Wake-up signal configuration

Abstract

Embodiments of methods performed by a user equipment, UE, and a network node are provided. Corresponding embodiments of UEs and network nodes are also provided. According to some embodiments, a UE receives (510) a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration, and receives (520) a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration. The UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs. The WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

Description

[0001] WAKE-UP SIGNAL CONFIGURATION

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication, and more particularly to configuration of a wake-up signal (WUS) that a network node may transmit to a user equipment (UE).

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Wake-up receiver (WUR), sometimes also referred to as ‘wake-up radio’, is about enabling a low power receiver in user equipments (UEs), which, in case of the detection of a wake-up signal (WUS), may wake up the main (baseband / RF / less power efficient) receiver to detect an incoming message, typically paging (e.g. PDCCH in paging occasions (PO), scheduling the paging message on PDSCH). The main benefit of employing WUR is lowering energy consumption and allowing longer device battery life, or that, at a fixed energy consumption the downlink latency can be reduced (shorter DRX / duty-cycles and more frequent checks for incoming transmissions). Figure 1 illustrates an example of the location of a WUS and the paging occasion to which it is associated.

[0006] In general, there are at least two approaches for detecting WUS:

[0007] • Using the main receiver: o No need for additional dedicated hard ware / recei ver for monitoring WUS. o Coverage of the main receiver is not typically impacted. o Limited power saving gain as the main receiver monitors WUS.

[0008] • Having a dedicated receiver (WUR): o Extremely low power, simple and low-cost receiver architecture, relaxed requirements, noisier (i.e., less accurate) clock or oscillator. o Significant power saving gain can be achieved by maximizing the time in which the main receiver can be in the sleep mode. o Enablers for zero energy / battery-less devices, and energy harvesting operations. o There are coverage considerations given the tradeoff between WUR power consumption and sensitivity.

[0009] As an example, Figure 2 shows that a dedicated wake up radio (WUR) is used for monitoring a wake-up signal (WUS). Once the WUR detects the intended WUS, it wakes up the main (baseband / RF / less power efficient) receiver to detect further incoming messages. Therefore, the main receiver can go to sleep mode and save power until it is triggered by the WUR. Here, the WUR is an ultra-low power and low-complexity receiver which can support simple modulation schemes such as on-off keying (OOK), frequency-shift keying (FSK), or phase shift keying (PSK). However, the WUS is transmitted using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based transmitter.

[0010] WUS for NB-IoT (narrowband internet of things) and LTE-M (also referred to as Long- Term Evolution Machine Type Communication, LTE-MTC)

[0011] Release 15 (Rel-15)

[0012] In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Rel-15 WUS was specified for NB-IoT and LTE-M. The main motivation was UE energy consumption reduction since with the coverage enhancement physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) could be repeated many times and the WUS is relatively much shorter and hence requires less reception time for the UE. The logic is that a UE would check for a WUS a certain time before its PO, and only if a WUS is detected the UE would continue to check for PDCCH in the PO, and if not, which is most of the time, the UE can go back to a sleep state to conserve energy. Due to the coverage enhancements the WUS can be of variable length depending on the UE’s coverage, see Figure ana L 7‘E- .

[0013] A ‘Wake-up signal’ (WUS) is based on the transmission of a short signal that indicates to the UE that it should continue to decode the downlink (DL) control channel e.g. full Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel (NPDCCH) for NB-IoT. If such a signal is absent (DTX, i.e., UE does not detect it) then the UE can go back to sleep without decoding the DL control channel. The decoding time for a WUS is considerably shorter than that of the full NPDCCH since it essentially only needs to contain one bit of information whereas the NPDCCH may contain up to 35 bits of information. This, in turn, reduces UE power consumption and leads to longer UE battery life. The WUS would be transmitted only when there is a paging for the UE. But if there is no paging for the UE then the WUS will not be transmitted (i.e., implying a discontinuous transmission, DTX) and the UE would go back to deep sleep, e.g., upon detecting DTX instead of WUS. This is illustrated in Figure 1, where white blocks indicate possible WUS and PO positions whereas the black boxes indicate actual WUS and PO positions.

[0014] The specification of Rel-15 WUS is spread out over several parts of the LTE 36-series standard, e.g., 36.211, 36.213, 36.304 and 36.331.

[0015] WUS UE grouping objective in Rel-16

[0016] In the 3GPP Rel-16, it was agreed that WUS should be further developed to also include UE grouping, such that the number of UEs that are triggered by a WUS is further narrowed down to a smaller subset of the UEs that are associated with a specific paging occasion (PO).

[0017] The purpose of UE grouping is to reduce the false paging rate, i.e. avoid that a given UE is unnecessarily woken up by a WUS transmission intended for another UE. This feature is referred to as Rel-16 group WUS, or GWUS. However, this is not directly related to WUR and will not further be explained hereafter.

[0018] Rel-17 NR PEI

[0019] In 3GPP Rel-17 discussions started on introducing a WUS for new radio (NR), then called ‘Paging Early Indication’ (PEI). However, since at the time no coverage enhancement was specified for NR, the only gain for Rel-17 PEI was for scenarios where the small fraction of UEs are in bad coverage and with large synchronization error due to the use of longer DRX cycles. The gain for such UEs were that with the use of PEI they would typically only have to acquire one synchronization signal block (SSB) before decoding PEI, instead of up to 3 SSBs if PEI is not used (value according to UE vendors). So, for most UEs, Rel-17 PEI will result in gains or increased performance. Rel-17 PEI will also support UE grouping for false paging reduction, similar to the Rel-16 GWUS above, which will have some gains at higher paging load.

[0020] In RAN#93e it was agreed that PEI will be PDCCH-based, making it much less interesting for WUR (i.e., the main baseband receiver is required for decoding PEI). See for example the following subsection.

[0021] NR WUR

[0022] In 3GPP Rel-18, there has been rather large interest to introduce WUR for NR, with an ambition for achieving more significant energy efficiency improvement compared to solutions already specified in earlier releases. The only specification support needed to be able to use a WUR in the UE, is the specification of a WUS and a long enough time gap between the WUS and the PDCCH in the PO (to allow the UE to start up the main receiver). Therefore, the main difference compared to Rel-17 PEI is that the WUS in Rel-18 should not be PDCCH-based and allow for a simpler and low power receiver, i.e. WUR with simple modulation and detection techniques (e.g. using on-off keying, (OOK) modulation and non-coherent detection). In Rel- 18, a study item on “low-power wake-up signal and receiver for NR” was approved. The relevant justification and objective sections are copied below:

[0023] • Justification

[0024] 5G systems are designed and developed targeting for both mobile telephony and vertical use cases. Besides latency, reliability, and availability, UE energy efficiency is also critical to 5G. Currently, 5G devices may have to be recharged per week or day, depending on individual ’s usage time. In general, 5G devices consume tens of milliwatts in RRC idle / inactive state and hundreds of milliwatts in RRC connected state. Designs to prolong battery life is a necessity for improving energy efficiency as well as for better user experience.

[0025] Energy efficiency is even more critical for UEs without a continuous energy source, e.g., UEs using small rechargeable and single coin cell batteries. Among vertical use cases, sensors and actuators are deployed extensively for monitoring, measuring, charging, etc. Generally, their batteries are not rechargeable and expected to last at least few years as described in TR 38.875. Wearables include smartwatches, rings, eHealth related devices, and medical monitoring devices. With typical battery capacity, it is challenging to sustain up to 1-2 weeks as required.

[0026] The power consumption depends on the configured length of wake-up periods, e.g., paging cycle. To meet the battery life requirements above, eDRX cycle with large value is expected to be used, resulting in high latency, which is not suitable for such services with requirements of both long battery life and low latency. For example, in fire detection and extinguishment use case, fire shutters shall be closed and fire sprinklers shall be turned on by the actuators within 1 to 2 seconds from the time the fire is detected by sensors, long eDRX cycle cannot meet the delay requirements. eDRX is apparently not suitable for latency-critical use cases. Thus, the intention is to study ultra-low power mechanism that can support low latency in Rel-18, e.g. lower than eDRX latency.

[0027] Currently, UEs need to periodically wake up once per DRX cycle, which dominates the power consumption in periods with no signalling or data traffic. If UEs are able to wake up only when they are triggered, e.g., paging, power consumption could be dramatically reduced. This can be achieved by using a wake-up signal to trigger the main radio and a separate receiver which has the ability to monitor wake-up signal with ultra-low power consumption. Main radio works for data transmission and reception, which can be turned off or set to deep sleep unless it is turned on.

[0028] The power consumption for monitoring wake-up signal depends on the wake-up signal design and the hardware module of the wake-up receiver used for signal detecting and processing.

[0029] The study should primarily target low-power WUS / WUR for power-sensitive, small formfactor devices including loT use cases (such as industrial sensors, controllers) and wearables. Other use cases are not precluded, e.g.XR / smart glasses, smart phones.

[0030] • Objective of SI

[0031] As opposed to the work on UE power savings in previous releases, this study will not require existing signals to be used as WUS. All WUS solutions identified shall be able to operate in a cell supporting legacy UEs. Solutions should target substantial gains compared to the existing Rel- 15 / 16 / 17 UE power saving mechanisms. Other aspects such as detection performance, coverage, UE complexity, should be covered by the evaluation.

[0032] The study item includes the following objectives:

[0033] • Identify evaluation methodology (including the use cases) & KPIs [RANI ] o Primarily target low-power WUS / WUR for power-sensitive, small formfactor devices including loT use cases (such as industrial sensors, controllers) and wearables

[0034] ■ Other use cases are not precluded

[0035] • Study and evaluate low-power wake-up receiver architectures [RANI, RAN4 ]

[0036] • Study and evaluate wake-up signal designs to support wake-up receivers [RANI, RAN 4]

[0037] • Study and evaluate LI procedures and higher layer protocol changes needed to support the wake-up signals [RAN2, RANI ]

[0038] • Study potential UE power saving gains compared to the existing Rel- 15 / 16 / 17 UE power saving mechanisms and their coverage availability, as well as latency impact. System impact, such as network power consumption, coexistence with non-low-power-WUR UEs, network coverage / capacity / resource overhead should be included in the study [RANI ] o Note: The need for RAN2 evaluation will be triggered by RANI when necessary. The benefit of WUR is to reduce the energy consumption of the receiver, such that unless there is any paging and data for the UE it can remain in a power saving state. This will extend the battery life of the device, or alternatively enable shorter downlink latency (shorter DRX) at a fixed battery life.

[0039] The Rel-18 study item on “low-power wake-up signal and receiver for NR” is completed and the technical report is provided in: TR 38.869, VO.4.0, “Study on low-power Wake-up Signal and Receiver for NR”. Subsequently, there will be a Rel-19 Work Item to specify the various design aspects of WUS / WUR.

[0040] For Rel-19, a work item has been agreed to specify the wake-up signal for both RRC Idle / Inactive and RRC Connected states: RP-234056, New WID: Low-power wake-up signal and receiver for NR (LP WUS / WUR). The objectives are the following:

[0041] The objectives of the work item are the following:

[0042] • To specify an LP-WUS design commonly applicable to both IDLE / INACTIVE and CONNECTED modes (RANI, RAN4)

[0043] • Specify OOK (OOK-1 and / or OOK-4) based LP-WUS with overlaid OFDM sequence(s) over OOK symbol

[0044] • The LP-WUS design shall ensure that for IDLE / INACTIVE operation, the same information is delivered irrespective of LP- WUR type. The OFDM sequence can carry information.

[0045] • Note:

[0046] • OOK1 is an on-off keying (OOK) waveform with single segment within one OFDM symbol

[0047] • OOK4 is an OOK waveform with multiple segments within one OFDM symbols

[0048] • At least duty-cycled monitoring of LP-WUS is supported

[0049] • For IDLE / INACTIVE modes

[0050] • Specify procedure and configuration of LP-WUS indicating paging monitoring triggered by LP-WUS, including at least configuration, subgrouping and entry / exit condition for LP-WUS monitoring (RAN2, RANI, RAN3, RAN4) • Specify LP-SS with periodicity with Yms for LP-WUR, for synchronization and / or RRM for serving cell. (RANI, RAN 4)

[0051] • LP-SS is based on OOK-1 and / or OOK-4 waveform with or without overlaid OFDM sequences. Further down selection between with and without overlaid OFDM sequences is to be done within WI.

[0052] • Note: For LP-WUR that can receive existing PSS / SSS, existing PSS / SSS can be used for synchronization and RRM instead of LP-SS.

[0053] • Y will be decided within WI. 320ms is the start point.

[0054] • Specify further RRM relaxation of UE MR for both serving and neighbor cell measurements, and UE serving cell RRM measurement offloaded from MR to LP-WUR, including the necessary conditions (RAN4, RAN2)

[0055] • For CONNECTED mode, specify procedures to allow UEMR PDCCH monitoring triggered by LP-WUS including activation and deactivation procedure of LP-WUS monitoring (RAN2, RANI)

[0056] • Check in RAN 105 for potential TU adjustment in RAN2

[0057] • Note: In CONNECTED mode, UEMR ultra-deep sleep is not considered, and UE RRM / RLM / BFD / CSI measurements are performed by MR

[0058] • Note: The target coverage of LP-WUS and LP-SS shall be the coverage of PUSCH for message!.

[0059] • Note: The optimization of LP-WUS signal design for idle / inactive mode is prioritized over the optimization for connected mode.

[0060] • Specify the necessary RAN4 core requirement(s) to support the feature (RAN4).

[0061] • This objective is to be further refined in RAN# 103

[0062] Ambient loT (internet of things) and zero energy devices

[0063] The 3GPP Rel-18 and Rel-19 is studying the concept of Zero-Energy (ZE) loT, also known as Ambient loT. These devices are designed to operate without the need for manual battery replacement or recharging by harvesting energy from the surrounding environment, resulting in low maintenance and long-lasting functionality. However, the small size, ultra-low cost, and battery-less nature of ZE loT devices present unique design challenges. Supporting ZE loT devices requires significant reduction of power consumption and complexity by simplifying the radio frequency (RF) chain and baseband architecture, reducing memory size, and eliminating unnecessary components. To achieve ultra-low power consumption, communication procedures between ZE loT devices and access points (AP) should be designed as simply as possible. While OFDM may not be suitable for ZE loT devices due to its high-power consumption requirements, simpler waveforms such as OOK / FSK modulation offer a more promising option for enabling ultra-low complexity data transmission and reception. However, one of the key challenges in adopting these simpler waveforms is ensuring compatibility with existing OFDM-based architecture.

[0064] The 3GPP study on Ambient loT (3GPP TR 22.840 V18.0.0 “Study on Ambient loT (Internet of Things) in RAN (Release 18)”) investigates the feasibility of anew loT technology to open new markets within 3GPP systems, whose number of connections and / or device density can be orders of magnitude higher than existing 3GPP loT technologies, and which can provide complexity and power consumption orders-of-magnitude lower than existing 3GPP LPWA technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-MTC.

[0065] The Rel-19 study item description (RP-234058 “New SID: Study on solutions for Ambient loT (Internet of Things) in NR) considers the following set of Ambient loT devices:

[0066] • i. ~1 pW peak power consumption, has energy storage, initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) up to 10X ppm, neither DL nor UL amplification in the device. The device’s UL transmission is backscattered on a carrier wave provided externally.

[0067] • ii. < a few hundred pW peak power consumption, has energy storage, initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) up to 10X ppm, both DL and / or UL amplification in the device. The device’s UL transmission may be generated internally by the device, or be backscattered on a carrier wave provided externally.

[0068] An Ambient loT device can rely on backscattering or the device internal components may be able to generate the transmission without back-scattering.

[0069] IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) WUR

[0070] IEEE 802.11 standardized the support for WUR in the task group (TG) ba. Similar to the 3GPP solution, the use of WUR is only enabled in stations and not in access points (APs), that is for downlink communication only. The AP advertises that it has WUR operation capability, along with WUS configuration parameters (among other info, in which band / channel WUR is operational, which can be different from the band / channel used for data transmission using the main receiver, e.g. WUR in 2.4 GHz band but data communication in 5 GHz band. Also note that the WUR operating channel is advertised in the beacon, and that the WUR discovery operating channel may be different from the WUR operating channel.). Stations can then request to be configured with WUR mode of operation. This request has to be granted by the AP, and in case it is granted, the station is further configured / setup for WUR mode of operation (the configuration is only valid for the connection to the associated AP, and further the configuration must be tom down / de-configured if WUR is not used anymore). Both continuous WUR (receiver open all the time) and duty-cycled WUR (receiver only open during preconfigured time slots) mode of operations are supported. For the latter the length of the duty-cycles and on-time during wake up is part of the WUR configuration.

[0071] The physical wake-up signal (WUS) in IEEE contains complete frames which must be processed by the station. The drawback with this design is that it requires more handling and processing in the station, i.e., compared to a simple WUR design which triggers one predefined activity in case a WUS is detected. The benefit is that it contains more information and the solution is more general. The IEEE WUS contains information to indicate if the WUS is a WUR sync beacon, a WUR discovery beacon, or a regular WUS (intended to wake the station up). The WUS can also contain proprietary frames, which could, e.g., be used to directly turn actuators on / off. The transmission uses on / off keying (OOK) modulation, using Manchester coding, but is using multi-carrier OOK which can be generated by an OFDM transmitter (i.e., the WUR can be enabled as a software upgrade in APs).

[0072] SUMMARY

[0073] There currently exist certain challenge(s). Power saving methods enabled by low- powered (LP)-WUS / WUR have been studied in 3GPP Rel-18. Several candidates for the low- powered wake-up signals and receiver architectures were considered. It is however not clear how the configurations related to WUS transmission should be done, what information they should contain, etc.

[0074] One important aspect of the configurations is related to transmission parameters such as WUS resource allocation. It is, e.g., unclear how such configuration will be related to the existing 5GNR bandwidth part (BWP) framework and whether / how the WUS configurations can be related to other useful functionalities for subsequent data transmission / reception of the devices.

[0075] Another aspect is on how WUS configuration can be related to discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration. For example, when there are multiple WUR configurations or WUR operation modes, it is unclear what UE behavior in monitoring subsequent PDCCH should be.

[0076] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Embodiments herein present solutions for how WUS configurations (for example LP-WUS configurations) to enable WUR operation can be implemented. Different aspects are covered including WUS configurations and its relation to:

[0077] • UE configured BWP

[0078] • DRX configuration

[0079] • Activation of a second configuration based on WUS

[0080] A first aspect provides embodiments of a method by a user equipment (UE). The method comprises receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration, and receiving a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration. The UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), wherein:

[0081] • the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or

[0082] • the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or

[0083] • the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

[0084] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also provided.

[0085] A second aspect provides embodiments of a network node. The method comprises transmitting a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration to a user equipment (UE), and transmitting a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration to the UE. The UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), wherein:

[0086] • the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or

[0087] • the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the transmitted WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or

[0088] • the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

[0089] Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also provided.

[0090] A third aspect provides embodiments of a method by a user equipment (UE). The method comprises receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration for monitoring for a WUS, and receiving a first configuration for discontinuous reception (DRX) for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

[0091] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also provided.

[0092] A fourth aspect provides embodiments of a method by a network node. The method comprises transmitting a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration to a UE for monitoring for a WUS, and transmitting, to the UE, a first configuration for discontinuous reception (DRX) for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

[0093] Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also provided.

[0094] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s):

[0095] • Improving device energy efficiency by proper configuration of wake-up signals and support of wake-up receivers in the network.

[0096] • Ensuring efficient coexistence of WUS with other transmissions and proper support of WUR in a network.

[0097] • Efficient coexistence of legacy UEs with new UEs equipped with WUR.

[0098] • The solutions can be considered as a key enabler of battery -less (zero-energy) devices and energy harvesting operations towards 5G Advanced and 6G.

[0099] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0100] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0101] Figure 1 illustrates an example of the location of a WUS and the paging occasion to which it is associated; Figure 2 shows a device with a dedicated wake-up radio (WUR) for monitoring a wakeup signal (WUS);

[0102] Figure 3 illustrates an example of WUS for NB-IoT and LTE-M;

[0103] Figure 4 illustrates a first mode with DRX1 with periodicity Pl and LP-WUS monitoring (also with periodicity Pl shown in the figure) and a second mode with DRX2 with periodicity P2 and no LP-WUS monitoring;

[0104] Figure 5 shows a method performed by a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0105] Figure 6 shows a method performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0106] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0107] Figure 8 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0108] Figure 9 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0109] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host in accordance with some embodiments;

[0110] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0111] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0112] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0113] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0114] General setup

[0115] A low power receiver such as a wake-up receiver (WUR) is expected to have limited capabilities in terms of supported modulation schemes, synchronization, and receiver architecture. For example, the WUR may only support a simple modulation scheme such as on-off keying (OOK) and employ time domain envelope detection. Nevertheless, in some other cases, a low power wake-up receiver can be more capable, e.g., capable of receiving an OFDMbased signal or both OOK-based and OFDM-based signals. For deployment flexibility, it may be beneficial that the WUS design can accommodate both types of WUR.

[0116] To realize WUR operation in NR, it is expected that some form of configurations related to WUS reception will be provided from the network to the UE supporting WUR. In the remainder of this document, the term WUS configuration is used to refer to a configuration which contains parameters related to LP-WUS transmission / reception. Different details of configurations can be expected for WUR operations in different modes, e.g., in Idle / Inactive or Connected modes. The terms “UE configured BWP”, “configured BWP” and simply “BWP” are used interchangeably, and they can refer to the downlink BWP configured to the UE.

[0117] WUS configuration inside each bandwidth part

[0118] In NR, there exists a general framework of bandwidth part (BWP) where several parameters related to transmission / reception are provided per BWP. Multiple BWPs can be configured to a UE where only one can be active at a time. There exist mechanisms to switch a BWP both through an explicit command via a downlink control information (DCI) field and through a timer-based condition. Having multiple BWPs and a possibility to switch between them provide flexibility to both the network and devices so that transmission / reception parameters can be adjusted / adapted to suit different conditions. For example, it allows the possibility to switch the transmission bandwidth (BW) to smaller size when the device battery is low and is in need for power saving. Additionally, it allows the network and device to support diverse sets of requirements in an efficient manner where transmission / reception parameters associated to BWP can be adjusted depending on the actual requirement.

[0119] For WUR operation, it is expected that parameters related to LP-WUS and those related to synchronization signal can be configured (i.e. , WUS configuration). This can include e.g., parameters related to LP-WUS resource allocation in frequency and time domain, LP-WUS monitoring details such as monitoring periodicity and location within a slot or frame, or specific WUS transmission parameters such as sequence details used for the ON symbol of the OOK WUS, and WUS synchronization signal parameters such frequency and time domain resources and periodicity, etc.

[0120] In one embodiment, the WUS configuration is provided in (or for) each of the configured UE BWP. Note that in general WUS / WUR related parameters and their associated values can be configured flexibly for each configured BWP. The parameters and values can be the same or different for different configured BWPs. When the UE switches a BWP, then WUS configuration associated with the new BWP applies for WUR operation accordingly.

[0121] In a related embodiment, the frequency domain resource of WUS transmission or related WUR synchronization signal transmission is indicated with respect to the associated BWP. For example, the frequency domain resource allocation of WUS is indicated in relation to the frequency domain resource (location and size) of the associated BWP.

[0122] In another related embodiment, the reference frequency domain resource for WUS can be separately configured to be different from the frequency domain resource of the BWP. In some cases, the reference frequency domain resource for WUS is a subset of BWP frequency domain resource.

[0123] In another embodiment, WUS configuration is provided only in BWPs that satisfy certain conditions. For example, if a WUR operates in a BWP or adopts some of the parameters of the BWP, certain conditions may need to be satisfied. Some example conditions are:

[0124] • Bandwidth of BWP is greater than X physical resource blocks (PRBs) o Examples: X= 12 PRBs, 24 PRBs, 48 PRBs

[0125] • Subcarrier spacing (SCS) of BWP is smaller than or equal to Y kHz o Examples: Y= 15 kHz, Y= 30 kHz

[0126] If WUS configuration is not provided in a BWP, it means WUR does not operate in that BWP or does not use its parameters.

[0127] WUS configuration linked to a bandwidth part

[0128] In another embodiment, one or more WUS or WUR configurations are provided to a UE, where each is associated with a particular BWP through the BWP identifier (ID). That is, the WUS configuration is provided separately from the BWP configuration and the UE configured BWP ID serves as a linkage between the WUS configuration and BWP. Similarly, as in previous embodiments, when UE switches the BWP, the WUS configuration associated with the new BWP ID, if any, applies.

[0129] One WUS configuration can be associated with more than one BWPs. If a UE active BWP has no associated WUS configuration, it means WUR does not operate in that BWP or does not use its parameters.

[0130] In some cases, there exists a default WUS configuration which applies regardless of UE active BWP. This can be applicable also to the case where the new BWP which the UE switches to does not have any associated WUS configuration identifiable by its ID. In another embodiment, the default WUS configuration is configured by pointing to a configuration in one of the BWPs configured with WUR. In another embodiment, the default configuration is retrieved from common signaling, such as system information block (SIB) based configuration. Finally, in another embodiment, a default WUS configuration may be provided separately from the BWP configuration, and the UE will use this configuration for a BWP unless a BWP specific WUS configuration is provided.

[0131] Separate “WUS bandwidth part” configuration

[0132] In some cases, it is useful to have separate bandwidth part configuration specific to WUR operation. This can provide flexibility in terms of configuring the parameters related to LP- WUS reception where these parameters do not need to be tied to those of the existing UE configured BWP. It can provide benefits to both the network (NW) in terms of scheduling flexibility and to the UE in terms of overall power consumption. For example, the WUR- specific BWP can be located in a specific part of the frequency band intended for the WUS / WUR related transmission / reception. It can be of smaller size in frequency than the UE configured BWP to further reduce UE power consumption when monitoring for incoming WUS. It also allows configuring specific and suitable parameters for WUR operation which may not be related to other parameters configured in the normal UE BWP intended for subsequent data transmissions. The WUR-specific BWP may also be referred to as a WUS- specific BWP.

[0133] In one embodiment, a separate bandwidth part configuration specific to WUS reception is provided and is not associated with the existing UE configured BWP.

[0134] The WUR-specific BWP can be nested within the UE configured active BWP (for example, the WUR-specific BWP can be located within the UE configured active BWP), or it can be non-overlapping (located outside) or partially overlapping with the UE configured BWP. In one embodiment, the WUR-specific BWP is nested within the UE configured active BWP and it contains synchronization signal block (SSB). In another embodiment, the WUR- specific BWP is nested within the UE configured active BWP and it does not overlap with the frequency position of SSB in the active BWP.

[0135] In another embodiment, there exist some conditions / constraints of the frequency domain resource of WUR-specific BWP in relation to the UE configured BWP(s). For example, the frequency domain resource of the WUR BWP may be a subset of that of the configured active BWP. In another example, there exists a maximum frequency offset between the frequency domain resources of the WUR-specific BWP and UE configured BWP(s) to limit the complexity and energy consumption of the UE. In another example, there exists a maximum frequency offset between the frequency domain resources of the WUR-specific BWP and active UE configured BWP. In another embodiment, the frequency domain resource configuration for WUS reception is associated with the frequency location of a synchronization signal received by the UE. The synchronization signal in this case can be existing NR synchronization signals such as primary synchronization signal (PSS) or secondary synchronization signal (SSS) or some other (new) synchronization signal introduced specifically for WUR operation, such as a low-power synchronization signal (LP-SS). In one example, the location of WUS frequency domain resource is aligned in the central frequency with that of the synchronization signal.

[0136] In a related embodiment, the WUR-specific BWP always contains the PSS / SSS. That is, its frequency position and bandwidth are adjusted such that it can receive the PSS / SSS.

[0137] In another embodiment, the WUS bandwidth part (or WUR-specific BWP) can be inside or linked to WUS configuration via system information, via DCI or via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The BWP IDs can be the same or different for different WUS configurations. Meanwhile, the BWP can be within the existing UE bandwidth parts or separate bandwidth parts from them.

[0138] In another embodiment, if one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements are performed by the WUR, the bandwidth part used for WUS / WUR may be configured the same as the main receiver (MR) bandwidth part. In a related embodiment, if different BWPs are configured for WUR and MR, then different thresholds and / or conditions may need to be applied if RRM measurement(s) are performed by the WUR (compared to thresholds and / or conditions applied for RRM measurement(s) performed by legacy UEs).

[0139] In another embodiment, the configuration of the WUR-specific BWP is linked to the receiver architecture (e.g., UE type, WUR architecture). For example, two different BWPs can be configured for different WUR architectures to provide different configurations and parameters. Specifically, two BWPs can be “WUR-BWP_ofdm” and “WUR-BWP_ook” corresponding to OFDM-based WUR and OOK-based WUR. These BWPs can be different in terms of size, frequency position, and information elements. In addition, switching between two BWPs is possible in case of dual-mode WUR operation where the UE supports both OOK- WUR and OFDM-WUR.

[0140] LP-WUS configuration and relation to DRX configurations

[0141] This section describes relations between WUS configuration and UE DRX configurations and solutions to address the cases when there can be multiple operation modes. Note that multiple operation modes here can include operations with 1) LP-WUS monitoring based on multiple WUS configurations or 2) operations with and without LP- WUS monitoring. Further details for 2) are provided below.

[0142] In one embodiment, the UE can be configured with a first DRX configuration (DRX1) and a second DRX configuration (DRX2). DRX1 is applied by the UE when LP-WUS monitoring is activated and DRX2 is applied when LP-WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated. For example, when applying DRX1 along with LP-WUS monitoring, the UE monitors PDCCH (e.g., by starting on duration timer) based on a first periodicity while when applying DRX2, the UE monitors PDCCH based on a second periodicity. The first periodicity value can be smaller (i.e., more frequent monitoring) compared to the second periodicity value.

[0143] In some cases, the periodicity of monitoring LP-WUS can be same as the periodicity used for starting the on-duration timer of DRX1.

[0144] The UE can determine whether to monitor PDCCH according to DRX1 based on LP- WUS monitoring. For example, when UE detects LP-WUS in a first slot x, it starts the on- duration timer (and monitors PDCCH) according to DRX1 in a subsequent slot y after the first slot. If the UE does not detect LP-WUS in the first slot x, it skips starting the on-duration timer (or monitoring PDCCH) according to DRX1 in the subsequent slot y.

[0145] The UE may also switch between the following based on a layer 1 (LI) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) based indication: a) DRX1 with LP-WUS monitoring; and b) DRX2 with no LP-WUS monitoring.

[0146] Figure 4 shows an example illustrating the above modes a) and b). Here the UE operation is switched between following modes a) DRX1 with periodicity Pl and LP-WUS monitoring (also with periodicity Pl shown in the figure) and b) DRX2 with periodicity P2 and no LP-WUS monitoring. When operating in Mode a) - when LP-WUS is monitored but not detected (unshaded box with label LP WUS in the figure) the UE skips PDCCH monitoring in subsequent DRX on duration (unshaded box with label PDCCH). When LP- WUS is detected (shaded box with label LP WUS in the figure), the UE starts an on duration timer and starts PDCCH monitoring in the subsequent on duration (shaded box with label PDCCH). When switched to Mode b) - the UE monitors PDCCH (shaded box with label PDCCH) according to DRX2 with periodicity P2.

[0147] In some cases, DRX1 discussed above can correspond to a first periodicity parameter associated with a DRX configuration and DRX2 discussed above can correspond to a second periodicity parameter associated with the same DRX configuration.

[0148] LP-WUS monitoring can be activated / deactivated by the UE e.g., based on a LI (e.g., PDCCH DCI based) or MAC CE based indication received from a gNB or based on a measurement criterion (e.g., activated if a measured RSRP is higher than a threshold, deactivated otherwise). In some cases, the UE may be configured with DRX periodicity values that are smaller than a particular value only in combination with LP-WUS monitoring. For example, the UE may be configured with long DRX with periodicity >=10ms regardless of LP-WUS monitoring is configured or not but configured with long DRX with periodicity <10ms only when LP-WUS monitoring is also configured.

[0149] In some cases, the UE may receive LP-WUS related configuration signalling as part of cell group configuration. In some cases, the UE may be configured to monitor LP-WUS only on the primary cell (PCell) / sPCell .

[0150] Additional functionality with WUS configuration

[0151] For flexible WUR operation, it is desirable to have the possibility of adjusting the WUS configuration. This can be realized e.g., by multiple WUS configurations that can be selected.

[0152] In addition to allowing for more flexibility for WUR operation, having multiple WUS configurations can also enable additional functionality for the related procedure.

[0153] In one embodiment, there are multiple WUS configurations and multiple second UE configurations, where each WUS configuration is associated with one of the second UE configurations. When the WUR receives a WUS which is according to a certain WUS configuration, it triggers the UE to switch the second configuration to a (new) second configuration that is associated with the WUS configuration.

[0154] In the above embodiment, the WUS configuration can correspond to specific WUS reception parameters such as frequency resource location at which the WUS is received, specific time slot at which the WUS is received, etc. The second UE configurations can for example correspond to any of the following types of configurations:

[0155] - UE BWP configuration

[0156] - PDCCH search space configuration

[0157] - Data transmission mode configuration such as unicast or multicast Serving cell configuration That is, when the WUR receives WUS according to a certain WUS configuration, it will wake the main receiver up to perform subsequent operations in accordance with the corresponding second configuration. For example, the UE is configured with two LP-WUS monitoring locations each of which is associated with a UE configured DL BWP. When the WUR receives the WUS at the first location, it will wake the main receiver up to perform subsequent operation using the associated DL BWP (i.e., WUS triggers the main receiver to wake up and simultaneously switches the BWP).

[0158] Example embodiments

[0159] Some embodiments are directed to a method 500 performed by a user equipment (UE). The method 500 is illustrated in Figure 5. The method 500 comprises receiving 510 a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration. The method 500 may optionally comprise receiving and / or detecting 520 the WUS in accordance with (or based on) the WUS configuration. Further example details of the WUS configuration and the method 500 are provided in the description above as well as in the Group A Embodiments listed in the section below entitled “EMBODIMENTS”.

[0160] In some embodiments, the method 500 comprises receiving 510 a WUS configuration, and receiving 520 a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs) and wherein:

[0161] • the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or

[0162] • the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or

[0163] • the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

[0164] In some embodiments, the method 500 comprises receiving 510 a WUS configuration for monitoring for a WUS, and receiving a first configuration for discontinuous reception (DRX) for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated. Some embodiments are directed to a method 600 performed by a network node. The method 600 is illustrated in Figure 6. The method 600 comprises transmitting 610 a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration. The method 600 may optionally comprise transmitting 620 the WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration. Further example details of the WUS configuration and the method 600 are provided in the description above as well as in the Group A and B Embodiments listed in the section below entitled “EMBODIMENTS”.

[0165] In some embodiments, the method 600 comprises transmitting 610 a WUS configuration to a UE, and transmitting 620 a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration to the UE, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs) and wherein:

[0166] • the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or

[0167] • the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the transmitted WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or

[0168] • the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

[0169] In some embodiments, the method 600 comprises transmitting 610 a WUS configuration to a UE for monitoring for a WUS, and transmitting, to the UE, a first configuration for discontinuous reception (DRX) for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

[0170] Further description

[0171] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0172] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunication network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710a and 710b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 702 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 702, including one or more network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0173] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or anon-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0174] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 700 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0175] The UEs 712 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 702 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 702.

[0176] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network nodes 710 to one or more hosts, such as host 716. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 708. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0177] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunication network 702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0178] As a whole, the communication system 700 of Figure 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0179] In some examples, the telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 702. For example, the telecommunications network 702 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0180] In some examples, the UEs 712 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 704. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0181] In the example, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710b). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0182] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710b. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 710b. In other embodiments, the hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 710b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0183] Figure 8 shows a UE 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0184] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle- to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0185] The UE 800 includes processing circuitry 802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 804 to an input / output interface 806, a power source 808, a memory 810, a communication interface 812, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0186] The processing circuitry 802 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 810. The processing circuitry 802 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0187] In the example, the input / output interface 806 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 800. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0188] In some embodiments, the power source 808 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 800 to which power is supplied.

[0189] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store, for use by the UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0190] The memory 810 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card. ’ The memory 810 may allow the UE 800 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 810, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0191] The processing circuitry 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 822. The communication interface 812 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 818 and / or a receiver 820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 818 and receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0192] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 812 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / intemet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0193] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 812, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0194] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0195] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 800 shown in Figure 8.

[0196] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0197] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0198] Figure 9 shows a network node 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NRNodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0199] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0200] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi -standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0201] The network node 900 includes a processing circuitry 902, a memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power source 908. The network node 900 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 900 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 900 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 900, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 900.

[0202] The processing circuitry 902 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 900 components, such as the memory 904, to provide network node 900 functionality.

[0203] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units. The memory 904 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 902. The memory 904 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 902 and utilized by the network node 900. The memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 and memory 904 is integrated.

[0204] The communication interface 906 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes radio front-end circuitry 918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 910. Radio front-end circuitry 918 comprises filters 920 and amplifiers 922. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be connected to an antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 920 and / or amplifiers 922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0205] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 918, instead, the processing circuitry 902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports or terminals 916, the radio frontend circuitry 918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 912, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0206] The antenna 910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 910 is separate from the network node 900 and connectable to the network node 900 through an interface or port.

[0207] The antenna 910, communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0208] The power source 908 provides power to the various components of network node 900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 900 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 908. As a further example, the power source 908 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0209] Embodiments of the network node 900 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 9 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 900 and to allow output of information from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 900.

[0210] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host 1000, which may be an embodiment of the host 716 of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1000 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1000 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0211] The host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a network interface 1008, a power source 1010, and a memory 1012. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 8 and 9, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1000.

[0212] The memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1014 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1000 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1014 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc. Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1100 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1100 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0213] Applications 1102 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0214] Hardware 1104 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0215] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0216] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102.

[0217] Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0218] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 1202 communicating via a network node 1204 with a UE 1206 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 712a of Figure 7 and / or UE 800 of Figure 8), network node (such as network node 710a of Figure 7 and / or network node 900 of Figure 9), and host (such as host 716 of Figure 7 and / or host 1000 of Figure 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 12.

[0219] Like host 1000, embodiments of host 1202 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1202 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1202 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1206 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1250.

[0220] The network node 1204 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1202 and UE 1206. The connection 1260 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 706 of Figure 7) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0221] The UE 1206 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1206 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1206 with the support of the host 1202. In the host 1202, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1250 terminating at the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1250 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1250.

[0222] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via a connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide the connection between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and wireless connection 1270, over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0223] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1206 that shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1206. The transmission may pass via the network node 1204, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1212, the network node 1204 transmits to the UE 1206 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1202 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1214, the UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1206 associated with the host application executed by the host 1202.

[0224] In some examples, the UE 1206 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1202. Accordingly, in step 1216, the UE 1206 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1206 initiates, in step 1218, transmission of the user data towards the host 1202 via the network node 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1204 receives user data from the UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1202. In step 1222, the host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1206.

[0225] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1206 using the OTT connection 1250, in which the wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment.

[0226] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1202. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1202 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1202 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data. In some examples, 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 1250 between the host 1202 and UE 1206, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1202 and / or UE 1206. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 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 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1204. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1202. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1250 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0227] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0228] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0229] EMBODIMENTS

[0230] Group A Embodiments

[0231] 1. A method by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration (for example from a network node).

[0232] 2. The method of embodiment 1, further comprising: receiving and / or detecting a WUS (for example from a network node) in accordance with the WUS configuration.

[0233] 3. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the WUS configuration comprises one or more parameters indicating: when (for example at what time resource) to receive or detect a WUS; and / or where (for example at what frequency resource) to receive or detect a WUS; and / or how to receive or detect a WUS (for example what type of WUS to look for).

[0234] 4. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the WUS configuration comprises one or more parameters controlling / affecting operation of a wake-up radio (WUR) to be used by the UE for receiving and / or detecting a WUS.

[0235] 5. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), and wherein the received WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs (for example one WUS configuration per BWP).

[0236] 6. The method of embodiment 5, wherein at least one parameter or value of the WUS configuration for a first BWP is different than the corresponding value or parameter of the WUS configuration for a second BWP.

[0237] 7. The method of any embodiments 5-6, wherein at least one parameter or value of the WUS configuration for a first BWP is the same as the corresponding value or parameter of the WUS configuration for a second BWP.

[0238] 8. The method of any embodiments 5-7, further comprising: switching between a first and a second BWP, wherein the WUS configuration for the second BWP applies after the switch.

[0239] 9. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the WUS configuration includes a frequency domain resource for WUS or for a related wake-up radio (WUR) synchronization signal, and wherein the frequency domain resource (for example the location or size of the frequency domain resource) is indicated relative to a frequency domain resource (for example the location or size of the frequency domain resource) of an associated bandwidth part (BWP).

[0240] 10. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein a frequency domain resource indicated by the WUS configuration is different than (for example party or fully nonoverlapping) a frequency resource of a BWP of the UE.

[0241] 11. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein a frequency domain resource indicated by the WUS configuration is a subset of a frequency domain resource of a BWP of the UE.

[0242] 12. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with multiple BWPs, and wherein the WUS configuration is provided only for BWPs that satisfy a condition.

[0243] 13. The method of embodiment 12, wherein the condition comprises: a bandwidth of the BWP is at least a certain size (for example at least 12 physical resource blocks (PRBs), or at least 24 PRBs, or at least 48 PRBs); and / or a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the BWP is at most a certain number (for example at most 15 kHz or at least 30 kHz).

[0244] 14. The method of any the preceding embodiments, wherein if a WUS configuration is not provided for a BWP, then a wake-up radio (WUR) of the UE does not operate in that BWP or does not use parameters of that BWP.

[0245] 15. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein if an active BWP of the UE hos no associated WUS configuration, then a wake-up radio (WUR) of the UE does not operate in that BWP or does not use parameters of that BWP.

[0246] 16. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), and wherein the received WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs (for example one WUS configuration per BWP), wherein the WUS configuration for a BWP is provided in the BWP configurations of that BWP.

[0247] 17. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs), and wherein the received WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs (for example one WUS configuration per BWP), wherein the WUS configuration for a BWP is provided separately from the BWP configuration of that BWP, and wherein a WUS configuration is associated with its respective BWP through a BWP ID.

[0248] 18. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration.

[0249] 19. The method of embodiment 18, wherein the default configuration applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

[0250] 20. The method of embodiment 18, wherein the default configuration applies for a BWP unless a BWP specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP.

[0251] 21. The method of embodiment 18, wherein the default configuration is provided: by a pointer to a WUS configuration for a BWP; or via common signaling (for example via a system information block).

[0252] 22. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a WUR-specific BWP (which may also be referred to as a WUS-specific BWP).

[0253] 23. The method of embodiment 22, wherein the WUR-specific BWP is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE.

[0254] 24. The method of any of embodiments 22-23, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUR-specific BWP.

[0255] 25. The method of any of embodiments 22-24, wherein the WUR-specific BWP: is located outside an active BWP of the UE; or is located within an active BWP of the UE; or at least partially overlaps an active BWP of the UE.

[0256] 26. The method of embodiment 25, wherein the WUR-specific BWP at least partially overlaps the active BWP of the UE, and wherein the WUR-specific BWP does not include a frequency position / range of a synchronization signal block (SSB) of the active BWP.

[0257] 27. The method of embodiment 25, wherein the WUR-specific BWP includes a frequency position / range of a synchronization signal block (SSB) of the active BWP.

[0258] 28. The method of any of embodiments 22-27, wherein there is a maximum frequency offset between the frequency domain resources of the WUR-specific BWP and one or more other BWPs configured for the UE.

[0259] 29. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein frequency domain resources for WUS reception indicated by the WUS configuration are associated with the frequency location of a synchronization signal received by the UE.

[0260] 30. The method of embodiment 29, wherein the synchronization signals is: a primary synchronization signal (PSS); or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS); or a synchronization signal introduced specifically for WUR operation, for example a low-power synchronization signal (LP-SS).

[0261] 31. The method of any of embodiments 29-30, wherein a frequency resource indicated by the WUS configuration is located no more than a certain distance from a frequency location of the synchronization signal.

[0262] 32. The method of any of embodiments 29-30, wherein a frequency resource indicated by the WUS configuration is located at the central frequency of the synchronization signal.

[0263] 33. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a WUR-specific BWP which contains the frequency resources of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0264] 34. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein a wake-up radio (WUR) is used by the UE for performing one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements.

[0265] 35. The method of embodiment 34, wherein: the WUR uses the same bandwidth part (BWP) as a main receiver of the UE; or the WUR uses a different bandwidth part than a main receiver of the UE.

[0266] 36. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a WUR-specific BWP, to be used by the UE for receiving / detecting a WUS, wherein the WUR-specific BWP is specific for a UE type and / or is specific for a wake-up radio (WUR) architecture of the UE.

[0267] 37. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of WUR-specific BWPs, wherein the WUR-specific BWPs are configured for different WUR architectures, such as for example a BWP for OOK-based WUR and a BWP for OFDM-based WUR.

[0268] 38. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: receiving a first configuration of discontinuous reception (DRX) for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

[0269] 39. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE monitors PDCCH more often / frequently when WUS monitoring is activated than when the WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

[0270] 40. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE determines whether to monitor PDCCH according to a first DRX configuration based on WUS monitoring.

[0271] 41. The method of embodiment 40, wherein the method comprises: if the UE detects a WUS in a first slot, it starts an on-duration timer (and monitors PDCCH) according to a first DRX configuration in a subsequent slot after the first slot; and / or if the UE does not detect a WUS in the first slot, the UE skips starting the on-duration timer (or monitoring PDCCH) according to the first DRX configuration in the subsequent slot.

[0272] 42. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: switching between the following based on a layer 1 (LI) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) based indication: a) a first DRX configuration / setting with WUS monitoring (for example LP-WUS monitoring); and b) a second DRX configuration / setting with no WUS monitoring (for example no LP- WUS monitoring).

[0273] 43. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising activating or deactivating WUS monitoring based on: an indication received from a network node (for example a gNB); or a measurement criterion (e.g., activating WUS monitoring if a measured RSRP is higher than a threshold).

[0274] 44. The method of embodiment 43, wherein the indication is provided via: a PDCCH; and / or a DCI; and / or a MAC CE.

[0275] 45. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein at least a portion of the WUS configuration is received as part of cell group configuration.

[0276] 46. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises multiple WUS configurations associated with respective second configurations, wherein the method comprises: when the UE receives or detects a WUS which is in accordance with a certain WUS configuration, the UE switches from a current second configuration to the second configuration that is associated with said certain WUS configuration; and / or when the UE receives or detects a WUS which is in accordance with a certain WUS configuration, a main receiver of the UE wakes up to perform one or more subsequent operations in accordance with the second configuration that is associated with said certain WUS configuration.

[0277] 47. The method of embodiment 46, wherein the multiple WUS configurations correspond to different reception parameters (for example different frequency resource locations at which to receive the WUS, and / or different time slots at which to receive the WUS).

[0278] 48. The method of any of embodiments 46-47, wherein the second configurations correspond to any of the following types of configurations:

[0279] - UE BWP configuration;

[0280] - PDCCH search space configuration;

[0281] - data transmission mode configuration such as unicast or multicast;

[0282] - serving cell configuration.

[0283] 49. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the BWPs and / or the WUR- specific BWP are downlink BWPs.

[0284] 50. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the WUS us low power (LP) WUS.

[0285] 52. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the UE comprises a WUR for receiving and / or detecting the WUS.

[0286] 53. The method of embodiment 52, wherein the WUR supports a OOK-based WUS and / or a OFDM-based WUS.

[0287] 54. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: waking up at least one component / part of a receiver (for example a main receiver) of the UE in response to detecting / receiving the WUS.

[0288] 55. The method of any of the preceding embodiments, wherein the received WUS configuration indicates:

[0289] - a resource allocation in frequency and / or time; and / or

[0290] - WUS monitoring details such as monitoring periodicity and location within a slot or frame;

[0291] - specific WUS transmission parameters such as sequence details used for the ON symbol of an OOK-based WUS; and / or

[0292] - WUS synchronization signal parameters such frequency and time domain resources and periodicity.

[0293] Group B Embodiments

[0294] 56. A method by a network node, the method comprising: transmitting a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration (for example to a UE).

[0295] 57. The method of embodiment 56, the method further comprising: transmitting a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration (for example to a UE).

[0296] 58. The method of any of embodiments 56-57, wherein the WUS configuration is in accordance with any of the group A embodiments.

[0297] Group C Embodiments

[0298] 59. A UE configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0299] 60. A UE comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the UE to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0300] 61. A network node configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0301] 62. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the network node to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method (500) by a user equipment, UE (800), the method comprising: receiving (510) a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration, and receiving (520) a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS- specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the WUS configuration indicates when, and / or where and / or how to receive a WUS.

3. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs, wherein at least one parameter or value of the WUS configuration for a first BWP is different than the corresponding value or parameter of the WUS configuration for a second BWP.

4. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the WUS configuration includes a frequency domain resource for WUS or for a related wake-up radio, WUR, synchronization signal, and wherein the frequency domain resource is indicated relative to a frequency domain resource of an associated BWP.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the WUS configuration is provided only for BWPs that satisfy a condition, wherein the condition comprises: a bandwidth of the BWP is at least a certain size; and / or a subcarrier spacing, SCS, of the BWP is at most a certain number.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the received WUS configurationcomprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs, and wherein the WUS configuration for a BWP is provided in the BWP configurations of that BWP.

7. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs, wherein the WUS configuration for a BWP is provided separately from the BWP configuration of that BWP, and wherein a WUS configuration is associated with its respective BWP through a BWP identifier, ID.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration, and wherein the default configuration is provided: by a pointer to a WUS configuration for a BWP; or via a system information block.

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the UE is configured with a WUS- specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP, and wherein the WUS- specific BWP: is located outside an active BWP of the UE; or is located within an active BWP of the UE; or at least partially overlaps an active BWP of the UE.

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein frequency domain resources for WUS reception indicated by the WUS configuration are associated with the frequency location of a synchronization signal received by the UE, wherein the synchronization signal is: a primary synchronization signal, PSS; or a secondary synchronization signal, SSS,; or a synchronization signal introduced specifically for wake-up radio, WUR, operation.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a frequency resource indicated by the WUS configuration is located no more than a certain distance from a frequency location of the synchronization signal, or is located at the central frequency of the synchronization signal.

12. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the UE comprises a wake-up radio, WUR, for receiving the WUS, wherein the WUR supports an on-off keying, OOK, based WUS and / or an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM, based WUS.

13. The method of any of the preceding claims, further comprising: waking up at least one component / part of a receiver of the UE in response to receiving the WUS.

14. The method of any of the preceding claims, further comprising activating or deactivating WUS monitoring based on an indication received from a network node, wherein the indication is provided via: a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH; and / or a downlink control information, DCI; and / or a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE.

15. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the received WUS configuration comprises multiple WUS configurations associated with respective second configurations, wherein the method comprises: when the UE receives a WUS which is in accordance with a certain WUS configuration, the UE switches from a current second configuration to the second configuration that is associated with said certain WUS configuration; and / or when the UE receives a WUS which is in accordance with a certain WUS configuration, a main receiver of the UE wakes up to perform one or more subsequent operations in accordance with the second configuration that is associated with said certain WUS configuration.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the multiple WUS configurations correspond to different frequency resource locations at which to receive the WUS and / or different time slots at which to receive the WUS.

17. The method of any of claims 15-16, wherein the second configurations correspond to any of the following types of configurations:- BWP configuration;physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, search space configuration; unicast or multicast data transmission mode; serving cell configuration.

18. A user equipment, UE (800), configured to: receive a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration, and receive a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respectiveBWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS- specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

19. The UE of claim 18, configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-17.

20. A user equipment, UE (800), comprising processing circuitry (802) configured to cause the UE to: receive a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration, and receive a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respectiveBWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the received WUS configuration applies for the WUS- specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

21. The UE of claim 20, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE toperform the method of any of claims 2-17.

22. A method (600) by a network node (900), the method comprising: transmitting (610) a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a user equipment, UE (800); and transmitting (620) a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration to the UE, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respectiveBWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the transmitted WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

23. A network node (900) configured to: transmit a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a user equipment, UE (800); and transmit a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration to the UE, wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respectiveBWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the transmitted WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

24. A network node (900) comprising processing circuitry (902) configured to cause the network node to: transmit a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a user equipment, UE (800); and transmit a WUS in accordance with the WUS configuration to the UE,wherein the UE is configured with a plurality of bandwidth parts, BWPs, and wherein: the WUS configuration comprises separate WUS configurations for the respective BWPs; or the UE is configured with a WUS-specific BWP which is separate from the other BWPs configured for the UE, wherein the transmitted WUS configuration applies for the WUS-specific BWP; or the WUS configuration comprises a default WUS configuration which applies for a BWP unless a BWP-specific WUS configuration is provided for that BWP, or which applies for WUS regardless of which of the configured BPWs is an active BWP.

25. The method or network node of any of claims 22-24, wherein the WUS configuration is in accordance any of claims 2-17.

26. A method (500) by a user equipment, UE (800), the method comprising: receiving (510) a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration for monitoring for a WUS; and receiving a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the UE monitors a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, more often when the WUS monitoring is activated than when the WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

28. The method of any of claims 26-27, wherein the UE determines whether to monitor a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, according to the first DRX configuration based on the WUS monitoring.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the method comprises: if the UE detects a WUS in a first slot, starting an on-duration timer according to the first DRX configuration in a subsequent slot after the first slot; and / or if the UE does not detect a WUS in the first slot, skipping starting the on-duration timer according to the first DRX configuration in the subsequent slot.

30. The method of any of claims 26-29, further comprising:switching between the following based on a layer 1, LI, based indication or a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, based indication: a) the first DRX configuration with WUS monitoring; and b) the second DRX configuration without WUS monitoring.

31. A user equipment, UE (800), configured to: receive a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration for monitoring for a WUS; and receive a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

32. The UE of claim 31, configured to perform the method of any of claims 27-30.

33. A user equipment, UE (800), comprising processing circuitry (802) configured to cause the UE to: receive a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration for monitoring for a WUS; and receive a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

34. The UE of claim 33, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 27-30.

35. A method (600) by a network node (900), the method comprising: transmitting (610) a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a UE (800) for monitoring for a WUS; and transmitting, to the UE, a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

36. A network node (900) configured to: transmit a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a UE (800) for monitoring for a WUS; andtransmit, to the UE, a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

37. A network node (900) comprising processing circuitry (902) configured to cause the network node to: transmit a wake-up signal, WUS, configuration to a UE for monitoring for a WUS; and transmit, to the UE, a first configuration for discontinuous reception, DRX, for use when WUS monitoring is activated, and a second configuration for DRX for use when WUS monitoring is deactivated or not activated.

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