procedure (e.g., configured by the SIB), the improved paging procedure allows adaptation to various use cases, taking into account the current situation of the system.

[0259] The following example shows how these parameters can be used to determine the appropriate solution to be used for the improved paging procedure performed between the UE and the base station.

[0260] When system resources are not congested and underutilized, the possible additional overhead is not a problem. Therefore, the base station may decide to follow the first solution. The first solution has the advantage of providing good power saving gains because the pre-paging DCI is transmitted as paging subgroup signaling, which can already prevent the UE from receiving the paging DCI. Alternatively, the base station may decide to follow the fourth solution of the first set in such a situation. The fourth solution of the first set realizes two-stage subgrouping for paging operations.

[0261] On the other hand, if the number of UEs in the cell is large (i.e., high paging load) and power saving for the UEs is a priority, the base station may decide to follow the fourth solution of the first set, in which a two-stage subgrouping for paging operations is realized. Because the number of UEs is large and therefore the false paging rate is high, the power saving gain that can be realized in such a situation is high.

[0262] Furthermore, when system resources are congested and resource utilization is prioritized, the base station may decide to follow the second solution of the first set, in which paging DCI is used as paging subgroup signaling to carry the paging subgroup index. This second solution of the first set is one solution that minimizes resource usage.

[0263] Further Aspects

[0264] According to a first aspect, there is provided a user equipment (UE) including: a processor of the UE operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving a paging message, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; a receiver of the UE receives paging subgroup signaling from the base station; the processor determines a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; and the processor determines how to operate the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE.

[0265] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the paging subgroup signaling is a pre-paging DCI, and the determination of the paging subgroup index is performed using information obtained from a field of the pre-paging DCI, and the determination of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement.

[0266] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, the paging subgroup signaling is the paging DCI, and the determination of the paging subgroup index is performed using information from a field of the paging DCI, and the determination of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement.

[0267] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to third aspects, the paging subgroup signaling is a reference signal or a synchronization signal, the determining of the paging subgroup index includes determining characteristics of the reference signal or the synchronization signal and then determining the paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristics, and the determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirements.

[0268] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to fourth aspects, the paging subgroup signaling is a reference signal or a synchronization signal. The determination of the paging subgroup index includes determining characteristics of the reference signal or the synchronization signal, and then determining a first paging subgroup index as the paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristics. The determination of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined first paging subgroup index satisfies the requirements. If the paging DCI is received, the processor determines a second paging subgroup index using information from a field of the paging DCI. The processor determines whether to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI based on whether the determined second paging subgroup index satisfies a second requirement involving the identification information of the UE. In an optional aspect, the determining whether to receive the paging message includes determining whether a combination of the first paging subgroup index and the second paging subgroup index satisfies the second requirement.

[0269] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to the fourth or fifth aspect, the characteristics of the reference signal are one or more patterns and one or more sequences of the received reference signal, and determining the pattern of the reference signal comprises: determining a location of said reference signal in the frequency domain and the time domain; and ● identifying the pattern among a plurality of reference signal patterns based on the determined location; Determining the sequence of the reference signal includes determining a sequence of values ​​transmitted as the reference signal. The characteristic of the synchronization signal is the sequence of the received synchronization signal, and determining the sequence of the synchronization signal includes determining a sequence of values ​​transmitted as the synchronization signal.

[0270] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to the sixth aspect, if the processor is unable to identify the characteristic, the processor operates the paging function to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message.

[0271] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to one of the fourth to seventh aspects, the reference signal is a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) of the 3GPP 5G standard, and the synchronization signal is a secondary synchronization signal of the 3GPP 5G standard.

[0272] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to one of the fourth to eighth aspects, a plurality of different configurations of reference signals are used to indicate a plurality of paging subgroup indexes, respectively, and a first configuration of the reference signals includes a pattern corresponding to the overlap of the patterns of some or all of the plurality of reference signals indicating a plurality of paging subgroup indexes, the first configuration of the reference signals being usable by the UE to perform measurements, the measurements including measurements of one or more of time and / or frequency and serving cell tracking.

[0273] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to ninth aspects, the processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and the identification information of the UE, the second paging UE identity being usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI. The receiver receives the paging DCI. The processor decodes the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity. If the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the processor continues operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI.

[0274] According to an eleventh aspect, which is provided in addition to one of the first to tenth aspects, the requirement requires that a subset of bits of a value derived from the UE's identity be the same as, or greater than, or smaller than the bits representing the paging subgroup index. In an optional aspect, the subset of bits of the value is the number of most significant bits of the value, or the number of least significant bits of the value, or the number of intermediate bits of the value. In another optional aspect, the requirement requires that the paging subgroup index be determined based on the following formula: ● UE_ID==X divided by N_PF, ● UE_ID>X divided by N_PF, ● UE_ID divided by N_PF <X、 ● UE_ID == i × X divided by N_PF, and ● UE_ID divided by N_PF mod Y==X where UE_ID indicates the identity of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in a paging cycle configured for the UE, X indicates the paging subgroup index, where i=0, 1, 2, 3, ..., and Y is a number representing the number of subgroups.

[0275] According to a twelfth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to eleventh aspects, the identity of the UE is identity of the UE used to distribute multiple UEs across multiple paging frames and paging occasions. Optionally, the identity of the UE is determined by 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024, and the 5G-S-TMSI is a 5G Shortened-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identifier of the 3GPP 5G standard.

[0276] According to a thirteenth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to twelfth aspects, the paging function further includes the processor searching for a paging record addressed to the UE from among a plurality of paging records of the paging message.

[0277] According to a 14th aspect provided in addition to the second, third, fourth, fifth and tenth aspects, the receiver, in operation, receives instructions from the base station, the instructions instructing the UE to operate in accordance with one of the second, third, fourth, fifth and tenth aspects.

[0278] According to a fifteenth aspect, the following steps are performed by a user equipment (UE): ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● receiving paging subgroup signaling from the base station; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; ● determining an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE; A method is provided, comprising:

[0279] According to a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising: a processor of the base station operates a paging function including transmitting paging downlink control information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by the paging DCI; the processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; the processor determines a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving an identity of the determined UE, and generates paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; and a transmitter of the base station transmits the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UE.

[0280] According to a seventeenth aspect provided in addition to the sixteenth aspect, the transmitter transmits a pre-paging DCI as the paging subgroup signaling, and a field of the pre-paging DCI includes information usable for determining the paging subgroup index, or the transmitter transmits the paging DCI as the paging subgroup signaling, a field of the paging DCI including information usable to determine the paging subgroup index, or The transmitter transmits a reference signal or a synchronization signal as the paging subgroup signaling, and the processor, in operation, determines a characteristic of the reference signal or the synchronization signal based on the determined paging subgroup index, the characteristic of the reference signal being one or more patterns and one or more sequences of the reference signal, and the characteristic of the synchronization signal being the sequence of the synchronization signal; or The transmitter transmits a reference signal or a synchronization signal as the paging subgroup signaling, and the processor, when operative, determines a characteristic of the reference signal or the synchronization signal based on a first paging subgroup index as the determined paging subgroup index, and the transmitter transmits the paging DCI including information usable for determining a second paging subgroup index, the second paging subgroup index being usable by the UE to determine whether to receive the paging message, or The processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity and identification information of the determined UE, the first paging UE identity being set by the base station for the determined UE, the processor encodes the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity, and the transmitter transmits the generated paging DCI and the paging message indicated by the paging DCI. In an optional aspect, the processor determines what to use as the paging subgroup signaling, including one of the pre-paging DCI, the paging DCI, the reference signal, or the synchronization signal, and the transmitter sends an indication to one or more UEs including information regarding a result of the determination of what to use as the paging subgroup signaling.

[0281] According to an eighteenth aspect, the following steps are performed by a base station: ● activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined identity information of the UE, and generating paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; ● transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs; A method is provided, comprising:

[0282] According to a nineteenth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a user equipment (UE), the processing comprising the steps of: ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● receiving paging subgroup signaling from said base station; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; ● determining an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving an identity of the UE; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0283] According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit which, in operation, controls the processing of a base station, said processing comprising the following steps performed by said base station: ● activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined identity information of the UE, and generating paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; ● transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0284] According to a 21st aspect, there is provided a UE having: a processor of the UE operates a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging downlink control information (DCI) and receiving a paging message, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; the processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, the second paging UE identity being usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; a receiver of the UE receives the paging DCI; the processor decodes the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; and if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the processor continues operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI.

[0285] According to a 22nd aspect provided in addition to the 21st aspect, the determination of the second paging UE identity is performed by adding or subtracting a value derived from identification information of the UE to the first paging UE identity, and optionally by adding or subtracting a radio cell specific offset value to the first paging UE identity. In an optional aspect, the determination of the second paging UE identity is performed by adding or subtracting a value derived from identification information of the UE to the first paging UE identity, and optionally by adding or subtracting a radio cell specific offset value to the first paging UE identity. ● P-RNTI′=P-RNTI+(UE_ID divided by N_PF), or P-RNTI′ = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) ● P-RNTI′=P-RNTI+(UE_ID divided by N_PF)+OFFSET, or P-RNTI′ = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) - OFFSET where P-RNTI′ indicates the second paging UE identity, P-RNTI indicates the first paging UE identity, UE_ID indicates identification information of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in a paging cycle configured for the UE, and OFFSET indicates an offset value specific to a radio cell.

[0286] According to a 23rd aspect, the following steps are performed by a user equipment (UE): ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, where the second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; receiving the paging DCI; ● decoding the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; ● if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, continuing operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; A method is provided, comprising:

[0287] According to a 24th aspect, there is provided a base station comprising: a processor that operates a paging function that includes transmitting paging downlink control information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and that includes transmitting a paging message indicated by the paging DCI; the processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; the processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; the processor encodes the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; and a transmitter that transmits the generated paging DCI and the paging message indicated by the paging DCI.

[0288] According to a twenty-fifth aspect, the following steps are performed by a base station: - activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; ● encoding the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; ● transmitting the generated paging DCI and transmitting the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; A method is provided, comprising:

[0289] According to a 26th aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a User Equipment (UE), the processing comprising the steps of: ● operating a paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and including receiving paging messages, said paging DCI and said paging messages being transmitted from a base station; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, where the second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; receiving the paging DCI; ● decoding the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; ● if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, continuing operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0290] According to a 27th aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit that, in operation, controls the processing of a base station, said processing comprising the steps of: ● activating a paging function including transmitting paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a downlink control channel and including transmitting a paging message indicated by said paging DCI; ● determining a User Equipment (UE) to be paged using said paging function; ● determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; ● encoding the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; ● transmitting the generated paging DCI and transmitting the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; An integrated circuit is provided, including:

[0291] Hardware and Software Implementations of the Disclosure

[0292] The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or software operating in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the above-described embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by an LSI such as an integrated circuit. Each process described in each embodiment can be controlled, in whole or in part, by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed as an individual chip, or a single chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI can include a data input / output unit coupled to it. Depending on the level of integration, the LSI can also be referred to as an IC (integrated circuit), system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. However, the technology for implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and can be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, and reconfigurable processors, which can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells arranged within the LSI, can also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented using digital or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by future integrated circuit technologies, these future integrated circuit technologies can be used to integrate functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0293] The present disclosure can be implemented by any kind of apparatus, device, or system having a communication capability (referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0294] A communication device may include a transceiver and processing / control circuitry. The transceiver may include and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. As a transmitter and receiver, the transceiver may include an RF (radio frequency) module including an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0295] Some non-limiting examples of such communication devices include telephones (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, e-readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships) that provide communication capabilities, and various combinations thereof.

[0296] Communication devices are not limited to portable or mobile devices, but can also include any type of equipment, device, or system that is non-portable or fixed, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lights, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "thing" in an "Internet of Things" (IoT) network.

[0297] Communication can include, for example, exchanging data through cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., and various combinations thereof.

[0298] A communications device may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications device may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications device.

[0299] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0300] Furthermore, the various embodiments may be implemented by means of software modules, which are executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementations is also possible. The software modules may be stored on any kind of computer-readable storage medium, for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. Furthermore, it should be noted that individual features of the different embodiments may also be the subject of other embodiments, individually or in any combination.

[0301] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure as set forth in the specific embodiments may be subject to numerous changes and / or modifications, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), a processor for operating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; a receiver for receiving paging subgroup signaling from the base station; and The processor determines a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; The processor determines an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving the identity information of the UE; the determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining not to operate the paging function if the determined paging subgroup index does not satisfy the requirement; User equipment.

2. the paging subgroup signaling is a pre-paging DCI, and the determination of the paging subgroup index is performed using information obtained from a field of the pre-paging DCI; The determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement. The user equipment of claim 1 .

3. the paging subgroup signaling is the paging DCI, and the determination of the paging subgroup index is performed using information from a field of the paging DCI; the determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement. The user equipment of claim 1 .

4. the paging subgroup signaling is a reference signal or a synchronization signal, and determining the paging subgroup index includes determining a characteristic of the reference signal or the synchronization signal, and then determining the paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristic; The determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement. The user equipment of claim 1 .

5. the paging subgroup signaling is a reference signal or a synchronization signal; the determining of the paging subgroup index includes determining a characteristic of the reference signal or the synchronization signal, and then determining a first paging subgroup index as the paging subgroup index based on the determined characteristic; The determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message if the determined first paging subgroup index satisfies the requirement; If the paging DCI is received, the processor determines a second paging subgroup index using information from a field of the paging DCI; the processor determines whether to receive the paging message indicated by the paging DCI based on whether the determined second paging subgroup index satisfies a second requirement involving the identification information of the UE, and optionally, the determination of whether to receive the paging message includes determining whether a combination of the first paging subgroup index and the second paging subgroup index satisfies the second requirement. The user equipment of claim 1 .

6. The characteristics of the reference signal are one or more patterns and one or more sequences of the received reference signal, and determining the pattern of the reference signal includes: determining the location of said reference signal in the frequency domain and in the time domain; and - identifying said pattern among a plurality of reference signal patterns based on said determined position, determining a sequence of the reference signal includes determining a sequence of values ​​transmitted as the reference signal; the characteristic of the synchronization signal is a sequence of the received synchronization signal, and determining the sequence of the synchronization signal includes determining a sequence of values ​​transmitted as the synchronization signal.

5. The user equipment of claim 4.

7. If the processor is unable to identify the characteristic, the processor operates the paging function to monitor and receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message.

7. The user equipment of claim 6.

8. The reference signal is a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) of the 3GPP 5G standard, and the synchronization signal is a secondary synchronization signal of the 3GPP 5G standard.

5. The user equipment of claim 4.

9. a plurality of different configurations of reference signals are used to indicate a plurality of paging subgroup indexes, respectively, a first configuration of the reference signals comprising a pattern corresponding to an overlap of some or all patterns of the plurality of reference signals indicating a plurality of paging subgroup indexes, the first configuration of the reference signals being usable by the UE to perform measurements, the measurements comprising measurements of one or more of time and / or frequency and serving cell tracking; 5. The user equipment of claim 4.

10. The processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and the identification information of the UE, the second paging UE identity being usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; The receiver receives the paging DCI; The processor decodes the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; If the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the processor continues operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI. The user equipment of claim 1 .

11. the requirement requires that a subset of bits of the value derived from the UE identity be the same as, or greater than, or smaller than the bits representing the paging subgroup index; Optionally, said subset of bits of said value is the number of most significant bits of said value, or the number of least significant bits of said value, or the number of intermediate bits of said value; Optionally, said requirement is that said paging subgroup index satisfies the following formula: (1) UE_ID divided by N_PF == X; (2) UE_ID>X divided by N_PF; (3) UE_ID<X divided by N_PF; (4) UE_ID divided by N_PF == i × X, and (5) UE_ID mod Y divided by N_PF == X requires that one of the following be satisfied, where UE_ID indicates the identification information of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in a paging cycle configured for the UE, X indicates the paging subgroup index, where i=0, 1, 2, 3, ..., and Y is a number representing the number of subgroups. The user equipment of claim 1 .

12. the identification information of the UE is identification information of the UE used to distribute multiple UEs to multiple paging frames and paging occasions; Optionally, the identity of the UE is determined by a 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024, the 5G-S-TMSI being a 5G Shortened-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identifier of the 3GPP 5G standard. The user equipment of claim 1 .

13. The paging function further includes the processor searching for a paging record addressed to the UE from among a plurality of paging records in the paging message. The user equipment of claim 1 .

14. The receiver receives instructions from the base station, the instructions instructing the UE to operate in accordance with claim 2. The user equipment of claim 2 .

15. 1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE), comprising the steps of: activating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; receiving paging subgroup signaling from the base station; determining a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; determining an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving the identity of the UE; and The method, wherein the determining how to operate the paging function includes determining not to operate the paging function if the determined paging subgroup index does not satisfy the requirement.

16. A base station for communicating with a user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 14, comprising: a processor that operates a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; The processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; The processor determines a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined UE identity, and generates paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index. a transmitter for transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs; A base station having:

17. the transmitter transmits a pre-paging DCI as the paging subgroup signaling, a field of the pre-paging DCI including information usable to determine the paging subgroup index, or the transmitter transmits the paging DCI as the paging subgroup signaling, and a field of the paging DCI includes information usable to determine the paging subgroup index; or The transmitter transmits a reference signal or a synchronization signal as the paging subgroup signaling, and the processor determines characteristics of the reference signal or the synchronization signal based on the determined paging subgroup index, the characteristics of the reference signal being one or more patterns and one or more sequences of the reference signal, and the characteristics of the synchronization signal being the sequence of the synchronization signal; or The transmitter transmits a reference signal or a synchronization signal as the paging subgroup signaling, the processor determines a characteristic of the reference signal or the synchronization signal based on a first paging subgroup index as the determined paging subgroup index, and the transmitter transmits the paging DCI including information usable for determining a second paging subgroup index, the second paging subgroup index being usable by the UE to determine whether to receive the paging message, or the processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity and identification information of the determined UE, the first paging UE identity being configured by the base station for the determined UE; the processor encodes the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; the transmitter transmits the encoded paging DCI and the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; Optionally, the processor determines what to use as the paging subgroup signaling, including one of the pre-paging DCI, the paging DCI, the reference signal, or the synchronization signal, and the transmitter sends an indication to one or more UEs including information regarding a result of the determination of what to use as the paging subgroup signaling.

17. The base station of claim 16.

18. A method comprising the steps of: operating a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; determining a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; determining a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined UE identity information, and generating paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs; A method comprising:

19. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a user equipment (UE), the processing comprising the steps of: activating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; receiving paging subgroup signaling from the base station; determining a paging subgroup index based on the received paging subgroup signaling; determining an operation method of the paging function based on whether the determined paging subgroup index satisfies a requirement involving the identity information of the UE; the determining of the operation method of the paging function includes determining not to operate the paging function if the determined paging subgroup index does not satisfy the requirement; Integrated circuit.

20. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station that communicates with a user device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the processing comprises the following steps executed by the base station: operating a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; determining a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; determining a paging subgroup index based on a requirement involving the determined UE identity information, and generating paging subgroup signaling based on the determined paging subgroup index; transmitting the generated paging subgroup signaling to the determined UEs. Integrated circuit.

21. A user equipment (UE), a processor for operating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; The processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, the second paging UE identity being usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI. a receiver for receiving the paging DCI; and The processor decodes the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; If the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, the processor continues operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; If the decoding of the paging DCI is not successful, the processor deactivates the paging function so as not to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI. User equipment.

22. wherein said determining of said second paging UE identity is performed by adding or subtracting a value derived from identification information of said UE to said first paging UE identity and, optionally, by adding or subtracting a radio cell specific offset value to said first paging UE identity; Optionally, said determining of said second paging UE identity is based on the following formula: P-RNTI' = P-RNTI + (UE_ID divided by N_PF), or P-RNTI' = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) P-RNTI' = P-RNTI + (UE_ID divided by N_PF) + OFFSET, or P-RNTI' = P-RNTI - (UE_ID divided by N_PF) - OFFSET is performed using one of where P-RNTI′ indicates the second paging UE identity, P-RNTI indicates the first paging UE identity, UE_ID indicates identification information of the UE, N_PF indicates the number of paging frames in a paging cycle configured for the UE, and OFFSET indicates an offset value specific to a radio cell.

22. The user equipment of claim 21.

23. 1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE), comprising the steps of: activating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, wherein the second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; receiving the paging DCI; decoding the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, continuing operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; If the decoding of the paging DCI is not successful, deactivating the paging function so as not to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; A method comprising:

24. A base station for communicating with a user equipment according to claim 21 or 22, comprising: a processor that operates a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; The processor determines a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; The processor determines a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; the processor encodes the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity. a transmitter that transmits the encoded paging DCI and transmits the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; A base station having:

25. A method comprising the steps of: operating a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; determining a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; encoding the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; transmitting the encoded paging DCI and transmitting the paging message indicated by the paging DCI; A method comprising:

26. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a user equipment (UE), the processing comprising the steps of: activating a paging function, the paging function including monitoring a downlink control channel to receive paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and subsequent reception of a paging message on a downlink shared channel, the paging DCI and the paging message being transmitted from a base station; determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station and identification information of the UE, wherein the second paging UE identity is usable by the UE to decode the paging DCI; receiving the paging DCI; decoding the paging DCI based on the second paging UE identity; if the decoding of the paging DCI is successful, continuing operation of the paging function to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI; If the decoding of the paging DCI is not successful, stopping operation of the paging function so as not to receive the paging message indicated by the decoded paging DCI. Integrated circuit.

27. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station communicating with a user device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the processing comprises the following steps performed by the base station: operating a paging function including transmitting the paging DCI on the downlink control channel and including transmitting the paging message on the downlink shared channel subsequently indicated by the paging DCI; determining a user equipment (UE) to be paged using the paging function; determining a second paging UE identity based on a first paging UE identity configured by the base station for the determined UE and identification information of the determined UE; encoding the paging DCI using the second paging UE identity; transmitting the encoded paging DCI and transmitting the paging message indicated by the paging DCI. Integrated circuit.

Images