Method, access network node, and user equipment

Abstract

A system is disclosed in which a base station (5) transmits first information to a user equipment (UE) (3) indicating whether an energy saving operation is applied or not for each of a plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes within a period.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system operating according to 3GPP (registered trademark) (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards or their equivalents or derivatives, and devices thereof. The present disclosure has a particular relevance to, but is not exclusively related to, energy saving techniques in so-called "5G" or "New Radio" systems (also referred to as "Next Generation" systems) and similar systems.

Background Art

[0002] Under 3GPP standards, NodeB (or "eNB" in LTE and "gNB" in 5G) is a base station through which communication devices (user equipment, i.e., "UE (user equipment)") connect to the core network and communicate with other communication devices or remote servers. Communication between the UE and the base station is controlled using the so-called RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol. The communication device may be, for example, a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, smartwatch, personal digital assistant, laptop / tablet computer, web browser, e-book reader, etc. Such mobile (or generally stationary) devices are typically operated by a user (thus, these devices are often collectively referred to as user equipment "UE"), but it is also possible to connect IoT (Internet of Things) devices and similar MTC (Machine Type Communications) devices to the network. For simplicity, this application uses the term base station to refer to such a base station and the term mobile device or UE to refer to such a communication device.

[0003] The latest developments in 3GPP standards are the so-called "5G" or "New Radio" (NR) standards, which refer to evolving communication technologies expected to support a variety of applications and services, including MTC / IoT communications, vehicle communications and autonomous vehicles, high-definition video streaming, and smart city services. 3GPP intends to support 5G through the so-called 3GPP NextGen (Next Generation) RAN (radio access network) and 3GPP NGC (NextGen core) networks. Various details of 5G networks are described, for example, in the "NGMN 5G White Paper" V1.0 by the NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks) Alliance, which is available at https: / / www.ngmn.org / 5g-white-paper.html.

[0004] End-user communication devices are generally called user equipment (UEs), and UEs can be human-operated or automated (MTC / IoT) devices. Base stations of 5G / NR communication systems are generally called "NR-BS (New Radio Base Station)" or "gNB," but it will be understood that they are more typically referred to using the term "eNB" (or 5G / NR eNB), which is related to LTE (Long Term Evolution) base stations (also commonly called "4G" base stations). 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.300 V16.7.0 and 3GPP TS 37.340 V16.7.0 define the following nodes in particular: A node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol termination to gNB:UE and is connected to 5GC (5G core network) via the NG interface. ng-eNB: A node that provides protocol termination for the E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) user plane and control plane toward the UE, and is connected to 5GC via the NG interface. A node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol termination for En-gNB:UE and functions as a secondary node in EN-DC (E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity). NG-RAN node: Either gNB or ng-eNB.

[0005] The terms base station or RAN node are used herein to refer to any such node.

[0006] Energy consumption at base stations and other similar access network nodes represents a significant operational cost for network operators. Various tools exist to conserve energy on the network side. For example, capacity cells (i.e., cells deployed to support specific areas during peak hours) can be turned off, and neighboring cells can recognize whether a capacity cell is available or not. This feature allows for optimization of energy consumption in deployments where, for example, capacity boosters can be distinguished from cells providing basic coverage, and allows for the possibility that E-UTRA or EN-DC (E-UTRA-New Radio Dual Connectivity) cells provide additional capacity via single or dual connectivity, and are switched off when that capacity is no longer needed and reactivated as needed. This decision is typically based on cell load information that matches configured information. Switch-off decisions may also be made by O&M (Operations and Maintenance).

[0007] A base station can initiate a handover action to offload a switched-off cell, and, for example, when selecting a target cell for a subsequent handover, can indicate the reason for the handover with an appropriate cause value to support the target node when performing the subsequent action. Configured information typically includes the base station's ability to perform autonomous cell switch-offs and the base station's ability to request the reactivation of a configured list of dormant cells owned by peer base stations. O&M may also configure policies used by base stations for cell switch-off decisions and policies used by peer base stations to request the reactivation of dormant cells.

[0008] From a physical standpoint, a cell is on and consumes the majority of its power when at least one channel is active. Since any additional channel would only result in a slight increase in power consumption, it is preferable from a network energy saving perspective to either fully turn on the cell using approximately 100% of its capacity or to turn it off completely. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0009] [Non-Patent Document 1] NGMN Alliance "NGMN 5G White Paper" V1.0 (https: / / www.ngmn.org / 5g-white-paper.html) [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.7.0 [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS 37.340 V16.7.0 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0010] Generally, if the load is insufficient and UEs can be offloaded to neighboring cells, the network may decide to turn off the entire cell. However, this is not always feasible (because the network must guarantee service to the UEs) if, for example, a coverage cell is unavailable and other cells are unavailable. Furthermore, in some cases, turning off an entire cell will cause neighboring cells to use more power than is saved because the cell is turned off (to enhance coverage). This also causes some overhead signaling related to handing over UEs to appropriate neighboring cells.

[0011] There are other ways to save energy in the network (base stations), for example: - Spectrum conservation: Do not transmit across the entire bandwidth (base stations use only a portion of their available spectrum by managing the bandwidth portion). - Saving space covered: Do not send power to some areas of cell coverage. - Power saving: Transmit with lower power (effectively reducing cell coverage and / or throughput), - Time saving: Do not transmit during specific periods (in this case, the network can set the signaling channel to have long periodicity, e.g., every 160ms for SSS / PSS, MIB, and PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel)).

[0012] More specifically, certain features may be "turned off" independently for a relatively short period of time: - Synchronization signals (PSS (Primary Synchronization Signal) and SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal)) and MIB (Master Information Block) are transmitted at intervals of 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms. -SIB1 (System Information Block Type 1) is broadcast using a period of 160ms and a variable transmission repetition period of 160ms or less. - Other SIBs can broadcast at different intervals indicated by SIB1, every 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 radio frames (1 radio frame = 10ms). -PRACH can be set from every 1ms to every 160ms, and - Since control channels and data channels can be configured by the base station for each UE, there may be periods in the base station cell where there are no UL (uplink) or DL ​​(downlink) transmissions, depending on the UE traffic requirements.

[0013] Therefore, in conventional systems, it is possible to virtually switch off a cell for up to 160ms by restricting the broadcast of the signaling channel, setting up data resources around the time the cell is on, and transmitting on the channel. However, this method is limited by the PSS / SSS period used and the PRACH over 16 radio frames (160ms), and does not provide fine granularity, thus lacking flexibility.

[0014] The network can schedule UL and DL resources simultaneously, and refrain from transmitting / receiving data for the remainder of the time to achieve some energy savings. The network can also adjust cell coverage by increasing / decreasing transmit power. Where appropriate, load balancing can be performed between adjacent cells using handover or dual connections.

[0015] However, existing solutions do not provide dynamic sleep patterns (on / off patterns) because switching off a cell is a one-time procedure. Furthermore, the network can only be turned off for periodic signaling, not for data transmission.

[0016] Using these conventional methods, the cell is completely turned off, which typically means that for a very long time, e.g., overnight, the cell "disappears" completely (i.e., all UEs become unavailable). Thus, this is only applicable to capacity cells, i.e., not possible for coverage cells, as the UE has to be redirected to another cell. Any redirected UE can only return to the cell via conventional cell reselection when the cell reappears again, so it is not possible to configure the UE to return to the cell automatically (or in a planned way).

[0017] From Release 18, for a more flexible cell sleep pattern (e.g., "micro sleep"), new types of system information can be used. It is also envisioned to enable the wake-up of the base station triggered by the UE and generally provide UE assistance for network energy saving. 3GPP intends to prioritize idle / air and low / medium load scenarios (the exact definition of such loads has not yet been agreed upon).

[0018] Therefore, using potential support / feedback from the UE, more efficient energy-saving operations need to be achieved by dynamic and / or quasi-static and finer-grained adaptation of transmission and / or reception by the base station in one or more of the network energy-saving technologies in the time domain, frequency domain, spatial domain, and power domain. Means for Solving the Problems

[0019] Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide a method and related apparatus for solving (at least in part) the above problems or at least alleviating them.

[0020] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method performed by an access network node, the method comprising transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), first information indicating whether an energy saving operation has been applied by the access network node to one of a plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period, for each of the plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes.

[0021] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising receiving, from an access network node, first information indicating whether an energy saving operation has been applied by the access network node to one of a plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period, for each of the plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes.

[0022] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an access network node comprising means (e.g., memory, controller, and transceiver) for transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), first information indicating whether an energy saving operation has been applied by the access network node to one of a plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period, for each of the plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes.

[0023] In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a user equipment (UE) comprising means (e.g., memory, controller, and transceiver) for receiving, from an access network node, first information indicating whether an energy saving operation has been applied by the access network node to one of a plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period, for each of the plurality of blocks of consecutive subframes.

[0024] Aspects of the present disclosure extend to computer program products such as computer-readable storage media that internally store corresponding systems, devices, and instructions, the instructions being operable to program a programmable processor to perform the methods described above or as stated in the claims, and / or to program a computer appropriately adapted to provide the devices stated in any of the claims.

[0025] For the convenience of understanding by those skilled in the art, this disclosure will be described in detail in the context of a 3GPP system (5G network), but the principles of this disclosure can also be applied to other systems.

[0026] This disclosure is defined by the attached claims. The aspects of this disclosure are as described in the independent claims. Some optional features are described in the dependent claims.

[0027] However, each feature disclosed herein (this term includes the claims) and / or each feature shown in the drawings may be incorporated into this disclosure independently of (or in combination with) any other disclosed and / or illustrated features. In particular, but not limited to, any feature of a claim dependent on a particular independent claim may be introduced into that independent claim in any combination or individually.

[0028] Herein, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by reference to the attached drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0029] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a mobile (cellular or wireless) telecommunications system to which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied. [Figure 2] This is a schematic block diagram of a mobile device that forms part of the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a schematic block diagram of an access network node (e.g., a base station) that forms part of the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the core network nodes that form part of the system shown. [Figure 5] This is a schematic signaling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary method for achieving network energy savings in the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] This is a schematic signaling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary method for achieving network energy savings in the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 7] This is a schematic signaling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary method for achieving network energy savings in the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 8] This is a schematic signaling (timing) diagram illustrating an exemplary method for achieving network energy savings in the system shown in Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0030] overview Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a mobile (cellular or wireless) telecommunications system 1 to which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0031] In this system 1, users of mobile devices 3 (UEs) can communicate with each other and with other users via base stations 5 (and other access network nodes) and the core network 7, using appropriate 3GPP RATs (radio access technology), such as E-UTRA and / or 5G RATs. It will be understood that several base stations 5 form a (radio) access network, i.e., (R)AN. As those skilled in the art will understand, for illustrative purposes only, Figure 1 shows two mobile devices 3A and 3B and one base station 5, but when implemented, this system typically includes other base stations / (R)AN nodes and mobile devices (UEs).

[0032] Each base station 5 controls one or more associated cells 6 (either directly or via other nodes such as home base stations, relays, remote radio heads, and distributed units). Base stations 5 that support next-generation / 5G protocols are sometimes referred to as "gNBs". It will be understood that some base stations 5 may be configured to support both 4G and 5G protocols, and / or any other 3GPP or non-3GPP communication protocols.

[0033] The mobile device 3 and its serving base station 5 are connected via appropriate air interfaces (e.g., so-called "NR" air interfaces and / or "Uu" interfaces). Adjacent base stations 5 are connected to each other via appropriate base station-base station interfaces (e.g., so-called "Xn" interfaces, "X2" interfaces, etc.). Base stations 5 are also connected to core network nodes via appropriate interfaces (e.g., so-called "NG-U" interfaces (for the user plane), so-called "NG-C" interfaces (for the control plane)).

[0034] The core network 7 (e.g., EPC in the case of LTE, or NGC in the case of NR / 5G) typically includes logical nodes (or “functions”) for supporting communications in the telecommunications system 1, and (in particular) for subscriber management, mobility management, billing, security, and call / session management. For example, the core network 7 of a “next-generation” / 5G system includes user plane entities and control plane entities, such as one or more CPFs (control plane functions) 10 and one or more UPFs (user plane functions) 11. For example, the so-called AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) of 5G, or the MME (Mobility Management Entity) of 4G, is responsible for handling connection and mobility management tasks for mobile devices 3, while the SMF (Session Management Function) is responsible for handling communication sessions of mobile devices 3, such as session establishment, modification, and release. The core network 7 is connected (via UPF 11) to a data network 20, such as the Internet or a similar IP (Internet Protocol) based network.

[0035] In this system 1, UE-assisted network energy saving is achieved based on one or more of the following characteristics: - A parameter indicating the ES (energy saving) setting used by base station 5. The ES setting includes at least one of the following: -- Mapping over periods with a specific granularity of on / off time (for example, 32 bits may be used for a granularity of 5 subframes for a period of 160ms), and --Instructions to turn the affected functions on / off (including, for example, synchronization signals, MIB, SIB, PRACH, configured permissions, retransmissions, and scheduled PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) / PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) transmissions). -ES settings are sent to UE3 via RRC messages (e.g., RRC reset / RRC connection reset messages) or system information. -UE3 selects available resources according to the ES configuration signaled by base station 5. - Any parameter in the system information (e.g., minimal system information such as MIB or SIB1) indicates whether UE3 should notify base station 5 whether it supports network energy saving. -UE3 will report their energy-saving capabilities (if requested via system information). - System information is updated by base station 5 following the ES configuration update (including potential offloading of non-ES-enabled UE3s and instructions for ES configuration of the remaining UE3s).

[0036] Effectively, the mapping information or parameters sent to UE3 may be referred to as first information, which identifies the energy-saving settings applied by the access network node (in this case, base station 5). The energy-saving setting mapping indicates, for each of several blocks of consecutive subframes within a given period, whether the energy-saving operation is applied by the access network node to that block of consecutive subframes (for example, using one bit per 5 subframes within a 160ms period). The indication of affected functions may be referred to as second information, which identifies at least one function affected by the energy-saving operation. The UE's energy-saving capability may be referred to as third information, which identifies the UE's ability to support the energy-saving settings.

[0037] Beneficial in this regard, the above method makes it possible to provide a fine-grained, dynamic energy-saving pattern that allows the network (base station 5) to adapt its operation to the current load state without necessarily having to completely shut down, nor without having to offload UE3 to an adjacent cell. This is possible because the ES configuration includes information that identifies the on / off pattern of cell 6 (i.e., "first information").

[0038] The above method allows non-dedicated resources (such as broadcast and PRACH) to be configured only when dedicated resources are configured, and this pattern depends on the load and latency, allowing cell 6 to be turned off for the rest of the time.

[0039] The energy saving techniques are backward compatible, allowing access to cell 6 even with older UEs, or redirection can be performed as needed using older procedures.

[0040] User Equipment (UE) Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the main components of the mobile device (UE) 3 shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the UE 3 includes a transceiver circuit 31, which is capable of transmitting and receiving signals to and from nodes connected via one or more antennas 33. Although not necessarily shown in Figure 2, the UE 3 naturally has all the usual functions of a conventional mobile device (such as a user interface 35), which may be provided by hardware, software, and firmware, or any combination thereof, as needed. The controller 37 controls the operation of the UE 3 according to software stored in memory 39. The software may be pre-installed in memory 39 and / or downloaded, for example, via a telecommunications network 1 or from an RMD (removable data storage device). The software includes, in particular, an operating system 41, a communication control module 43, and an energy saving module 45.

[0041] The communication control module 43 is responsible for processing (generating / transmitting / receiving) signaling messages and uplink / downlink data packets between the UE3 and other nodes, including the (R)AN node 5 and core network nodes. The signaling may include control signaling related to energy saving operations (e.g., via system information or RRC). It will be understood that the communication control module 43 may include several submodules (or "layers" or "entities") to support specific functions. For example, the communication control module 43 may include a PHY submodule, MAC submodule, RLC submodule, PDCP submodule, SDAP submodule, IP submodule, RRC submodule, etc.

[0042] The energy saving module 45 is responsible for energy saving operations (by the UE3 itself and / or by network nodes such as access network nodes / base stations 5). Energy saving is typically achieved by turning off specific components (e.g., transceiver circuit 31) for a specific period of time.

[0043] Access network node (base station) Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the main components (or similar access network nodes) of the base station 5 shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the base station 5 includes transceiver circuitry 51 capable of transmitting signals to and receiving signals from connected UE3 via one or more antennas 53, and transmitting signals to and receiving signals from other network nodes (directly or indirectly) via network interface 55. Network interface 55 typically includes appropriate base station-to-base station interfaces (such as X2 / Xn) and appropriate base station-to-core network interfaces (such as S1 / N1 / N2 / N3). Controller 57 controls the operation of base station 5 according to software stored in memory 59. The software may be pre-installed in memory 59 and / or downloaded, for example, via telecommunications network 1 or from RMD. The software includes, in particular, an operating system 61, a communication control module 63, and an energy saving module 65.

[0044] The communication control module 63 is responsible for processing (generating / transmitting / receiving) signaling between the base station 5 and other nodes such as the UE3 and core network nodes. The signaling may include control signaling related to energy saving operations (e.g., via system information or RRC). It will be understood that the communication control module 63 may include several submodules (or "layers" or "entities") to support specific functions. For example, the communication control module 63 may include a PHY submodule, a MAC submodule, an RLC submodule, a PDCP submodule, an SDAP submodule, an IP submodule, an RRC submodule, and so on.

[0045] The energy saving module 65 is responsible for energy saving operations (by the UE3 and / or by the access network node / base station 5 itself). Energy saving is typically achieved by turning off specific components (e.g., transceiver circuit 51) for a specific period of time. For example, the energy saving module 65 can obtain information about the UE's energy saving capabilities from other nodes.

[0046] Core network function Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the main components of a typical core network function, such as the CPF10 or UPF11 shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the core network function includes a transceiver circuit 71 that can operate to transmit signals to and receive signals from other nodes (including UE3, base station 5, and other core network nodes) via a network interface 75. A controller 77 controls the operation of the core network function according to software stored in memory 79. The software may be pre-installed in memory 79 and / or downloaded, for example, via the telecommunications network 1 or from the RMD. The software includes, in particular, an operating system 81, a communication control module 83, and an (optional) energy saving module 85.

[0047] The communication control module 83 is responsible for processing (generating / transmitting / receiving) signaling between the core network nodes and other nodes such as UE3, base station 5, and other core network nodes. The signaling may include, for example, UE context / UE capability instructions for UE3 related to energy saving.

[0048] If present, the energy saving module 85 is responsible for energy saving operations (e.g., by UE3 and / or access network node / base station 5). For example, the energy saving module 85 may provide base station 5 with information regarding the energy saving capabilities of the UE.

[0049] Detailed explanation The following explains how UE-assisted network energy saving can be achieved in System 1 shown in Figure 1, with reference to Figures 5 to 8.

[0050] Network load (base station / cell load) can be defined using the following exemplary categories: Case 1: No active UE (0% load) - In this case, the cell can be completely turned off, but some UE3s may be camped on and may depend on this cell for future DL / UL data. Case 2: Few active UEs (5-20% load) - In this case, the cell can be turned off and UE3 can be offloaded to a neighboring cell, but some UE3 may require a high QoS that can only be achieved in this cell. Case 3: Moderate Load (20-50%) - In this case, if possible, switching off a cell can lead to handover overhead, which may be energy inefficient for UE3 and the network as a whole. In this case, other methods such as smart scheduling may be more efficient. Case 4: High load but not full load (50-80%) - In this case, switching off the cell should not be considered. However, the cell is not yet fully utilized, and at least some network energy savings should be achievable.

[0051] Using the above definition, it will be understood that a cell may be considered to have a "full load" if it exceeds 80% (or any of the ranges from 80% to 100%).

[0052] As explained above, using the conventional method, cell 6 is turned off completely, which means cell 6 completely "disappears" (for example, overnight). Therefore, UE3 must be redirected to another cell 6, and if cell 6 reappears, UE3 can only return to cell 6 via conventional cell reselection. The conventional method provides six different settings for SSS / PSS / MIB. Of these six possible settings, one is "always on". Therefore, if PRACH and other channels are set accordingly, there are only five settings that effectively turn off cell 6 and consume no power, or put it in standby mode and consume relatively little power.

[0053] In all cases, it may be beneficial to avoid complete switching off of cell 6 for extended periods and to use relatively fine-grained cell switching. Energy savings should also take into account the load level of cell 6 / base station 5.

[0054] Therefore, in this system 1, a dynamic cell switch-off technique is used.

[0055] More specifically, base station 5 is either "switched off," or in other words, unavailable for receiving and transmitting for a shorter period, which can be dynamically planned and communicated to UE3. UE3 does not need to leave cell 6 while it is "switched off," and can continue using cell 6 without any specific procedure once it becomes available again.

[0056] Furthermore, base station 5 can decide to put only specific functions to sleep while leaving others running (i.e., it does not need to perform a complete switch-off). This approach can be dynamically adapted depending on the traffic load and UE requirements.

[0057] Effectively, it is preferable to turn off the entire cell 6 (all related functions) simultaneously, so it is proposed to have a "mask" that can be applied over the configured resources to indicate whether cell 6 is receiving / sending during a specified period. Some examples of these masks are shown in Figure 5.

[0058] However, the mask (or on / off pattern) may be adapted to be effective only for specific functions. For example, the on / off pattern may be applied to one or more of the following: synchronization signals, MIBs, SIBs, PRACH, configured PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) / PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) resources, configured allow and retransmit, and other configured PDSCH / PUSCH transmissions.

[0059] Therefore, depending on the load conditions and UE requirements, base station 5 may skip some conventionally configured SIB or PRACH (achieving some energy savings) or even cancel some data transmissions to save more energy (i.e., decide to turn off the cell and buffer the UL or DL ​​data).

[0060] The following issues are considered in order to determine the appropriate granularity for energy saving settings (on / off patterns): - Regarding the lower limit of applicable particle size: --PSS / SSS and MIB can be scheduled at a maximum interval of 5ms, while other channels can be scheduled at a granularity of 1ms. --From a physical standpoint, ramping up and ramping down the power amplifier may be limited; that is, cell 6 cannot be switched on / off at periods that are too small. --A minimum of 5ms (i.e., half the length of a wireless frame) should suffice. - Regarding the upper limit of applicable granularity: --PSS / SSS is scheduled at least every 160ms, and if cell 6 is off for a longer period, conventional neighboring UE3s approaching cell 6 may not be able to detect cell 6 if they cannot detect the PSS / SSS at this 160ms interval. --(If backward compatibility is required), it appears that a maximum limit of 160ms (i.e., 16 wireless frames) is needed for backward compatibility.

[0061] However, it will be understood that future applications may have a granularity lower than the proposed 5ms (for example, for applications with short transmission time intervals and / or applications in frequency range 2) or higher than 160ms.

[0062] Figure 5 schematically illustrates several exemplary options for achieving energy savings by base station 5. In this example, base station 5 is active for only a limited period, with a granularity of 5 subframes over a period of 160ms, depending on the applicable configuration. Thus, in the example used in Figure 5, each rectangle represents a group of 5 subframes.

[0063] A group of striped subframes indicates that a resource is available if configured by conventional means, while a group of black subframes indicates that a resource is unavailable, even if configured by conventional means in other ways. When a resource is available, the cell / base station (at least the components related to transmission and UE control) is "on," and when a resource is unavailable, the cell / base station is effectively "off."

[0064] Example 1 in Figure 5 corresponds to a 20ms period. However, this solution can accommodate fluctuating loads at a granularity of approximately 3%, for example, about 30% load in Example 2. As can be seen from the figure, the activity period can be flexible to avoid frequent on and off switching as in Example 3. This solution can also be adapted for network energy saving in the case of higher loads (e.g., 75% load), as shown in Example 4.

[0065] basic principle Base station 5 decides to use an energy saving setting that includes on / off time mapping over an iterative period, such as a 160ms cycle in this example. For example, the mapping may include, for each group of subframes (e.g., the five subframes in Figure 5), one bit of information indicating whether a cell is on or off between that group of subframes. The one bit of information may be set to a first value (e.g., "1") for these groups of subframes where network energy saving is turned on (i.e., the cell is off) and to a second value (e.g., "0") for these groups of subframes where network energy saving is turned off (i.e., the cell is on), or vice versa. It will be understood that any other appropriate mapping granularity and / or mapping values ​​may be used.

[0066] Base station 5 can also provide instructions on which functions (e.g., PRACH, SIB, and retransmission) should be turned off while network energy saving is enabled. Base station 5 broadcasts the current energy saving settings to the UE3 in its cell 6.

[0067] UE3 may be configured to combine those conventional settings (e.g., discontinuous receive / transmit and / or enabled allow) with the energy saving settings of cell 6 in order to determine the timing of the next available resource within cell 6.

[0068] In this example, a fully flexible signaling with a granularity of 5ms over 160ms, i.e., 32 bits, is required. However, it will be understood that most energy-saving settings may not be practical, and since there are many similar possible patterns, fewer bits (e.g., 16 bits) may suffice.

[0069] Traditional resource settings are only applicable during "on" times, allowing for the application of low-periodality system information, such as high PRACH settings, but only every five sets of five subframes. Furthermore, "on" times only determine if resources are available; in reality, they are only available if they were available under the traditional settings (the mapping functions as an "AND" mechanism).

[0070] However, this solution may not be backward compatible. Traditional UE3 (in this case, UE supporting previous releases) can decode normal SIs, - If PSS / SSS that were not sent during the off-time are not found, it may be thought that the cell has been lost, and / or - RACH may be used during off-time and "failure" periods (since base station 5 is not listening, there are no random access responses). This results in unnecessary potential interference power ramp-up.

[0071] To make this solution backward compatible, the following two options are proposed: - Apply energy saving settings only to specific bandwidth portions where the network is aware that UE3 supports network energy saving. This option has the advantage of being easy to implement, but the energy saving gain may be limited because the backward-compatible initial bandwidth portions do not implement finer-grained network energy saving techniques. - Transition the cell to conventional sleep mode and apply the handover to conventional UE3 while maintaining energy-saving UE3 within the cell. This option maximizes the potential for network energy savings, but may present interference issues with UE3 near cells that have been handed over to neighboring cells (which are still partially on).

[0072] Solution 1 This solution is a practical implementation of the high-level solution described above. Base station 5 is active for only a certain period (applicable to all BWPs in cell 6), and the energy saving setting is signaled in the system information. However, base station 5 may function as a conventional base station and may not be in energy saving mode in some scenarios (in which case it does not need to transmit any energy saving-related information), so the energy saving setting may be an arbitrary parameter.

[0073] Before initial access, UE3 obtains information identifying on / off times (energy saving settings), thereby allowing UE3 to understand where system information and RACH resources are available. Preferably, this information is provided to cell 6 as part of the minimum system information (MIB or SIB1). UE3's behavior for system information monitoring and RACH resource selection is based on this information.

[0074] After initial access, UE3 can recognize any energy saving setting updates by updating system information or by sending updated energy saving settings to UE3 using higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC).

[0075] It should be noted that this method can also be implemented for legacy UE3 while it is in the pattern-based energy-saving mode described above for compatible UE3 (e.g., Release 18 UE and later), if cell 6 uses legacy switch-off techniques (including handover) for legacy UE3.

[0076] Figure 6 shows the overall procedure for network energy saving according to Solution 1. As shown overall in step S101, the applicable network energy saving settings (ES settings) are indicated via system information, e.g., minimum system information.

[0077] In step S102, UE3 (in this case, a UE compatible with this ES configuration) selects available PRACH resources based on the energy saving settings and proceeds to step S103 to perform the initial access / RRC setup. In step S104, the network / base station 5 verifies that the RRC setup is complete. From this point on, UE3 and base station 5 use the energy saving settings shown in step S101.

[0078] As generally shown in steps S106 and S107, base station 5 can update the energy saving settings applied to its cell 6 and notify UE3 of the updated energy saving settings using a properly formatted RRC message (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration or RRC connection reconfiguration message). The updated energy saving settings may be included, for example, in an RRC message that allocates a bandwidth portion (e.g., a first bandwidth portion) to UE3. It will be understood that such an update of energy saving settings may be triggered by the arrival / initial access of UE3 to cell 6 (or the subsequent arrival of another UE). The update may be related to at least one of the mapping / granularity used in cell 6 and the functions affected.

[0079] Although not shown in Figure 6, the updated energy-saving settings may also be broadcast via system information, so that new UEs can reach cell 6 based on the updated settings (and existing UEs can update their behavior accordingly).

[0080] Solution 2 This is substantially the same as Solution 1, but implemented per bandwidth portion to improve backward compatibility and potentially allow off periods longer than 160ms. Two exemplary implementations of this solution are shown in Figures 7 and 8.

[0081] The initial bandwidth portion is used for all UE3s, and typically (apart from a complete switch-off) conventional energy-saving tools are implemented in this bandwidth portion. Thus, the UE3s may be configured to perform conventional initial access procedures (i.e., all resources are available in this initial bandwidth portion, and the UE3s do not need to apply masks / patterns at this stage). In this solution, when the first bandwidth portion is allocated to the UE3s, the base station 5 provides information identifying applicable energy-saving settings during RRC reconfiguration.

[0082] In this case, the network needs to know whether UE3 is energy-efficient or not in order to avoid allocating UE3 to a portion of the bandwidth that has incompatible energy-saving settings.

[0083] Figure 7 shows the first modified example of Solution 2.

[0084] As can be seen from the diagram, base station 5 broadcasts conventional system information in step S201, that is, the system information does not include any information regarding network energy saving (or such information may be ignored by UE3). Therefore, UE3 selects a resource for the random access channel using conventional methods (step S202), proceeds to perform conventional initial access and RRC setup procedures (step S203), and then confirms from the network that the RRC setup is complete (step S204).

[0085] Beneficially, base station 5 can determine from the UE context associated with UE3 whether UE3 supports network energy saving. It should be noted that the UE's energy saving capability forms part of the UE context.

[0086] For example, base station 5 may be configured to perform one of the following procedures (as commonly shown in step S205): 1) Obtain the UE's energy saving capability from the core network node (e.g., AMF) using the "UE Context Request" procedure (3GPP TS 38.413). 2) Use the "Retrieve UE Context" procedure to obtain the UE's energy saving capability from the adjacent base station 5 (3GPP TS 38.423). 3) The energy saving capability of the UE can be obtained from the UE3 itself using the "UECapabilityEnquiry" procedure (3GPP TS 38.331).

[0087] In the case of option 2), it will be understood that base station 5 may be configured to explicitly request the UE's energy saving capability, since the "UE Radio Capability ID" field is optional in the Retrieve UE Context Response.

[0088] Based on the capabilities of the UE (i.e., whether UE3 supports the energy saving measures employed by base station 5), base station 5 proceeds in step S206 to allocate an appropriate bandwidth part (BWP) to UE3. It will be understood that step S206 may also involve updating the energy saving settings applied to its cell 6, as described above with reference to steps S106 and S107.

[0089] Once the appropriate bandwidth portion is allocated, base station 5 informs UE3 of the energy-saving configuration using a properly formatted RRC message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration or RRC Connection Reconfiguration message) that allocates the bandwidth portion to UE3. It will be understood that base station 5 can also inform UE3 of the new energy-saving configuration whenever it needs to update the configuration used by cell 6 or the bandwidth portion used by UE3 (e.g., by repeating steps S206 and S207).

[0090] A second variation of Solution 2 is shown in Figure 8. In this case, UE3 notifies the network (base station 5) before allocating the first bandwidth portion.

[0091] As is generally shown in step S301, base station 5 broadcasts system information which may include information (e.g., a flag) indicating that UE3 needs to provide information regarding supporting network energy saving.

[0092] In this example, UE3 performs the conventional RACH procedure (step S302) and demonstrates its energy-saving capability during initial access / RRC setup (step S303). If the system information does not request UE3 to demonstrate its energy-saving capability (or if UE3 does not demonstrate its capability in response to the system information), it will be understood that base station 5 may obtain energy-saving capability information from UE3 using the UECapabilityEnquiry procedure (during or after initial access).

[0093] Steps S306 and S307 are the same as steps S206 and S207, respectively.

[0094] Solution 2 will be understood to be compatible with a scenario where base station 5 chooses to offload the non-energy-saving UE3 and (similar to Solution 1) reserves a cell for the energy-saving UE3.

[0095] Benefitingly, this approach is backward compatible. It also offers finer granularity than existing energy-saving methods and can be adapted to any UE3 during the connection phase (for example, still serving power users with a dedicated BWP).

[0096] Corrections and replacements Detailed embodiments have been described above. As those skilled in the art will understand, several modifications and substitutions can be made in those embodiments while benefiting from the disclosures embodied in the above embodiments. Only a few of these substitutions and modifications are described here as examples.

[0097] It will be understood that the above embodiments can be applied to both 5G New Radio systems and LTE systems (E-UTRAN). The above embodiments can also be applied to future systems (5G, 6G and beyond).

[0098] Next-generation mobile networks support diverse service requirements classified by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) into three categories: eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications), and mMTC (Massive MTC). eMBB aims to provide enhanced support for traditional mobile broadband, focusing on services requiring high-capacity, guaranteed bandwidth, such as HD (High Definition) video, VR (Virtual Reality), and AR (Augmented Reality). URLLC is a requirement for critical applications such as autonomous driving and factory automation, which require guaranteed access within extremely short timeframes. MMTC needs to support a vast number of connected devices, such as smart meters and environmental monitoring, but can typically tolerate certain access latency. It will be understood that some of these applications may have relatively loose QoS / QoE (Quality of Service / Quality of Experience) requirements, while others may have relatively stringent QoS / QoE requirements (e.g., high bandwidth and / or low latency). It will be understood that the energy saving methods described herein may be applicable to at least one of the above categories of UEs and / or at least one type of service. Different energy saving methods (if any) may be applicable to different categories of UEs and / or different services.

[0099] For the sake of clarity, the above description assumes that the UE, access network nodes (base stations), and core network nodes have several separate modules (such as communication control modules). These modules may be provided in this way in certain applications, for example, where an existing system is modified to implement the present disclosure. However, in other applications, such as systems designed from the outset with the features of the present invention in mind, these modules may be integrated into the overall operating system or code, and therefore may not be identifiable as separate entities. These modules may also be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0100] Each controller may include, but is not limited to, one or more hardware-implemented computer processors, microprocessors, CPUs (central processing units), ALUs (arithmetic logic units), I / O (input / output) circuits, internal memory / cache (programs and / or data), processing registers, communication buses (e.g., control buses, data buses and / or address buses), DMA (direct memory access) functions, hardware or software-implemented counters, pointers and / or timers, and any other suitable form of processing circuitry.

[0101] In the embodiments described above, several software modules have been explained. As those skilled in the art will understand, the software modules may be provided in compiled or uncompiled form and supplied to the UE, access network nodes (base stations), and core network nodes via a computer network or as signals on a recording medium. Furthermore, the functions performed by some or all of this software may be performed using one or more dedicated hardware circuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred because it facilitates the updating of the UE, access network nodes, and core network nodes to update their functions.

[0102] The functions of a base station (referred to as a “distributed” base station or gNB) may be divided between one or more DUs (distributed units) and CUs (central units), where the CU typically performs high-level functions and communication with the next-generation core, and the DU performs low-level functions and communication via a radio interface with neighboring UEs (i.e., cells operated by the gNB). A distributed gNB includes the following functional units: gNB-CU: A logical node that controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs and hosts the RRC layer, SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol) layer, and PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer of the gNB (or the RRC and PDCP layers of the en-gNB). The gNB-CU terminates the so-called F1 interface connected to the gNB-DU. gNB-DU: A logical node that hosts the RLC (Radio Link Control) layer, MAC (Medium Access Control) layer, and PHY (Physical) layer of a gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is partially controlled by the gNB-CU. One gNB-DU supports one or more cells. A single cell is supported by only one gNB-DU. The gNB-DU terminates the F1 interface connected to the gNB-CU. gNB-CU-CP (gNB-CU-Control Plane): A logical node that hosts the control plane portion of the RRC and PDCP protocols for the gNB-CU for en-gNB or gNB. The gNB-CU-CP terminates the so-called E1 interface connected to gNB-CU-UP and the F1-C (F1 control plane) interface connected to gNB-DU. gNB-CU-UP (gNB-CU-User Plane): A logical node that hosts the user plane portion of the PDCP protocol for gNB-CU for en-gNB, and the user plane portions of the PDCP protocol and SDAP protocol for gNB-CU for gNB. gNB-CU-UP terminates the E1 interface connected to gNB-CU-CP and the F1-U (F1 user plane) interface connected to gNB-DU.

[0103] When a distributed base station or a similar CP-UP (control plane-user plane) partition is employed, the base station may be divided into separate control plane and user plane entities, each of which may include associated transceiver circuits, antennas, network interfaces, controllers, memory, operating systems, and communication control modules. When the base station comprises a distributed base station, the network interface (reference number 55 in Figure 3) also includes E1 and F1 interfaces (F1-C for the control plane and F1-U for the user plane) for signal communication between the respective functions of the distributed base station. In this case, the communication control module also plays a role in communication between the control plane portion and the user plane portion of the base station (generating, transmitting, and receiving signaling messages). When a distributed base station is used, it will be understood that it is not necessary to include both the control plane portion and the user plane portion for communication resource preemption, as described in the exemplary embodiments above. It will be understood that preemption can be handled by the user plane portion of the base station without going through the control plane portion (and vice versa).

[0104] The above embodiments are also applicable to “non-mobile” or generally fixed user devices. The above-described mobile devices may include MTC / IoT devices, etc. In this disclosure, user equipment (or "UE," "mobile station," "mobile device," or "radio device") is an entity connected to a network via a radio interface.

[0105] Please note that this disclosure is not limited to dedicated communication devices, but may apply to any device having communication functions as described in the following paragraphs.

[0106] The terms “User Equipment” or “UE” (when this term is used in 3GPP), “Mobile Station,” “Mobile Device,” and “Radio Device” are generally intended to be synonymous with each other and include standalone mobile stations such as terminals, mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, cellular IoT devices, IoT devices, and machines. It will be understood that the terms “Mobile Station” and “Mobile Device” also include devices that remain stationary for extended periods.

[0107] UE may also be, for example, items of equipment for production or manufacturing and / or items of energy-related machinery (e.g., boilers, engines, turbines, solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric generators, thermal generators, nuclear generators, batteries, nuclear systems and / or related equipment, heavy electrical machinery, pumps including vacuum pumps, compressors, fans, blowers, hydraulic equipment, pneumatic equipment, metalworking machinery, manipulators, robots and / or their application systems, tools, molds or dies, rolls, conveying equipment, elevators, material handling equipment, textile machinery, sewing machinery, printing and / or related machinery, paper conversion machinery, chemical machinery, mining machinery and / or construction machinery and / or related equipment, machinery and / or equipment for agriculture, forestry and / or fisheries, safety and / or environmental protection equipment, tractors, precision bearings, chains, gears, power transmission equipment, lubrication equipment, valves, pipe fittings and / or application systems for any of the aforementioned equipment or machinery).

[0108] UE may be items of transport equipment, such as railway cars, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, trains, buses, carts, human-powered vehicles, ships and other vessels, aircraft, rockets, satellites, drones, balloons, etc.

[0109] UE may be, for example, an item of information and communication equipment (e.g., electronic computers and related equipment, communication and related equipment, electronic components, etc.).

[0110] UE may include, for example, refrigerators, refrigerator applications, items of goods and / or service industry equipment, vending machines, automated service machines, office equipment or machinery, consumer electronics and electronic appliances (e.g., audio equipment, video equipment, speakers, radios, televisions, microwave ovens, rice cookers, coffee machines, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, electronic fans or related appliances, vacuum cleaners and other consumer electronic appliances).

[0111] UE may be, for example, an electrical application system or equipment (e.g., an X-ray system, particle accelerator, radioisotope equipment, sound wave equipment, electromagnetic application equipment, electronic power application equipment, etc.).

[0112] UE may include, for example, electronic lamps, lighting fixtures, measuring instruments, analyzers, testers, or surveying or sensing equipment (e.g., surveying or sensing equipment such as smoke detectors, motion sensors, wireless tags, etc.), wristwatches or clocks, inspection equipment, optical devices, medical equipment and / or systems, weapons, tableware items, hand tools, etc.

[0113] The UE may be, for example, a wireless-equipped personal digital assistant or related device (e.g., a wireless card or module designed to be attached to or inserted into another electronic device (e.g., a personal computer, an electrical measuring instrument)).

[0114] The UE may be part of a device or system that uses various wired and / or wireless communication technologies to provide the applications, services, and solutions described below with respect to the "IoT".

[0115] Internet of Things (IoT) devices (or "Things") may be equipped with appropriate electronics, software, sensors, network connectivity, etc., that enable them to collect and exchange data with each other and with other communication devices. IoT devices may include automated devices that follow software instructions stored in internal memory. IoT devices may operate without requiring human supervision or interaction. IoT devices may also remain stationary and / or inactive for extended periods. IoT devices may be implemented (generally) as part of a stationary device. IoT devices may also be embedded in a non-stationary device (e.g., a vehicle) or attached to an animal or person being monitored / tracked.

[0116] It will be understood that IoT technology can be implemented on any communication device that can connect to a communication network to send / receive data, regardless of whether such communication device is controlled by human input or software instructions stored in memory.

[0117] It will be understood that IoT devices are sometimes called MTC communication devices or M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication devices. It will be understood that a UE may support one or more IoT or MTC applications. Some examples of MTC applications are listed in the table below (Source: 3GPP TS 22.368 V13.1.0, Annex B, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference). This list is not exhaustive and is intended to show some examples of machine-type communication applications. [Table 1]

[0118] Applications, services, and solutions may include MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) services, emergency radio communication systems, PBX (Private Branch eXchange) systems, PHS / digital cordless telecommunications systems, POS (Point of Sale) systems, advertising call systems, MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service), V2X (Vehicle to Everything) systems, train radio systems, location-related services, disaster / emergency radio communication services, community services, video streaming services, femtocell application services, VoLTE (Voice over LTE) services, billing services, wireless on-demand services, roaming services, activity monitoring services, telecommunications carrier / communication network selection services, function restriction services, PoC (Proof of Concept) services, personal information management services, ad hoc network / DTN (Delay Tolerant Networking) services, and the like.

[0119] Furthermore, the aforementioned UE categories are merely examples of applications of the technical concepts and exemplary embodiments described in this document. Of course, these technical concepts and embodiments are not limited to the aforementioned UEs and can be modified in various ways.

[0120] The method performed by the access network node may further include transmitting second information that identifies at least one function affected by the energy-saving operation. The at least one function may include at least one of the following: transmitting a synchronization signal, transmitting a master information block, transmitting at least one system information block, a configured authorization function, a scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, a PRACH function, and a retransmission function.

[0121] At least one of the first piece of information and the second piece of information may be transmitted via system information.

[0122] At least one of the first information and the second information may be transmitted using RRC signaling.

[0123] At least one of the first and second pieces of information may be transmitted using an RRC message to allocate a bandwidth portion to the UE.

[0124] The method performed by the access network node may further include obtaining third information that identifies the UE's ability to support energy-saving settings. This third information may be contained within the UE context associated with the UE.

[0125] The third piece of information may be obtained from the core network node for mobility management (e.g., AMF). For example, obtaining the third piece of information may include obtaining it during the UE Context Request procedure.

[0126] The third piece of information may be obtained from another access network node. For example, obtaining the third piece of information may include obtaining it during a UE Context Transfer procedure.

[0127] The third piece of information may be obtained from the UE. For example, obtaining the third piece of information may include obtaining it during initial access / RRC setup.

[0128] The method performed by the access network node may further include allocating a bandwidth portion to the UE if the UE supports energy saving settings based on the third piece of information.

[0129] The method performed by the access network node may further include initiating a handover procedure for the UE if the UE does not support energy saving settings.

[0130] Energy saving settings may be applied by the access network node on a per-cell or per-bandwidth basis.

[0131] The methods performed by the UE may further include configuring the UE to communicate with the access network node according to UE-specific settings, and communicating with the access network node according to UE-specific settings by taking into account energy saving settings applied by the access network node.

[0132] The method performed by the UE may further include determining at least one subframe to which the energy-saving operation is not applied by the access network node.

[0133] Various other modifications are obvious to those skilled in the art and will not be described in further detail here.

[0134] For example, all or part of the exemplary embodiments disclosed above may be described as follows, but are not limited to these. (Note 1) A method performed by an access network node, To transmit to the user equipment (UE) a first piece of information indicating whether an energy-saving operation was applied by the access network node to one of several blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period. Methods that include... (Note 2) The method according to Appendix 1, further comprising transmitting second information that identifies at least one function affected by the energy-saving operation. (Note 3) At least one function, Transmission of synchronization signal, Sending master information block, Sending at least one system information block, The configured permission functions, Scheduled PDSCH / PUSCH transmission, PRACH function, and Resend function The method described in Appendix 2, comprising at least one of the following. (Note 4) The method described in Appendix 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the first information and the second information is transmitted via system information. (Note 5) The method according to any one of the appendices 2 to 4, wherein at least one of the first information and the second information is transmitted using RRC signaling. (Note 6) The method according to any one of the appendices 2 to 5, wherein at least one of the first information and the second information is received using an RRC message for allocating a bandwidth portion to the UE. (Note 7) The method described in any of the appendices 1 to 6, further comprising obtaining third information that identifies the UE's ability to support energy saving settings. (Note 8) The method described in Appendix 7, wherein the third piece of information is included in the UE context associated with the UE. (Note 9) The third information is obtained from the core network node for mobility management, as described in Appendix 7 or 8. (Note 10) The third piece of information is obtained during the UE Context Request procedure, as described in Appendix 9. (Note 11) The method described in Appendix 7 or 8, wherein the third piece of information is obtained from another access network node. (Note 12) The third piece of information is obtained during the UE Context Transfer procedure, as described in Appendix 11. (Note 13) The method described in Appendix 7 or 8, wherein the third information is obtained from the UE. (Note 14) The third piece of information is obtained during initial access / RRC setup, as described in Appendix 13. (Note 15) The method described in any of the appendices 7 to 14, further comprising allocating a bandwidth portion to the UE if the UE supports energy saving settings based on third information. (Note 16) The method described in any of Appendix 1 to 15, further including initiating a handover procedure for the UE if the UE does not support energy saving settings. (Note 17) The method described in any of Annexes 1 to 16, wherein the energy saving settings applied by the access network node are applied per cell or per bandwidth portion. (Note 18) A method performed by a user device (UE), Receiving first information from an access network node indicating whether or not an energy-saving operation was applied by the access network node to one of several blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period. Methods that include... (Note 19) Configure the UE to communicate with the access network node according to UE-specific settings, By taking into account the energy saving settings applied by the access network node, communication with the access network node according to UE-specific settings and The method described in Appendix 18, further including the method described in Appendix 18. (Note 20) The method according to Appendix 18 or 19, further comprising determining at least one subframe to which energy-saving operation is not applied by an access network node. (Note 21) Access network node, Means for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) first information indicating whether an energy-saving operation was applied by an access network node to one of several blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period of time. Access network nodes, including those mentioned above. (Note 22) Means for receiving first information from an access network node, indicating whether or not an energy-saving operation was applied by the access network node to one of several blocks of consecutive subframes within a certain period. User equipment (UE) including this.

[0135] This application is based on and claims the priority of UK Patent Application No. 2206088.3, ​​filed on 26 April 2022, the disclosure thereof being incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [Explanation of symbols]

[0136] 1. Telecommunications Systems 3 Mobile devices 5 base station 7 Core Network 10 Control Plane Functions 11. User Plane Functions 20 Data Networks 31 Transceiver Circuit 33 Antennas 35 User Interface 37 Controllers 39 memory 41 Operating Systems 43 Communication control module 45 Energy Saving Modules 51 Transceiver Circuit 53 Antenna 55 Network Interfaces 57 Controllers 59 memory 61 Operating Systems 63 Communication control module 65 Energy Saving Modules 71 Transceiver Circuit 75 Network Interfaces 77 Controllers 79 memory 81 Operating Systems 83 Communication control module 85 Energy Saving Modules

Claims

1. Access network node, Means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) Reconfiguration message to User Equipment (UE) that includes first information indicating a period consisting of subframes, in which energy-saving operations are performed at the access network node. An access network node equipped with this feature.

2. Means for sending a UE Capability Enquiry message to the UE, Based on the aforementioned UE Capability Enquiry message, means for receiving UE capability information regarding the energy saving operation at the access network node from the UE, An access network node according to claim 1, comprising:

3. The system includes means for transmitting system information indicating a change in the settings for the energy saving operation at the access network node to the UE, The UE uses the system information for updates related to the energy-saving operation in the access network node. The access network node according to claim 2.

4. Transmission of synchronization signal, Sending master information block, Transmission of at least one system information block, The configured permission functions, Scheduled Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUCH) transmissions, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) function, and Resend function An access network node according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least one of the access network nodes is affected by the energy-saving operation in the access network node.

5. The access network node according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the energy saving operation in the access network node is applied on a per-cell or per-bandwidth basis.

6. The access network node according to claim 2, comprising means for determining whether or not to hand over the UE to another access network node based on the UE capability information.

7. The access network node according to claim 6, further comprising means for allocating a bandwidth portion to the UE when the UE supports the energy saving operation in the access network node.

8. User Equipment (UE), Means for receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Reconfiguration message from an access network node, which includes first information indicating a period consisting of subframes in which energy-saving operations are performed at the access network node. User equipment (UE) equipped with these features.

9. A method performed by an access network node, The access network node sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Reconfiguration message to the User Equipment (UE) that includes first information indicating a period consisting of subframes, which enables energy-saving operations. Methods that include...

10. A method performed by User Equipment (UE), Receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Reconfiguration message from an access network node, which includes first information indicating a period consisting of subframes in which energy-saving operations are performed at the access network node. Methods that include...

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