Controlling communication based on energy level in wireless communications

Abstract

The present disclosure is related to controlling communication based on energy level in wireless communications. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a communication device configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: evaluating an energy level available for a communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

Description

CONTROLLING COMMUNICATION BASED ON ENERGY LEVEL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

[0001] The present disclosure is related to controlling communication based on energy level in wireless communications.

[0002] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a technology for enabling high-speed packet communications. Many schemes have been proposed for the LTE objective including those that aim to reduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand and improve coverage and system capacity. The 3GPP LTE requires reduced cost per bit, increased service availability, flexible use of a frequency band, a simple structure, an open interface, and adequate power consumption of a terminal as an upper-level requirement.

[0003] Work has started in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and 3GPP to develop requirements and specifications for New Radio (NR) systems. 3GPP has to identify and develop the technology components needed for successfully standardizing the new RAT timely satisfying both the urgent market needs, and the more long-term requirements set forth by the ITU Radio communication sector (ITU-R) International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020 process. Further, the NR should be able to use any spectrum band ranging at least up to 100 GHz that may be made available for wireless communications even in a more distant future.

[0004] The NR targets a single technical framework addressing all usage scenarios, requirements and deployment scenarios including enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC), etc. The NR shall be inherently forward compatible.

[0005] In wireless communications, an ambient internet-of-things (IoT) device may receive an interrogation signal, and transmit a response signal for the interrogation signal by e.g., backscattering. The transmission / reception by the ambient IoT device, including monitoring of the interrogation signal, may require an energy / energy level available for the ambient IoT device.

[0006] An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide method and apparatus for controlling communication based on energy level in a wireless communication system.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a communication device configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: evaluating an energy level available for a communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by an interrogator device configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprises: transmitting, to a communication device, a triggering signal triggering a transmission or reception by the communication device, wherein the communication device is configured to perform operations comprising: evaluating an energy level available for the communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of the triggering signal, or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold; and performing at least one of the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

[0009] According to various embodiments, apparatuses to implement the above methods are provided.

[0010] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0011] For example, the ambient IoT device can have enough time for energy harvesting before responding to the interrogator, and the interrogator can monitor the response from the Ambient IoT device in a proper time. Therefore, the data loss from the Ambient IoT device transmission can be minimized.

[0012] Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effects listed above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effects that a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understand and / or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that may be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0015] FIG. 3 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0016] FIGs. 4 and 5 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0017] FIG. 6 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0018] FIG. 7 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0019] FIG. 8 shows an example of a procedure of Ambient IoT interrogation.

[0020] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method performed by a communication device for controlling communication based on energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 shows an example of a signal flow between a communication device and an interrogator device for controlling communication based on energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 11 shows an example of UE operations based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 12 shows an example of UE operations after skipping triggering signal monitoring / task performing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 13 shows an example of selective monitoring of triggering signal based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 14 shows an example of selective applying of the received triggering signal based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] The following techniques, apparatuses, and systems may be applied to a variety of wireless multiple access systems. Examples of the multiple access systems include a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) system, and a Multi Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (MC-FDMA) system. CDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), or Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be embodied through radio technology such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, or Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA). UTRA is a part of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a part of Evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using E-UTRA. 3GPP LTE employs OFDMA in downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA in uplink (UL). Evolution of 3GPP LTE includes LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-A Pro, and / or 5G New Radio (NR).

[0027] For convenience of description, implementations of the present disclosure are mainly described in regards to a 3GPP based wireless communication system. However, the technical features of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, although the following detailed description is given based on a mobile communication system corresponding to a 3GPP based wireless communication system, aspects of the present disclosure that are not limited to 3GPP based wireless communication system are applicable to other mobile communication systems.

[0028] For terms and technologies which are not specifically described among the terms of and technologies employed in the present disclosure, the wireless communication standard documents published before the present disclosure may be referenced.

[0029] In the present disclosure, "A or B" may mean "only A", "only B", or "both A and B". In other words, "A or B" in the present disclosure may be interpreted as "A and / or B". For example, "A, B or C" in the present disclosure may mean "only A", "only B", "only C", or "any combination of A, B and C".

[0030] In the present disclosure, slash ( / ) or comma (,) may mean "and / or". For example, "A / B" may mean "A and / or B". Accordingly, "A / B" may mean "only A", "only B", or "both A and B". For example, "A, B, C" may mean "A, B or C".

[0031] In the present disclosure, "at least one of A and B" may mean "only A", "only B" or "both A and B". In addition, the expression "at least one of A or B" or "at least one of A and / or B" in the present disclosure may be interpreted as same as "at least one of A and B".

[0032] In addition, in the present disclosure, "at least one of A, B and C" may mean "only A", "only B", "only C", or "any combination of A, B and C". In addition, "at least one of A, B or C" or "at least one of A, B and / or C" may mean "at least one of A, B and C".

[0033] Also, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean "for example". In detail, when it is shown as "control information (PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In other words, "control information" in the present disclosure is not limited to "PDCCH", and "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In addition, even when shown as "control information (i.e., PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information".

[0034] Technical features that are separately described in one drawing in the present disclosure may be implemented separately or simultaneously.

[0035] Although not limited thereto, various descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be applied to various fields requiring wireless communication and / or connection (e.g., 5G) between devices.

[0036] Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to drawings. The same reference numerals in the following drawings and / or descriptions may refer to the same and / or corresponding hardware blocks, software blocks, and / or functional blocks unless otherwise indicated.

[0037] FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0038] The 5G usage scenarios shown in FIG. 1 are only exemplary, and the technical features of the present disclosure can be applied to other 5G usage scenarios which are not shown in FIG. 1.

[0039] Three main requirement categories for 5G include (1) a category of enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), (2) a category of massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), and (3) a category of Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC).

[0040] Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes wireless devices 100a to 100f, Base Stations (BSs) 200, and a network 300. Although FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G network as an example of the network of the communication system 1, the implementations of the present disclosure are not limited to the 5G system, and can be applied to the future communication system beyond the 5G system.

[0041] The BSs 200 and the network 300 may be implemented as wireless devices and a specific wireless device may operate as a BS / network node with respect to other wireless devices.

[0042] The wireless devices 100a to 100f represent devices performing communication using Radio Access Technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G NR or LTE) and may be referred to as communication / radio / 5G devices. The wireless devices 100a to 100f may include, without being limited to, a robot 100a, vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2, an eXtended Reality (XR) device 100c, a hand-held device 100d, a home appliance 100e, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device 100f, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) device / server 400. For example, the vehicles may include a vehicle having a wireless communication function, an autonomous driving vehicle, and a vehicle capable of performing communication between vehicles. The vehicles may include an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device may include an Augmented Reality (AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) / Mixed Reality (MR) device and may be implemented in the form of a Head-Mounted Device (HMD), a Head-Up Display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance device, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. The hand-held device may include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch or a smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., a notebook). The home appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, and a washing machine. The IoT device may include a sensor and a smartmeter.

[0043] In the present disclosure, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be called User Equipments (UEs). A UE may include, for example, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a navigation system, a slate Personal Computer (PC), a tablet PC, an ultrabook, a vehicle, a vehicle having an autonomous traveling function, a connected car, an UAV, an AI module, a robot, an AR device, a VR device, an MR device, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTC device, an IoT device, a medical device, a FinTech device (or a financial device), a security device, a weather / environment device, a device related to a 5G service, or a device related to a fourth industrial revolution field.

[0044] The wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the network 300 via the BSs 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices 100a to 100f and the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g., NR) network, and a beyond-5G network. Although the wireless devices 100a to 100f may communicate with each other through the BSs 200 / network 300, the wireless devices 100a to 100f may perform direct communication (e.g., sidelink communication) with each other without passing through the BSs 200 / network 300. For example, the vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2 may perform direct communication (e.g., Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) / Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). The IoT device (e.g., a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices 100a to 100f.

[0045] Wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c may be established between the wireless devices 100a to 100f and / or between wireless device 100a to 100f and BS 200 and / or between BSs 200. Herein, the wireless communication / connections may be established through various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink / downlink communication 150a, sidelink communication (or Device-to-Device (D2D) communication) 150b, inter-base station communication 150c (e.g., relay, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)), etc. The wireless devices 100a to 100f and the BSs 200 / the wireless devices 100a to 100f may transmit / receive radio signals to / from each other through the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c. For example, the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c may transmit / receive signals through various physical channels. To this end, at least a part of various configuration information configuring processes, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and resource mapping / de-mapping), and resource allocating processes, for transmitting / receiving radio signals, may be performed based on the various proposals of the present disclosure.

[0046] NR supports multiples numerologies (and / or multiple Sub-Carrier Spacings (SCS)) to support various 5G services. For example, if SCS is 15 kHz, wide area can be supported in traditional cellular bands, and if SCS is 30 kHz / 60 kHz, dense-urban, lower latency, and wider carrier bandwidth can be supported. If SCS is 60 kHz or higher, bandwidths greater than 24.25 GHz can be supported to overcome phase noise.

[0047] The NR frequency band may be defined as two types of frequency range, i.e., Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). The numerical value of the frequency range may be changed. For example, the frequency ranges of the two types (FR1 and FR2) may be as shown in Table 1 below. For ease of explanation, in the frequency ranges used in the NR system, FR1 may mean "sub 6 GHz range", FR2 may mean "above 6 GHz range," and may be referred to as millimeter Wave (mmW).

[0048] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1450MHz - 6000MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0049] As mentioned above, the numerical value of the frequency range of the NR system may be changed. For example, FR1 may include a frequency band of 410MHz to 7125MHz as shown in Table 2 below. That is, FR1 may include a frequency band of 6GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more. For example, a frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more included in FR1 may include an unlicensed band. Unlicensed bands may be used for a variety of purposes, for example for communication for vehicles (e.g., autonomous driving).

[0050] Frequency Range designationCorresponding frequency rangeSubcarrier SpacingFR1410MHz - 7125MHz15, 30, 60kHzFR224250MHz - 52600MHz60, 120, 240kHz

[0051] Here, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) technology for low-power communication as well as LTE, NR and 6G. For example, NB-IoT technology may be an example of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology, may be implemented in specifications such as LTE Cat NB1 and / or LTE Cat NB2, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. Additionally and / or alternatively, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may communicate based on LTE-M technology. For example, LTE-M technology may be an example of LPWAN technology and be called by various names such as enhanced MTC (eMTC). For example, LTE-M technology may be implemented in at least one of the various specifications, such as 1) LTE Cat 0, 2) LTE Cat M1, 3) LTE Cat M2, 4) LTE non-bandwidth limited (non-BL), 5) LTE-MTC, 6) LTE Machine Type Communication, and / or 7) LTE M, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. Additionally and / or alternatively, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include at least one of ZigBee, Bluetooth, and / or LPWAN which take into account low-power communication, and may not be limited to the above-mentioned names. For example, ZigBee technology may generate Personal Area Networks (PANs) associated with small / low-power digital communication based on various specifications such as IEEE 802.15.4 and may be called various names.FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0052] In FIG. 2, The first wireless device 100 and / or the second wireless device 200 may be implemented in various forms according to use cases / services. For example, {the first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspond to at least one of {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the BS 200}, {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the wireless device 100a to 100f} and / or {the BS 200 and the BS 200} of FIG. 1. The first wireless device 100 and / or the second wireless device 200 may be configured by various elements, devices / parts, and / or modules.

[0053] The first wireless device 100 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 106, at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 101, and / or one or more antennas 108.

[0054] The processing chip 101 may include at least one processor, such a processor 102, and at least one memory, such as a memory 104. Additional and / or alternatively, the memory 104 may be placed outside of the processing chip 101.

[0055] The processor 102 may control the memory 104 and / or the transceiver 106 and may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor 102 may process information within the memory 104 to generate first information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the first information / signals through the transceiver 106. The processor 102 may receive radio signals including second information / signals through the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained by processing the second information / signals in the memory 104.

[0056] The memory 104 may be operably connectable to the processor 102. The memory 104 may store various types of information and / or instructions. The memory 104 may store a firmware and / or a software code 105 which implements codes, commands, and / or a set of commands that, when executed by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may control the processor 102 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 105 may control the processor 102 to perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0057] Herein, the processor 102 and the memory 104 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 106 may be connected to the processor 102 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 106 may be interchangeably used with Radio Frequency (RF) unit(s). In the present disclosure, the first wireless device 100 may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0058] The second wireless device 200 may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver 206, at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip 201, and / or one or more antennas 208.

[0059] The processing chip 201 may include at least one processor, such a processor 202, and at least one memory, such as a memory 204. Additional and / or alternatively, the memory 204 may be placed outside of the processing chip 201.

[0060] The processor 202 may control the memory 204 and / or the transceiver 206 and may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor 202 may process information within the memory 204 to generate third information / signals and then transmit radio signals including the third information / signals through the transceiver 206. The processor 202 may receive radio signals including fourth information / signals through the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained by processing the fourth information / signals in the memory 204.

[0061] The memory 204 may be operably connectable to the processor 202. The memory 204 may store various types of information and / or instructions. The memory 204 may store a firmware and / or a software code 205 which implements codes, commands, and / or a set of commands that, when executed by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may control the processor 202 to perform one or more protocols. For example, the firmware and / or the software code 205 may control the processor 202 to perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

[0062] Herein, the processor 202 and the memory 204 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver 206 may be connected to the processor 202 and transmit and / or receive radio signals through one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 206 may be interchangeably used with RF unit. In the present disclosure, the second wireless device 200 may represent a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0063] Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 will be described more specifically. One or more protocol layers may be implemented by, without being limited to, one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as Physical (PHY) layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer). The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more Protocol Data Units (PDUs), one or more Service Data Unit (SDUs), messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure and provide the generated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g., baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and acquire the PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure.

[0064] The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), one or more Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may be configured by a set of a communication control processor, an Application Processor (AP), an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), and a memory control processor.

[0065] The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals, messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and / or commands. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured by Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drive, register, cash memory, computer-readable storage medium, and / or combinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be located at the interior and / or exterior of the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies such as wired or wireless connection.

[0066] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, to one or more other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, from one or more other devices. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit and receive radio signals. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, or radio signals to one or more other devices. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, or radio signals from one or more other devices.

[0067] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more antennas 108 and 208. Additionally and / or alternatively, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include one or more antennas 108 and 208. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be adapted to transmit and receive user data, control information, and / or radio signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, through the one or more antennas 108 and 208. In the present disclosure, the one or more antennas 108 and 208 may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

[0068] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., from RF band signals into baseband signals in order to process received user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., using the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., processed using the one or more processors 102 and 202 from the base band signals into the RF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to OFDM signals by their (analog) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit the up-converted OFDM signals at the carrier frequency. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDM signals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analog) oscillators and / or filters under the control of the one or more processors 102 and 202.

[0069] Although not shown in FIG. 2, the wireless devices 100 and 200 may further include additional components. The additional components 140 may be variously configured according to types of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the additional components 140 may include at least one of a power unit / battery, an Input / Output (I / O) device (e.g., audio I / O port, video I / O port), a driving device, and a computing device. The additional components 140 may be coupled to the one or more processors 102 and 202 via various technologies, such as a wired or wireless connection.

[0070] In the implementations of the present disclosure, a UE may operate as a transmitting device in Uplink (UL) and as a receiving device in Downlink (DL). In the implementations of the present disclosure, a BS may operate as a receiving device in UL and as a transmitting device in DL. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is mainly assumed that the first wireless device 100 acts as the UE, and the second wireless device 200 acts as the BS. For example, the processor(s) 102 connected to, mounted on or launched in the first wireless device 100 may be adapted to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 106 to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The processor(s) 202 connected to, mounted on or launched in the second wireless device 200 may be adapted to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 206 to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure.

[0071] In the present disclosure, a BS is also referred to as a node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), or a gNB.

[0072] FIG. 3 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0073] Referring to FIG. 3, a UE 100 may correspond to the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 2.

[0074] A UE 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a transceiver 106, one or more antennas 108, a power management module 141, a battery 142, a display 143, a keypad 144, a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card 145, a speaker 146, and a microphone 147.

[0075] The processor 102 may be adapted to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor 102 may be adapted to control one or more other components of the UE 100 to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 102. The processor 102 may include ASIC, other chipset, logic circuit and / or data processing device. The processor 102 may be an application processor. The processor 102 may include at least one of DSP, CPU, GPU, a modem (modulator and demodulator). An example of the processor 102 may be found in SNAPDRAGONTMseries of processors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOSTMseries of processors made by Samsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIOTMseries of processors made by MediaTek®, ATOMTMseries of processors made by Intel®or a corresponding next generation processor.

[0076] The memory 104 is operatively coupled with the processor 102 and stores a variety of information to operate the processor 102. The memory 104 may include ROM, RAM, flash memory, memory card, storage medium and / or other storage device. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The modules can be stored in the memory 104 and executed by the processor 102. The memory 104 can be implemented within the processor 102 or external to the processor 102 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the processor 102 via various means as is known in the art.

[0077] The transceiver 106 is operatively coupled with the processor 102, and transmits and / or receives a radio signal. The transceiver 106 includes a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 106 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. The transceiver 106 controls the one or more antennas 108 to transmit and / or receive a radio signal.

[0078] The power management module 141 manages power for the processor 102 and / or the transceiver 106. The battery 142 supplies power to the power management module 141.

[0079] The display 143 outputs results processed by the processor 102. The keypad 144 receives inputs to be used by the processor 102. The keypad 144 may be shown on the display 143.

[0080] The SIM card 145 is an　integrated circuit　that is intended to　securely store the　International Mobile Subscriber Identity　(IMSI) number and its related　key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on　mobile telephony　devices (such as　mobile phones　and　computers). It is also possible to store contact information on many SIM cards.

[0081] The speaker 146 outputs sound-related results processed by the processor 102. The microphone 147 receives sound-related inputs to be used by the processor 102.

[0082] FIGs. 4 and 5 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0083] In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a radio interface user plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a radio interface control plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS. The control plane refers to a path through which control messages used to manage call by a UE and a network are transported. The user plane refers to a path through which data generated in an application layer, for example, voice data or Internet packet data are transported. Referring to FIG. 4, the user plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (L1, for example PHY layer) and Layer 2 (L2, for example MAC / RLC / PDCP layer). Referring to FIG. 5, the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (L1, for example PHY layer), Layer 2 (L2, for example MAC / RLC / PDCP layer), Layer 3 (L3, for example an RRC layer), and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer. Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 are referred to as an access stratum (AS).

[0084] In the 3GPP LTE system, the Layer 2 is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, and PDCP. In the 3GPP NR system, the Layer 2 is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, PDCP and SDAP. The PHY layer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels, the MAC sublayer offers to the RLC sublayer logical channels, the RLC sublayer offers to the PDCP sublayer RLC channels, the PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAP sublayer radio bearers. The SDAP sublayer offers to 5G core network quality of service (QoS) flows.

[0085] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the MAC sublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transport channels; multiplexing / de-multiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels into / from transport blocks (TB) delivered to / from the physical layer on transport channels; scheduling information reporting; error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA)); priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; priority handling between logical channels of one UE by means of logical channel prioritization; padding. A single MAC entity may support multiple numerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s), and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

[0086] Different kinds of data transfer services are offered by MAC. To accommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types of logical channels are defined, i.e., each supporting transfer of a particular type of information. Each logical channel type is defined by what type of information is transferred. Logical channels are classified into two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channels are used for the transfer of control plane information only, and traffic channels are used for the transfer of user plane information only. Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a downlink logical channel for broadcasting system control information, paging control channel (PCCH) is a downlink logical channel that transfers paging information, system information change notifications and indications of ongoing public warning service (PWS) broadcasts, common control channel (CCCH) is a logical channel for transmitting control information between UEs and network and used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network, and dedicated control channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directional logical channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE and the network and used by UEs having an RRC connection. Dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point logical channel, dedicated to one UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in both uplink and downlink. In downlink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: BCCH can be mapped to broadcast channel (BCH); BCCH can be mapped to downlink shared channel (DL-SCH); PCCH can be mapped to paging channel (PCH); CCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to DL-SCH. In uplink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: CCCH can be mapped to uplink shared channel (UL-SCH); DCCH can be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to UL-SCH.

[0087] The RLC sublayer supports three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged node (AM). The RLC configuration is per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and / or transmission durations. In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the transmission mode and include: transfer of upper layer PDUs; sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP (UM and AM); error correction through ARQ (AM only); segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs; reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); duplicate detection (AM only); RLC SDU discard (AM and UM); RLC re-establishment; protocol error detection (AM only).

[0088] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane include: sequence numbering; header compression and decompression using robust header compression (ROHC); transfer of user data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers); retransmission of PDCP SDUs; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; PDCP SDU discard; PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM; PDCP status reporting for RLC AM; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers. The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the control plane include: sequence numbering; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; transfer of control plane data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers.

[0089] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of SDAP include: mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer; marking QoS flow ID (QFI) in both DL and UL packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP is configured for each individual PDU session.

[0090] In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRC sublayer include: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs); mobility functions (including: handover and context transfer, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure; NAS message transfer to / from NAS from / to UE.

[0091] FIG. 6 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0092] The frame structure shown in FIG. 6 is purely exemplary and the number of subframes, the number of slots, and / or the number of symbols in a frame may be variously changed. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, OFDM numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), transmission time interval (TTI) duration) may be differently configured between a plurality of cells aggregated for one UE. For example, if a UE is configured with different SCSs for cells aggregated for the cell, an (absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot, or a TTI) including the same number of symbols may be different among the aggregated cells. Herein, symbols may include OFDM symbols (or CP-OFDM symbols), SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

[0093] Referring to FIG. 6, downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames. Each frame has Tf= 10ms duration. Each frame is divided into two half-frames, where each of the half-frames has 5ms duration. Each half-frame consists of 5 subframes, where the duration Tsfper subframe is 1ms. Each subframe is divided into slots and the number of slots in a subframe depends on a subcarrier spacing. Each slot includes 14 or 12 OFDM symbols based on a cyclic prefix (CP). In a normal CP, each slot includes 14 OFDM symbols and, in an extended CP, each slot includes 12 OFDM symbols. The numerology is based on exponentially scalable subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0094] Table 3 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frameNframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslotfor the normal CP, according to the subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0095] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot01410111420221440431480841416016

[0096] Table 4 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frameNframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslotfor the extended CP, according to the subcarrier spacing βf = 2u*15 kHz.

[0097] uNslotsymbNframe,uslotNsubframe,uslot212404

[0098] A slot includes plural symbols (e.g., 14 or 12 symbols) in the time domain. For each numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, a resource grid ofNsize,ugrid,x*NRBscsubcarriers andNsubframe,usymbOFDM symbols is defined, starting at common resource block (CRB)Nstart,ugridindicated by higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), whereNsize,ugrid,xis the number of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid and the subscript x is DL for downlink and UL for uplink.NRBscis the number of subcarriers per RB. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system,NRBscis 12 generally. There is one resource grid for a given antenna portp, subcarrier spacing configurationu, and transmission direction (DL or UL). The carrier bandwidthNsize,ugridfor subcarrier spacing configurationuis given by the higher-layer parameter (e.g., RRC parameter). Each element in the resource grid for the antenna portpand the subcarrier spacing configurationuis referred to as a resource element (RE) and one complex symbol may be mapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identified by an indexkin the frequency domain and an indexlrepresenting a symbol location relative to a reference point in the time domain. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, an RB is defined by 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. As shown in FIG. 6, as SCS doubles, the slot length and symbol length are halved. For example, when SCS is 15kHz, the slot length is 1ms, which is the same as the subframe length. When SCS is 30kHz, the slot length is 0.5ms (=500us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 15kHz. When SCS is 60kHz, the slot length is 0.25ms (=250us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 30kHz. When SCS is 120kHz, the slot length is 0.125ms (=125us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 60kHz. When SCS is 240kHz, the slot length is 0.0625ms (=62.5us), and the symbol length is half of that when the SCS is 120kHz.

[0099] In the 3GPP NR system, RBs are classified into CRBs and physical resource blocks (PRBs). CRBs are numbered from 0 and upwards in the frequency domain for subcarrier spacing configurationu. The center of subcarrier 0 of CRB 0 for subcarrier spacing configurationucoincides with 'point A' which serves as a common reference point for resource block grids. In the 3GPP NR system, PRBs are defined within a bandwidth part (BWP) and numbered from 0 toNsizeBWP,i-1, where i is the number of the bandwidth part. The relation between the physical resource block nPRBin the bandwidth part i and the common resource block nCRBis as follows: nPRB= nCRB+NsizeBWP,i, whereNsizeBWP,iis the common resource block where bandwidth part starts relative to CRB 0. The BWP includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. A carrier may include a maximum of N (e.g., 5) BWPs. A UE may be configured with one or more BWPs on a given component carrier. Only one BWP among BWPs configured to the UE can active at a time. The active BWP defines the UE's operating bandwidth within the cell's operating bandwidth.

[0100] In the present disclosure, the term "cell" may refer to a geographic area to which one or more nodes provide a communication system, or refer to radio resources. A "cell" as a geographic area may be understood as coverage within which a node can provide service using a carrier and a "cell" as radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) is associated with bandwidth which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. The "cell" associated with the radio resources is defined by a combination of downlink resources and uplink resources, for example, a combination of a DL component carrier (CC) and a UL CC. The cell may be configured by downlink resources only, or may be configured by downlink resources and uplink resources. Since DL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of transmitting a valid signal, and UL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of receiving the valid signal from the UE, depends upon a carrier carrying the signal, the coverage of the node may be associated with coverage of the "cell" of radio resources used by the node. Accordingly, the term "cell" may be used to represent service coverage of the node sometimes, radio resources at other times, or a range that signals using the radio resources can reach with valid strength at other times.

[0101] In CA, two or more CCs are aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs. When CA is configured, the UE only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment / re-establishment / handover, one serving cell provides the NAS mobility information, and at RRC connection re-establishment / handover, one serving cell provides the security input. This cell is referred to as the primary cell (PCell). The PCell is a cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure. Depending on UE capabilities, secondary cells (SCells) can be configured to form together with the PCell a set of serving cells. An SCell is a cell providing additional radio resources on top of special cell (SpCell). The configured set of serving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one or more SCells. For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term SpCell refers to the PCell of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary SCell (PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG). An SpCell supports PUCCH transmission and contention-based random access, and is always activated. The MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a master node, comprised of the SpCell (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells. The SCG is the subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node, comprised of the PSCell and zero or more SCells, for a UE configured with DC. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA / DC, there is only one serving cell comprised of the PCell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA / DC, the term "serving cells" is used to denote the set of cells comprised of the SpCell(s) and all SCells. In DC, two MAC entities are configured in a UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

[0102] FIG. 7 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

[0103] Referring to FIG. 7, "RB" denotes a radio bearer, and "H" denotes a header. Radio bearers are categorized into two groups: DRBs for user plane data and SRBs for control plane data. The MAC PDU is transmitted / received using radio resources through the PHY layer to / from an external device. The MAC PDU arrives to the PHY layer in the form of a transport block.

[0104] In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and random access channel (RACH) are mapped to their physical channels physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and physical random access channel (PRACH), respectively, and the downlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and PDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink control information (UCI) is mapped to physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and downlink control information (DCI) is mapped to physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). A MAC PDU related to UL-SCH is transmitted by a UE via a PUSCH based on an UL grant, and a MAC PDU related to DL-SCH is transmitted by a BS via a PDSCH based on a DL assignment.

[0105] Meanwhile, IoT has attracted much attention in wireless communications. More 'things' are expected to be interconnected for improving productivity efficiency and increasing comforts of life. Further reduction of size, complexity, and / or power consumption of IoT devices can enable the deployment of tens or even hundreds of billion IoT devices for various applications and provide added value across the entire value chain. It is impossible to power all the IoT devices by battery that needs to be replaced or recharged manually, which leads to high maintenance cost, serious environmental issues, and even safety hazards for some use cases.

[0106] Most of the existing wireless communication devices are powered by battery that needs to be replaced or recharged manually. The automation and digitalization of various industries open numbers of new markets requiring new IoT technologies of supporting battery-less devices with no energy storage capability or devices with energy storage that do not need to be replaced or recharged manually. The form factor of such devices must be reasonably small to convey the validity of target use cases.

[0107] The Ambient IoT devices are either battery-less or with limited energy storage capability (i.e., using a capacitor) and the energy is provided through the harvesting of radio waves, light, motion, heat, or any other power source that could be seen suitable.

[0108] Ambient IoT devices may be characterized as below, according to their energy storage capacity, and / or capability of generating RF signals for their transmissions:

[0109] - Device A: No energy storage, no independent signal generation / amplification, i.e., backscattering transmission.

[0110] - Device B: Has energy storage, no independent signal generation, i.e., backscattering transmission. Use of stored energy can include amplification for reflected signals.

[0111] - Device C: Has energy storage, has independent signal generation, i.e., active RF components for transmission.

[0112] A limited energy storage can be different among implementations within Device B or implementations within Device C, and different between Device B and Device C. Such storage is expected to be order(s) of magnitude smaller than an NB-IoT device would typically include.

[0113] Device A, B, and C are able to demodulate control, data, etc from the relevant entity in RAN according to connectivity topology.

[0114] Considering the limited size and complexity required by practical applications for battery-less devices with no energy storage capability or devices with limited energy storage that do not need to be replaced or recharged manually, the output power of energy harvester is typically from 1μW to a few hundreds of μW. Existing cellular devices may not work well with energy harvesting due to their peak power consumption of higher than 10mW.

[0115] FIG. 8 shows an example of a procedure of Ambient IoT interrogation.

[0116] Referring to FIG. 8, due to the limited energy storage capability, the Ambient IoT device may perform transmission by means of backscattering. The backscattering transmission may use energy which is picked up from an interrogation signal by antenna. The picked-up energy is then converted into tens to hundreds of microwatts of electricity. The Ambient IoT device may use that power to modify and reflect the signal with encoded data. Antennas on other devices (i.e., interrogator such as UE / network node), in turn, may detect that signal and can respond accordingly.

[0117] When the Ambient IoT device receives an interrogation signal from an interrogator, the Ambient IoT may generate different response messages depending on what the interrogation signal interrogates.

[0118] For example, regarding logistics center, the interrogation signal may interrogate at least one of the followings:

[0119] - Tracking number;

[0120] - Sender address; or

[0121] - Receiver address.

[0122] All the above information may be stored and / or pre-programmed in the Ambient IoT device memory, and based on the interrogation signal, the Ambient IoT may transmit a response message to the interrogator by backscattering.

[0123] The response message may comprise at least one of:

[0124] - Tracking number;

[0125] - Tracking number + Sender address;

[0126] - Tracking number + Receiver address; or

[0127] - Tracking number + Sender address + Receiver address.

[0128] As the response message includes different information, the size of data that needs to be transmitted may be different, and therefore the energy harvesting time to transmit the data would be different.

[0129] The interrogation signal may be considered as a triggering signal such that the triggering signal triggers the UE to transmit / receive data in the corresponding duration / timing for the transmission / reception

[0130] The problem may be that even if Ambient IoT UE receives triggering signal for transmission / reception, the Ambient IoT UE may fail to complete the corresponding task due to insufficient energy level. In this case, any attempts related to the task including the monitoring of the triggering signal and / or the transmission / reception as indicated by the triggering signal may be considered as waste of energy.

[0131] Therefore, the present disclosure provides various embodiments for controlling communication based on energy level.

[0132] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method performed by a communication device for controlling communication based on energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device may comprise an ambient IoT device.

[0133] Referring to FIG. 9, in step S901, the communication device may evaluate an energy level available for the communication device.

[0134] In step S903, the communication device may compare the energy level with a threshold.

[0135] In step S905, the communication device may perform at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0136] According to various embodiments, the energy level available for the communication device may comprise at least one of an energy level currently accumulated in the communication device, or an energy level expected to be obtained by the communication device.

[0137] According to various embodiments, an energy related to the energy level may comprise at least one of an energy obtained from the triggering signal, or an energy stored in an energy storage of the communication device.

[0138] According to various embodiments, the communication device may skip one or more operations related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being lower than the threshold. The one or more operations related to the triggering signal may comprise at least one of the monitoring of the triggering signal, or the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

[0139] According to various embodiments, the communication device may transmit notification information notifying that the one or more operations related to the triggering signal are skipped.

[0140] According to various embodiments, the notification information may comprise information for a timing on which the skipped one or more operations will be resumed.

[0141] According to various embodiments, after skipping the one or more operations related to the triggering signal, the communication device may obtain an energy from one or more signals received by the communication device. The communication device may update the energy level available for the communication device based on obtaining the energy. The communication device may resume the one or more operations related to the triggering signal, based on the updated energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0142] According to various embodiments, the triggering signal may comprise at least one of information for the threshold, or timing information for at least one of i) the monitoring of the triggering signal or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

[0143] According to various embodiments, the communication device may determine the threshold based on at least one of a data volume for the transmission or reception, a time required for the transmission or reception of data with the data volume, a required energy level per unit time for the transmission or reception, or a scaling factor.

[0144] According to various embodiments, the time required for the transmission or reception may be determined based on a communication format comprising at least one of a modulation scheme, coding scheme or a transport block size. The communication format may be indicated by the triggering signal, selected by the communication device, or pre-configured.

[0145] According to various embodiments, the communication device may transmit a report comprising information for the energy level available for the communication device.

[0146] According to various embodiments, the communication device may enter an awake state based on the energy level being higher than the threshold. The communication device may enter a sleep state based on the energy level being lower than the threshold. The awake state may be a state in which the communication device monitors the triggering signal based on a first periodicity. The sleep state may be a state in which the communication device monitors the triggering signal based on a second periodicity longer than the first periodicity, or does not monitor the triggering signal.

[0147] FIG. 10 shows an example of a signal flow between a communication device and an interrogator device for controlling communication based on energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device may comprise an ambient IoT device, and the interrogator device may comprise UE / network node.

[0148] Referring to FIG. 10, in step S1001, the communication device may evaluate an energy level available for the communication device.

[0149] In step S1003, the communication device may compare the energy level with a threshold.

[0150] In step S1005, the interrogator device may transmit, to the communication device, a triggering signal for a transmission or reception by the communication device.

[0151] In step S1007, the communication device may perform at least one of i) a monitoring of the triggering signal, or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0152] In step S1009, the interrogator device may perform at least one of the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

[0153] Hereinafter, detailed implementations regarding controlling communication based on energy level are described.

[0154] FIG. 11 shows an example of UE operations based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0155] Referring to FIG. 11, UE (e.g., ambient IoT UE) may evaluate its energy level available for communication. For example, UE may calculate the energy level only considering the currently available (or accumulated) energy level. For example, UE may calculate the energy level by considering energy level at a future time, where the future energy level is determined based on the currently available energy level as well as expected level of energy harvesting until the future time.

[0156] Based on the available energy level, UE may determine whether to monitor a triggering signal or perform a task of transmission / reception related to the triggering signal, where the UE needs to receive the triggering signal to trigger the task. If available energy level is not sufficient to complete the task, the UE may skip monitoring the triggering signal and / or performing the task. If available energy level is considered sufficient, the UE may monitor the triggering signal and / or perform the task.

[0157] FIG. 12 shows an example of UE operations after skipping triggering signal monitoring / task performing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0158] Referring to FIG. 12, if UE skips monitoring the triggering signal or skips the required task of transmission / reception indicated by the received triggering signal, UE may inform network of the skipping. UE may indicate a future time at which the skipped scheduling (transmit / reception) can be resumed. After the skipping, the UE can harvest energy.

[0159] If UE skips monitoring the triggering signal or skips the required task of transmission / reception indicated by the received triggering signal, UE may resume the skipped scheduling (transmit / reception) at next available transmission / reception time window (or timing), where the next available time window (or timing) may be indicated by the triggering signal or preconfigured / predefined at the UE. The next available time window (or timing) may be determined based on the current time window (or timing) related to the skipped scheduling and / or time offset, where the next available time window (or timing) may be offset ahead to the current time window (or timing).

[0160] FIG. 13 shows an example of selective monitoring of triggering signal based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0161] Referring to FIG. 13, in step S1301, UE may evaluate available energy level.

[0162] In step S1303, UE may compare the available energy level with a threshold. UE may determine whether to monitor a triggering signal based on the available energy level.

[0163] In step S1305, if / while the available energy level is lower than the threshold, UE may skip monitoring the triggering signal.

[0164] In step S1307, if the UE energy level is above the threshold, UE may monitor the triggering signal.

[0165] The considered UE energy level may be an energy level that can be used for:

[0166] i) monitoring the triggering signal;

[0167] ii) performing a transmission / reception task according to the monitoring signal (e.g., triggering signal); and / or

[0168] iii) performing other necessary operations related to the monitoring of the triggering signal and / or performing the transmission / reception task.

[0169] FIG. 14 shows an example of selective applying of the received triggering signal based on UE energy level according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0170] Referring to FIG. 14, in step S1401, UE may receive a triggering signal for transmission / reception.

[0171] The UE may identify that the triggering signal is addressed to the UE and / or UE group including the UE ID (e.g., ID of the UE).

[0172] The UE may identify that the triggering signal is to trigger the UE to perform a transmission / reception of data. The triggering signal may indicate time information during / at which the transmission / reception by the UE is expected to be performed.

[0173] In step S1403, the UE may calculate required energy to perform the transmission / reception as indicated by the triggering signal.

[0174] For example, UE may calculate the required energy level for transmission by considering factors such as data volume to transmit, time required to transmit the data volume, required energy level per unit time for transmission, and / or a scaling factor. For the calculation of the time required for transmission, a certain transmission format (e.g., modulation / coding, if done / TB size) may be used. If the triggering signal indicates the transmission format, UE may use the format for the calculation. If the triggering signal does not indicate the transmission format, UE may select a certain format for the calculation, where the selected format may be i) a format which UE will use for the transmission, or ii) a pre-defined / pre-configured format. UE may calculate the required energy level for the transmission of the data volume by multiplying at least one of these factors.

[0175] For example, UE may calculate the required energy level for reception by considering factors such as data volume to receive, time required to receive the data volume, required energy level per unit time for reception, and / or a scaling factor. For the calculation of the time required for reception, a certain reception format (e.g., modulation / coding, if done / TB size) may be used. If the triggering signal indicates the reception format, UE may use the format for the calculation. If the triggering signal does not indicate the reception format, UE may select a certain format for the calculation, where the selected format may be i) a format which UE will use for the reception, or ii) a pre-defined / pre-configured format. UE may calculate the required energy level by multiplying at least one of these factors.

[0176] In step S1405, UE may compare the available energy level with a threshold (e.g., required energy level).

[0177] In step S1407, if the available energy level is lower than a threshold, UE may skip applying the triggering signal. That is, UE may skip (or does not perform) the task of transmission / reception indicated by the triggering signal. The threshold may be set according to the required energy level calculated by the UE.

[0178] In step S1409, if the available energy level is above the threshold, UE may apply the triggering signal. That is, UE may perform the task of transmission / reception indicated by the triggering signal.

[0179] According to various embodiments, the communication device (e.g., UE / ambient IoT device) may determine an available energy level. The communication device may determine whether to perform transmission or reception based on the available energy level. The communication device may skip the transmission or reception by performing at least one of a) skipping monitoring of a triggering signal related to the transmission or reception, or b) receiving the triggering signal but skipping the transmission or the reception, where the triggering signal triggers the transmission or reception by the UE.

[0180] The communication device may skip the monitoring of the triggering signal based on the available energy level being lower than a first threshold.

[0181] The communication device may receive the triggering signal but skipping the transmission based on the available energy level being lower than a second threshold,

[0182] The communication device may perform the monitoring of the triggering signal at a time duration in which UE has sufficient energy level to perform the transmission or the reception.

[0183] The communication device may perform the transmission or reception that was skipped at a time duration in which UE has sufficient energy level to perform the transmission or the reception.

[0184] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the communication device described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 9) may be performed by the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and / or the UE 100 shown in FIG. 3.

[0185] More specifically, the UE comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations.

[0186] The operations comprise: evaluating an energy level available for a communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0187] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the communication device described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 9) may be performed by a software code 105 stored in the memory 104 included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2.

[0188] More specifically, at least one computer readable medium (CRM) stores instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising: evaluating an energy level available for a communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0189] Furthermore, the method in perspective of the communication device described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 9) may be performed by control of the processor 102 included in the first wireless device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and / or by control of the processor 102 included in the UE 100 shown in FIG. 3.

[0190] More specifically, an apparatus configured to / adapted to operate in a wireless communication system (e.g., communication device / UE) comprises at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to / adapted to perform operations comprising: evaluating an energy level available for a communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.

[0191] Furthermore, the method in perspective of a network node described in the present disclosure (e.g., in FIG. 10) may be performed by the second wireless device 200 shown in FIG. 2. The network node may be related to a serving cell.

[0192] More specifically, the network node comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations.

[0193] The operations comprise: transmitting, to a communication device, a triggering signal triggering a transmission or reception by the communication device, wherein the communication device is configured to perform operations comprising: evaluating an energy level available for the communication device; comparing the energy level with a threshold; and performing at least one of i) a monitoring of the triggering signal, or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold; and performing at least one of the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

[0194] The present disclosure may have various advantageous effects.

[0195] For example, the ambient IoT device can have enough time for energy harvesting before responding to the interrogator, and the interrogator can monitor the response from the Ambient IoT device in a proper time. Therefore, the data loss from the Ambient IoT device transmission can be minimized.

[0196] Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effects listed above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effects that a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understand and / or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that may be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0197] Claims in the present disclosure can be combined in a various way. For instance, technical features in method claims of the present disclosure can be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus, and technical features in apparatus claims can be combined to be implemented or performed in a method. Further, technical features in method claim(s) and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus. Further, technical features in method claim(s) and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in a method. Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1.A method comprising:evaluating an energy level available for a communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the energy level available for the communication device comprises at least one of an energy level currently accumulated in the communication device, or an energy level expected to be obtained by the communication device.3.The method of claim 1, wherein an energy related to the energy level comprises at least one of an energy obtained from the triggering signal, or an energy stored in an energy storage of the communication device.4.The method of claim 1, further comprising skipping one or more operations related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being lower than the threshold,wherein the one or more operations related to the triggering signal comprise at least one of the monitoring of the triggering signal, or the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.5.The method of claim 4, further comprising transmitting notification information notifying that the one or more operations related to the triggering signal are skipped.6.The method of claim 5, wherein the notification information comprises information for a timing on which the skipped one or more operations will be resumed.7.The method of claim 4, after skipping the one or more operations related to the triggering signal, further comprising:obtaining an energy from one or more signals received by the communication device;updating the energy level available for the communication device based on obtaining the energy; andresuming the one or more operations related to the triggering signal, based on the updated energy level being higher than the threshold.8.The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering signal comprises at least one of information for the threshold, or timing information for at least one of i) the monitoring of the triggering signal or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.9.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the threshold based on at least one of a data volume for the transmission or reception, a time required for the transmission or reception of data with the data volume, a required energy level per unit time for the transmission or reception, or a scaling factor.10.The method of claim 9, wherein the time required for the transmission or reception is determined based on a communication format comprising at least one of a modulation scheme, coding scheme or a transport block size, andwherein the communication format is indicated by the triggering signal, selected by the communication device, or pre-configured.11.The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a report comprising information for the energy level available for the communication device.12.The method of claim 1, further comprising:entering an awake state based on the energy level being higher than the threshold, andentering a sleep state based on the energy level being lower than the threshold,wherein the awake state is a state in which the communication device monitors the triggering signal based on a first periodicity, andwherein the sleep state is a state in which the communication device monitors the triggering signal based on a second periodicity longer than the first periodicity, or does not monitor the triggering signal.13.The method of claims 1, wherein the method is performed by the communication device in communication with at least one of a user equipment (UE), a mobile device, a network, or autonomous vehicles.14.A communication device comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:evaluating an energy level available for the communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.15.An apparatus comprising:at least processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:evaluating an energy level available for a communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.16.A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) having stored thereon a program code implementing instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:evaluating an energy level available for a communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of a triggering signal, or ii) transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold.17.A method comprising:transmitting, to a communication device, a triggering signal triggering a transmission or reception by the communication device,wherein the communication device is configured to perform operations comprising:evaluating an energy level available for the communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of the triggering signal, or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold; andperforming at least one of the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.18.An interrogator device comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor; andat least one memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:transmitting, to a communication device, a triggering signal triggering a transmission or reception by the communication device,wherein the communication device is configured to perform operations comprising:evaluating an energy level available for the communication device;comparing the energy level with a threshold; andperforming at least one of i) a monitoring of the triggering signal, or ii) the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal, based on the energy level being higher than the threshold; andperforming at least one of the transmission or reception related to the triggering signal.

Images