Aiot paging repetition handling mechanism

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to solutions for Ambient Internet of Things (IoT) paging repetition handling mechanism In a solution, a first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, an AIoT paging request of a first type. The first type indicates that the AIoT paging request is initially transmitted. Then, the first apparatus applies a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AIoT paging requests of the first type are ignored. In this way, duplicated AIoT device responses that are not needed can be avoided.

Description

AIOT PAGING REPETITION HANDLING MECHANISMCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, US Provisional Application No. 63 / 702262, filed October 2, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for Ambient Internet of Things (loT) paging repetition handling mechanism.BACKGROUND

[0003] The Ambient loT (AloT) refers to a new class of loT devices primarily powered by harvesting ambient energy from radio waves, light, motion, heat, or any other viable ambient energy source. The Ambient loT (AloT) is an extension of the existing loT. Ambient loT devices carry out many of the same functions as loT devices and target many of the same use cases but require additional design choices to meet solution demands. By relying on energy harvested from ambient sources, the Ambient loT makes it possible to develop lower-cost, smaller, and maintenance-free devices, allowing the loT to become more scalable in existing use cases and in use cases still to be developed.SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and apply a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and transmit, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging requestof a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and applying a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and transmitting, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for applying a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0012] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an AloT scenario;

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow for handling AloT paging repetition according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0023] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0024] References in the present disclosure to "one embodiment,” "an embodiment,” "an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0025] It shall be understood that although the terms "first,” "second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or” includes any and all combinations of one ormore of the listed terms.

[0026] As used herein, "at least one of the following: ” and "at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by "and” or "or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0027] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step "in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after "A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0028] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a”, "an” and "the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises”, "comprising”, "has”, "having”, "includes” and / or "including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0029] As used in this application, the term "circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(I) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware ci rcuit(s) with software / fi rmware and(II) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0030] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0031] As used herein, the term "communication network” refers to a network following any suitablecommunication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE- A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0032] As used herein, the term "network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (OU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0033] The term "terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, amedical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device”, "communication device”, "terminal”, "user equipment” and "UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0034] As used herein, the term "resource,” "transmission resource,” "resource block,” "physical resource block” (PRB), "uplink resource,” or "downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120 can communicate with each other.

[0036] In the example of FIG. 1 , the second apparatus 120 has a certain coverage range, which may be called as a serving area or a source cell. The first apparatus 110 is located in the cell managed by the second apparatus 120. In the communication environment 100, the second apparatus 120 may communicate with the first apparatus 110.

[0037] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 is a network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0038] It is to be understood that the number of apparatuses and their connections shown in FIG.1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of apparatuses configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0039] In the following, for purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described withthe first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device, e.g., an AloT device, and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device, e.g., an AloT reader which is also referred to as reader for purpose of discussion. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0040] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0041] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an AloT scenario 200. As shown, in the AloT scenario 200, an AloT device 210 and a reader 220 are communicating with each other.

[0042] The AloT device 210 may be an loT device which is much smaller and cheaper compared to previous generations of loT. In some cases, the AloT device 210 may be a terminal device (e.g., a UE) or implemented in a terminal device. The ultimate ambient loT energy source is that from radio waves. Both Ambient loT and Ambient computing rely upon energy harvesting as one of the key mechanisms for powering and enabling the technology. Energy harvesting, as it applies to Ambient loT and Ambient Computing, is the harnessing of the power in ambient radio waves to power tiny computers.

[0043] An ambient loT device may have a new radio / air interface to a reader / node. The new radio interface may be frame based or non-frame based. Deploying ambient loT service on existing system could reduce the operation cost and quickly commercialize the new service.

[0044] The reader 220 may be a device that reads and interprets data gathered from the AloT device 210. For instance, the reader 220 may extract meaningful information from the vast amount of data produced by the ambient environment, making it useful for various applications. The communication between the reader 220 and the AloT device 210 may be via the new radio / air interface, as discussed above.

[0045] Now studies have been made to the following cases for AloT paging message:a message containing an ID of a single A-loT device. a message containing a group ID that maps to multiple A-loT devices.* a message that does not contain an ID, i.e., addressed for all devices that can receive the AloT message.<■ a message containing multiple IDs of A-loT devices. Need to confirm the need for this use case based on SA2 discussion.

[0046] What device ID and group ID and scenarios is depending on further discussion on service and system aspects.

[0047] AloT paging message may indicate information from which the device can determine resources to be used for response (device to reader (D2R) message).

[0048] From RAN2 perspective, the AloT device may be assumed to receive as long as there is enough energy. Details on device monitoring will be further discussed.

[0049] As baseline, the "inventory only” case may be supported by a procedure:» Step A: A-loT paging;» Step B: Device ID transmission (via Random Access (RA) or without using RA).

[0050] As baseline, the "inventory and command” case may be supported by the procedure:<■ Step A: A-loT paging;♦ Step B: Device ID transmission (via Random Access or without using RA);Step C: reader to device (R2D) data transmission (e.g. the R2D command); and» Step D: corresponding device to reader data transmission (e.g. the feedback).Inventory and command doesn't mean that AloT paging includes both Inventory and Command in the same message. This doesn't mean that inventory and command are received by the reader at the same time from upper layer.

[0051] As to the "Command only” use case, initial trigger message from the reader contains the command. In a baseline procedure for "inventory and command”, the inventory procedure is first triggered and then the command is sent.

[0052] Currently, a mechanism is supported for a reader to be able to trigger multiple / subsequent AloT paging messages that are associated with the same request from the core network (CN). Studies on how to avoid duplicated response from devices are being made.

[0053] Specifically, there is a need to study how to avoid duplicated D2R responses from AloT devices. The reason why this is needed is two-fold. (I) because, reader transmitting the paging may be different from the reader receiving the AloT device message and therefore it can transmit multiple paging messages over time, without knowing that the AloT device message has been received by the other reader; (ii) because the paging request may be propagated from the CN to multiple readers . Namely, this need occurs when:the readers are the gNBs in the serving cells, then the need for a mechanism for handling duplicated responses from the AloT device is needed to some degree to cope with situations where the AloT device is at the edge of the cell and it receives multiple paging request from the surrounding cells;<■ the reader(s) are multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) under the same cell, and then AloT device receives multiple paging requests from each TRP; the reader(s) are multiple UEs (either in the same cell or across multiple cells); or» a combination of the above.

[0054] One approach to deal with duplicated responses would be to perform de-duplication either at the gNB or at the ON. However, from an energy saving perspective in the RAN and ON and the AloT devices themselves being energy constrained, then this mechanism to deal with duplicated responses due to duplicated paging should be addressed already at the AloT device.

[0055] At the same time, approaches where the AloT device only replies to the first paging request and then ignores the remaining ones are also not robust enough, since the subsequent paging requests might be valid and needed since the original reply from the AloT device was lost somewhere on the way to the CN.

[0056] In view of the above and other potential issues, example embodiments of the present disclosure propose solutions for avoiding duplicated AloT device responses (that are not needed) and allowing additional AloT device responses when needed. The proposed solutions introduce a prohibit timer to ignore paging requests, as well as related behaviors performed at the AloT device.

[0057] More specifically, in some example embodiments, detailed discussions are provided with respect to the following aspects.<■ Introduction of two types of paging messages (normal paging and subsequent transmission request type of paging);Introduction of two types of behavior at the AloT device (introduction of prohibit timers to ignore paging requests and conditions when to trigger them);* Details on the configuration of the prohibit timers (including timer duration and conditions to trigger those timers); and<■ Behavior of the AloT device after the prohibit timers have been activated.

[0058] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0059] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow 300 for handling AloT paging repetition according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 300 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120.

[0060] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may be discussed with an AloT device, for example, the AloT device 210. The AloT device 120 may be a terminal device, e.g., a U E, or other suitable device. The second apparatus 120 may be discussed with a reader associated with the AloT device. The reader may be, for example, the reader 220 that may read and interpret data gathered from the AloT device 210. In some example implementations, the second apparatus may be implemented as a network device such as a BS or gNB.

[0061] As introduced above, in example embodiments of the present disclosure, two types of paging messages (normal paging and subsequent transmission request type of paging) are discussed.

[0062] Regarding the first type for a paging message, which is also referred to as normal paging, contents in such paging message may include, for example, but not limited to, identifications (IDs) of the AloT devices being paged (it can be a single ID, multiple IDs or a group ID), general request for any AloT device that receives the AloT paging to reply, and / or the like.

[0063] Regarding the second type for a paging message, which is also referred to as subsequent AloT paging, contents in such paging message may include, for example, but not limited to, a flag indicating that this is a retransmission request AloT paging; IDs of the AloT devices being paged (it can be a single ID, multiple IDs or a group ID); general request for any AloT device that receives the AloT paging to reply; and / or the like.

[0064] In the signaling flow 300, the second apparatus 120 transmits (312), to the first apparatus 110, an AloT paging request of the first type. The first type indicates that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted. That is, the second apparatus 120 transmits (312) a normal paging message to the first apparatus 110.

[0065] The first apparatus 110, upon receiving (314) the AloT paging request of the first type from the second apparatus 120, may be aware that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted. The first apparatus 110 then applies (320) a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0066] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 is implemented as the AloT device 210. When receiving multiple normal AloT paging requests (for which the AloT device 210 is the recipient e.g. based on the AloT device ID being present in some form in the paging message), the AloT device 210 may reply to the first received AloT paging request (i.e. with the understanding of reply only once to a given paging, referred to i.e. by the paging ID).

[0067] When applying (320) the first prohibit timer, where for a configured period of time (e.g. that starts from the first successful detection of an AloT paging request and / or initiation of transmission to reply to this paging) all other normal AloT paging requests the came after, even though they have different paging IDs, they are ignored (i.e. no AloT device transmission takes place) by the AloT device

[0068] The first time duration of the first prohibit timer may be in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN). In some example implementations, the first prohibit timer may also be implemented as a counter e.g. based on the SFN or multiples of it.

[0069] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 transmits (316), to the first apparatus 110, a further AloT paging request of the second type. The second type indicates that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0070] Correspondingly, the first apparatus 110 may receive (318) the further AloT paging request of a second type from the second apparatus 120. As a response, in some optional embodiments, the first apparatus 1 10 may transmit, to the second apparatus 120response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0071] Upon receiving (318) the further AloT paging request of the second type, the first apparatus 110 may apply a second prohibit timer with a second time duration during which all further AloT paging requests of the second type are ignored.

[0072] In some cases, the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer may be the same timer. There may be only one prohibit timer for both the AloT paging request of the first type and the AloT paging request of the second type. In other words, in this case, the AloT paging requests of the first type and of the second type may share one prohibit timer.

[0073] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type may include, for example, but not limited to, a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type. In addition or alternatively, it may include an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus. Still further or alternatively, the AloT paging request of the second type may include a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

[0074] In some example implementations, the flag may include one or more of a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type. In addition, or alternatively, the flag may include a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type, and / or the like.

[0075] More specifically, in some example embodiments, the flag may include an explicit indication in the AloT paging message (e.g. a bit indicating that it is a subsequent AloT paging, or multiple bits that indicate in addition the cause). Alternatively, the flag may include an implicit indication, e.g., based on a specific time (and / or frequency) occasion for this type of AloT paging message; indicating that devices having received a NACK, or are not sure about the status of the D2R message are allowedto re-access using the provided Access Occasion resources

[0076] It is to be understood that the cause to trigger the subsequent AloT paging can be based on the uncertainty of the AloT reply reception status (i.e. what triggers the subsequent paging), which in turn can be based on the measured RSRP of R2D messages like the AloT paging, or msg2, or absence of received response when this response was expected.

[0077] More details of the behaviors of the first apparatus 110 will be discussed below, where the first apparatus 110 is implemented as the AloT device 210 for example. Specifically, upon receiving a subsequent AloT paging request with retransmission indication set (which the AloT device is the recipient), the AloT device 210 may perform a transmission to reply to the retransmission AloT paging request (i.e. the subsequent AloT paging request) irrespective if the first prohibit timer is running or not. In one example embodiment, the reception of the retransmission AloT paging request may reset the first prohibit timer.

[0078] Then, the AloT device 210 may apply the second prohibit timer, where for a configured period of time (e.g. that starts from the first successful detection of the retransmission paging request and / or initiation of transmission to reply to the AloT paging) all sub-sequent retransmission paging requests are ignored (i.e. no AloT device transmission takes place).

[0079] As discussed above, in some example embodiment, a single prohibit timer can be used to make the AloT device to ignore both normal and subsequent AloT paging requests.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may have different behaviors in response to various statuses of the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

[0081] For example, if the first prohibit timer is running, the first apparatus 110 may transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for a further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0082] Alternatively or in addition, if the second prohibit timer is running, the first apparatus 110 may transition to an inactive state or an off state. In this case, the first apparatus 110 may only become active again after the second prohibit timer is elapsed.

[0083] Additionally or as a further alternative, if the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer, the first apparatus 110 may transition to an inactive state or an off state. In this event, the first apparatus may become active during listening for an AloT paging request of the first type or the second type.

[0084] In the cases where the first apparatus 1 10 is implemented as the AloT device 210, the AloT device 210 selects its operation mode depending on the type of prohibit timer. If no prohibit timer is running, then it follows its normal Active, Inactive and Off states, becoming active when listening for paging messages. On the other hand, if the first prohibit timer is running, then the AloT device 210 may transition to inactive or off states, becoming active when listening for the subsequent(retransmission request) paging messages. Alternatively,

[0085] If the second prohibit timer is running, then the AloT device 210 may transition to inactive or off states, and only become active again after the second prohibit timer as elapsed.

[0086] It is to be understood that if there is only one prohibit timer, then the AloT device 210 may transition to inactive or off states, and become active when listening for the normal or subsequent (retransmission request) paging messages.

[0087] Still referring to FIG. 3, in some example embodiments, optionally, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (310) to the first apparatus 110 configuration information about the paging message(s) and / or the prohibited timer(s). Correspondingly, the first apparatus 110 may receive (311) the configuration information from the second apparatus 120.

[0088] The configuration information may include, for example, but not limited to, a configuration of the first prohibit timer, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for an AloT paging request of the second type, at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer, and / or the like.

[0089] The configuration information may transmitted in different ways. In an example, the configuration information may be transmitted as a part of common system information, for example, a system information block, SIBx. The configuration information may indicate one or more of the following: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, the first time duration of the first prohibit timer, the second time duration of the second prohibit timer, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer, and / or the like.

[0090] As an alternative to the common system information, the configuration information may be transmitted as a part of an AloT paging message, which may be either an AloT paging message of the first type or of the second type. In this case, the configuration information may include an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type may be transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type. Alternatively, the AloT paging request of the second type may be transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

[0092] More details in terms of the configuration information about the prohibit timers and conditions to trigger them are discussed below.

[0093] For both the normal and subsequent transmission AloT paging types, the configuration of the prohibit timers may be as part of the common system information (e.g. SIBx). In this case, there may be a common prohibit timer for all AloT services or a dedicated prohibit timer. Either the commonprohibit timer for all AloT services or the dedicated prohibit timer may be per AloT service, or per AloT service group, or per QoS class associated with the AloT service.

[0094] The normal and subsequent paging types may have the same prohibit timer configuration or separate ones. This configuration may include a prohibit timer duration, which may be in number of paging occasions or SFN (or its multiples), and / or conditions to trigger the prohibit timer. For example, one of the conditions may be: if N received paging occurrences of the same type within an observation window, then triggering the prohibit timer. Another condition may be N transmission to a paging request of the same type (e.g. Normal or subsequent) within an observation window.

[0095] As an alternative, the configuration information may be as part of the actual paging message (or dedicated RRC message), where there is the indication of which prohibit timer configuration to apply. This assumes that the prohibit timer configurations were shared with the AloT device 210 via common system information or based on pre-configuration. This indication may be also optional, e.g. if not provided the AloT device 210 uses the default values, otherwise it uses what was indicated in the paging message.

[0096] As a further alternative, the configuration information may be as part of pre-configuration or a standardized value from the specifications.

[0097] In is to be understood that, instead of using normal and subsequent paging types, the first and second paging types may be used in example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purpose of discussion, the first and second paging types may be referred to as the first and second types in some embodiments.

[0098] It is also to be understood that the prohibit timer may be only relative to the handling of paging requests, the AloT device 210 may however reply to other type of requests.

[0099] Additionally, the configuration information may further include a configuration of the subsequent (retransmission request) paging messages. For the transmission of the subsequent (retransmission request) AloT paging messages, in one implementation, the subsequent (retransmission request) paging message may be sent over the same resources as the normal paging messages (e.g. via a dedicated RRC message). Alternatively, in another implementation, the subsequent (retransmission request) paging messages may be sent over separate resources which are dedicated to the subsequent (retransmission request) paging messages.

[0100] In view of the above, the proposed solutions of the present disclosure effectively avoid duplicated AloT device responses that are not needed and allow additional AloT device responses when needed.

[0101] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0102] At block 410, the first apparatus 110 receives, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted.

[0103] At block 420, the first apparatus 110 applies a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may receive from the second apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit to the second apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may apply a second prohibit timer with a second time duration during which all further AloT paging requests of the second type are ignored.

[0107] In some example embodiments, the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may in response to that the first prohibit timer is running, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for a further AloT paging request of the second type; in response to that the second prohibit timer is running, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus only becomes active again after the second prohibit timer is elapsed; and in response to that the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for an AloT paging request of the first type or the second type.

[0111] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further receive, from the second apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of the first prohibit timer, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for an AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, the first time duration of the first prohibit timer, the second time duration of the second prohibit timer, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of an AloT paging message of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

[0116] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

[0117] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0118] At block 510, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted.

[0119] At block 520, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may receive, from the first apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with thefirst apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may transmit, to the first apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging request of the first type, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, a first time duration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging requests of the first type, a second time duration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging requests of the first type, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of an AloT paging message of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

[0129] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

[0130] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method400 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 .

[0131] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for applying a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0133] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0134] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for applying a second prohibit timer with a second time duration during which all further AloT paging requests of the second type are ignored.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in response to that the first prohibit timer is running, transitioning to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for a further AloT paging request of the second type; means for in response to that the second prohibit timer is running, transitioning to aninactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus only becomes active again after the second prohibit timer is elapsed; and means for in response to that the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer, transitioning to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for an AloT paging request of the first type or the second type.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of the first prohibit timer, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for an AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, the first time duration of the first prohibit timer, the second time duration of the second prohibit timer, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of an AloT paging message of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

[0144] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 400 or the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the first apparatus.

[0146] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatusmay be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging request of the first type, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, a first time duration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging requests of the first type, a second time duration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging requests of the first type, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the configuration information is a part of an AloT pagingmessage of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

[0155] In some example embodiments, the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

[0156] In some example embodiments, the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

[0157] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 500 or the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the second apparatus.

[0159] FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processor 610.

[0160] The communication module 640 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 640 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0161] The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0162] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk,a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0163] A computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0164] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term "non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0166] FIG. 7 shows an example of the computer readable medium 700 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 700 has the program 630 stored thereon.

[0167] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0168] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computerreadable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machineexecutable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0169] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0170] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0171] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0172] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that maybe specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0173] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:1 . A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and apply a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the second apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

4. The first apparatus of claim 2 or 3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: apply a second prohibit timer with a second time duration during which all further AloT paging requests of the second type are ignored.

5. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the first apparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, ora request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

7. The first apparatus of claim 6, wherein the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 2 to 7, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in response to that the first prohibit timer is running, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for a further AloT paging request of the second type; in response to that the second prohibit timer is running, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus only becomes active again after the second prohibit timer is elapsed; and in response to that the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer, transition to an inactive state or an off state, wherein the first apparatus becomes active during listening for an AloT paging request of the first type or the second type.

9. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of the first prohibit timer, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for an AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

10. The first apparatus of claim 9, wherein the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, the first time duration of the first prohibit timer, the second time duration of the second prohibit timer, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

11. The first apparatus of claim 9, wherein the configuration information is a part of an AloT paging message of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

12. The first apparatus of any of claims 2 to 11, wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

15. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and transmit, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

16. The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: receive, from the first apparatus, a response to the further AloT paging request of the second type.

17. The second apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the further AloT paging request of the second type comprises at least one of: a flag indicating that further AloT paging request of the second type is the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, an identification (ID) associated with the first apparatus, the ID associated with the firstapparatus comprising at least one of: an ID of the first apparatus, IDs of a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a group ID for a plurality of AloT devices including the first apparatus, or a request for an AloT device that receives the further AloT paging request of the second type to reply.

18. The second apparatus of claim 17, wherein the flag comprises at least one of: a bit indicating the second type, or a cause value indicating a cause for trigging the retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the flag comprises at least one of a predefined time occasion, a predefined frequency band, or a negative acknowledgement to the AloT paging request of the first type.

19. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the first apparatus, configuration information comprising at least one of: a configuration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging request of the first type, a configuration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging request of the second type, or at least one condition to trigger the first prohibit timer and / or the second prohibit timer.

20. The second apparatus of claim 19, wherein the configuration information is a part of common system information, and the configuration information indicates at least one of: a common prohibit timer for all AloT paging requests, a dedicated prohibit timer which is per AloT service, per AloT service group, or per quality of service (QoS) class associated with an AloT service, a first time duration of a first prohibit timer for the AloT paging requests of the first type, a second time duration of a second prohibit timer for the further AloT paging requests of the first type, a condition to trigger the first prohibit timer, or a condition to trigger the second prohibit timer.

21. The second apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second prohibit timer and the first prohibit timer are the same timer.

22. The second apparatus of claim 19, wherein the configuration information is a part of an AloTpaging message of the first type or the second type, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a prohibit timer configuration to be applied.

23. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 22, wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over the same resources as the AloT paging request of the first type, or wherein the AloT paging request of the second type is transmitted over separate resources which are dedicated to the AloT paging request of the second type.

24. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 23, wherein the first time duration is in number of page occasions or system frame number (SFN).

25. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 24, wherein the first apparatus comprises an AloT device, and the second apparatus comprises a reader associated with the AloT device.

26. A method comprising: receiving, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and applying a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

27. A method comprising: transmitting, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and transmitting, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

28. A first apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging request of a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for applying a first prohibit timer with a first time duration during which all AloT paging requests of the first type are ignored.

29. A second apparatus comprising: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an ambient internet of things (AloT) paging requestof a first type, the first type indicating that the AloT paging request is initially transmitted; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a further AloT paging request of a second type, the second type indicating that the further AloT paging request is a retransmission of the AloT paging request of the first type.

30. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 26 or 27.

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