Energy harvesting supervisor and communication protocal adaptation based on energy harvestng status

Abstract

A method in a first wireless device for status reporting to a control entity is provided. A first wireless device and a method in a first wireless device for status reporting to a control entity are provided. The method includes performing an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, obtaining at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, and reporting, to the control entity, at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at the least one second wireless device and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric. A control entity and a method performed by a control entity are also provided.

Description

[0001] ENERGY HARVESTING SUPERVISOR AND COMMUNICATION PROTOCAL ADAPTATION BASED ON ENERGY HARVESTNG STATUS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to configurations for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and for adapting communication protocols based on energy harvesting status.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes, such as base stations, and mobile wireless devices (WD), as well as communication between network nodes and between WDs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] In some existing systems, zero-power operation is an extreme mode of low- energy operation where a wireless device (e.g., UE) does not include traditional exchangeable or rechargeable batteries, but instead relies on obtaining energy from its environment during operation, e.g., energy harvesting, wireless power transfer, etc. Some examples of harvesting applications include a freight train with a ball bearing sensor on each wheel harvesting energy from vibrations, thermocouples extracting energy from temperature differences in a system, solar elements harvesting light energy, radio frequency (RF) harvesters capturing electromagnetic (EM) energy from other wireless systems in the environment, etc.

[0007] Because the energy obtained via harvesting is typically limited, typical communication protocols used by the WD may be designed to be low-energy-aware, limiting the TX / RX activities to typical or worst-case available energy store in the device, for example.

[0008] Existing systems, however, lack configurations for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and for adapting communication protocols based on energy harvesting status. SUMMARY

[0009] Zero-power devices may be able to harvest different amounts of energy depending on local circumstances. Sensor devices are often deployed in groups, for example, in the case of ball bearing sensors. In such scenarios, the available energy levels at the individual sensors may be correlated, as will be their resulting communication abilities. For example, if one sensor fails to harvest sufficient amount of energy, all other sensors may also encounter low energy levels, or conversely, in good harvesting conditions, all sensors may have high communication abilities.

[0010] In traditional communication protocols, the instantaneous stored energy states of the sensors are not considered since such status reporting typically expends additional energy. As a result, the communication protocols may be inefficient (not extracting as much data as could be possible at some time points) or lack robustness (expected reporting fails at other points).

[0011] Thus, it may be desirable to have arrangements in which (1) the energy status of a group of sensor devices may be dynamically estimated / reported and the information made available to the network (NW) to (2) adapt the communications protocol to maximize sensor data provision performance and robustness.

[0012] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method in a first wireless device for status reporting to a control entity is provided. The method includes performing an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, obtaining at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, and reporting, to the control entity, at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at the least one second wireless device and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

[0013] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of the at least one observed energy harvesting metric. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one observed energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of at least one of a power level or energy level associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, an energy harvesting rate associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, an energy harvesting amount associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, an amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, a harvesting efficiency metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device, and a channel quality metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device.

[0014] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed by determining at least one environmental parameter affecting the at least one second wireless device, the at least one environmental parameter corresponding to at least one of a light energy parameter, a vibration energy parameter, a radio frequency (RF) energy parameter, a wind energy parameter, a thermal energy parameter, a kinetic energy parameter, and a channel quality parameter, and estimating the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric based on the measured at least one environmental parameter.

[0015] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated energy harvesting rate and / or an estimated energy harvesting amount associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises at least one of an estimated power threshold indicator associated with at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device, an estimated harvesting efficiency metric associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device, an estimated channel quality associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device, and at least one difference in at least one energy harvesting efficiency metric between the first wireless device and the at least one second wireless device.

[0016] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, reporting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) comprises transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity via one of an uplink (UL) control channel, a UL shared channel, and an over the top (OTT) transmission. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises receiving an aperiodic reporting request from the control entity via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises detecting at least one change in harvesting conditions and transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity in response to the at least one change in harvesting conditions exceeding a specific value.

[0017] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity based on at least one of a change in a harvesting mechanism of the first wireless device, a change in a harvesting efficiency of the first wireless device, an energy level condition of the first wireless device being satisfied, a periodic reporting configuration, and a semi-static reporting configuration. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect the method further comprises receiving an adjusted configuration from the control entity based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an energy harvest report reporting frequency, an energy threshold for initiating energy harvesting reports, and an amount of data per energy harvesting report.

[0018] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises receiving an adjusted configuration from the control entity based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an information type for energy harvesting reports, a transmission power, a control channel communication schedule, a control channel monitoring schedule, a channel measurement configuration, a mobility procedure, a wake up signaling configuration, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, a carrier configuration, and a bandwidth configuration.

[0019] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises receiving at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric from the at least one second wireless device, the estimating of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being further based on the at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric.

[0020] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises emulating an energy harvesting operation by performing at the first wireless device at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device and obtaining the at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the emulated at least one aspect.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a first wireless device configured for status reporting to a control entity is provided. The first wireless device includes energy harvesting hardware configured to perform an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device and processing circuitry in communication with the energy harvesting hardware. The processing circuitry configured to obtain at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device and report, to the control entity, at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at least one second wireless device and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

[0022] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is configured to compute the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric as a function of the at least one observed energy harvesting metric. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to compute the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric by obtaining at least one environmental parameter affecting the at least one second wireless device, the at least one environmental parameter corresponding to at least one of a light energy parameter, a vibration energy parameter, a radio frequency (RF) energy parameter, a wind energy parameter, a thermal energy parameter, a kinetic energy parameter, and a channel quality parameter, and the processing circuitry is configured to estimate the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric based on the obtained at least one environmental parameter. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an aperiodic reporting request from the control entity via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

[0023] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to detect at least one change in harvesting conditions and cause transmission of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity in response to the at least one change in harvesting conditions exceeding a specific value. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause transmission of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity based on at least one of a change in a harvesting mechanism of the first wireless device, a change in a harvesting efficiency of the first wireless device, an energy level condition of the first wireless device being satisfied, a periodic reporting configuration, and a semi-static reporting configuration. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an adjusted configuration from the control entity based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an energy harvest report reporting frequency, an energy threshold for initiating energy harvesting reports, and an amount of data per energy harvesting report.

[0024] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an adjusted configuration from the control entity based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an information type for energy harvesting reports, a transmission power, a control channel communication schedule, a control channel monitoring schedule, a channel measurement configuration, a mobility procedure, a wake up signaling configuration, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, a carrier configuration, and a bandwidth configuration. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric from the at least one second wireless device, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to obtain the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric further based on the at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at the first wireless device at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device and measure the at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the emulated at least one aspect.

[0025] According to a still another aspect of the present disclosure, a method in a control entity for status reporting of a first wireless device and at least one second wireless device is provided. The method includes receiving a report from the first wireless device, the report has an energy harvesting report and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device, the energy harvesting report including at least one estimated energy harvesting metric associated with the at least one second wireless device, and performing at least one network action based on the received report.

[0026] According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric corresponds to one of at least one observed energy harvesting metric of an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device and at least one computed energy harvesting metric which is a function of at least one observed energy harvesting metric. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises transmitting an aperiodic reporting request to the first wireless device via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises receiving the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric from the first wireless device based on at least one detected change in harvesting conditions exceeding at least one preconfigured threshold amount. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises configuring the first wireless device to emulate and energy harvesting operation by performing at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being based on an emulated energy harvesting metric measured at the first wireless device.

[0027] In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a control entity configured for status reporting of a first wireless device and at least one second wireless device is provided. The control entity includes processing circuitry configured to receive a report from the first wireless device, the report comprising an energy harvesting report and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device, the energy harvesting report including at least one estimated energy harvesting metric associated with the at least one second wireless device, and perform at least one network action based on the received report. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry (68) is further configured to cause transmission of an aperiodic reporting request to the first wireless device via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric from the first wireless device based on at least one detected change in harvesting conditions exceeding at least one preconfigured threshold amount. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to configure the first wireless device to emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being based on an emulated energy harvesting metric measured at the first wireless device.

[0028] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0030] FIG. l is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system connected via an intermediate network to a host computer according to the principles in the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a network node with a wireless device over an at least partially wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a supervisor device, control entity, and zero-power sensor devices communicating over at least partially wireless connections according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example process in a control entity (e.g., network node and / or host computer) for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in a wireless device for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

[0036] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0037] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication. In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0038] The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a wireless device (WD) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0039] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The WD herein can be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another WD over radio signals, such as wireless device (WD). The WD may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) WD, machine type WD or WD capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity WD, a sensor equipped with WD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device, etc.

[0040] Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), IAB node, relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH). Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR), may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

[0041] Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and wireless device described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.

[0042] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0043] Some embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and for adapting communication protocols.

[0044] For example, in some embodiments, such as in a scenario with many identical or nearly identical sensors, a wireless device, such as a “supervisor device”, may be provided which may be configured to estimate the energy harvesting status for one or more other wireless devices (e.g., a sensor group), and which may be configured to communicate that status to the network (e.g., via a network node, control entity, etc.) that adapts the communication protocol.

[0045] Referring now to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 1 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3 GPP -type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), which comprises an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of control entities 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as control entity 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each control entity 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first wireless device (WD) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding control entity 16a, e.g., network node. A second WD 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding control entity 16b, e.g. network node.

[0046] A third WD 22c may be a sensor device such as a zero-power or low-power sensor device (e.g., a wireless device which may be powered by energy harvesting and which may lack a battery or other power source), and may be wirelessly connectable to the first WD 22a and / or the second WD 22b and / or the control entity(ies) 16.

[0047] While a plurality of WDs 22a, 22b, 22c (collectively referred to as wireless devices 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole WD is in the coverage area or where a sole WD is connecting to the corresponding control entity 16. Note that although only three WDs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more WDs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0048] Also, it is contemplated that a WD 22 can be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one control entity 16 and more than one type of control entity 16. For example, a WD 22 can have dual connectivity with a control entity 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different control entity 16 that supports NR. As an example, WD 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0049] The communication system 10 may itself be connected to a host computer 24, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 24 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 26, 28 between the communication system 10 and the host computer 24 may extend directly from the core network 14 to the host computer 24 or may extend via an optional intermediate network 30. The intermediate network 30 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network. The intermediate network 30, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet. In some embodiments, the intermediate network 30 may comprise two or more subnetworks (not shown).

[0050] The communication system of FIG. 1 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected WDs 22a, 22b and the host computer 24. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection. The host computer 24 and the connected WDs 22a, 22b are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection, using the access network 12, the core network 14, any intermediate network 30 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection may be transparent in the sense that at least some of the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a control entity 16 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 24 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected WD 22a. Similarly, the control entity 16 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the WD 22a towards the host computer 24.

[0051] A control entity 16 is configured to include a control unit 32 which is configured for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations. . The control entity 16 may be a network node, a host computer, a wireless device 22, or another network device, entity, virtual node, cloud server, etc., which may include a control unit 32 and / or cloud configuration unit).

[0052] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the WD 22, control entity 16 and host computer 24 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 2. In a communication system 10, a host computer 24 comprises hardware (HW) 38 including a communication interface 40 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 10. The host computer 24 further comprises processing circuitry 42, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. The processing circuitry 42 may include a processor 44 and memory 46. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 42 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 44 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 46, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0053] Processing circuitry 42 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by host computer 24. Processor 44 corresponds to one or more processors 44 for performing host computer 24 functions described herein. The host computer 24 includes memory 46 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 48 and / or the host application 50 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 44 and / or processing circuitry 42, causes the processor 44 and / or processing circuitry 42 to perform the processes described herein with respect to host computer 24. The instructions may be software associated with the host computer 24.

[0054] The software 48 may be executable by the processing circuitry 42. The software 48 includes a host application 50. The host application 50 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a WD 22 connecting via an OTT connection 52 terminating at the WD 22 and the host computer 24. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 50 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 52. The “user data” may be data and information described herein as implementing the described functionality. In one embodiment, the host computer 24 may be configured for providing control and functionality to a service provider and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The processing circuitry 42 of the host computer 24 may enable the host computer 24 to observe, monitor, control, transmit to and / or receive from the control entity 16 and or the wireless device 22. The processing circuitry 42 of the host computer 24 may include a cloud configuration unit 54 configured to enable the service provider to observe / monitor / control / transmit to / receive from / etc. the control entity 16 and or the wireless device 22. For example, the cloud configuration unit 54 may perform one or more functions of the control entity, described herein, which may be implemented, for example, in a control entity 16, a host computer 24, a cloud node, a virtual node, WD 22, etc. The communication system 10 further includes a control entity 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 58 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 24 and with the WD 22. The hardware 58 may include a communication interface 60 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 10, as well as a radio interface 62 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 64 with a WD 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the control entity 16. The radio interface 62 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The communication interface 60 may be configured to facilitate a connection 66 to the host computer 24. The connection 66 may be direct or it may pass through a core network 14 of the communication system 10 and / or through one or more intermediate networks 30 outside the communication system 10.

[0055] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 58 of the control entity 16 further includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 68 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 70 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 72, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read- Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read- Only Memory).

[0056] Thus, the control entity 16 further has software 74 stored internally in, for example, memory 72, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the control entity 16 via an external connection. The software 74 may be executable by the processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by control entity 16. Processor 70 corresponds to one or more processors 70 for performing control entity 16 functions described herein. The memory 72 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 74 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 70 and / or processing circuitry 68, causes the processor 70 and / or processing circuitry 68 to perform the processes described herein with respect to control entity 16. For example, processing circuitry 68 of the control entity 16 may include control unit 32 configured for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations.

[0057] The communication system 10 further includes the WD 22 already referred to. The WD 22 may have hardware 80 that may include a radio interface 82 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 64 with a control entity 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the WD 22 is currently located. The radio interface 82 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers.

[0058] The hardware 80 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and memory 88. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 84 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 86 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 88, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0059] The hardware 80 of WD 22 may further include energy harvesting hardware 89, which may include one or more elements for harvesting energy, as described herein.

[0060] Thus, the WD 22 may further comprise software 90, which is stored in, for example, memory 88 at the WD 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the WD 22. The software 90 may be executable by the processing circuitry 84. The software 90 may include a client application 92. The client application 92 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the WD 22, with the support of the host computer 24. In the host computer 24, an executing host application 50 may communicate with the executing client application 92 via the OTT connection 52 terminating at the WD 22 and the host computer 24. In providing the service to the user, the client application 92 may receive request data from the host application 50 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 52 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 92 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

[0061] The processing circuitry 84 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by WD 22. The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing WD 22 functions described herein. The WD 22 includes memory 88 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 90 and / or the client application 92 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 86 and / or processing circuitry 84, causes the processor 86 and / or processing circuitry 84 to perform the processes described herein with respect to WD 22.

[0062] In some embodiments, the inner workings of the control entity 16, WD 22, and host computer 24 may be as shown in FIG. 2 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 1.

[0063] In FIG. 2, the OTT connection 52 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 24 and the wireless device 22 via the control entity 16, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the WD 22 or from the service provider operating the host computer 24, or both. While the OTT connection 52 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

[0064] The wireless connection 64 between the WD 22 and the control entity 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the WD 22 using the OTT connection 52, in which the wireless connection 64 may form the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc. In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 between the host computer 24 and WD 22, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 may be implemented in the software 48 of the host computer 24 or in the software 90 of the WD 22, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 52 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 48, 90 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 52 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the control entity 16, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the control entity 16. Some such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary WD signaling facilitating the host computer’s 24 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. In some embodiments, the measurements may be implemented in that the software 48, 90 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 52 while it monitors propagation times, errors, etc.

[0065] Thus, in some embodiments, the host computer 24 includes processing circuitry 42 configured to provide user data and a communication interface 40 that is configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to the WD 22. In some embodiments, the cellular network also includes the control entity 16 with a radio interface 62. In some embodiments, the control entity 16 is configured to, and / or the network node’s 16 processing circuitry 68 is configured to perform the functions and / or methods described herein for preparing / initiating / maintaining / supporting / ending a transmission to the WD 22, and / or preparing / terminating / maintaining / supporting / ending in receipt of a transmission from the WD 22.

[0066] In some embodiments, the host computer 24 includes processing circuitry 42 and a communication interface 40 that is configured to a communication interface 40 configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a WD 22 to a control entity 16. In some embodiments, the WD 22 is configured to, and / or comprises a radio interface 82 and / or processing circuitry 84 configured to perform the functions and / or methods described herein for preparing / initiating / maintaining / supporting / ending a transmission to the control entity 16, and / or preparing / terminating / maintaining / supporting / ending in receipt of a transmission from the control entity 16.

[0067] Although FIGS 1 shows control unit 32 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that this unit may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, control unit 32 may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0068] FIG. 3 is a is a block diagram illustrating an example network architecture according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, including a control entity 16, supervisor device 96, and one or more sensor devices 98a, 98b, ..., 98n, communicating over at least partially wireless connections. The supervisor device 96 may correspond to a wireless device 22. The sensor devices 98a, 98b, etc. (collectively, sensor devices 98) may correspond to wireless devices 22 which may be configured for energy harvesting and / or sensor activity. For example, the sensor devices 98 may be low- power or zero-power devices. In some embodiments, the sensor devices 98 may lack one or more hardware or software elements of the wireless device 22 which serves as a supervisor device 96. In some embodiments, the sensor devices 98 may lack a power source, such as a battery. The supervisor device 96 may be configured to communicate with the control entity 16 via wireless connection 64, for example. In some embodiments, the sensor devices 98 may be configured to communicate with the supervisor device 96 via one or more wireless connect! on(s) 100a, 100b, ... , lOOn. In some embodiments, the sensor devices may be configured to communicate with the control entity 16 via one or more wireless connect! on(s) 102a, 102b, ... , 102n.

[0069] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example process in a control entity 16 (e.g., a network node, a host computer 24, etc.) for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations. Control entity 16 is configured to receive (Block S134) a report from the first wireless device 22 (e.g., a supervisor device 96). The report includes an energy harvesting report and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device 22 (e.g., sensor device(s) 98) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device 22. The energy harvesting report includes at least one estimated energy harvesting metric associated with the at least one second wireless device. At least one network action is performed (Block SI 36) based on the received report.

[0070] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric corresponds to one of: at least one observed energy harvesting metric of an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22; and at least one computed energy harvesting metric which is a function of at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

[0071] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 68 of the control entity 16 is further configured to transmit an aperiodic reporting request to the first wireless device 22 via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

[0072] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 68 of the control entity 16 is further configured to receive the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric from the first wireless device 22 based on at least one detected change in harvesting conditions exceeding at least one preconfigured threshold amount.

[0073] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 68 of the control entity 16 is further configured to configure the first wireless device 22 to emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device 22, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being based on an emulated energy harvesting metric measured at the first wireless device (22).

[0074] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in a first wireless device 22 (e.g., a supervisor device 96) according to some embodiments of the present for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82 and / or communication interface 60. Wireless device 22 is configured to perform (Block S138) an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, obtain (Block S140) at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, and report (Block SI 42), to the control entity 16, at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device 22 (e.g., one or more sensor device(s) 98) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device 22, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at the least one second wireless device 22 and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

[0075] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

[0076] In some embodiments, the at least one observed energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of at least one of a power level or energy level associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, an energy harvesting rate associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, an energy harvesting amount associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, an amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, a harvesting efficiency metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22, and a channel quality metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device 22.

[0077] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed by determining at least one environmental parameter affecting the at least one second wireless device 22, the at least one environmental parameter corresponding to at least one of a light energy parameter, a vibration energy parameter, a radio frequency (RF) energy parameter, a wind energy parameter, a thermal energy parameter, a kinetic energy parameter and a channel quality parameter, and estimating the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric based on the measured at least one environmental parameter.

[0078] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated energy harvesting rate and / or an estimated energy harvesting amount associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device 22.

[0079] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device 22.

[0080] In some embodiments, the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises at least one of an estimated power threshold indicator associated with at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device 22, an estimated harvesting efficiency metric associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device 22, an estimated channel quality associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device 22, and at least one difference in at least one energy harvesting efficiency metric between the first wireless device and the at least one second wireless device 22.

[0081] In some embodiments, reporting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity 16 comprises transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity 16 via one of an uplink (UL) control channel, a UL shared channel and an over the top (OTT) transmission.

[0082] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to receive an aperiodic reporting request from the control entity 16 via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

[0083] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to detecting at least one change in harvesting conditions and transmit the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity 16 in response to the at least one change in harvesting conditions exceeding a specific value.

[0084] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to cause transmission of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity 16 based on at least one of a change in a harvesting mechanism of the first wireless device 22, a change in a harvesting efficiency of the first wireless device 22, an energy level condition of the first wireless device 22 being satisfied, a periodic reporting configuration, and a semi-static reporting configuration.

[0085] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to receive an adjusted configuration from the control entity 16 based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an energy harvest report reporting frequency, an energy threshold for initiating energy harvesting reports, and an amount of data per energy harvesting report.

[0086] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to receiving an adjusted configuration from the control entity 16 based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of an information type for energy harvesting reports, a transmission power, a control channel communication schedule, a control channel monitoring schedule, a channel measurement configuration, a mobility procedure, a wake up signaling configuration, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, a carrier configuration, and a bandwidth configuration.

[0087] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to receive at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric from the at least one second wireless device 22, the estimating of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being further based on the at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric.

[0088] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 is further configured to emulate at the first wireless device 22 at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device 22 and obtain the at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the emulated at least one aspect.

[0089] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for supporting energy harvesting supervisors and communication adaptations.

[0090] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a supervisor device 96 (e.g., a WD 22 including processing circuitry 84), to estimate the energy storage status of low- or zero-energy sensor devices 98 (e.g., WDs 22) that rely on energy harvesting to gather energy for transmitting, e.g., senor data.

[0091] Although the term “sensor device” may be used to refer to the low- or zeroenergy devices 98, it is to be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to devices with sensors or which perform sensor functions, and may be applicable to other types of low- or zero-energy wireless devices 22 and / or energy harvesting wireless devices 22.

[0092] In some embodiments, the supervisor device 96 may be placed in the same environment as the sensor devices 98 and, in one embodiment, may gather direct (by performing similar harvesting operations) estimates about the sensor devices’ 98 energy storage status. The supervisor device 96 may, e.g., be a sensor device identical to the other sensor devices 98, but containing additional power components, such as a battery or more capable energy harvesting hardware. In another embodiment, the supervisor device 96 may be a special-purpose design to measure relevant environmental parameters, and thus may provide indirect data that may be used for deriving the sensor devices’ 98 energy status, e.g., using digital twin principles.

[0093] In some embodiments, one or more of the sensor devices 98 do not have energy to spare to inform the network (e.g., control entity 16) about their energy status, while the supervisor device 96 may not be critically power-constrained and may provide the status information to a control entity 16 (e.g., a network node, such as a gNB or a dedicated functional node, or an OTT application, host computer 24, etc.) that may be configured to adapt a sensor communication pattern, e.g., delaying or advancing reporting occasions, adjusting reporting rates, or adjusting the amount of data or the types of data to the conveyed. For example, a weather station may perform more extensive reporting with more accurate temperature and rainfall data and / or include lower priority data, e.g., humidity and air pressure, should harvesting conditions allow. Embodiments of the present disclosure thus may provide configurations for communicating between the supervisor device 96 and the control entity 16, remaining transparent to the sensor devices 98 if an existing sensor report scheduling mechanisms may be used.

[0094] An example embodiment of the present disclosure implemented in the supervisor device 96 (e.g., a first WD 22) may be in accordance with the following steps (e.g., performed by processing circuitry 84):

[0095] Step 1000 Obtain an energy harvesting metric that applies to one or more sensor devices 98 (e.g., one or more additional WDs 22).

[0096] Step 1100 Report the energy harvesting metric to a control entity 16.

[0097] An example embodiment of the present disclosure implemented in the control entity 16 may be in accordance with the following steps (e.g., performed by processing circuitry 68):

[0098] Step 2100 Receive from a supervisor device 96 (e.g., a first WD 22) an energy harvesting metric that applies to one or more sensor devices 98 (e.g., one or more additional WDs 22).

[0099] Step 2200 Adapting a communication protocol for one or more sensor devices 98 based on the energy harvesting metric.

[0100] The following disclosure describes an example embodiment of zero-energy sensor devices 98, but it is to be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to other use cases involving low- or zero-energy devices that rely on energy harvesting. Supervisor device 96 estimates energy harvesting metrics (Step 1000)

[0101] In some embodiments, the supervisor device 96 may be configured to estimate the energy status or energy harvesting related metrics by virtue of sharing the same environment as the sensor devices 98, experiencing similar physical phenomena, and / or including similar hardware (e.g., energy harvesting hardware 89) as sensor devices 98.

[0102] In one embodiment, the supervisor device 96 may be configured to perform direct energy metric estimation by performing the same harvesting operation as the sensor devices. In some embodiments, the supervisor device 96 may be a non-sensor- type device equipped with the sensor devices’ 98 energy harvesting hardware 89, e.g., to be able to monitor and / or emulate the harvesting progress (e.g., energy level charging rate, etc.). Alternatively, the supervisor device 96 may be a sensor device 98 equipped with additional energy supply elements, e.g., a conventional battery, more capable energy harvesting hardware 89, a connection to charging equipment, etc.

[0103] In some embodiments, the supervisor device 96 may be configured to perform indirect metric estimation, e.g., by characterizing environment parameters that affect the harvesting efficiency. It may be configured to evaluate, e.g., light levels, vibration levels, RF energy levels, etc., that are relevant to the energy harvesting approach being used. The supervisor device 96 may also be configured to record statistical data about how the parameters change over time. Supervisor device 96 may be configured to further estimate the current energy level, the charging rate, and / or future energy levels based on the estimated parameters.

[0104] In yet another embodiment, the supervisor device 96 may, in addition to or instead of estimating the energy harvesting metric as discussed above, be configured to obtain energy level or charging rate information from the sensor devices via local communication, using, e.g., Bluetooth, ZigBee, , IEEE 802.11af, ah, ba, WiFi, etc., protocols. When the supervisor is physically close to the sensors, such communication may be orders of magnitude less energy-intensive than the sensor devices 98 reporting directly to the control entity 16, e.g., network node.

[0105] Supervisor reports to control entity (Steps 1100, 2100)

[0106] In some embodiments, after obtaining energy harvesting-related information, the supervisor device 98 may be configured to report it to a control entity 16 that is configured to control the communication with the sensor devices 98. In some embodiments, the control entity 16 may be implemented by one or more of • An OTT application (e.g., in a host computer 24) that collects sensor information and handles periodic scheduling or aperiodic requests for sensor data reports, where the application may be transparent to the cellular network;

[0107] • A (radio) network node, e.g., a gNB; and / or

[0108] • A dedicated logical node associated with the core network.

[0109] In some embodiments, the reporting may take place at application data level via the OTT application, via MAC CE and PUSCH, or via uplink control information (UCI) and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) / physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), configured grants, or random access such as the physical random access channel (PRACH). The reporting may be previously configured via a setup phase of the OTT app, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, etc. The reporting may be configured on a periodic, semi-static or aperiodic basis. In some embodiments, where it is aperiodic, the supervisor device 96 may be configured to receive a downlink control information (DCI) signal indicating the time / frequency resources over which it can transmit the report. In another approach, the supervisor device 96 may be configured with configured grants, or periodic or semi-static reporting occasions, and may be configured to only transmit the report if one or more specific conditions are satisfied, e.g., if the energy level in a sensor goes above a first threshold or falls below a second threshold, or that the type of energy harvesting or the rate of harvesting changes.

[0110] The report may contain direct charging-related metrics that were measured, obtained, or derived from environment parameters by the supervisor, e.g., one or more of:

[0111] • Current energy storage level;

[0112] • Charging rate;

[0113] • Time to full charge;

[0114] • Time to minimal viable charge; and / or

[0115] • Type of harvesting, e.g., thermal, vibration, etc.

[0116] In some embodiments, the report may contain environment parameters for further processing in the control entity 16. The reporting may be further based on a condition, e.g., the supervisor device 96 may be configured to only report the data related to the sensor devices 98 for which a current energy storage level is above a first threshold, or alternatively below a second threshold. In both cases, the control entity may be configured to understand which sensor devices 98 have sufficient energy for communication, e.g., to enable the control entity 16 to schedule an operation for the sensor devices 98.

[0117] The supervisor device 96 may be configured to report relevant differences between itself and the sensor devices 98, e.g., a difference / bias in harvesting efficiency, a difference / bias in channel quality between the supervisor device 96 and the sensor devices 98.

[0118] Control entity adjusts sensors communication activities (Step 2200)

[0119] In some embodiments, the report includes direct metrics, the control entity 16 may be configured to use the reported metric information directly. In another embodiment, if the report contains environment parameters, the control entity 16 may be configured to use the report information to derive direct charging metrics using a predetermined model or a digital twin representation of the sensor device(s) 98.

[0120] Based on the energy metric information, the control entity 16 may be configured to adjust the sensor data reporting schedule to match the energy status and the resulting communication ability of the sensor devices 98.

[0121] The control entity 16 may also be configured to receive and / or estimate information about relevant differences between the supervisor device 96 and the sensor devices 98, e.g., a difference / bias in harvesting efficiency, a difference / bias in channel quality, etc. and consider those in the adaptation.

[0122] The adaptation may include one or more of the following examples:

[0123] • Initiating communication when the energy is higher than a threshold for achieving a specific reporting QoS, and not initiating it otherwise. This may include advancing or delaying a pending report request, respectively.

[0124] • Adjusting the reporting frequency, e.g., the rate of report requests or the period of configured grants for autonomous reporting. The frequency may be increased when the energy supply is plentiful and the harvesting / charging rate is high, or decreased when the energy supply and the resulting charging rate is low.

[0125] • Adjusting the amount of data per report, e.g., by changing sensor information resolution or range. For example, the resolution may be reduced when the energy harvesting rate is low. Additionally, a sensor device 98 measurement resolution may also be adapted to further save stored energy.

[0126] • Adapting the type of information that is provided in a sensor report. In low- energy scenarios, for example, only high-priority data may be transmitted and lower-priority data omitted. For example, rain amount and temperature may be prioritized over air pressure and humidity in a weather station.

[0127] • Adapting a sensor device’s 98 transmission (TX) power. For example, when the energy level or harvesting rate is low but the urgency of data acquisition is high, the control entity 16 may be configured to lower the robustness margin and order a transmission at a lower power.

[0128] • Adjusting scheduling of control channel communications, e.g., less frequently reconfiguring communication modes or protocol aspects when the energy supply is poor.

[0129] • Adjust Radio Resource Management (RRM), Radio Link Monitoring (RLM), and / or Beam Failure Detection (BFD) measurements, e.g., relaxing some supporting measurements if the WD 22 (e.g., sensor device(s) 98) has limited energy.

[0130] • Adjust RRM mobility procedures, e.g., when possible, reduce sensor device 98 handover (HO) activity requiring additional signaling if the sensor device 98 has limited energy.

[0131] • Adjust physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasions, e.g., if the energy level is low, the sensor device 98 may be configured to monitor PDCCH on very sparse occasion, e.g., every 64 slots, but if the energy level is higher, denser occasions, e.g., every 8 slots.

[0132] • The sensor devices 98 may be configured with a wake up signaling (WUS) configuration in RRC Connected or RRC Idle / Inactive.

[0133] • Adjusting the connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX) or discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration. For example, if the energy level is low, extended DRX in the order of hours may be applied, but if the energy level is higher, the DRX cycle may be reduced.

[0134] • Changing the carrier / band on which the sensor device 98 is operating to better suit the sensor device’s 98 energy harvesting profile or harvesting status. For example, a communication may be moved to a more energy-efficient band if harvesting conditions are poor or the current energy level is low. This may be combined with other measures, e.g., adjusting the data size.

[0135] Another mode of protocol adaptation may include the interpretation of failed or missed transmission (e.g., sensor report) occasions. The control entity 16 may be configured to distinguish whether the sensor device 98 does not communicate because it does not have sufficient energy or because it has lost the connection / is out of coverage. The control entity 16 may be configured to select whether to, e.g., re-initiate a connection or perform a handover (HO), or await a report at a later time.

[0136] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD- ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0137] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0138] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0139] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0140] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0141] Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method in a first wireless device (22) for status reporting to a control entity (16), the method comprising: performing (SI 38) an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); obtaining (S140) at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); and reporting (S142), to the control entity (16), at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device (22) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at the least one second wireless device (22) and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

3. The method of any one of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the at least one observed energy harvesting metric is computed as a function of at least one of: a power level or energy level associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); an energy harvesting rate associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); an energy harvesting amount associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); an amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); a harvesting efficiency metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); and a channel quality metric associated with the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22).

4. The method of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric is computed by: determining at least one environmental parameter affecting the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one environmental parameter corresponding to at least one of: a light energy parameter; a vibration energy parameter; a radio frequency (RF) energy parameter; a wind energy parameter; a thermal energy parameter; a kinetic energy parameter; and a channel quality parameter; and estimating the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric based on the measured at least one environmental parameter.

5. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated energy harvesting rate and / or an estimated energy harvesting amount associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device (22).

6. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises an estimated amount of time needed to accumulate sufficient energy for communication associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device (22).

7. The method of any one of Claims 1-6, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric comprises at least one of: an estimated power threshold indicator associated with at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device (22); an estimated harvesting efficiency metric associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device (22); an estimated channel quality associated with the at least one energy harvesting operation in the at least one second wireless device (22); andat least one difference in at least one energy harvesting efficiency metric between the first wireless device and the at least one second wireless device (22).

8. The method of any one of Claims 1-7, wherein reporting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) comprises: transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) via one of: an uplink (UL) control channel; a UL shared channel; and an over the top (OTT) transmission.

9. The method of any one of Claims 1-8, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an aperiodic reporting request from the control entity (16) via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1-9, wherein the method further comprises: detecting at least one change in harvesting conditions; and transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) in response to the at least one change in harvesting conditions exceeding a specific value.

11. The method of any one of Claims 1-10, wherein the method further comprises: transmitting the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) based on at least one of: a change in a harvesting mechanism of the first wireless device (22); a change in a harvesting efficiency of the first wireless device (22); an energy level condition of the first wireless device (22) being satisfied; a periodic reporting configuration; and a semi-static reporting configuration.

12. The method of any one of Claims 1-11, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an adjusted configuration from the control entity (16) based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of: an energy harvest report reporting frequency; an energy threshold for initiating energy harvesting reports; and an amount of data per energy harvesting report.

13. The method of any one of Claims 1-11, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an adjusted configuration from the control entity (16) based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of: an information type for energy harvesting reports; a transmission power; a control channel communication schedule; a control channel monitoring schedule; a channel measurement configuration; a mobility procedure; a wake up signaling configuration; a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration; a carrier configuration; and a bandwidth configuration.

14. The method of any one of Claims 1-13, wherein the method further comprises: receiving at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric from the at least one second wireless device (22), the estimating of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being further based on the at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric.

15. The method of any one of Claims 1-14, wherein the method further comprises:emulating an energy harvesting operation by performing at the first wireless device (22) at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device (22); and obtaining the at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the emulated at least one aspect.

16. A first wireless device (22) configured for status reporting to a control entity (16), the first wireless device (22) comprising: energy harvesting hardware (89) configured to perform an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); and processing circuitry (84) in communication with the energy harvesting hardware (89), the processing circuitry configured to: obtain at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); and report, to the control entity (16), at least one estimated energy harvesting metric and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device (22) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being associated with at least one second wireless device (22) and being based on the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

17. The first wireless device (22) of Claim 16, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is configured to compute the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric as a function of the at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

18. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16 and 17, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to compute the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric by: obtaining at least one environmental parameter affecting the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one environmental parameter corresponding to at least one of: a light energy parameter; a vibration energy parameter; a radio frequency (RF) energy parameter;a wind energy parameter; a thermal energy parameter; a kinetic energy parameter; and a channel quality parameter; and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to estimate the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric based on the obtained at least one environmental parameter.

19. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16-18, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: receive an aperiodic reporting request from the control entity (16) via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

20. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16-19, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: detect at least one change in harvesting conditions; and cause transmission of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) in response to the at least one change in harvesting conditions exceeding a specific value.

21. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16-20, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: cause transmission of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric to the control entity (16) based on at least one of: a change in a harvesting mechanism of the first wireless device (22); a change in a harvesting efficiency of the first wireless device (22); an energy level condition of the first wireless device (22) being satisfied; a periodic reporting configuration; and a semi-static reporting configuration.

22. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 13-21, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to receive an adjusted configuration from the control entity (16) based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of:an energy harvest report reporting frequency; an energy threshold for initiating energy harvesting reports; and an amount of data per energy harvesting report.

23. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 13-21, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: receive an adjusted configuration from the control entity (16) based on the reported at least one estimated energy harvesting metric, the adjusted configuration adjusting at least one of: an information type for energy harvesting reports; a transmission power; a control channel communication schedule; a control channel monitoring schedule; a channel measurement configuration; a mobility procedure; a wake up signaling configuration; a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration; a carrier configuration; and a bandwidth configuration.

24. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16-23, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: receive at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric from the at least one second wireless device (22), and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to obtain the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric further based on the at least one locally reported energy harvesting metric.

25. The first wireless device (22) of any one of Claims 16-24, wherein the processing circuitry (84) is further configured to: emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at the first wireless device (22), at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device (22); and measure the at least one observed energy harvesting metric based on the emulated at least one aspect.

26. A method in a control entity (16) for status reporting of a first wireless device (22) and at least one second wireless device (22), the method comprising: receiving (SI 34) a report from the first wireless device (22), the report comprising an energy harvesting report and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device (22) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device (22), the energy harvesting report including at least one estimated energy harvesting metric associated with the at least one second wireless device (22); and performing (SI 36) at least one network action based on the received report.

27. The method of Claim 26, wherein the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric corresponds to one of: at least one observed energy harvesting metric of an energy harvesting operation in the first wireless device (22); and at least one computed energy harvesting metric which is a function of at least one observed energy harvesting metric.

28. The method of any one of Claims 26 and 27, wherein the method further comprises: transmitting an aperiodic reporting request to the first wireless device (22) via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

29. The method of any one of Claims 26-28, wherein the method further comprises: receiving the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric from the first wireless device (22) based on at least one detected change in harvesting conditions exceeding at least one preconfigured threshold amount.

30. The method of any one of Claims 26-29, wherein the method further comprises: configuring the first wireless device (22) to emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operationperformed at the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being based on an emulated energy harvesting metric measured at the first wireless device (22).

31. A control entity (16) configured for status reporting of a first wireless device (22) and at least one second wireless device (22), the control entity comprising processing circuitry (68) configured to: receive a report from the first wireless device (22), the report comprising an energy harvesting report and / or a time period when at least one second wireless device (22) may be contacted to obtain an energy level or charging level of the at least one second wireless device (22), the energy harvesting report including at least one estimated energy harvesting metric associated with the at least one second wireless device (22); and perform at least one network action based on the received report.

32. The control entity (16) of Claim 31, wherein the processing circuitry (68) is further configured to: cause transmission of an aperiodic reporting request to the first wireless device (22) via a downlink control channel, the reporting of the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being responsive to the aperiodic reporting request.

33. The control entity (16) of any one of Claims 31 and 32, wherein the processing circuitry (68) is further configured to: receive the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric from the first wireless device (22) based on at least one detected change in harvesting conditions exceeding at least one preconfigured threshold amount.

34. The control entity (16) of any one of Claims 31-33, wherein the processing circuitry (68) is further configured to: configure the first wireless device (22) to emulate an energy harvesting operation by performing at least one aspect of an energy harvesting operation performed at the at least one second wireless device (22), the at least one estimated energy harvesting metric being based on an emulated energy harvesting metric measured at the first wireless device (22).

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