User equipment, and method performed therein for monitoring WUS and pei

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to a UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured to monitor for a WUS, and a PEI. The UE (10) is configured to receive the WUS. In response to receiving the WUS, the UE (10) is configured to never monitor for the PEI and only for a paging message in a PO, or perform monitoring for the PEI, and / or the paging message in the PO, when one or more criteria are fulfilled. The one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following: • a grouping in PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and • a coverage condition.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENT, AND METHOD PERFORMED THEREIN FOR MONITORING WUS AND PEI.

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a user equipment (UE) and a method performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling communication, such as handling paging of the UE, in a wireless communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, UEs, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR), are worked on. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology P111036W001

[0008] 2 wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0009] With the emerging 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions. NR is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) which comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), Access Management Function (AMF), Authentication Service Function (ALISF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Manager (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. In the 5GC, NFs can discover other NFs by using a discovery service provided by the NRF.

[0010] 5G networks are being designed while considering the vertical use cases and mobile telephony in mind. In addition to availability, latency, and reliability, UE energy efficiency is essential to 5G. Currently, depending on how often each user uses their gadget, 5G devices may need to be recharged every day or every week. 5G devices need hundreds of milliwatts when they are connected to the radio and tens of milliwatts when they are in IDLE or INACTIVE state.

[0011] 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, batteries of these UEs are not rechargeable and expected to last at least few years as described in TR38.875 v.18.0.0. A type of these UEs is denoted as wearables and may include smartwatches, rings, eHealth related devices, and medical monitoring devices, and with a typical battery capacity, it is challenging to sustain operation up to 1-2 weeks as required.

[0012] The power consumption of a UE depends on wake-up cycles defined in terms of extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) or paging cycle. To extend the battery lifetime of UEs it is expected that long eDRX cycles will be used. However, with long eDRX cycles the UE may still need to synchronize with the network and may monitor the paging occasion using a main receiver (MR). The UE may further comprise a wake-up receiver (WUR), which is sometimes also referred to as ‘wake-up radio’. Using the WUR is about enabling a low power receiver in UEs, which, in case of the detection of a wake-up signal (WUS), wakes up the main receiver (MR). The MR may be a baseband receiver, or a radio frequency (RF) receiver and is a less power efficient receiver than the WUR, and is used to detect an incoming message, typically a paging message, e.g., in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a paging occasion (PO). The main benefit of P111036W001

[0013] 3 employing WUR at the UE is to lower energy consumption and prolong battery life of the UE, or at a fixed energy consumption the downlink latency can be reduced, whereas the UE may implement shorter DRX and / or duty-cycles and perform more frequent checks for incoming transmissions.

[0014] Fig. 1a is an illustration of WUS occasions and POs associated with respective WUS. The blackened WUS is associated with the blackened PO.

[0015] In general, two approaches for detecting WUS exist:

[0016] • Using the MR at the UE for detecting the WUS: o This means that there is no need for additional dedicated hardware and / or receiver for monitoring for the WUS. o Using the approach implies a limited power saving gain since the MR monitors for the WUS.

[0017] • Having a dedicated receiver, such as a WUR at the UE for detecting the WUS: o The WUR has an extremely low power consumption, with a simple and low-cost receiver architecture, and also with relaxed requirements since it can use a less accurate clock or oscillator. o Using the WUR implies that a significant power saving gain can be achieved by maximizing a time in which the MR can be kept in the sleep mode. o Using the WUR enables operations for zero energy devices, battery-less devices, and / or devices with energy harvesting operations. o There are coverage considerations given the tradeoff between WUR power consumption and sensitivity to detect WUS.

[0018] Fig. 1b shows an architecture dedicated WUR that is used for monitoring a WUS accompanying the MR. Once the WUR detects the WUS intended for the UE, the WUR wakes up the MR to detect further incoming messages. Therefore, the MR can go to sleep mode and save power until it is triggered to wake-up by the WUR. The WUR may be 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 at the radio network node. The MR may be the primary component for receiving signals at the UE, and may demodulate these signals to retrieve transmitted information, using techniques such as Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM), Phase Shift Keying (PSK), or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM).

[0019] In Release (Rel)-17 discussions started on introducing a WUS for NR, this was called Paging Early Indication (PEI). However, since at the time of the introduction no coverage enhancement was specified for NR, the only gain for Rel-17 PEI was for scenarios where a small P111036W001

[0020] 4 fraction of UEs is in bad coverage and with a large synchronization error due to the use of longer DRX cycles. The gain for such UEs was that with the use of the PEI the UE would typically only have to acquire one synchronization signal block (SSB) before decoding the PEI, instead of acquiring up to 3 SSBs if the PEI is not used. 3 SSBs is a value according to UE vendors. So, for most UEs, using Rel-17 PEI will result in gains in terms of energy efficiency or increased performance.

[0021] In Rel-18, there has been a rather large interest in introducing WUR for NR, with an ambition to achieve a more significant energy efficiency improvement compared to solutions already specified in earlier releases. As explained above, 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 MR. Therefore, the main difference to Rel-17 PEI is that the WUS in Rel-18 should not be a PDCCH-based receiver and this allows for a simpler and low power receiver, i.e. , a WUR with simple modulation and detection techniques, e.g., using OOK modulation and non-coherent detection.

[0022] 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, V.2.0.0, “Study on low-power Wake-up Signal and Receiver for NR”. For Rel-19, a work item has been agreed to specify the wake-up signal for both radio resource control (RRC) Idle and / or 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: P111036W001

[0023] 5

[0024] Low power (LP)-WUR operation in RRC-IDLE and INACTIVE states allows the MR of the UE to be in an ultra-deep sleep mode while an LP-WUR is monitoring for a LP-WUS. The LP-WUS is used to trigger the MR to start monitoring for paging of the UE when there is an actual need to page the UE. From a UE behavior point of view, the MR of the UE will wake-up to perform the monitoring for paging of the UE only after the LP-WUS has been detected and / or received by the LP-WUR. The recent agreements from 3GPP RAN1#116 define the LP-WUS monitoring occasions: Fig. 1c shows power consumptions of a MR and a Low power radio (LR), such as a WUR at the UE upon detecting LP-WUS with wake-up indication in IDLE / INACTIVE.

[0025] Compared to the legacy operation in Rel-15, where the MR always needs to wake-up every DRX cycle periodically to monitor for a potential paging message, the LP-WUR allows the MR to stay in a low power ultra deep sleep state for as long as possible and only to wake-up when needed. This can provide a significant gain in power savings.

[0026] In Rel-17, PEI was introduced where the MR at the UE monitors for the PEI before each paging occasion and only proceeds to monitor subsequent SSBs and paging message if the PEI is detected and received. PEI is defined in 3GPP TS 38.304 v.18.0.0, “NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state,” Dec. 2023, as follows: P111036W001

[0027] 6 P111036W001

[0028] 7 P111036W001

[0029] 8 P111036W001

[0030] 9

[0031] SUMMARY

[0032] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more issues have been identified. Compared to Rel-17 PEI, an LP-WUR operation essentially offloads the task of monitoring the paging early indication from the MR to the LP-WUR, i.e. , the LP-WUR will monitor for the LP-WUS instead of the MR of the UE. Since the LP-WUR can operate with a lower active power than that of the MR, it can provide a saving or gain in power consumption. In addition, the recent agreement from RAN1#116 on PEI and WUR is as follows:

[0033] “For the case where a UE supports PEI and PEI is configured by the gNB, after the UE receives LP-WUS indicating wake-up, it is up to UE implementation whether to monitor PEI or not.” In Rel-18, companies brought up the possibility of supporting the combination of LP-WUS and / or WUR and also Rel-17 PEI. That is, a UE would monitor for WUS a time offset before its PO, and if the WUS is detected and addresses a WUS UE subgroup of the UE, the UE would in a second step continue to monitor for the PEI. If the PEI is detected, and addresses the PEI subgroup of the UE, only then would the UE continue to monitor the PDCCH in the legacy PO. This was proposed in RAN2 contributions during Rel-18 and captured in TR 38.869 v.2.0.0 as follows:

[0034] A UE that comprises both the main radio or receiver (MR) and a low power radio (LR), such as a WUR, uses the LR to receive a wake-up indication before receiving the paging message on P111036W001

[0035] 10 the MR for power saving reasons. Recent agreements in 3GPP state that “if the UE is configured with and supports both WUS and PEI, it is left to UE implementation whether to monitor PEI after reception of LP-WUS". Now the UE behavior for monitoring for the PEI after receiving the wake-up indication may be implemented in several ways, i.e., a UE should either always monitor for the PEI or never monitor for the PEI or monitor for the PEI when a certain criterion is satisfied, or when the UE was unable to monitor for the wake-up indication the UE may fallback to legacy behavior. In certain scenarios, the UE that monitors for the PEI will cause an extra energy consumption, and that should be avoided in cases when it is not needed. At the same time, that the UE monitors for the PEI after reception of the LP-WUS may reduce the risk of false wake-up and thereby reduce energy consumption. Hence, the behavior of the UE in this aspect may lead to a sub-optimal performance with respect to energy consumption.

[0036] An object of embodiments herein is to support communication, such as handling paging, in a wireless communication network in an energy efficient manner.

[0037] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE is configured, by a network node, to monitor for a WUS and a PEI. The UE receives the WUS at the LR. In response to receiving the WUS, the UE performs, using an MR at the UE, monitoring for the PEI, and / or for a paging message in a paging occasion, PO, by never monitoring for the for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or by monitoring for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled, wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following:

[0038] • a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and

[0039] • a coverage condition.

[0040] Thus, the UE may

[0041] • never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO; and / or

[0042] • monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0043] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE.

[0044] Furthermore, according to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a UE configured to perform the method herein.

[0045] Thus, according to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE is configured, by a network node, to monitor for a WUS and a PEI. The UE is further configured P111036W001

[0046] 11 to receive the WUS at a LR. In response to receiving the WUS, the UE is configured to perform, using an MR at the UE, to monitor for the PEI, and / or for a paging message in a paging occasion, PO, by never monitoring for the for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or by monitoring for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled, wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following:

[0047] • a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and

[0048] • a coverage condition.

[0049] The UE may thus be configured to monitor for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when the one or more criteria are fulfilled, or the UE is configured to never monitor for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO.

[0050] The one or more criteria used for determining whether a UE should monitor or not monitor for the PEI upon reception of WUS are herein disclosed. In some cases, a combination of a LP- WUS subgroup and a PEI subgroup can significantly reduce the risk for false wake-up upon LP- WUS reception, also referred to as grouping used for PEI compared to grouping used for WUS. In other cases, it is more beneficial to not monitor for the PEI upon reception of the LP-WUS for power consumption reduction reasons due to extra processing that is required by the UE for monitoring for the PEI. As an example, the UE receives the WUS as a wake-up indication on the WUR and it turns on the MR. The MR may always monitor for the PEI and may go back to ultra deep sleep as soon as the PEI indicates no paging or no PEI is received within a short time span, such as configured by a vendor. According to embodiments herein, the MR may not monitor for the PEI and may only monitor the paging occasion, alternatively, the MR monitors for the PEI based on whether one or more criteria are fulfilled. In case no criterion is fulfilled the MR may use a legacy paging monitoring such as monitoring for the PEI and then monitoring for the paging message in the PO.

[0051] It is proposed herein to provide a solution that enables power savings (PS) for UEs configured to monitor for both WUS and PEI. The proposed solution has one or more of the following advantages:

[0052] • Embodiments herein may reduce power consumption due to prevention of PO decoding by using PEI indication along with WUS, also referred to as low power (LP)-WUS;

[0053] • Embodiments herein may reduce false alarm ratio when two subgroups are used instead of a single subgroup; and / or

[0054] • Embodiments herein may improve UE energy efficiency while ensuring network reachability, coverage, and / or power saving targets.

[0055] Thus, embodiments herein support communication, such as handling paging, in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0056] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS P111036W001

[0057] 12

[0058] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0059] Fig. 1a shows a WUS and PO signaling architecture according to prior art;

[0060] Fig. 1 b shows a UE with a MR and a WUR according to prior art;

[0061] Fig. 1c shows a WUS and PO power consumption according to prior art;

[0062] Fig. 2 shows an overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0063] Fig. 3 is a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0064] Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0065] Fig. 5 shows an overview depicting a method according to some embodiments herein;

[0066] Fig. 6 shows an overview depicting a method according to some embodiments herein;

[0067] Fig. 7 shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0068] Fig. 8 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system,

[0069] Fig. 9 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE,

[0070] Fig. 10 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node, and

[0071] Fig. 11 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment.

[0072] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network 1. The wireless communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) or any applicable future generation standard, e.g., 6G.

[0074] In the wireless communication network 1, a user equipment (UE) 10 exemplified herein as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, is comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. radio access network (RAN), to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband internet of things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of P111036W001

[0075] 13 communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node.

[0076] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a radio network node 12, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as 6G, NR, LTE, or similar. The radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The radio network node may be referred to as a serving radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the UE 10 and UL transmissions from the UE 10. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0077] The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0078] UE implementation aspects are herein discussed when the network has configured the combination of WUS and PEI. Embodiments herein provide a mechanism to reduce the UE power consumption due to false wake-up indication transmitted using WUS. The WUS may be exemplified herein as a low power (LP)-WUS intended for a LP-WUR architecture. According to some embodiments UEs are grouped into PEI subgroups whenever LP-WUS is used, i.e. , the UE 10 may belong to a LP-WUS subgroup, e.g., any of subgroups 1 to 8, and to a PEI subgroup, e.g., any subgroup 1-8. The grouping for one UE such as the UE 10 is different than for another UE. The grouping comprises the PEI grouping and / or the LP-WUS grouping.

[0079] Embodiments herein enable the UE 10 with a main receiver (MR) and a low-power receiver (LR), such as a WUR, to turn the MR off as soon as the PEI indicates there is no paging for the UE 10. In cases where a UE is woken up by a false alarm (receiving a WUS but the paging is not intended for the UE), monitoring the corresponding PO requires time / frequency (T / F) synchronization, decoding, and also processing of PDCCH and PDSCH, which all comes at the cost of energy consumption. However, when also a PEI subgroup is used along with a LP-WUS, the UE 10 monitors for the PEI before monitoring the corresponding PO. In cases when UEs belong to the same WUS subgroup and different PEI subgroups it can benefit the UEs by enabling P111036W001

[0080] 14 to switch off the MR before the paging occasion when false wake-up indication, i.e., a WUS, is received.

[0081] Fig. 3 is a combined flow chart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0082] Action 301. The radio network node 12 transmits a WUS to the UE 10.

[0083] Action 302. The UE 10 may wake-up its MR upon reception of the WUS.

[0084] Action 303. The UE performs monitoring, using the MR, for a PEI and / or for a paging message in a PO according to at least one of the following: never monitor for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO; or, monitor, or not monitor, for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled as described herein.

[0085] The method actions performed by the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network, according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. The UE 10 is configured, by a network node such as the radio network node 12, to monitor for a WUS, and a PEI.

[0086] Action 401. The UE 10 receives the WUS at the low power radio, such as the WUR.

[0087] Action 402. The UE 10, in response to receiving the WUS, uses, e.g., wakes up, the MR at the UE 10 for performing monitoring for the PEI, and / or a paging message in the PO. The UE 10 never monitors for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or the UE 10 monitors for the PEI or does not monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled. The one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following: a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and a coverage condition. The one or more criteria may relate to the coverage condition and a criterion may define that a reference signal received quality (RSRP), such as a LP- RSRP, and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ), such as LP-RSRQ, for not monitoring PEI is larger (or an offset larger) than an RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold configured for WUS monitoring. For example, the UE 10 should not monitor PEI if a 2-step RA can be used for initial access, which means that the RSRP is above the RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold which is an example of a set signal strength threshold. The one or more criteria may relate to the grouping in WUS and PEI and the grouping in the one or more criteria may relate to a subgrouping for PEIs compared to a subgrouping used for WUSs and a criterion may define that whether to monitor for the PEI or not is based on a number of subgroups configured for WUS relative to a number of subgroups configured for PEI. This is equivalent to the number of UEs in the respective group since the number of UEs in the subgroups will be, inversely, proportional to the number of subgroups. The one or more criteria may further relate to a time offset from the WUS to the PEI, and / or to the PO, and wherein the time offset depends on a ramp up time of the MR. P111036W001

[0088] 15

[0089] The low power radio may be a low power WUR, and the MR may be a less power efficient receiver than the low power radio. The MR may be woken up, or put in a sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled. The UE 10 may be operating at different energy levels depending on whether the UE 10 monitors for the PEI and / or for the paging message in the PO, e.g., the different energy levels depend on how much the MR is awake / used.

[0090] The one or more criteria may further be related to one or more of the following: a historical false wake-up ratio; how often POs are configured; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE;

[0091] WUR architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

[0092] The UE 10 may in examples herein perform monitoring for the PEI and / or the paging message in the PO according to at least one of the following:

[0093] • always monitor for the PEI;

[0094] • never monitor for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO; and / or

[0095] • monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0096] The one or more criteria is related to one or more of the following:

[0097] - a time offset from the WUS to the PEI and / or to the PO,

[0098] - grouping of UEs for PEIs compared to grouping of UEs used for WUS, historical false wake-up ratio, number of UEs in grouping of UEs used for WUS and / or PEI, how often POs are configured, how often paging frames (PF) are configured,

[0099] - a coverage condition,

[0100] - a cell size,

[0101] - a deployment scenario, number of UEs in the cell,

[0102] - a location of the UE,

[0103] - WUR architecture or WUR type,

[0104] - a PEI received or not, and / or

[0105] - a UE battery level

[0106] Related to herein means that one takes one or more of the above into account when determining whether to monitor for a PEI and / or for a paging message in the PO. The UE 10 may receive the WUS using a WUR and may use a MR for monitoring the PEI and / or the PO. P111036W001

[0107] 16

[0108] The MR may be woken up or put in sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled. The MR may for example be put in sleep mode when the PEI is not received or when the PEI indicates no paging.

[0109] In embodiments herein, it is considered or assumed a UE capable of both LP-WLIR and MR. However, the solutions should not be limited to such devices, and can be extended other service / device classes or categories capable of receiving WUS, e.g., related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), wearables, industrial sensors, extended reality (XR) applications, massive- machine type communication (MTC), ultra reliable low latency communication (LIRLLC), time sensitive network (TSN), etc.

[0110] Embodiments herein discuss UE implementation aspects, i.e. , when to use the PEI functionality upon reception of a LP-WUS to reduce the energy consumption by reducing the UE false wake-up rate avoiding monitoring of the PO. To wake-up a UE, the WUS addresses its subgroup using its subgroup ID, and the intended UE will wake-up but also all other UEs in the subgroup will unnecessarily wake-up, which is defined as false wake-up. The bigger the subgroup is, the larger the false wake-up rate is. The false wake-up rate decreases by reducing the subgroup size. Having a different subgrouping formula for PEI and LP-WUS reduces the time that an unintended UE remains awake and reduces the energy consumption which would have otherwise be spent on monitoring a PO for a paging message. As an example, Fig. 5 shows a case where the UE 10, belonging to LP-WUS subgroup 8 and PEI subgroup 2, is paged, the UE 10 monitors for a WUS during a WUS monitoring occasion. When the UE 10 receives the wake-up indication, i.e., the WUS, for its corresponding LP-WUS subgroup 8, the UE 10 wakes up its MR, which monitors for a PEI of the PEI subgroup 2 in a PEI message. In here, if only WUS subgrouping is used then all the UEs belonging to LP-WUS subgroup 8 will wake-up for monitoring for the paging message without monitoring for the PEI and this will result in false wake-up for rest of the UEs belonging to LP-WUS subgroup 8. Depending on the number of UEs configured to the different LP- WUS and PEI subgroups, this will result in different false wake-up probabilities.

[0111] As one example, if the LP-WUS subgroup 8 is large, i.e., contains a large number of UEs, and the PEI subgroup 2 is small, not utilizing the PEI will result in many false wake-ups. In this case it would be advantageous not to monitor the PO based only on the LP-WUS, but instead to monitor the PO for the paging message based on the combined indication of LP-WUS and PEI. On the other hand, if the LP-WUS subgroup 8 is small, e.g., contains a few number of UEs, and PEI subgroup 2 is large, the usage of PEI is almost redundant and can be ignored. The size of the subgroup, i.e., the number of UEs the subgroup comprises, is proportional to the number of configured subgroups, since UEs are assigned to a specific subgroup based on the UEs ID. As examples, if the number of WUS subgroups is larger than the number of PEI subgroups plus a constant K, then PEI is not monitored, or if the number of WUS subgroups is larger than a constant P111036W001

[0112] 17

[0113] K times the number of PEI subgroups, then PEI is not monitored. This means that the condition for performing PEI monitoring is such that if the number of WUS subgroups is less or equal to the number of PEI subgroups, then PEI is monitored, or if the number of WUS subgroups is less or equal to the constant K times the x number of PEI subgroups, then PEI is monitored. The constant K may be decided by the UE’s and may be related to the false alarm rate.

[0114] In one embodiment, the possible UE implementation for the reduction of WUS false alarms in the case of UEs in a same LP-WUS subgroup may be achieved by further utilizing different subgroups of PEI. That is, the UE 10 belonging to a LP-WUS subgroup will monitor a PEI-occasion (PEI-O) for a corresponding PEI, or PEI subgroup indication, before monitoring the paging occasion. The subgroups of UEs for both LP-WUS and PEI are different, and the number of subgroups can be different or similar.

[0115] The UE behavior of the UE 10 for monitoring PEI or not after the reception of LP-WUS may be any of the following cases:

[0116] 1 . Always / Never monitor PEI after WUS.

[0117] 2. Depending on a time offset, i.e. , due to ramp up time of MR, from the LP-WUS indication to the PEI, e.g., reception of SSB and monitoring of the PEI-0 and to the PO, or reception of SSB and monitoring of the PO. In some cases, the configured time offsets will require the UE 10 to keep the MR active for a long time to monitor PEI. In one case when the time offset between LP-WUS and PEI is greater than the wake-up delay of the MR, then the UE 10 may monitor PEI. Otherwise, when the LP-WUS and PEI time offset is smaller than the MR wake-up delay the UE 10 may skip monitoring for PEI.

[0118] 3. If there is a different grouping of UEs with respect to PEIs compared to the subgrouping of UEs used for LP-WUS. In case the grouping is the same, there is no additional information in the PEI and the UE 10 may skip monitoring for the PEI. In some cases, this may apply only to the subgroup that the UE 10 has been configured with, e.g. it is not required that all subgroups of WUS and PEI are identical, it is sufficient that the two groups the UE 10 has been configured with are equivalent.

[0119] The following agreement has been concluded in the ongoing RAN2#129 meeting, which means that when the LP-WUS and PEI subgrouping are different this will help reduce the false alarm. P111036W001

[0120] 18

[0121] The connection between PEI subgrouping and LP-WUS subgrouping is that if the subgrouping formula (and same number of groups) used are the same for PEI and LP- WUS then the UEs belong to the same subgroup e.g., subgroup 1 for LP-WUS and subgroup 1 for PEI. In this case having PEI subgrouping on top of LP-WUS does not provide any gain, with respect to false wake-up, as the network will wake-up all the UEs in a particular LP-WUS group and afterwords utilize PEI to indicate paging for the same subgroup. The PEI subgrouping information thus becomes redundant for the UEs monitoring both LP-WUS and PEI as from the UE perspective same information is repeated in both the signalling. In short, if the network uses a same formula for LP-WUS and PEI subgrouping then PEI should not be utilized and this may be defined as one of the one or more criteria.

[0122] 4. Depending on the historical false wake-up ratio as estimated by the UE 10. If the UE 10 determines that the UE 10 has a very low false wake-up ratio when monitoring for the PEI, the UE 10 may skip monitoring for the PEI. On the other hand, if the false wake-up ratio is high when not monitoring PEI the UE 10 may start to monitor for the PEI. As a third example, if there is low difference in false wake-up ratio between when the UE 10 monitors for PEI and when the UE 10 does not, the UE 10 may skip PEI monitoring.

[0123] 5. Based on an estimated fraction of UEs, i.e., number of UEs, in the different WUS and PEI subgroups. This fraction of UEs may also be sent from the network in the RRC Release message or be part of system information (SI).

[0124] 6. Depending on how often POs are configured.

[0125] 7. Depending on how often PFs are configured.

[0126] 8. A coverage condition.

[0127] 9. A cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell.

[0128] 10. A location of the UE.

[0129] 11 . A WUR architecture or WUR type, and / or

[0130] 12. A UE battery level.

[0131] 13. Any combination of the points above.

[0132] Thus, in one embodiment, the UE behavior for monitoring or applying, i.e. , using or ignoring the content of, PEI after detecting WUS depends on the coverage condition. For example, for UEs in poor coverage conditions where WUS detection becomes challenging, i.e., less reliable, the UE P111036W001

[0133] 19

[0134] 10 monitors for the PEI and uses its content. In this case, coverage metrics such as RSRP, RSRQ, signal to noise ratio (SNR), reference signal strength indicator (RSSI), and / or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SI NR) can be used either based on measurements of the LR or the MR. For instance:

[0135] • If RSRP is larger than a signal strength threshold, then PEI is not monitored.

[0136] • If RSRP is equal to or less than the signal strength threshold, then PEI is monitored.

[0137] The UE 10 may have the signal strength threshold for PEI monitoring and this signal strength threshold is bounded by a LP-WLIS coverage threshold indicating coverage of the LP- WUS.

[0138] In one option, if both RSRP and RSRQ thresholds are configured for LP-WLIS monitoring, a signal strength threshold for not monitoring for the PEI will be when both measured RSRP and RSRQ are above their respective signal strength threshold.

[0139] In one option, the UE 10 may not monitor for PEI if 2-step random access (RA) can be used for initial access, i.e. if RSRP is larger than a signal strength threshold for performing the 2-step RA.

[0140] In another embodiment, the UE behavior for monitoring or applying, i.e., using or ignoring the content, the PEI after detecting WUS depends on the cell size, deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell. Here, some information, such as RSRP measurements, use case, e.g., certain use cases are associated with more UEs or with smaller cells, can be considered. The cell radius can be determined based on type of cells such as a macro cell (10km), a micro cell (1 km), or a pico cell (200 m). A cell size threshold can be set to be for example 1 , 14, 14 of a maximum cell range. Considering that typically the number of UEs is large in larger cells, the impact of false paging becomes more detrimental. In such case, the false paging rate can be reduced by increasing the number of UE subgroups. Hence, PEI grouping and / or WUS grouping may be used to increase the number of subgroups. For instance,

[0141] • If cell radius is larger than the cell size threshold, then both PEI and WUS monitoring are used.

[0142] • If cell radius is equal to or less than the cell size threshold, then only WUS monitoring is used, and PEI-0 is not monitored.

[0143] • If the number of UEs in the cell is greater than a load threshold, both PEI monitoring and WUS monitoring are used. The number of UEs can be estimated based on historical data and prior activities in the cell. Thus, UE behavior may be based on the UE estimates from the historical data, e.g. when the UE 10 is in a certain cell at specific time of day, the UE 10 monitors for WUS and PEI, and at other times the UE 10 only monitors for PEI. For example, during a first time interval of the day the UE 10 monitors for both WUS and PEI, for a second time interval the UE 10 monitors for PEI only, and a third time interval the UE 10 monitors for WUS only. P111036W001

[0144] 20

[0145] • If the number of UEs in the cell is smaller than the load threshold, the PEI is not monitored.

[0146] In case of low load, such as less than 100 UEs, there may be few pagings overall and it is not important to reduce false pagings, and the UE 10 may ignore the PEI. Examples of load thresholds may include 100 UEs, 500 UEs, or 5000 UEs

[0147] In another related embodiment, the UE behavior for monitoring or applying, i.e. , using or ignoring the content, PEI after detecting WUS depends on the location of the UE 10. For a uniform distribution of UEs in a cell, more UEs are located in areas further away from the radio network node 12. Therefore, additional subgrouping may be useful to achieve a false wake-up reduction. For example,

[0148] • If the distance of the UE 10 from radio network node 12 is above a distance threshold, then both PEI monitoring and WUS monitoring are used.

[0149] • If the distance of the UE 10 from the radio network node 12 is equal to or less than the distance threshold, then only WUS is monitored and PEI-0 is not monitored.

[0150] Such location information or distance information from the radio network node 12 may be acquired from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and / or received signal measurements, e.g., SSB, RSRP, SNR, RSRQ. The distance here can be measured in terms of RSRP / RSRQ measurements performed by the MR or the LR. In one case, a value of ‘x’ RSRP and ‘y’ RSRP indicates a distance of ‘z’ meters from the radio network node 12. If a distance threshold ‘zT is defined, then the UE 10 uses this distance threshold for monitoring for PEI or skipping monitoring for PEI.

[0151] In another embodiment, the UE behavior for monitoring or applying PEI, i.e., using or ignoring the content of PEI, after detecting WUS depends on the WUR architecture or WUR type. For example, an OFDM-based WUR might be able to decode PEI, which is based on OFDM signals, while OOK-based WUR ignores the PEI. For example:

[0152] • UE supporting OFDM-based WUR monitors for both WUS and PEI

[0153] • UE supporting OOK-based WUR only monitors for WUS and ignores PEI

[0154] In another embodiment, the UE behavior for monitoring or applying WUS and PEI, i.e., using or ignoring the content of WUS and PEI, depends on the UE, or WUR, battery level. Considering that monitoring PEI in addition to WUS increases the UE power consumption, the UE 10 may skip monitoring for PEI if the UE battery level is below a certain battery threshold.

[0155] In case the UE 10 with a battery less than the battery threshold, e.g., 100mAh, the UE 10 may skip monitoring for the PEI. If the PEI indicates paging for that particular UE 10 then additional energy is being spent on the monitoring for the PEI, which could be saved by not monitoring for the PEI and directly monitoring the PO.

[0156] In one embodiment, it is up to UE implementation whether to monitor WUS and / or PEI signals transmitted by the radio network node 12 in relation to paging. The UE 10 may determine what to monitor based on certain ‘UE conditions’, e.g., as illustrated in the table below: P111036W001

[0157] 21

[0158] The RSRP-threshold for determining ‘good’ or ‘bad’ coverage would be up to UE implementation.

[0159] In one embodiment, the UEs behavior in case of reception of WUS wake-up indication and not reception of the PEI indication within the PEI-0 forces then the UE 10 to not monitor the corresponding PO, i.e., the UE 10 may turn off the MR immediately and UE’s LR starts monitoring LP-WUS as shown in Fig. 6. Thus, Fig. 6 shows a false WUS wake-up using lack of PEI reception.

[0160] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 1 according to embodiments herein. The UE 10 may comprise processing circuitry 701 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein. The UE 10 is configured, by a network node, to monitor for the WUS, and the PEI.

[0161] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to receive the WUS at the LR.

[0162] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to, in response to receiving the WUS, use the MR at the UE 10 to perform monitoring for the PEI, and / or the paging message in the PO, by never monitoring for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or by monitoring for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled. The one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following:

[0163] • a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and P111036W001

[0164] 22

[0165] • a coverage condition.

[0166] The one or more criteria may relate to the coverage condition and the criterion defines that the RSRP, such as a LP-RSRP, and / or the RSRQ, such as LP-RSRQ, for not monitoring PEI is larger (or an offset larger) than the RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold configured for WUS monitoring. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to not monitor PEI if 2-step RA can be used for initial access. The one or more criteria may relate to the grouping used for WUS and PEI and the grouping in the one or more criteria may relate to a subgrouping used for PEI compared to a subgrouping used for WUS and the criterion may define that whether to monitor for the PEI or not is based on a number of subgroups configured for WUS relative to a number of subgroups configured for PEI. The one or more criteria may further relate to the time offset from the WUS to the PEI, and / or to the PO, and wherein the time offset depends on the ramp up time of the MR.

[0167] The low power radio may be a low power WUR, and the MR may be a less power efficient receiver than the WUR. The MR may be woken up, or put in a sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled. The UE 10 may be configured to operate at different energy levels depending on whether the UE 10 monitors for the PEI and / or the paging message in the PO, e.g., the different energy levels depend on how much the MR is awake / used.

[0168] The one or more criteria may further be related to one or more of the following: a historical false wake-up ratio; how often POs are configured; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE;

[0169] WUR architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

[0170] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to, in response to receiving the WUS, perform monitoring for the PEI and / or the paging message in the PO according to at least one of the following:

[0171] • always monitor for the PEI;

[0172] • never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO; and / or

[0173] • monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0174] The one or more criteria may be related to one or more of the following:

[0175] - a time offset from the WUS to the PEI and / or to the PO,

[0176] - grouping used for PEI compared to grouping used for WUS historical false wake-up ratio number of UEs in grouping used for WUS and / or PEI how often POs are configured

[0177] - a coverage condition

[0178] - a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell P111036W001

[0179] 23

[0180] - a location of the UE

[0181] - WUR architecture or WUR type; and / or UE battery level

[0182] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to receive the WUS using the WUR and to use the MR for monitoring for the PEI and / or the paging message in the PO.

[0183] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to wake the MR or put in sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled. Thus, the UE may operate at different energy levels, i.e. , consume different amounts of energy, depending on whether PEI is monitored or not. Thus, the UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to operate at different energy levels depending on whether the UE monitors for a PEI and / or a paging message in the PO according to at least one of the following: always monitor for the PEI; never monitor for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO; monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0184] The UE 10 may comprise a memory 705. The memory 705 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, PEI, WUS, resource information, messages, support information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the UE 10 may comprise a communication interface 706 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas. The UE 10 may comprise a WUR and a MR.

[0185] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 707 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. The computer program product 707 may be stored on a computer- readable storage medium 708, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the UE 10 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the UE 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0186] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and / or with another network node. P111036W001

[0187] 24

[0188] In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), loT capable device, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0189] Embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the wireless device receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. NR, Wi-Fi, LTE, LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0190] Fig. 8 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0191] In the example, the communication system 15100 includes a telecommunications network 15102 that includes an access network 15104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 15106, which includes one or more core network nodes 15108. The access network 15104 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 15110A and 15110B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 15110 or radio network node 12), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 15104 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 15110 of access network 15104 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as UEs, such as by connecting UEs 15112A, 15112B, 15112C, and 15112D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 15112 or UE 10) to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0192] Moreover, 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 telecommunications network 15102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 15102 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 network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 15102, including one or more access network nodes 15110 and / or core network nodes 15108 such as first / second network node. P111036W001

[0193] 25

[0194] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), 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 a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1 , W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network 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 0-2 interface defined by the O- RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0195] The network nodes 15110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 15112 to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections. 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 15100 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 15100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0196] The UEs 15112 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 15110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 15108, 15110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 15102) with the UEs 15112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 15102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 15102. More specifically, UEs 15112 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 15108, 15110 or other elements of the telecommunications network 15102 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the P111036W001

[0197] 26 signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 15108, 15110 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 151122, other network nodes 15108, 15110, and other devices in telecommunications network 15102 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 15112 by transmitting the message to an access network node 15110 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 15112. Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 15112 by receiving the message from an access network node 15110 that itself received the message from the UE 15112.

[0198] In the depicted example, the core network 15106 connects elements of the access network 15104 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 15110) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 15116. 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 15106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 15108) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 15108. Network nodes 15108 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 15108. Example core network nodes provide 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 Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0199] The host 15116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 15104 and / or the telecommunications network 15102. The host 15116 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 15116 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.

[0200] As a whole, the communication system 15100 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 15100 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, P111036W001

[0201] 27

[0202] 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 (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 15100 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 15100 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0203] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 15104 may contain some access network nodes 15110 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 15110 support (or the same access network nodes 15110 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 15102 may support multiple generations of related communication standards, e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards, and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0204] Telecommunications network 15102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 15102. For example, the telecommunications network 15102 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.

[0205] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 15112 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 15104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 15104. 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).

[0206] In the example, the hub 15114 communicates with the access network 15104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 15110B). In some examples, the hub 15114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 15114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the P111036W001

[0207] 28 core network 15106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 15114 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 15110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 15114.

[0208] As another example, the hub 15114 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 15114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 15114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 15114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 15114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0209] The hub 15114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 15110B. The hub 15114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 15114 and UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D), and between the hub 15114 and the core network 15106. In other examples, the hub 15114 is connected to the core network 15106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 15114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 15104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 15110 while still connected via the hub 15114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 15114 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 15110B. In other embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 15110B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0210] Figure 9 shows a wireless device 15300, which may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Figure 8. The wireless device 15300 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 15300, like a UE 15112 within the context of communication system 15100, or as a station (STA) 15300 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 15300, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device 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, P111036W001

[0211] 29 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, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0212] A wireless device 15300 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, wireless device 15300 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 15300 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, wireless device 15300 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).

[0213] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 includes processing circuitry 15302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 15304 to an input / output interface 15306, a power source 15308, a memory 15310, a communication interface 15312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 15300 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 15300 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 15300, processing circuitry 15302, input / output interface 15306, power source 15308, memory 15310, and communication interface 15312 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 15300. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 15300 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0214] The processing circuitry 15302 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 15310. The processing circuitry 15302 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 15302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). P111036W001

[0215] 30

[0216] In the example, the input / output interface 15306 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 wireless device 15300. 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.

[0217] In some embodiments, the power source 15308 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 to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 15308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 15308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 15300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 15308 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 15300 to which power is supplied.

[0218] The memory 15310 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 15310 includes one or more programs 15314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 15316. The memory 15310 may store, for use by wireless device 15300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0219] The memory 15310 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 P111036W001

[0220] 31 subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a IISIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The IIICC may for example be an embedded IIICC (elllCC), integrated IIICC (illlCC) or a removable IIICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 15310 may allow wireless device 15300 to access instructions, 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 15310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0221] The processing circuitry 15302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 15312. The communication interface 15312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 15322. The communication interface 15312 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 wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 15318 and / or a receiver 15320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 15318 and receiver 15320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 15322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0222] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 15312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), 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 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 / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0223] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 15312, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 15300 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 15300. In particular embodiments, such 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 P111036W001

[0224] 32 response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0225] As another example, wireless device 15300 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, wireless device 15300 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.

[0226] Wireless device 15300, 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, 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 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. In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 represents an loT device that 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 example embodiment of wireless device 15300 shown in Figure 9.

[0227] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 15300 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 wireless device and / or a network node. Wireless device 15300 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, wireless device 15300 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 15300 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.

[0228] In practice, any number of wireless devices 15300 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 15300 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 15300 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from P111036W001

[0229] 33 the remote controller, the first wireless device 15300 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 wireless device 15300 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 15300 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0230] Figure 10 shows a network node 15400 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 telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 15400 may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Figure 8, like network nodes 15108 or 15110. 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 NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-Rll, O-DU, O-CU).

[0231] Network nodes 15400 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. Network node 15400 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 15400 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).

[0232] Other examples of network nodes 15400 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-cel l / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, SelfOrganizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0233] In particular embodiments, network node 15400 includes a processing circuitry 15402, a memory 15404, a communication interface 15406, and a power source 15408. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 15400, processing circuitry 15402, memory 15404, communication interface 15406, and power source 15408 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 15400. P111036W001

[0234] 34

[0235] The network node 15400 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 15400 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities 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 15400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 15404 or portions of memory 15404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 15410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 15400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 15400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), 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 15400.

[0236] The processing circuitry 15402 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 components, such as the memory 15404, to provide network node 15400 functionality.

[0237] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and the baseband processing circuitry 15414 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 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0238] The memory 15404 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 nonvolatile, 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 15402. The memory 15404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer P111036W001

[0239] 35 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 15402 and utilized by the network node 15400. The memory 15404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 15402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 15406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 and memory 15404 is integrated.

[0240] The communication interface 15406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 15406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 15416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 15300 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 15406 may also include radio front-end circuitry 15418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 15410. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 15418 include filter(s) 15420 and amplifier(s) 15422. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may be connected to an antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 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 15418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 15420 and / or amplifiers 15422. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 15410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 15410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 15418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 15402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0241] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 15400 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 15418, instead, the processing circuitry 15402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 15410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 is part of the communication interface 15406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 15406 includes one or more ports or terminals 15416, the radio front-end circuitry 15418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 15412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 15406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 15414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0242] The antenna 15410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 15410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 15418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or P111036W001

[0243] 36 signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 15410 is separate from the network node 15400 and connectable to the network node 15400 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0244] The antenna 15410, communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 15410, the communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0245] The power source 15408 provides power to the various components of network node 15400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 15408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 15400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 15400 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 15408. As a further example, the power source 15408 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.

[0246] Embodiments of the network node 15400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 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 15400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 15400 and to allow output of information from the network node 15400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 15400.

[0247] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 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 15500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing P111036W001

[0248] 37 device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a 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 15500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0249] Applications 15502 (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.

[0250] Hardware 15504 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 15506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 15508A and VM 15508B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 15508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 15506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 15508.

[0251] The VMs 15508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 15506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 15502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 15508, 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.

[0252] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 15508 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 15508, and that part of hardware 15504 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 of the VMs 15508 on top of the hardware 15504 and corresponds to an application 15502.

[0253] Hardware 15504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 15504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 15504 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 P111036W001

[0254] 38 and orchestration 15510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 15502. In some embodiments, hardware 15504 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 15512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0255] 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.

[0256] 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. P111036W001

[0257] 39

[0258] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and / or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNB, Secondary eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node e.g. Mobility Switching Centre (MSC), Mobile Management Entity (MME) etc., Operation and Maintenance (O&M), Operation Support System (OSS), Self-Organizing Network (SON), positioning node e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC), Minimizing Drive Test (MDT), etc.

[0259] In some embodiments, the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device-to-device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0260] The embodiments are described for 5G. However the embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE, LTE FDD / TDD, WCDMA / HSPA, GSM / GERAN, Wi Fi, WLAN, CDMA2000 etc.

[0261] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

[0262] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, P111036W001

[0263] 40 conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0264] Modifications and other embodiments of the disclosed embodiments will come to mind to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiment(s) is / are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

[0265] Embodiments:

[0266] A1. A method performed by a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving (401) a WUS; and

[0267] , in response to receiving the WUS, performing (402) monitoring for a PEI and / or a PO according to at least one of the following:

[0268] • always monitor for the PEI;

[0269] • never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO;

[0270] • monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0271] A2. The method according to embodiment A1 , wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following: a time offset from the WUS to the PEI and / or to the PO; a grouping in PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; a historical false wake-up ratio;

[0272] Number of UEs in grouping used for WUS and / or PEI; how often POs are configured; a coverage condition; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE;

[0273] WUR architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

[0274] A3. The method according to any of the embodiments A1-A2, wherein the WUS is received using a WUR and the UE uses a main receiver, MR, for monitoring for the PEI and / or the PO.

[0275] A4. The method according to embodiment A3, wherein the MR is woken up or put in sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled. P111036W001

[0276] 41

[0277] A5. The method according to any of the embodiments A3-A4, wherein the UE is operating at different energy levels depending on whether the UE monitors for a PEI and / or a PO according to at least one of the following: always monitor for the PEI; never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO; monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0278] B1. A UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE is configured to: receive a WUS; and, in response to receiving the WUS, perform monitoring for a PEI and / or a PO according to at least one of the following:

[0279] • always monitor for the PEI;

[0280] • never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO;

[0281] • monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0282] B2. The UE according to embodiment B1 , wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following: a time offset from the WUS to the PEI and / or to the PO; a grouping in PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; a historical false wake-up ratio;

[0283] Number of UEs in grouping used for WUS and / or PEI; how often POs are configured; a coverage condition; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE;

[0284] WUR architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

[0285] B3. The UE according to any of the embodiments B1-B2, wherein the WUS is received using a WUR and the UE is configured to use a main receiver for monitoring for the PEI and / or the PO. B4. The UE according to embodiment B3, wherein the MR is woken upon or put in sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0286] B5. The method according to any of the embodiments B3-B4, wherein the UE is configured to operate at different energy levels depending on whether the UE monitors for a PEI and / or a PO according to at least one of the following: always monitor for the PEI; never monitor for the PEI and only for the PO; monitor for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled.

[0287] C1. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the embodiments A1-A5, as performed by the UE.

[0288] D1. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one P111036W001

[0289] 42 processor to carry out the method according to any of the embodiments A1-A5, as performed by the UE.

[0290] References: 1. 3GPP RP-234056, “New WID: Low-power wake-up signal and receiver for NR (LP-

[0291] WUS / WUR),” 3GPP TSG RAN meeting #102, Dec. 2023.

[0292] 2. 3GPP TR 38.869 v2.00, “Study on low-power Wake-up Signal and Receiver for NR),” Dec. 2023.

[0293] 3. Summary #3 on LP-WLIS operation in IDLE / INACTIVE mode, Moderator (Apple), R1- 2401631 , Mar. 2024.

[0294] 4. 3GPP TS 38.304, “NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state,” Dec. 2023.

Claims

P111036W00143CLAIMS1. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured, by a network node, to monitor for a wake-up signal, WUS, and a paging early indication, PEI, the method comprising:- receiving (401) the WUS at a low power radio; and in response to receiving the WUS, using a main receiver, MR, at the UE(10) for performing (402) monitoring for the PEI, and / or a paging message in a paging occasion, PO, comprising• never monitoring for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or• monitoring for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following:- a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and- a coverage condition.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more criteria relates to the coverage condition and a criterion defines that a reference signal received power, RSRP, and / or reference signal received quality, RSRQ, for not monitoring PEI is larger than an RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold configured for WUS monitoring.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the grouping in the one or more criteria relates a subgrouping used for PEI compared to a subgrouping used for WUS and a criterion defines that whether to monitor for the PEI or not is based on a number of subgroups configured for WUS relative to a number of subgroups configured for PEI.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the one or more criteria further relates to a time offset from the WUS to the PEI, and / or to the PO, and wherein the time offset depends on a ramp up time of the MR.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the low power radio is a low power wake-up radio, WUR, and the MR is a less power efficient receiver than the low power radio.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the MR is woken up, or put in a sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled.P111036W001447. The method according to any of the claims 5-6, wherein the UE (10) is operating at different energy levels depending on whether the UE (10) monitors for the PEI and / or for the paging message in the PO.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein the one or more criteria are further related to one or more of the following: a historical false wake-up ratio; how often POs are configured; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE; wake-up radio, WUR, architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

9. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-8, as performed by the UE (10).

10. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-8, as performed by the UE (10).

11. A user equipment, UE, (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured, by a network node, to monitor for a wake-up signal, WUS, and a paging early indication, PEI, wherein the UE (10) is configured to: receive the WUS at a low power radio; and in response to receiving the WUS, use a main receiver, MR, at the UE (10) to perform monitoring for the PEI, and / or for a paging message in a paging occasion, PO, by never monitoring for the for the PEI and only for the paging message in the PO, or by monitoring for the PEI or not monitoring for the PEI when one or more criteria are fulfilled, wherein the one or more criteria are related to one or more of the following:• a grouping used for PEI compared to a grouping used for WUS; and• a coverage condition.P111036W0014512. The UE (10) according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more criteria relates to the coverage condition and a criterion defines that an RSRP and / or RSRQ for not monitoring PEI is larger than an RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold configured for WUS monitoring.

13. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 11-12, wherein the grouping in the one or more criteria relates to a subgrouping used for PEI compared to a subgrouping used for WUS and a criterion defines that whether to monitor for the PEI or not is based on a number of subgroups configured for WUS relative to a number of subgroups configured for PEI.

14. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 11-13, wherein the one or more criteria further relates to a time offset from the WUS to the PEI, and / or to the PO, and wherein the time offset depends on a ramp up time of the MR.

15. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 11-14, wherein the low power radio is a wakeup radio, WUR, and the MR is a lower power efficient receiver than the low power radio.

16. The UE (10) according to claim 15, wherein the MR is woken up, or put in a sleep mode depending on whether the one or more criteria are fulfilled.

17. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 15-16, wherein the UE (10) is configured to operate at different energy levels depending on whether the UE (10) monitors for the PEI and / or for the paging message in the PO.

18. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 11-17, wherein the one or more criteria are further related to one or more of the following: a historical false wake-up ratio; how often POs are configured; a cell size, a deployment scenario, and / or number of UEs in the cell; a location of the UE; wake-up radio, WUR, architecture or WUR type; and / or a UE battery level.

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