Methods, communications devices, and infrastructure equipment

Abstract

A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network is provided. The method comprises receiving assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment. The assistance information is indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment. The method comprises determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device. If the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, the method comprises performing the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

Description

[0001] METHODS, COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, AND INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT

[0002] BACKGROUND

[0003] Field of Disclosure

[0004] The present disclosure relates to communications devices, infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network and methods of operating communications devices and infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network.

[0005] The present application claims Paris Convention priority from EP patent application number EP23201704.6, filed on 4 October 2023, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0006] Description of Related Art

[0007] The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.

[0008] Modern mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

[0009] Wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wide range of data traffic profiles and types. For example, it is expected that wireless communications networks efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles I characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different consideration may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements). In view of this there is a desire for current generation wireless communications networks, for example those referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems I new radio access technology (RAT) systems, as well as future iterations I releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

[0010] 5G NR has continuously evolved and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-advanced in which some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use- cases / scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use-cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communications systems that need to be addressed.

[0011] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0012] The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above.

[0013] Various aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

[0014] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0015] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of an LTE-type wireless telecommunication system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless telecommunications system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example infrastructure equipment and communications device which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 4 schematically illustrates an example of a functional framework for RAN intelligence;

[0021] Figure 5 schematically illustrates an example of an NG-RAN node determining a network energy saving strategy using an AI / ML model trained by an GAM unit;

[0022] Figure 6 schematically illustrates an example of an NG-RAN node determining a network energy saving strategy using an AI / ML model trained by the NG-RAN node; and

[0023] Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network in accordance with example embodiments.

[0024] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Long Term Evolution Advanced Radio Access Technology (4G)

[0025] Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functionality of a mobile telecommunications network / system 6 operating generally in accordance with LTE principles, but which may also support other radio access technologies, and which may be adapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein. Various elements of Figure 1 and certain aspects of their respective modes of operation are well-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books on the subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1], It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications networks discussed herein which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

[0026] The network 6 includes a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from communications devices 4. Although each base station 1 is shown in Figure 1 as a single entity, the skilled person will appreciate that some of the functions of the base station may be carried out by disparate, inter-connected elements, such as antennas (or antennae), remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

[0027] Data is transmitted from base stations 1 to communications devices or mobile terminals (MT) 4 within their respective coverage areas 3 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from communications devices 4 to the base stations 1 via a radio uplink. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communications devices 4 via the respective base stations 1 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. The communications or terminal devices 4 may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so forth. Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to the internet or to external telephony services. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communications devices 4 so that it can efficiently contact (i.e. page) the communications devices 4 for transmitting downlink data towards the communications devices 4.

[0028] Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment, may also be referred to as transceiver stations, nodeBs, e-nodeBs, eNB, g-nodeBs, gNB and so forth. In this regard different terminology is often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a specific term in relation to certain example implementations is not intended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certain generation of network that may be most associated with that particular terminology.

[0029] New Radio Access Technology (5G (NR))

[0030] An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41 , 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41 , 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 30.

[0031] The elements of the wireless access network shown in Figure 2 may operate in a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network as described with regard to the example of Figure 1. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in Figure 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to currently used approaches for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance with the relevant standards.

[0032] The TRPs 10 of Figure 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communications devices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4 known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciated therefore that operational aspects of a new RAT network (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be different to those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunications standards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the core network component, base stations and communications devices of a new RAT network will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core network component, base stations and communications devices of an LTE wireless communications network.

[0033] In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the new RAT telecommunications system represented in Figure 2 may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network 2 represented in Figure 1 , and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributed units I TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to the base stations 1 of Figure 1. The term network infrastructure equipment I access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node I central unit and I or the distributed units I TRPs. A communications device 14 is represented in Figure 2 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units I TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

[0034] It will further be appreciated that Figure 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT based telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures. Thus, certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems I networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architectures shown in Figures 1 and 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment I access nodes and a communications device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment I access node and the communications device will depend on the network infrastructure for the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment I access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE-type base station 1 as shown in Figure 1 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit I controlling node 40 and / or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in Figure 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

[0035] A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shown in Figure 2 is provided by Figure 3. In Figure 3, a TRP 10 as shown in Figure 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 which may operate to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Figure 3, an example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter circuit 49, a receiver circuit 48 and a controller circuit 44 which is configured to control the transmitter circuit 49 and the receiver circuit 48 to transmit signals representing uplink data to the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter circuit 30 and received by the receiver circuit 48 in accordance with the conventional operation.

[0036] The transmitter circuits 30, 49 and the receiver circuits 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G / NR standard. The controller circuits 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Figure 3 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computer(s), or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) I circuitry I chip(s) I chipset(s). As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment I TRP I base station as well as the UE I communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with its operating functionality.

[0037] As shown in Figure 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 which connects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface 50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20. The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1 interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. In one example the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. The connection between a TRP 10 and the core network 20 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

[0038] The 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) have separate work items relating to network energy saving and UE energy saving. The following objectives have been agreed for a work item on artificial intelligence (Al) for Next Generation - Radio Access Networks (NG-RANs):

[0039] — specifying data collection enhancements and signaling support within existing NG- RAN interfaces, and

[0040] — specifying the architecture (including non-split architecture and split architecture) for Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI / ML) - based network energy saving, load balancing and mobility optimization.

[0041] An example of a functional framework for RAN intelligence is schematically shown in Figure 4, which has been reproduced from [2] (reference [2] is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). As shown in Figure 4, the functional framework comprises a data collection function 402, a model inference function 404, an actor function 406 and a model training function 408.

[0042] The data collection function 402 is configured to provide input data to the model training function 408 and the model inference function 404. The input data may include, for example, measurements from UEs or different network entities, feedback from the actor function 406, and / or output from an AI / ML model. AI / ML algorithm specific data preparation (e.g., data preprocessing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation) is not carried out in the data collection unit 402. Specifically, the input data provided to the model training function 408 is training data and the input data provided to the mode inference function 404 is inference data.

[0043] The model training function 408 is a function configured to perform AI / ML model training, validation, and testing. The testing may involve the generation of model performance metrics. The Model Training function 408 is also configured to perform data preparation (e.g., data preprocessing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation) based on the training data provided by the data collection function 402, if required.

[0044] As shown in Figure 4, the model training function 408 provides a model deployment / update to the model inference function 404. Specifically, the model training function 408 initially deploys a trained, validated and tested AI / ML model to the model inference function 404 or provides an updated AI / ML model to the model inference function 404.

[0045] The model inference function 404 is a function configured to generate an output of the AI / ML model (e.g., predictions or decisions). The model inference function 404 may provide model performance feedback to the model training function 408 where applicable. The model performance feedback may be used by the model training function 408 for monitoring the performance of the AI / ML model, when available. The model inference function 404 is also responsible for data preparation (e.g., data pre-processing and cleaning, formatting, and transformation) based on the inference data provided by the data collection function 402, if required. The actor function 406 is that receives the output from the model inference function 404. In response to receiving the output, the actor function 406 performs actions corresponding to the output. The actor function 406 may also trigger actions directed to other entities. The actor function 406 may provide feedback to the data collection function 402. The feedback may be used to derive the training data, interference data or to monitor the performance of the AI / ML model and its impact to the wireless communications network through updating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and performance counters.

[0046] An example of an NG-RAN node determining a network energy saving strategy using an AI / ML model trained by an Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) unit is shown in Figure 5, which has been reproduced from [2], Specifically, Figure 5 illustrates communications between a UE, an NG-RAN node 1 , and NG-RAN node 2, and an OAM unit. In this example the NG-RAN node 1 is infrastructure equipment of a wireless network which provides a serving cell for the UE and the NG-RAN node 2 is infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network which provides a neighbouring cell. As will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, an “NG-RAN node” is an example of infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network and may alternatively be referred to as a gNB or an ng- eNB, for example.

[0047] In step 0, the NG-RAN node 2 may optionally be provided with an AI / ML model. This may be used to determine input data for transmitting to the NG-RAN node 1 .

[0048] In step 1 , the NG-RAN node 1 transmits, to the UE, a measurement configuration message comprising an indication of measurements to be performed by the UE.

[0049] In step 2, the UE performs the measurements indicated in the measurement configuration message. For example, the measurements may include one or more of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) of the serving cell and / or the neighbouring cell.

[0050] In step 3, the UE transmits one or more measurement report messages to the NG-RAN node 1 comprising the measurements performed by the UE.

[0051] In step 4, the UE NG-RAN 1 forwards the one or more measurement report messages to the OAM unit together with input data for training an AI / ML model at the OAM unit.

[0052] In step 5, assuming the NG-RAN node 2 has been provided with an AI / ML model in step 0, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits input data for training the AI-ML model at the OAM unit.

[0053] In step 6, the OAM unit trains the AI / ML model for network energy saving based on the input data received from NG-RAN node 1 and, optionally, also based on the input data received from the NG-RAN node 2.

[0054] In step 7, the OAM unit transmits the trained AI / ML model to the NG-RAN node 1 and the NG- RAN node 2.

[0055] In step 8, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits input data to NG-RAN for model inference of AI / ML- based network energy saving.

[0056] In step 9, the UE transmits the one or more measurement reports to the NG-RAN node 1.

[0057] In step 10, the NG-RAN node 1 generates a model inference output based on local input data at the NG-RAN node 1 and the input data received from NG-RAN node 2. The model inference output may be a network energy saving strategy which may include, for example, a handover strategy. The one or more measurement reports received in step 9 trigger the generation of the model inference output but the content of the one or more measurement reports is not taken into account in the generation of the model inference output.

[0058] In step 11 , the NG-RAN node 1 transmits model performance feedback to the OAM unit if applicable.

[0059] In step 12, the NG-RAN node 1 performs the network energy saving actions in the network energy saving strategy. For example, the NG-RAN node 1 may select the most appropriate target cell for each UE before it performs handover.

[0060] In step 13, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits feedback to OAM unit.

[0061] In step 14, the NG-RAN node 1 transmits feedback to OAM unit.

[0062] An example of an NG-RAN node determining a network energy saving strategy using an AI / ML model trained by the NG-RAN node is shown in Figure 6, which has been reproduced from [2], Specifically, Figure 6 illustrates communications between a UE, an NG-RAN node 1 , and an NG-RAN node 2. In this example the NG-RAN node 1 is infrastructure equipment of a wireless network which provides a serving cell for the UE and the NG-RAN node 2 is infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network which provides a neighbouring cell.

[0063] In step 0, the NG-RAN node 2 may optionally be provided with an AI / ML model. This may be used to determine input data for transmitting to the NG-RAN node 1 .

[0064] In step 1 , the NG-RAN node 1 transmits, to the UE, a measurement configuration message comprising an indication of measurements to be performed by the UE.

[0065] In step 2, the UE performs the measurements indicated in the measurement configuration message. For example, the measurements may include one or more of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR the serving cell and / or the neighbouring cell.

[0066] In step 3, the UE transmits one or more measurement report messages to the NG-RAN node 1 comprising the measurements performed by the UE.

[0067] In step 4, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits input data to NG-RAN 1 for model inference of AI / ML- based network energy saving.

[0068] In step 5, the NG-RAN node 1 trains the AI / ML model for network energy saving based on the input data received from NG-RAN node 1 and, optionally, also based on the input data received from the NG-RAN node 2.

[0069] In step 6, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits input data to NG-RAN 1 for model inference of AI / ML- based network energy saving.

[0070] In step 7, the UE transmits the one or more measurement reports to the NG-RAN node 1.

[0071] In step 8, the NG-RAN node 1 generates a model inference output based on local input data at the NG-RAN node 1 and the input data received from NG-RAN node 2. The model inference output may be a network energy saving strategy which may include, for example, a handover strategy. The one or more measurement reports received in step 7 trigger the generation of the model inference output but the content of the one or more measurement reports is not taken into account in the generation of the model inference output.

[0072] In step 9, the NG-RAN node 1 performs the network energy saving actions in the network energy saving strategy. For example, the NG-RAN node 1 may select the most appropriate target cell for each UE before it performs handover. In step 10, the NG-RAN node 2 transmits feedback to NG-RAN node 1.

[0073] As explained above with reference to Figures 5 and 6, the NG-RAN node 1 generates the model inference output based on local input data at the NG-RAN node 1 and the input data received from the NG-RAN node 2.

[0074] The local input data at the NG-RAN node 1 may comprise one or more of a mobility / trajectory prediction for the UE, one or more of a current or predicted energy efficiency of the NG-RAN node 1 , and / or one or more of a current or predicted resource status of the NG-RAN node 1.

[0075] The input data received from the NG-RAN node 2 may comprise one or more of the current or predicted energy efficiency of the NG-RAN node 2, a current or predicted resource status of the NG-RAN node 2, and / or a current energy state of the NG-RAN node 2 (e.g. active, high, low, inactive).

[0076] Therefore, existing techniques for the determination of an NES strategy takes into account a status of infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network (such as NG-RAN node 1 and NG-RAN node 2). However, the performance of communications devices (such as UEs) may suffer as a result of the determined NES strategy. For example, an infrastructure equipment may determine to perform an NES strategy which comprises switching off a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment to reduce energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment. However, a UE in the cell may be unable to send an important transmission as a result of the cell switching off. Therefore, communications device performance can be adversely affected by NES strategies.

[0077] Therefore, there is a need for methods, communications and infrastructure equipment which can improve NES strategies.

[0078] Figure 7 illustrates of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network in accordance with example embodiments. The method starts in step S1.

[0079] In step S2, the method comprises receiving assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment.

[0080] The assistance information is indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment.

[0081] The assistance information may comprise an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device. Alternatively, or in addition, the assistance information may comprise an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device. Alternatively, or in addition, the assistance information may comprise NES feedback information which is indicative of how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

[0082] NES actions may comprise, for example, switching off a cell controlled by the infrastructure equipment, reducing the coverage of a cell by reducing the transmission power of the infrastructure equipment, handing over one or more communications devices (such as UEs) to other cells, and introducing different sleeping modes for the communications device to switch to. The switching off of a cell may occur as part of a handover to another infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network.

[0083] An impact on the performance of a communications device may refer to, for example, one or more of a reduction in bitrate, increase in delay and an increase in number of lost packets for communications to and from the communications device. Alternatively, or in addition, the impact on the performance of the communications device may refer to a decrease in energy efficiency of the communications device.

[0084] The communications device may be a UE, for example.

[0085] In some examples, the infrastructure equipment may be a gNB. In some examples, the infrastructure equipment may be an NG-RAN node such as NG-RAN node 1 shown in Figures 5 and 6.

[0086] In step S3, the method comprises determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

[0087] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may determine not to perform any NES actions. This may occur, for example, if the infrastructure equipment determines that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by the NES actions, and / or if the infrastructure equipment determines to prioritise the performance of the communications device over the network energy saving.

[0088] In some embodiments the infrastructure equipment may determine to perform one or more NES actions and determine not to perform any performance impact reduction actions. This may occur, for example, if the infrastructure equipment determines that the performance of the communications device will not be significantly impacted by the NES actions, and / or if the infrastructure equipment determines to prioritise the network energy saving over the performance of the communications device.

[0089] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may determine to perform one or more of the NES actions and to perform one or more performance impact reduction actions. This may occur for example, if the infrastructure equipment determines that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by the NES actions, and that this impact should be reduced to achieve a better balance between the network energy saving and the impact of communications device performance.

[0090] Performance impact reduction actions may comprise delaying the switching off of a cell controlled by the infrastructure equipment for a pre-defined time period.

[0091] Performance impact reductions may comprise transmitting, to the communications device, an indication of an allocation of communications resources for transmitting one or more previously scheduled uplink transmissions for the communications device to the infrastructure equipment before the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment is switched off. The previously scheduled uplink transmissions may be all previously scheduled (but not yet transmitted) uplink transmissions for the communications device or the previously scheduled uplink transmissions may only include high priority uplink transmissions. The indication of the allocation of resources may be a dynamic grant or configured grant, for example.

[0092] Performance impact reduction actions may comprise, where the communications device is handing over to a cell of another infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, transmitting an indication of required resources to the other infrastructure equipment for the other infrastructure equipment to allocate resources to the communications device to transmit the previously scheduled uplink transmissions in the new cell.

[0093] Performance impact reduction actions may comprise delaying a conditional handover of the communications device by a time period to allow the communications device to finish transmitting all of its previously scheduled uplink transmissions, or at least the high priority uplink transmissions, to the infrastructure equipment. A performance impact reduction action reduces the impact of an NES action on communications device performance compared with if the NES action was performed without also performing the performance impact reduction action. In some examples, the NES action may be an action which minimises energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment and a performance impact reduction action reduces the impact of the NES action on the performance of the communications device and may therefore increases the energy consumption beyond the energy consumption if only the NES action had been performed. Therefore, a balance may be achieved between network energy saving and communications device performance depending on the requirements of the particular arrangement.

[0094] In some embodiments, the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information is also based on local information held at the infrastructure equipment comprising one or more of: the current or predicted energy status of the infrastructure equipment, a current or predicted buffer status of the infrastructure equipment, and a predicted mobility or trajectory of the communications device as determined by the infrastructure equipment.

[0095] In some embodiments, another infrastructure of the wireless communications network providing another cell may transmit additional information to assist the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions. Such additional information may comprise one or more of the current or predicted energy status of the other infrastructure equipment, a current or predicted buffer status of the other infrastructure equipment and an energy state (e.g. active, high, low, inactive) of the other infrastructure equipment. The other infrastructure equipment may be a neighbouring infrastructure equipment. In embodiments where the other infrastructure equipment transmits the additional information, the determination of whether to perform one or more of the NES actions may also be based on this additional information.

[0096] In some embodiments, the whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises using an artificial intelligence or machine learning model. For example, the infrastructure equipment may use the assistance information as input to the machine learning model to generate an NES strategy comprising one or more of the NES actions as an output from the model. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment also uses the local information at the infrastructure equipment and, optionally, the additional information from the other infrastructure equipment as input to the model.

[0097] In some embodiments, the model is trained at the infrastructure equipment. In other embodiments, the model is trained at an OAM unit. In such embodiments, the 0AM unit transmits an indication of the trained model to the infrastructure equipment for the infrastructure equipment to use to generate the NES strategy as output.

[0098] The training of the model may use the assistance information from the communications device. In embodiments where the OAM unit performs the training, the infrastructure equipment forwards the indication of the assistance information from the communications device onto the OAM unit for training.

[0099] In some embodiments, assistance information is received from each of a plurality of communications devices and the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions is based at least in part from the assistance information received from each of the plurality of communications devices. In some such embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may only perform a performance reduction action if it determines that a number of the communications devices above a threshold will be significantly impacted by the NES actions. In step S4, the method comprises, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, performing the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform. The infrastructure equipment does not perform NES actions which it determined not to perform.

[0100] If the infrastructure equipment determined not to perform any of the NES actions, then the method may return to step S2 as shown in Figure 7, or, alternatively, the method may end. In step S5, the method ends.

[0101] By determining whether to perform one or more NES actions based at least in part on assistance information provided by the communications device, the impact of NES actions on a performance of the communications device can be taken into account in the decision of which NES strategy to use. Therefore, embodiments can provide for the determination of NES strategies which achieve a balance between reducing network energy without significantly degrading communications device performance.

[0102] In accordance with example embodiments, the message sequences shown in Figures 5 or 6 may be adapted to include the method of Figure 7. In such embodiments, the communications device performs the functions of the UE in Figures 5 and 6, and the infrastructure equipment performs the functions of NG-RAN node 1 in Figures 5 and 6. Referring to Figure 5, in one example, the NG-RAN node 1 may receive the assistance information from the UE before step 10. Then, in step 10, the NG-RAN node 1 determines whether to perform one or more of the NES actions to perform based at least in part on the assistance information. Then, in step 12, the NES actions which the NG-RAN node 1 determined to perform are performed. Referring to Figure 6, in one example, the NG-RAN node 1 receives the assistance information from the UE before step 8. Then, in step 8, the NG-RAN node 1 whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information. Then, in step 9, the NES actions which the NG-RAN node 1 determined to perform are performed.

[0103] Status Information

[0104] Energy Status

[0105] Content

[0106] In some embodiments, the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device. The energy status of the communications device may, in some embodiments, be an energy efficiency status of the communications device. In some embodiments, the energy status may be an indication of a remaining battery energy of the communications device i.e. a remaining battery level.

[0107] The indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status may be in the form of an energy per bit, or battery efficiency level reporting (e.g., high or low battery level efficiency), or remaining battery level reporting (high or low battery level remaining).

[0108] In some embodiments, the predicted energy status comprises an indication of a time period for which the predicted energy status is valid.

[0109] In some embodiments, the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device for a respective one or more services. For example, the communications device may have one or more services and may transmit one or more of the current or predicted energy status for each of the one or more services in the assistance information. The energy efficiency status of a communications device is an indication that the communications device is may be significantly affected by an NES action. For example, a higher energy efficiency status indicates that the communications device may be in a high throughput transmission period or is in an efficient transmission mode. The communications device may be located in or near a centre of a cell or may be located in a cell with has low interference levels, for example. Such communications devices are likely to be significantly impacted by NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment. For example, if the infrastructure equipment switches off a cell which has the communications device located near its centre, the communications device may establish a connection to a new cell where the communications device locates near the edge of the new cell. This means that the communications device may need to increase the transmission power of uplink transmitted in the new cell so that they can reach the infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network which provides the new cell. Similarly, the uplink transmissions may be subjected to increase interference near the cell edge. Therefore, the performance of the communications device is significantly impacted by the cell switch off.

[0110] In view of a high energy efficiency status, the infrastructure equipment may determine not to switch off the cell. The infrastructure equipment may instead determine to reduce a transmission power of the cell, thereby balancing the network energy saving with the impact on the performance of the communications device. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may determine to switch off the cell, but the infrastructure equipment also determines to perform a performance impact reduction action such as to delay the cell switching off until the uplink transmissions of the communications device have been completed.

[0111] In view of a low energy efficiency status, the infrastructure equipment may determine to switch off the cell or handover the communications device to another cell.

[0112] Trigger

[0113] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment. The infrastructure equipment may transmit the unconditional instruction if it decides that it must determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions. Such embodiments can reduce latency by allowing the infrastructure equipment to receive the information it intends to use in the determination of which NES actions to perform on request.

[0114] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above a threshold. In other words, the transmission of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is conditional on the communications device determining that one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above the threshold in the conditional instruction.

[0115] The use of such a conditional instruction improves communications efficiency by ensuring that one or more of the current or predicted energy status is only transmitted when it is high enough to indicate that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by an NES action.

[0116] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below a threshold. In other words, the transmission of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is conditional on the communications device determining that one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below the threshold in the conditional instruction.

[0117] The use of such a conditional instruction can improve communications efficiency by ensuring that one or more of the current or predicted energy status is only transmitted when it is low enough to indicate that it is not worth the infrastructure equipment compromising on NES actions to reduce the impact on the performance of the communications device. For example, if a communications device is in a low energy efficiency mode, then it may be preferable for the infrastructure equipment to prioritise NES actions over communications device performance. For example, the infrastructure equipment may determine, based on the low energy efficiency status, to handover the communications device to another cell provided by another infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network.

[0118] Format of T ransmission

[0119] In some embodiments, the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a measurement report which comprises an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device. The one or more other measurements may comprise an indication of a radio link quality between the communications device and the infrastructure equipment (for example, a reference signal received power). For example, the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status may be transmitted in a UE measurement report. Such embodiments improve communications efficiency by reducing the number of reports that are transmitted to the infrastructure equipment. Such embodiments are also particularly advantageous when the communications device has a low battery level because then the communications device only needs to transmit one measurement report.

[0120] In some embodiments, the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a separate measurement report, such as a status report.

[0121] In some embodiments, one or more of the current or predicted energy is transmitted by the communications device in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal.

[0122] Buffer Status

[0123] Content

[0124] In some embodiments, the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device. A buffer status of the communications device may be an indication of an amount of data in a buffer of the communications device.

[0125] A high current or predicted buffer status is an indication that the communications device still has a large amount of uplink data to transmit to the infrastructure equipment. This is therefore an indication that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by an NES action. For example, switching off the cell in which the communications device is located may result in data loss and / or delay for the data in the buffer of the communications device.

[0126] In view of a high buffer status, the infrastructure equipment may determine to switch off the cell but the infrastructure equipment also determines to perform a performance impact reduction action such as to delay the cell switching off until the uplink transmissions of the communications device have been completed, or until the infrastructure equipment configures a sufficient time to be included in a conditional handover command to the communications device in order to finish its uplink transmissions. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may determine to switch off the cell, but the infrastructure equipment also determines to perform a performance impact reduction action such as allocating more uplink transmission resources for the communications device so that the data in the buffer of the communications device can be transmitted before the cell is switched off.

[0127] Trigger

[0128] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment. The infrastructure equipment may transmit the unconditional instruction if it decides that it must determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions. Such embodiments can reduce latency by allowing the infrastructure equipment to receive the information it intends to use in the determination of which NES actions to perform on request.

[0129] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is above a threshold.

[0130] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment only transmits the conditional instruction to the communications device if the infrastructure equipment determines that the communications device has been active within a pre-defined period before transmission of the conditional instruction.

[0131] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment only transmits the conditional instruction to the communications device if the infrastructure equipment determines that it has an amount of downlink data in its buffer to transmit to the communications device which exceeds a threshold.

[0132] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment only transmits the conditional instruction to the communications device if the infrastructure equipment determines that it has an amount of application type information in its buffer to transmit to the communications device which exceeds a threshold. The application type information may be received by the infrastructure equipment from a core network of the wireless communications network.

[0133] The use of such a conditional instruction improves communications efficiency by ensuring that one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is only transmitted when it is high enough to indicate that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by an NES action.

[0134] The conditional or unconditional instruction may be transmitted in a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, a group-based L1 signal, a dedicated L1 signal, an L2 signal, an L3 signal, a system information block (SIB), or paging message.

[0135] The conditional instruction may be transmitted as a broadcast, unicast or groupcast transmission.

[0136] In some embodiments, the conditional instruction may instead be a conditional instruction to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is below a threshold. The use of such a conditional instruction can improve communications efficiency by ensuring that one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is only transmitted when it is low enough to indicate that the communications device performance will not be significantly impacted by NES actions. For example, if a communications device has low buffer status, then it may be preferable for the infrastructure equipment to prioritise NES actions over communications device performance because any loss of data in the communications device’s buffer resulting from NES actions (such as switching off the cell or handing over the communications device) is likely to be small.

[0137] Format

[0138] In some embodiments, the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status of the communications device is received in a Buffer Status Report, BSR, Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE. This may be a regular BSR, a padding BSR or a periodic BSR.

[0139] NES Feedback Information

[0140] In some embodiments, the assistance information comprises NES feedback information from the communications device. The NES feedback information is information which indicates how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

[0141] Handovers

[0142] Content

[0143] In some embodiments, the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a number of handovers experienced by the communications device within a pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0144] A high number of handovers within a pre-defined time period due to previous NES actions is an indication that the performance of the communications device will be significantly impacted by a future NES action.

[0145] In some embodiments, the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a type the one or more handovers experienced by the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions. For example, the NES feedback information may indicate whether the one or more were conditional handovers (CHOs) or not.

[0146] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment may determine not to perform an NES action if the number of CHOs is above a threshold. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment has a plurality of threshold for a respective plurality of Quality of Service Requirements (QoS). For example, if the communications device has a high QoS requirement then the threshold may be lower than if the communications device had a low QoS requirement.

[0147] Trigger

[0148] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions to the infrastructure equipment. The infrastructure equipment may transmit the unconditional instruction if it decides that it must determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions. Such embodiments can reduce latency by allowing the infrastructure equipment to receive the information it intends to use in the determination of which NES actions to perform on request. This instruction may be transmitted after a handover, for example. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions if the number of handovers is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0149] In some embodiments, the communications device transmits, to another infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network, the NES feedback information comprising the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions. The other infrastructure equipment provides a target cell for the communications device after a handover.

[0150] Format

[0151] In some embodiments, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message. In some embodiments, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions may be received in an RRC signal which is different from the RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0152] In some embodiments, UE history information (such as UE history information described in [3]) may be modified to comprise the indication of the type of the one or more handovers experienced by the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0153] Performance Loss

[0154] Content

[0155] In some embodiments, the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a performance loss of the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0156] In some embodiments, wherein the indication of the performance loss comprises an indication of one or more of a lost bitrate, extra delay, lost energy efficiency and lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0157] Trigger

[0158] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of the performance loss to the infrastructure equipment. The infrastructure equipment may transmit the unconditional instruction if it decides that it must determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions. Such embodiments can reduce latency by allowing the infrastructure equipment to receive the information it intends to use in the determination of which NES actions to perform on request.

[0159] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment transmits a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of the performance loss of the communications device if the performance loss is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0160] In an example, the infrastructure equipment may transmit a conditional instruction to the communication device to transmit an indication of the lost bitrate due to the one or more previous NES actions if the lost bitrate due to the one or more previous NES actions is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0161] In another example, the infrastructure equipment may transmit a conditional instruction to the communication device to transmit an indication of the extra delay due to the one or more previous NES actions if the extra delay due to the one or more previous NES actions is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0162] In another example, the infrastructure equipment may transmit a conditional instruction to the communication device to transmit an indication of the lost energy efficiency due to the one or more previous NES actions if the lost energy efficiency due to the one or more previous NES actions is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0163] In another example, the infrastructure equipment may transmit a conditional instruction to the communication device to transmit an indication of the lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions if a number of lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0164] Format

[0165] In some embodiments, the indication of the performance loss due to the one or more previous NES actions is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message. In some embodiments, the indication of the performance loss due to the one or more previous NES actions may be received in an RRC signal which is different from the RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0166] Communications Device Type

[0167] In some embodiments, the assistance information comprises an indication of a type of the communications device. For example, the type of the communications device may be a Reduced Capability UE, a machine-type-communications (MTC) UE, a NarrowBand-lnternet of Things (NB-loT) UE, an Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) UE or a mobile broadband (MBB) UE.

[0168] In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment receives an indication of a type of the communications device from a plurality of communications devices in the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment. In such embodiments, the determination whether to perform one or more NES actions takes into account the number of each type of communications device in the plurality of communications devices.

[0169] NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment by have a different impact on the performance of different types of communications device. For example, the performance of URLLC UEs may be impacted by NES actions to a greater extent than an MBB UE due to the high reliability and low latency requirements of URLLC UEs. Therefore, such embodiments allow the type of communications device to be taken into account in the decision of whether to perform one or more NES actions.

[0170] Reference has been made herein to “current” or “predicted” quantities such as energy status and buffer report statuses. It will be appreciated that references to a “current” quantity is referring to the quantity at the time at which it is measured and references to a “predicted” quantity is referring to an estimation of the quantity at a later time. The current and / or predicted energy of the communications device may be measured by the communications device and a predicted or current energy of infrastructure equipment may be measured by the infrastructure equipment.

[0171] It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that machine learning (ML) is an example of artificial intelligence. Therefore, references herein to “AL / ML” are to be interpreted as including reference to both artificial intelligence in general as well as reference to machine learning specifically. Therefore, an AL / ML model may be interpreted as an “AL model” or an “ML model” (which is necessarily also an Al model). It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and / or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and / or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

[0172] Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and / or processors.

[0173] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognise that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

[0174] It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the various embodiments discussed in the present disclosure may be individually combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

[0175] Further examples of feature combinations taught by the present disclosure are set out in the following numbered paragraphs:

[0176] Paragraph 1 . A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, performing the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

[0177] Paragraph 2. A method according to paragraph 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device.

[0178] Paragraph 3. A method according to paragraph 2, wherein the indication of the predicted energy status comprises an indication of a time period for which the predicted energy status is valid.

[0179] Paragraph 4. A method according to paragraph 2 or paragraph 3, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above a threshold. Paragraph 5. A method according to paragraph 2 or paragraph 3, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below a threshold.

[0180] Paragraph 6. A method according to paragraph 2 or paragraph 3, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment.

[0181] Paragraph 7. A method according to any of paragraphs 2 to 6, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a measurement report, the measurement report comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

[0182] Paragraph 8. A method according to any of paragraphs 2 to 6, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a status report, and the method comprises receiving a separate status report from the communications device comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

[0183] Paragraph 9. A method according to any of paragraphs 2 to 8, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy is received in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal.

[0184] Paragraph 10. A method according to any of paragraphs 2 to 9, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device for a respective one or more services.

[0185] Paragraph 11. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 10, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device.

[0186] Paragraph 12. A method according to paragraph 11 , comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is above a threshold.

[0187] Paragraph 13. A method according to paragraph 11 , comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is below a threshold.

[0188] Paragraph 14. A method according to paragraph 12 or paragraph 13, wherein the transmitting the conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment comprises determining that the communications device has been active within a pre-defined time period before transmission of the conditional instruction.

[0189] Paragraph 15. A method according to any of paragraphs 12 to 14, wherein the conditional instruction to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is transmitted in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a group-based L1 signal, a dedicated L1 signal, a system information block (SIB), or a paging message.

[0190] Paragraph 16. A method according to paragraph 11 , comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment.

[0191] Paragraph 17. A method according to any of paragraphs 11 to 16, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status of the communications device is received in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

[0192] Paragraph 18. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 17, wherein the assistance information comprises NES feedback information from the communications device, the NES feedback information being information indicating how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

[0193] Paragraph 19. A method according to paragraph 18, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a number of handovers experienced by the communications device within a pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0194] Paragraph 20. A method according to paragraph 19, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions if the number of handovers is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0195] Paragraph 21. A method according to paragraph 19, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES.

[0196] Paragraph 22. A method according to any of paragraphs 19 to 21 , comprising transmitting, to another infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network, the NES feedback information comprising the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions, wherein the other infrastructure equipment provides a target cell for the communications device after a handover.

[0197] Paragraph 23. A method according to any of paragraphs 18 to 22, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a performance loss of the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0198] Paragraph 24. A method according to paragraph 23, wherein the indication of the performance loss comprises an indication of one or more of a lost bitrate, extra delay, lost energy efficiency and lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0199] Paragraph 25. A method according to paragraph 23 or paragraph 24, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device if the performance loss is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0200] Paragraph 26. A method according to paragraph 23 or paragraph 24, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device.

[0201] Paragraph 27. A method according to any of paragraphs 18 to 25, wherein the NES feedback information is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0202] Paragraph 28. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 27, wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining whether to switch off the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment.

[0203] Paragraph 29. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 28, wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining to perform one or more of the NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform, and the method comprises determining whether to perform one or more performance impact reduction actions to reduce the impact of the NES actions on the performance of the communications device.

[0204] Paragraph 30. A method according to paragraph 29, wherein the one or more performance impact reduction actions comprise delaying the switching off of the cell for a pre-defined time period, wherein the energy reduction of the infrastructure equipment is lower by the delaying of the cell switch off than if the cell switch off had not been delayed.

[0205] Paragraph 31 . A method according to paragraph 30, wherein the pre-defined time period is long enough to allow the communications device to finish transmitting one or more previously scheduled uplink transmissions for the communications device to the infrastructure equipment.

[0206] Paragraph 32. A method according to any of paragraphs 29 to 31 , wherein the one or more performance impact reduction actions comprise transmitting, to the communications device, an indication of an allocation of communication resources for transmitting one or more previously scheduled uplink transmissions for the communications device to the infrastructure equipment before the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment is switched off.

[0207] Paragraph 33. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 32, wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least part on the assistance information from the communications device using an artificial intelligence or machine learning model.

[0208] Paragraph 34. A method according to any of paragraphs 1 to 33, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of a type of the communications device. Paragraph 35. A method of operating a communications device located in a cell provided by infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the method comprising transmitting assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

[0209] Paragraph 36. A method according to paragraph 35, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device.

[0210] Paragraph 37. A method according to paragraph 36, wherein the indication of the predicted energy status comprises an indication of a time period for which the predicted energy status is valid.

[0211] Paragraph 38. A method according to paragraph 36 or paragraph 37, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above a threshold.

[0212] Paragraph 39. A method according to paragraph 36 or paragraph 37, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below a threshold.

[0213] Paragraph 40. A method according to paragraph 36 or paragraph 37, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment.

[0214] Paragraph 41. A method according to any of paragraphs 36 to 39, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is transmitted in a measurement report, the measurement report comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

[0215] Paragraph 42. A method according to any of paragraphs 36 to 40, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a status report, and the method comprises transmitting a separate status report to the infrastructure equipment comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

[0216] Paragraph 43. A method according to any of paragraphs 36 to 42, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy is received in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal.

[0217] Paragraph 44. A method according to any of paragraphs 36 to 43, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device for a respective one or more services. Paragraph 45. A method according to any of paragraphs 35 to 44, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device.

[0218] Paragraph 46. A method according to paragraph 45, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is above a threshold.

[0219] Paragraph 47. A method according to paragraph 45, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is below a threshold.

[0220] Paragraph 48. A method according to paragraph 46 or paragraph 47, wherein the receiving the conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment comprises determining that the communications device has been active within a pre-defined time period before transmission of the conditional instruction.

[0221] Paragraph 49. A method according to any of paragraphs 46 to 48, wherein the conditional instruction to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is transmitted in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a group-based L1 signal, a dedicated L1 signal, a system information block (SIB), or a paging message.

[0222] Paragraph 50. A method according to paragraph 45, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment.

[0223] Paragraph 51. A method according to any of paragraphs 45 to 50, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status of the communications device is received in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

[0224] Paragraph 52. A method according to any of paragraphs 35 to 51 , wherein the assistance information comprises NES feedback information from the communications device, the NES feedback information being information indicating how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

[0225] Paragraph 53. A method according to paragraph 52, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a number of handovers experienced by the communications device within a pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0226] Paragraph 54. A method according to paragraph 53, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions if the number of handovers is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0227] Paragraph 55. A method according to paragraph 53, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES.

[0228] Paragraph 56. A method according to any of paragraphs 52 to 55, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a performance loss of the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0229] Paragraph 57. A method according to paragraph 56, wherein the indication of the performance loss comprises an indication of one or more of a lost bitrate, extra delay, lost energy efficiency and lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions.

[0230] Paragraph 58. A method according to paragraph 56 or paragraph 57, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device if the performance loss is above a pre-defined threshold.

[0231] Paragraph 59. A method according to paragraph 56 or paragraph 57, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device.

[0232] Paragraph 60. A method according to any of paragraphs 52 to 59, wherein the NES feedback information is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0233] Paragraph 61 . A method according to any of paragraphs 35 to 60, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of a type of the communications device.

[0234] Paragraph 62. Infrastructure equipment for a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising a transmitter configured to transmit signals, a receiver configured to receive signals, a controller configured in combination with the transmitter and the receiver to receive assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, perform the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

[0235] Paragraph 63. A communications device operable to communicate with infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network when the communications device is located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the communications device comprising a transmitter configured to transmit signals, a receiver configured to receive signals, a controller configured in combination with the transmitter and the receiver to transmit assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

[0236] Paragraph 64. Circuitry for infrastructure equipment for a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals, receiver circuitry configured to receive signals, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to receive assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, perform the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

[0237] Paragraph 65. Circuitry for a communications device operable to communicate with infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network when the communications device is located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the circuitry comprising transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals, receiver circuitry configured to receive signals, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to transmit assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

[0238] Paragraph 66. A wireless communications network comprising a communications device according to paragraph 63 and infrastructure equipment according to paragraph 62. Paragraph 67. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of paragraphs 1 to 61.

[0239] Paragraph 68. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to paragraph 67.

[0240] REFERENCES

[0241] [1] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

[0242] [2] TR 37.817, “Study on enhancement for Data Collection for NR and EN-DC”, v 17.0.0. [3] TS 38.423, “Xn application protocol (XnAP)”, v17.5.0.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method of operating infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, performing the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the indication of the predicted energy status comprises an indication of a time period for which the predicted energy status is valid.

4. A method according to claim 2, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above a threshold.

5. A method according to claim 2, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below a threshold.

6. A method according to claim 2, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment.

7. A method according to claim 2, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a measurement report, the measurement report comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

8. A method according to claim 2, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a status report, and the method comprises receiving a separate status report from the communications device comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

9. A method according to claim 2, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy is received in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal.

10. A method according to claim 2, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device for a respective one or more services.

11. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device.

12. A method according to claim 11 , comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is above a threshold.

13. A method according to claim 11 , comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is below a threshold.

14. A method according to claim 12, wherein the transmitting the conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment comprises determining that the communications device has been active within a pre-defined time period before transmission of the conditional instruction.

15. A method according to claim 12, wherein the conditional instruction to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is transmitted in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a group-based L1 signal, a dedicated L1 signal, a system information block (SIB), or a paging message.

16. A method according to claim 11 , comprisingtransmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment.

17. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status of the communications device is received in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

18. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises NES feedback information from the communications device, the NES feedback information being information indicating how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a number of handovers experienced by the communications device within a predefined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions.

20. A method according to claim 19, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions if the number of handovers is above a pre-defined threshold.

21. A method according to claim 19, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES.

22. A method according to claim 19, comprising transmitting, to another infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network, the NES feedback information comprising the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions, wherein the other infrastructure equipment provides a target cell for the communications device after a handover.

23. A method according to claim 18, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a performance loss of the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the indication of the performance loss comprises an indication of one or more of a lost bitrate, extra delay, lost energy efficiency and lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions.

25. A method according to claim 23, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device if the performance loss is above a pre-defined threshold.

26. A method according to claim 23, comprising transmitting an unconditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device.

27. A method according to claim 18, wherein the NES feedback information is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

28. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining whether to switch off the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment.

29. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining to perform one or more of the NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform, and the method comprises determining whether to perform one or more performance impact reduction actions to reduce the impact of the NES actions on the performance of the communications device.

30. A method according to claim 29, wherein the one or more performance impact reduction actions comprise delaying the switching off of the cell for a pre-defined time period, wherein the energy reduction of the infrastructure equipment is lower by the delaying of the cell switch off than if the cell switch off had not been delayed.

31. A method according to claim 30, wherein the pre-defined time period is long enough to allow the communications device to finish transmitting one or more previously scheduled uplink transmissions for the communications device to the infrastructure equipment.

32. A method according to claim 29, wherein the one or more performance impact reduction actions comprise transmitting, to the communications device, an indication of an allocation of communication resources for transmitting one or more previously scheduled uplink transmissions for the communications device to the infrastructure equipment before the cell provided by the infrastructure equipment is switched off.

33. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device comprises determining whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least part on the assistance information from the communications device using an artificial intelligence or machine learning model.

34. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of a type of the communications device.

35. A method of operating a communications device located in a cell provided by infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the method comprising transmitting assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

36. A method according to claim 35, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device.

37. A method according to claim 36, wherein the indication of the predicted energy status comprises an indication of a time period for which the predicted energy status is valid.

38. A method according to claim 36, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is above a threshold.

39. A method according to claim 36, comprisingreceiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted energy status is below a threshold.

40. A method according to claim 36, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status to the infrastructure equipment.

41. A method according to claim 36, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is transmitted in a measurement report, the measurement report comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

42. A method according to claim 36, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy status is received in a status report, and the method comprises transmitting a separate status report to the infrastructure equipment comprising an indication of one or more other measurements performed by the communications device.

43. A method according to claim 36, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted energy is received in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signal.

44. A method according to claim 36, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted energy status of the communications device for a respective one or more services.

45. A method according to claim 35, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of one or more of a current or predicted buffer status of the communications device.

46. A method according to claim 45, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is above a threshold.

47. A method according to claim 45, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment if one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is below a threshold.

48. A method according to claim 46, wherein the receiving the conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment comprises determining that the communications device has been active within a pre-defined time period before transmission of the conditional instruction.

49. A method according to claim 46, wherein the conditional instruction to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status is transmitted in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a group-based L1 signal, a dedicated L1 signal, a system information block (SIB), or a paging message.

50. A method according to claim 45, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status to the infrastructure equipment.

51. A method according to claim 45, wherein the indication of one or more of the current or predicted buffer status of the communications device is received in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

52. A method according to claim 35, wherein the assistance information comprises NES feedback information from the communications device, the NES feedback information being information indicating how a performance of the communications device was impacted by one or more previous NES actions performed by the infrastructure equipment.

53. A method according to claim 52, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a number of handovers experienced by the communications device within a predefined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions.

54. A method according to claim 53, comprising receiving a conditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by the communications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES actions if the number of handovers is above a pre-defined threshold.

55. A method according to claim 53, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the number of handovers experienced by thecommunications device within the pre-defined time period due to the one or more previous NES.

56. A method according to claim 52, wherein the NES feedback information comprises an indication of a performance loss of the communications device due to the one or more previous NES actions.

57. A method according to claim 56, wherein the indication of the performance loss comprises an indication of one or more of a lost bitrate, extra delay, lost energy efficiency and lost packets due to the one or more previous NES actions.

58. A method according to claim 56, comprising transmitting a conditional instruction to the communications device to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device if the performance loss is above a pre-defined threshold.

59. A method according to claim 56, comprising receiving an unconditional instruction from the infrastructure equipment to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, the indication of the performance loss of the communications device.

60. A method according to claim 52, wherein the NES feedback information is received in an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

61. A method according to claim 35, wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of a type of the communications device.

62. Infrastructure equipment for a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising a transmitter configured to transmit signals, a receiver configured to receive signals, a controller configured in combination with the transmitter and the receiver to receive assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment,determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, perform the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

63. A communications device operable to communicate with infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network when the communications device is located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the communications device comprising a transmitter configured to transmit signals, a receiver configured to receive signals, a controller configured in combination with the transmitter and the receiver to transmit assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

64. Circuitry for infrastructure equipment for a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals, receiver circuitry configured to receive signals, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to receive assistance information from a communications device located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device, and, if the infrastructure equipment determines to perform one or more of the NES actions, perform the one or more NES actions which the infrastructure equipment determined to perform.

65. Circuitry for a communications device operable to communicate with infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network when the communications device is located in a cell provided by the infrastructure equipment, the circuitry comprisingtransmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals, receiver circuitry configured to receive signals, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to transmit assistance information to the infrastructure equipment, the assistance information being indicative of how a performance of the communications device would be impacted if the infrastructure equipment performed one or more network energy saving (NES) actions to reduce an energy consumption of the infrastructure equipment, wherein the assistance information is for the infrastructure equipment to determine whether to perform one or more of the NES actions based at least in part on the assistance information from the communications device.

66. A wireless communications network comprising a communications device according to claim 63 and infrastructure equipment according to claim 62.

67. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of claim 1.

68. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to claim 67.

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