State transition method and apparatus for ambient internet of things device, and communication device and medium

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure are a state transition method and apparatus for an ambient Internet of Things device, and a communication device and a medium. The method comprises: receiving indication information, wherein the indication information is first indication information or second indication information, the first indication information indicates time-domain resource information for first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates time-domain resource information for an ambient Internet of Things device being in a first state and / or indicates time-domain resource information for the ambient Internet of Things device being in a second state; and on the basis of the indication information, executing a state transition between the first state and the second state.

Description

Environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition methods, communication equipment, devices and media

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411594051.1, filed on November 8, 2024, entitled “Environmental Internet of Things Device State Transition Method, Communication Device, Apparatus and Medium”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a method for state transition of environmental Internet of Things (IoT) devices, communication equipment, apparatus, and medium. Background Technology

[0004] The power consumption, radio frequency reception energy, and energy conversion efficiency of Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) devices determine that the time for energy harvesting when the device is unavailable is longer than the time for transmitting and receiving information when the device is available. If the availability or unavailability of A-IoT devices is determined entirely by the device itself, only a small portion of the A-IoT devices can receive each R2D (Reader to Device) signal sent by the base station or relay node, resulting in low communication efficiency of the A-IoT system. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure provides a method for state transition of environmental Internet of Things (IoT) devices, a communication device, an apparatus, and a medium to address the shortcomings of low communication efficiency in A-IoT systems.

[0006] In a first aspect, this disclosure provides a method for state transition of an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising:

[0007] Receive indication information, which may be a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0008] According to the instructions, a state transition is performed between the first state and the second state.

[0009] Secondly, this disclosure also provides a method for state transition of an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising:

[0010] Determine the indication information, which is either a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0011] Send instruction information to environmental IoT devices.

[0012] Thirdly, this disclosure also provides a first communication device, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

[0013] A memory for storing computer programs; a transceiver for sending and receiving data under the control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer programs from the memory and performing the following operations:

[0014] Receive indication information, which may be a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0015] According to the instructions, a state transition is performed between the first state and the second state.

[0016] Fourthly, this disclosure also provides a second communication device, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

[0017] A memory for storing computer programs; a transceiver for sending and receiving data under the control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer programs from the memory and performing the following operations:

[0018] Determine the indication information, which is either a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0019] Send instruction information to environmental IoT devices.

[0020] Fifthly, this disclosure also provides an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition apparatus, comprising:

[0021] The receiving unit is used to receive indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0022] The state transition unit is used to perform a state transition between a first state and a second state according to the indication information.

[0023] Sixthly, this disclosure also provides an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition apparatus, comprising:

[0024] The determining unit is used to determine indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0025] The transmitting unit is used to send instruction information to environmental IoT devices.

[0026] In a seventh aspect, this disclosure also provides a non-transiently readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method as described in the first aspect above, or to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method as described in the second aspect above.

[0027] Eighthly, this disclosure also provides a communication device that stores a program for causing the communication device to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method described in the first aspect above, or to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method described in the second aspect above.

[0028] Ninthly, this disclosure also provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method as described in the first aspect, or to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method as described in the second aspect.

[0029] In a tenth aspect, this disclosure also provides a chip product storing a program for causing the chip product to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method described in the first aspect above, or to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method described in the second aspect above.

[0030] The environmental IoT device state transition method, communication device, apparatus, and medium disclosed herein allow a first node to send indication information to the environmental IoT device, indicating the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission or the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. This enables the environmental IoT device to perform a state transition between the first and second states according to the indication information, thereby achieving effective management and control of the environmental IoT device state transition. This ensures that the first signaling sent by the first node can be received by as many environmental IoT devices as possible, improving the communication efficiency of the A-IoT system and reducing the ineffective monitoring time of the environmental IoT device, which is beneficial for energy saving of the environmental IoT device. Attached Figure Description

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments or related technologies of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of A-IoT system topology 1 provided by related technologies.

[0033] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of A-IoT system topology 2 provided by related technologies.

[0034] Figure 3 is one of the flowcharts illustrating the environmental IoT device state transition method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 4 is a second schematic flowchart of the environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 5 is one of the example diagrams of environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transitions provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0037] Figure 6 is a second example of the state transition of an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device provided in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0038] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first or second communication device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0039] Figure 8 is one of the structural schematic diagrams of the environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0040] Figure 9 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of the environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0041] In this disclosure, the term "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0042] In this disclosure, the term "multiple" refers to two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

[0043] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used to distinguish similar objects and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms can be used interchangeably where appropriate so that embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same class, and the number of objects is not limited; for example, the first object can be one or more.

[0044] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0045] To facilitate a clearer understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure, some technical content related to the embodiments of this disclosure will be introduced first.

[0046] 1. Types and power consumption of environmental IoT devices

[0047] Based on the power consumption of environmental IoT devices and whether they have the ability to independently generate signals, they are divided into the following three categories:

[0048] (1) Device 1: Device 1 has a data transmission and reception target power consumption of ≤1μW, has energy storage capability, and an initial sampling frequency offset of at most 10. X ppm (per million units), no downlink / uplink amplifier, no independent signal generation capability, and transmits signals by backscattering an externally provided carrier.

[0049] (2) Device 2a: Device 2a has a target power consumption of ≤ several hundred μW for data transmission and reception, has energy storage capability, and an initial sampling frequency offset of at most 10. X ppm, with downlink and / or uplink amplifiers, no independent signal generation capability, transmits signals by backscattering an externally provided carrier.

[0050] (3) Device 2b: Device 2b has a target power consumption of ≤ several hundred μW for data transmission and reception, has energy storage capability, and an initial sampling frequency offset of at most 10. X ppm, with downlink and / or uplink amplifiers, has independent signal generation capability, and the uplink transmission signal can be generated autonomously by the device.

[0051] 2. A-IoT System Topology

[0052] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of A-IoT system topology 1 provided by related technologies. The topology shown in Figure 1 is that the environmental IoT device communicates directly with the base station. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of A-IoT system topology 2 provided by related technologies. The topology shown in Figure 2 is that the environmental IoT device communicates directly with the relay node, which can be, for example, a terminal (or user equipment, UE).

[0053] In this topology, the link through which environmental IoT devices receive information from base stations / relay nodes is a downlink R2D link, and the link through which A-IoT reflects information to base stations / relay nodes is an uplink D2R (Device to Reader) link. In Topology 1, the transmitting device for the D2R signal is the environmental IoT device, and the receiving device is the base station. In Topology 2, the transmitting device for the D2R signal is the environmental IoT device, and the receiving device is the relay node.

[0054] 3. Charging and discharging time of environmental IoT devices

[0055] When environmental IoT devices are in an available state, they can send and receive signaling, which consumes device energy. Therefore, the time an environmental IoT device is in an available state is its discharge time, which depends on the amount of electricity stored in the device and its operating power consumption.

[0056] According to the formula for calculating the energy stored in the device, E = 1 / 2CV 2 The energy stored in environmental IoT devices is primarily determined by the capacitance value C. The operating voltage V is typically fixed; for example, it's 0.7V when using a standard diode. When the device uses a 1μW capacitor, it stores 0.25μJ of energy (1 / 2 * 1 * 0.7). 2 Table 1 lists the discharge times for different device types. This calculation method is based on the premise that IoT devices can exhaust all stored energy before entering an unusable state. Device 1 is calculated based on a power consumption limit of 1μW, and Device 2a / 2b is calculated based on a power consumption of 200μW. The higher the power consumption, the shorter the discharge time.

[0057] Table 1 Discharge time for different equipment types

[0058] When environmental IoT devices are in an unavailable state, they cannot send or receive signals, but they can at least harvest energy. The energy harvesting time of environmental IoT devices depends on factors such as the amount of electricity stored in the device, the radio frequency (RF) energy received, and the energy conversion efficiency. For example, assuming an environmental IoT device receives -30 dBm of RF energy and has an energy conversion efficiency of 10%, the RF charging speed is 0.1 μW / s. Table 2 lists the energy harvesting times for different device types. This calculation method is based on the assumption that the environmental IoT device goes from having zero stored energy and entering an unavailable state to being fully charged and entering an available state.

[0059] Table 2 Energy harvesting time for different equipment types

[0060] Comparing the charging and discharging times mentioned above, it can be seen that the charging time of Device 1 is 10 times the discharging time, and the charging time of Device 2a / 2b is 2000 times the discharging time. This demonstrates that relying solely on device implementation to determine whether an environmental IoT device is available or unavailable makes it difficult for base stations / relay nodes to guarantee that R2D signaling will be sent precisely when the environmental IoT device is available. Since a large number of environmental IoT devices may be available at different times, only a small portion of the environmental IoT devices can receive a single R2D signaling sent by the base station / relay node, resulting in low communication efficiency for the A-IoT system.

[0061] Figure 3 is a flowchart of one of the environmental IoT device state transition methods provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes the following steps 301 and 302.

[0062] Step 301: Receive indication information, which is either a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0063] Step 302: Perform a state transition between the first state and the second state according to the instruction information.

[0064] Specifically, the subject of this method is an environmental IoT device, and the sender of the instruction information can be a first node, which may include, for example, a base station or a relay node.

[0065] In some embodiments, the indication information is sent by the relay node to the environmental IoT device. This indication information may be determined by the relay node or determined by the base station and then sent to the relay node.

[0066] In some embodiments, the indication information may be first indication information, which indicates the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, wherein the first signaling refers to the signaling sent by the first node to the environmental IoT device, such as paging signaling, command signaling, inventory signaling, etc.

[0067] The instruction information and the first signaling can both be transmitted in the downlink spectrum, or both in the uplink spectrum, or one in the downlink spectrum and the other in the uplink spectrum.

[0068] In some embodiments, the indication information may be second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of an environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. The environmental IoT device may be one or more devices. For example, a first node generates the second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of a certain environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state, and sends the second indication information to that environmental IoT device. As another example, a first node generates the second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of one or more groups of environmental IoT devices in a first state and / or a second state, and sends the second indication information to each environmental IoT device in the one or more groups of environmental IoT devices.

[0069] The second indication information is the time-domain resource information indicating whether the environmental IoT device is in the first state and / or the second state. It can be the time-domain resource information indicating whether the environmental IoT device is in the first state (i.e., when the environmental IoT device is in the first state), the time-domain resource information indicating whether the environmental IoT device is in the second state (i.e., when the environmental IoT device is in the second state), or the time-domain resource information indicating whether the environmental IoT device is in the first state and the time-domain resource information indicating whether the environmental IoT device is in the second state.

[0070] After receiving the aforementioned instruction information, the environmental IoT device can perform a state transition between a first state and a second state based on the instruction information. For example, if the environmental IoT device receives the first instruction information, it can transition to the first state based on the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission indicated by the first instruction information, so that it can receive the first signaling. As another example, if the environmental IoT device receives the second instruction information, which indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state, then the environmental IoT device can transition to the first state based on the indication of the second instruction information.

[0071] In some embodiments, an environmental IoT device can transition to a first state based on its temporal resource information in a second state. For example, if the second indication information includes the temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the second state and the total duration of one state transition cycle, then the environmental IoT device can deduce the start time of the first state based on the second indication information and thus transition to the first state. As another example, if the second indication information includes the temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the second state, including the start time and duration of the second state, or the start time and end time of the second state, then the environmental IoT device can use the end time of the second state as the start time of the first state based on the second indication information.

[0072] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0073] After transitioning to the first state, either turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter; and / or,

[0074] After transitioning to the second state, turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter.

[0075] The clock or counter is used to record the duration of the first or second state of the environmental IoT device. The clock is measured in absolute time units, such as milliseconds (ms), while the counter can be measured in time slots, symbols, or chips.

[0076] In some implementations, after receiving and demodulating the indication information, the environmental IoT device determines whether the device's current ON state matches the device's current state indicated by the indication information. If they do not match, a switch is initiated, and a clock or counter is activated to wait for the next switch. If they match, the clock or counter is activated directly to start timing. The clock or counter needs to be reset for each subsequent switch.

[0077] The length of the time window that an environmental IoT device needs to maintain after turning on (or resetting) its clock or counter is the duration of a single state (first state or second state).

[0078] The environmental IoT device state transition method provided in this embodiment allows a first node to send indication information to the environmental IoT device, indicating the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission or the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. This enables the environmental IoT device to perform a state transition between the first and second states according to the indication information, thereby achieving effective management and control of the environmental IoT device state transition. This ensures that the first signaling transmitted can be received by as many environmental IoT devices as possible, improving the communication efficiency of the A-IoT system and reducing the invalid monitoring time of the environmental IoT device, which is beneficial for energy saving of the environmental IoT device.

[0079] In some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving a first signaling in a first state. It should be noted that the environmental IoT device receiving the first signaling in the first state can also be described as the environmental IoT device monitoring (or monitoring and receiving) the first signaling in the first state.

[0080] In some embodiments, the first indication information further includes one or more of the following:

[0081] (1) Transmission time information of one or more first signaling messages.

[0082] The transmission time information can be used to indicate the transmission time (or the start time domain position of the transmission) of the one or more first signaling messages.

[0083] In some embodiments, the transmission time information may be absolute time information, indicating one or more absolute time points, which are the transmission times of each first signaling message. For example, the absolute time information may include one or more combinations of frame index, subframe index, time slot index, and symbol index.

[0084] In some embodiments, the transmission time information may be relative time information, indicating the time offset of the transmission time of each first signaling message relative to a reference time position.

[0085] In some embodiments, the reference time position may be the start or end time position of the indication signaling transmission carrying the first indication information.

[0086] In some embodiments, the time offset may include one or more combinations of frame offset, subframe offset, time slot offset, and symbol offset.

[0087] (2) Periodic information of the first signaling transmission.

[0088] The periodic information may be the periodic information of some or all of the first signaling transmissions in one or more signaling messages that indicate the transmission time information. As for the indication method of the periodic information transmitted by each first signaling message, it may be that one first signaling message corresponds to one period, or one first signaling message corresponds to multiple periods (for example, the first signaling message uses different periods in different time periods), or multiple first signaling messages may use different periods, or multiple first signaling messages may use the same period. This disclosure does not limit this.

[0089] The period information can be an absolute time length or a relative time length, and there is no limitation on it. For example, the period information can be a period indicated by the number of time units, which can be a frame, subframe, time slot, symbol, chip, etc.

[0090] (3) The number of waiting cycles for an environmental IoT device to receive the first signaling.

[0091] This waiting period information is used to indicate how many periods an environmental IoT device needs to wait to receive the first signaling. It is understood that different environmental IoT devices can receive the first signaling at different times, therefore different waiting period numbers can be indicated to different environmental IoT devices.

[0092] For example, assuming the first indication information indicates the sending time T1 of the most recent paging signaling, the sending period P of the paging signaling, and the number of periods n that the environmental IoT device waits for, then the environmental IoT device determines the time to receive the paging signaling as T1+n*P.

[0093] (4) One or more environmental IoT device identifiers (IDs) or device group identifiers (Group IDs).

[0094] In some embodiments, the one or more environmental IoT device IDs or group IDs may be the environmental IoT device IDs or group IDs corresponding to the transmission time information mentioned above, which can indicate different first signaling transmission times to different environmental IoT devices or groups of environmental IoT devices.

[0095] In some embodiments, the one or more environmental IoT device IDs or group IDs may be environmental IoT device IDs or group IDs corresponding to the waiting period number mentioned above, and different waiting period numbers may be indicated to different environmental IoT devices or groups of environmental IoT devices.

[0096] In some embodiments, performing a state transition between a first state and a second state according to indication information includes:

[0097] Based on the first instruction information, determine the time to receive the first signaling;

[0098] At the moment of receiving the first signaling or before the moment of receiving the first signaling, the system transitions to the first state.

[0099] For example, when an environmental IoT device receives a first instruction, the timing of receiving the first signaling is determined based on this instruction. The environmental IoT device can then transition to a first state at that moment, or transition to the first state before that moment. Entering the first state a certain amount of time in advance allows sufficient time to account for clock skew.

[0100] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0101] (1) State transition pattern identifier (ID) of one or more environmental IoT devices.

[0102] For example, the protocol predefines various state transition patterns for environmental IoT devices. These patterns can be transitions from a first state, a second state, or a combination of both; no specific limitation is made here. Base stations or relay nodes can indicate specific state transition patterns by sending state transition pattern IDs to the environmental IoT devices.

[0103] (2) Start time information of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state.

[0104] This start time information indicates the start time of the first state corresponding to the IoT device in the environment.

[0105] In some embodiments, the start time information may be absolute time information, indicating an absolute time point. For example, the absolute time information may include one or more combinations of frame index, subframe index, time slot index, and symbol index.

[0106] In some embodiments, the start time information may be relative time information, indicating the time offset of the moment when the environmental IoT device transitions to the first state relative to a reference time position.

[0107] In some embodiments, the reference time position may be the start or end time position of the indication signaling transmission carrying the second indication information.

[0108] In some embodiments, the time offset may include one or more combinations of frame offset, subframe offset, time slot offset, and symbol offset.

[0109] (3) Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state.

[0110] This duration information indicates the length of time that the environmental IoT device remains in its first state.

[0111] The duration can be an absolute or relative time length, and is not limited here. For example, the duration can be a period indicated by the number of time units, which can be a frame, subframe, time slot, symbol, chip, etc.

[0112] (4) End time information of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state.

[0113] This end time information indicates the end time of the first state corresponding to the environmental IoT device.

[0114] In some embodiments, the end time information may be absolute time information, indicating an absolute time point. For example, the absolute time information may include one or more combinations of frame index, subframe index, time slot index, and symbol index.

[0115] In some embodiments, the end time information may be relative time information, indicating the time offset of the end time of the first state corresponding to the environmental IoT device relative to the reference time position.

[0116] In some embodiments, the reference time position may be the start or end time position of the indication signaling transmission carrying the second indication information.

[0117] In some embodiments, the time offset may include one or more combinations of frame offset, subframe offset, time slot offset, and symbol offset.

[0118] (5) The start time information of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state.

[0119] This start time information indicates the start time of the second state corresponding to the IoT device in the environment.

[0120] In some embodiments, the start time information may be absolute time information, indicating an absolute time point. For example, the absolute time information may include one or more combinations of frame index, subframe index, time slot index, and symbol index.

[0121] In some embodiments, the start time information may be relative time information, indicating the time offset of the moment when the environmental IoT device transitions to the second state relative to a reference time position.

[0122] In some embodiments, the reference time position may be the start or end time position of the indication signaling transmission carrying the second indication information.

[0123] In some embodiments, the time offset may include one or more combinations of frame offset, subframe offset, time slot offset, and symbol offset.

[0124] (6) Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state.

[0125] This duration information indicates the length of time that the environmental IoT device remains in the second state.

[0126] The duration can be an absolute or relative time length, and there is no limitation on it. For example, the duration can be indicated by the number of time units, which can be frames, subframes, time slots, symbols, chips, etc.

[0127] (7) End time information of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state.

[0128] This end time information indicates the end time of the second state corresponding to the environmental IoT device.

[0129] In some embodiments, the end time information may be absolute time information, indicating an absolute time point. For example, the absolute time information may include one or more combinations of frame index, subframe index, time slot index, and symbol index.

[0130] In some embodiments, the end time information may be relative time information, indicating the time offset of the end time of the second state corresponding to the environmental IoT device relative to the reference time position.

[0131] In some embodiments, the reference time position may be the start or end time position of the indication signaling transmission carrying the second indication information.

[0132] In some embodiments, the time offset may include one or more combinations of frame offset, subframe offset, time slot offset, and symbol offset.

[0133] (8) The total time for one or more environmental IoT devices to complete one state transition cycle.

[0134] A state transition cycle refers to the complete process of "from the start of the first state to the transition from the first state to the second state, and then back to the first state from the second state", or the complete process of "from the start of the second state to the transition from the second state to the first state, and then back to the second state from the first state".

[0135] Therefore, the total time to complete one state transition cycle is the duration of the first state plus the duration of the second state.

[0136] The total duration can be an absolute or relative duration, and there is no limitation on this. For example, the total duration can be indicated by the number of time units, which can be frames, subframes, time slots, symbols, chips, etc.

[0137] (9) A cycle in which one or more environmental IoT devices transition to a first state or a second state.

[0138] The period can be an absolute time length or a relative time length, and there is no limitation on it. For example, the period can be a period indicated by the number of time units, which can be frames, subframes, time slots, symbols, chips, etc.

[0139] (10) One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0140] The one or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers are used to identify one or more environmental IoT devices corresponding to the time-domain resource information indicated by the second indication information.

[0141] In some embodiments, performing a state transition between a first state and a second state according to indication information includes:

[0142] Based on the second instruction information, determine the start time of the first state; at or before the start time of the first state, transition to the first state; and / or,

[0143] Based on the second instruction, transition to the second state.

[0144] For example, an environmental IoT device receives a second instruction message. Based on this second instruction message, the start time of the first state corresponding to the environmental IoT device is determined. The environmental IoT device can transition to the first state at that time, or it can transition to the first state before that time. Entering the first state a certain period of time in advance allows sufficient time to allow for clock skew.

[0145] For example, if an environmental IoT device receives a second instruction message indicating the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state, then the environmental IoT device can switch to the second state according to the instruction of the second instruction message.

[0146] In some embodiments, an environmental IoT device can transition to a second state based on its temporal resource information in a first state. For example, if the second indication information includes the temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state and the total duration of one state transition cycle, the environmental IoT device can deduce the start time of the second state based on the second indication information and thus transition to the second state. Alternatively, if the second indication information includes temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state, such that the temporal resource information includes the start time and duration of the first state, or the temporal resource information includes the start time and end time of the first state, the environmental IoT device can use the end time of the first state as the start time of the second state based on the second indication information.

[0147] In some embodiments, the first state is an Available state, or an ON state, or a state in which signaling can be sent and received and / or energy harvesting cannot be performed.

[0148] In some embodiments, the second state is an unavailable state, or a sleep state, or a state in which signaling cannot be sent or received and / or energy harvesting can be performed.

[0149] In some embodiments, the signaling carrying indication information is either periodically transmitted or non-periodically transmitted.

[0150] In the case where the signaling carrying the indication information is periodically transmitted, the transmission period of the signaling can be fixed or not fixed (e.g., different transmission periods are used for different time periods), and this disclosure does not limit it.

[0151] In some embodiments, the transmission period of the signaling carrying indication information can be configured by the network.

[0152] In some embodiments, the indication information is either repeatedly transmitted or transmitted once.

[0153] For example, if the signaling carrying indication information is periodically sent, and the indication information carried each time is the same, then the indication information is repeatedly sent; or if the indication information carried each time is different, then the indication information is sent only once.

[0154] For example, signaling carrying indication information is non-periodic signaling, and the same indication information can be carried by multiple signaling messages. This indication information is the repeatedly transmitted indication information.

[0155] Figure 4 is a second schematic flowchart of the environmental IoT device state transition method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the method includes the following steps 401 and 402.

[0156] Step 401: Determine the indication information, which is either the first indication information or the second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in the second state.

[0157] Step 402: Send instruction information to the environmental IoT device.

[0158] Specifically, the subject of this method is the first node, such as a base station or a relay node.

[0159] In some embodiments, the indication information is sent by the relay node to the environmental IoT device. This indication information may be determined by the relay node or determined by the base station and then sent to the relay node.

[0160] In some embodiments, the indication information may be first indication information, which indicates the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, wherein the first signaling refers to the signaling sent by the first node to the environmental IoT device, such as paging signaling, command signaling, inventory signaling, etc.

[0161] In some embodiments, the indication information may be second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of an environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. The environmental IoT device may be one or more devices. For example, a first node generates the second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of a certain environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state, and sends the second indication information to that environmental IoT device. As another example, a first node generates the second indication information, which indicates the temporal resource information of one or more groups of environmental IoT devices in a first state and / or a second state, and sends the second indication information to each environmental IoT device in the one or more groups of environmental IoT devices.

[0162] After receiving the aforementioned instruction information, the environmental IoT device can perform a state transition between a first state and a second state based on the instruction information. For example, if the environmental IoT device receives the first instruction information, it can transition to the first state based on the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission indicated by the first instruction information, so that it can receive the first signaling. As another example, if the environmental IoT device receives the second instruction information, which indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state, then the environmental IoT device can transition to the first state based on the indication of the second instruction information.

[0163] In some embodiments, an environmental IoT device can transition to a first state based on its temporal resource information in a second state. For example, if the second indication information includes the temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the second state and the total duration of one state transition cycle, then the environmental IoT device can deduce the start time of the first state based on the second indication information and thus transition to the first state. As another example, if the second indication information includes the temporal resource information of the environmental IoT device in the second state, including the start time and duration of the second state, or the start time and end time of the second state, then the environmental IoT device can use the end time of the second state as the start time of the first state based on the second indication information.

[0164] The environmental IoT device state transition method provided in this embodiment allows a first node to send indication information to the environmental IoT device, indicating the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission or the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. This enables the environmental IoT device to perform a state transition between the first and second states according to the indication information, thereby achieving effective management and control of the environmental IoT device state transition. This ensures that the first signaling sent by the first node can be received by as many environmental IoT devices as possible, improving the communication efficiency of the A-IoT system and reducing the invalid monitoring time of the environmental IoT device, which is beneficial for energy saving of the environmental IoT device.

[0165] In some embodiments, the method further includes sending a first signaling to an environmental IoT device in a first state.

[0166] For example, a base station or relay node can determine which environmental IoT devices are in the first state and at what time based on the indication information sent to the environmental IoT devices, and then send the first signaling to the environmental IoT devices in the first state in a targeted manner, thereby improving communication efficiency and saving power consumption of the base station or relay node.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0168] The transmission time information of one or more first signaling messages;

[0169] The periodic information transmitted in the first signaling message;

[0170] The number of waiting cycles for an environmental IoT device to receive the first signaling;

[0171] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0172] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0173] A state transition pattern identifier for one or more environmental IoT devices;

[0174] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices in their first state;

[0175] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0176] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0177] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices entering the second state;

[0178] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0179] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0180] The total time it takes for one or more environmental IoT devices to complete one state transition cycle;

[0181] The cycle in which one or more environmental IoT devices transition to a first state or a second state;

[0182] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0183] The methods provided in the various embodiments of this disclosure are based on the same technical concept, so the implementation of each method can be referred to each other, and repeated parts will not be described again.

[0184] The methods provided in the above embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated by specific examples below.

[0185] Example 1: The first indication information indicates the transmission time information of the first signaling.

[0186] This example illustrates the use of a base station sending a first indication message. In this example, the first signaling is sent aperiodically, and the first indication message only indicates the transmission time of the first signaling. This example uses the case where the first signaling is a paging signaling (Msg0 in the inventory process).

[0187] The base station sends a first indication message to the environmental IoT device. This first indication message is used to indicate the transmission time information of the paging signaling. The transmission method of the indication signaling carrying the first indication message may include at least one of the following:

[0188] Method 1: Periodic transmission of indication signaling. The transmission period of the indication signaling is fixed, and can be less than the transmission interval of two adjacent paging signaling messages to ensure that an indication signaling message is transmitted before each paging signaling message. Alternatively, the transmission period of the indication signaling is not fixed. For example, the base station transmits indication signaling at period P1 for a period of time; then transmits indication signaling at period P2 for a subsequent period of time, and then returns to transmitting indication signaling at period P1. The first indication information contained in the indication signaling can be the absolute time information of the paging signaling transmission, such as at least one of the frame index / subframe index / slot index / symbol index of the transmission time. Alternatively, the indication information contained in the indication signaling can be the time offset of the paging signaling relative to the reference position (start position / end position of the indication signaling) of the current indication signaling. The time offset can include one or more of the frame offset / subframe offset / slot offset / symbol offset.

[0189] Method 1-1: The first indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is repeatedly transmitted. In this case, the first indication information can indicate the absolute time information of the paging signaling transmission. The first indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling by the base station within time period T1 is the same; the first indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling within time period T2 is also the same. Regardless of whether the transmission period of the indication signaling is the same in the two time periods, the first indication information contained in the two indication signalings can be different. For example, the indication signaling periodically transmitted by the base station within time period T1 indicates the absolute transmission time of the Nth paging signaling, and the indication signaling transmitted with a more frequent period within time period T2 indicates the absolute transmission time of the Nth paging signaling. Alternatively, the indication signaling periodically transmitted by the base station within time period T1 indicates the absolute transmission time of the Nth paging signaling, and the indication signaling transmitted with the same period within time period T2 indicates the absolute transmission time of the (N+1)th paging signaling. In this method, the transmission time of the paging signaling indicated by the first transmitted first indication information is not necessarily earlier than the transmission time of the paging signaling indicated by the second transmitted first indication information. For example, the first indication message repeatedly sent within the time period T1 indicates the time of sending the (N+1)th paging signaling message; the first indication message repeatedly sent within the time period T2 indicates the time of sending the Nth paging signaling message.

[0190] Method 1-2: The first indication information in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is transmitted independently (i.e., once). In this method, the first indication information can indicate the relative transmission time of the paging signaling. The base station transmits two indication signaling messages in period P1. The first indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the first indication signaling message; the second indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the second indication signaling message. Alternatively, in this method, the first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time of the paging signaling message. The base station transmits two indication signaling messages in period P1, the first indication signaling message indicating the transmission time of the Nth paging signaling message; the second indication signaling message indicating the transmission time of the (N+1)th paging signaling message. In this method, the transmission time of the paging signaling message indicated by the first indication information transmitted earlier is not necessarily earlier than the transmission time of the paging signaling message indicated by the second indication information transmitted later. For example, the first instruction signaling indicates the transmission time of the (N+1)th paging signaling; the second instruction signaling indicates the transmission time of the Nth paging signaling.

[0191] Method 2: Aperiodic transmission of indication signaling. The base station transmits indication signaling at any time, indicating the transmission time information of the first signaling. This transmission time information can be the absolute time information or relative time information of the paging signaling transmission.

[0192] Method 2-1: The indication signaling sent by the base station includes a repeatedly transmitted first indication information. The first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time of the paging signaling, such as at least one of the frame index / subframe index / slot index / symbol index of the transmission time. For example, the base station sending three first indication messages at any three time points indicates the transmission time of the Nth paging signaling.

[0193] Method 2-2: The indication signaling sent by the base station includes independently transmitted first indication information. In this case, the first indication information can indicate the relative transmission time of the paging signaling. The base station sends two indication signaling messages at any two time points. The first indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the first indication signaling message; the second indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the second indication signaling message. Alternatively, in this method, the first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time of the paging signaling message. The base station sends two indication signaling messages at any two time points. The first indication signaling message indicates the transmission time of the Nth paging signaling message; the second indication signaling message indicates the transmission time of the (N+1)th paging signaling message. In this method, the transmission time of the paging signaling message indicated by the first indicated signaling message is not necessarily earlier than the transmission time of the paging signaling message indicated by the second indicated signaling message. For example, the first instruction signaling indicates the transmission time of the (N+1)th paging signaling; the second instruction signaling indicates the transmission time of the Nth paging signaling.

[0194] Furthermore, the first indication information in any of the above indication methods may include the absolute transmission time of multiple paging signaling messages or the time offset relative to the current indication signaling message. For example, the first indication information may indicate the absolute / relative transmission time of multiple consecutive or non-consecutive paging signaling messages.

[0195] In this example, when the first signaling is a command signaling, the indication signaling may also include the environmental IoT device ID or group ID corresponding to the transmission time of the command signaling. The base station can indicate one or more different command signaling transmission times for a single environmental IoT device, or one or more different command signaling transmission times for a group of A-IoT devices. The base station can also indicate different command signaling transmission times for different environmental IoT devices / device groups, with each different environmental IoT device / device group associated with at least one command signaling transmission time.

[0196] Based on the aforementioned first indication information, this example illustrates the following workflow of an IoT device in an environment where the first state is the available state and the second state is the unavailable state:

[0197] After the environmental IoT device completes charging and enters an available state, it detects an indication signaling signal and determines when to send a paging signaling signal. It then enters an unavailable state to continue charging. If the indication signaling signal contains only one paging signaling transmission time, the environmental IoT device uses that paging signaling transmission time as its next time to enter an available state. If the indication signaling signal contains multiple paging signaling transmission times, the environmental IoT device randomly selects one as its next time to enter an available state.

[0198] Environmental IoT devices use clocks or counters to calculate the time a device is unavailable. The unit of the counter can be a time slot, a symbol, or a chip. In some implementations, environmental IoT devices can enter an available state a certain period in advance, which is used to allow time for clock skew.

[0199] Once the environmental IoT device returns to a usable state, it monitors and receives paging signaling.

[0200] Figure 5 is one of the example diagrams of environmental IoT device state transitions provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, the indication signaling can respectively indicate different paging signaling transmission times for device 1# and device 2#. Device 1# enters the available state a certain period of time (i.e., X in the figure) before the paging signaling transmission time corresponding to device 1# indicated by the indication signaling. In the available state, it receives the paging signaling and selects a suitable random access (RA) resource to initiate random access according to the paging signaling. Device 2# enters the available state a certain period of time (i.e., X in the figure) before the paging signaling transmission time corresponding to device 2# indicated by the indication signaling. In the available state, it receives the paging signaling and selects a suitable RA resource to initiate random access according to the paging signaling.

[0201] Example 2: The first indication information indicates the transmission time information and transmission cycle information of the first signaling.

[0202] In this example, the base station sends a first indication message to the environmental IoT device. This first indication message indicates the transmission time and period of the paging signaling. The transmission method of the indication signaling carrying the first indication message may include at least one of the following:

[0203] Method 1: Periodic transmission of indication signaling. The transmission period can be fixed or variable at any time, as in Example 1. The indication information contained in the indication signaling can be the absolute time information or relative time information of the paging signaling transmission, and the definition of the transmission time is the same as in Example 1.

[0204] Method 1-1: The first indication information in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is repeatedly transmitted. The first indication information indicates the absolute transmission time of the most recent paging signaling and the transmission period of the paging signaling. The paging signaling transmission period can be an absolute time length such as x ms, or it can be y time units, where the time unit can be a frame / subframe / slot / symbol / chip. The relationship between the repeated transmission of the first indication information and the periodicity is the same as in Example 1. The first indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling by the base station within time period T1 is the same; the first indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling within time period T2 is also the same. Regardless of whether the transmission period of the indication signaling is the same in the two time periods, the indication information contained in the two indication signalings can be different. For example, the indication signaling periodically transmitted by the base station within time period T1 indicates the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling, while the indication signaling transmitted at a more frequent frequency within time period T2 indicates the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling. Alternatively, the base station periodically sends an indication signaling message during time period T1 to indicate the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling message. During time period T2, after the Nth paging signaling message, the base station sends an indication signaling message at the same period to indicate the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the N+1th paging signaling message.

[0205] Method 1-2: The first indication information included in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is transmitted independently. In this method, the first indication information can indicate the relative transmission time and transmission period of the paging signaling. The base station transmits two indication signaling messages in period P1. The first indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the first indication signaling message and the paging signaling transmission period; the second indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the second indication signaling message and the paging signaling transmission period. Alternatively, in this method, the first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the paging signaling message. The base station transmits two indication signaling messages in period P1. The first indication signaling message indicates the transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling message; the second indication signaling message is transmitted after the Nth paging signaling message, indicating the transmission time and transmission period of the (N+1)th paging signaling message. In this method, the transmission periods indicated by different indication signaling messages can also be different.

[0206] Method 2: Aperiodic transmission of indication signaling. The base station transmits indication signaling at any time, indicating the time information for the transmission of the first signaling. The time information can be the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the paging signaling, or the relative transmission time and transmission period.

[0207] Method 2-1: The indication signaling sent by the base station includes a repeatedly transmitted first indication information. The first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time and transmission period of the paging signaling. For example, if the base station sends three indication signaling messages at any three time points before the Nth paging signaling message, they will all indicate the transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling message.

[0208] Method 2-2: The indication signaling sent by the base station includes independently transmitted first indication information. In this case, the first indication information can indicate the relative transmission time and transmission period of the paging signaling. The base station sends two indication signaling messages at any two time points. The first indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the first indication signaling message and the paging signaling transmission period; the second indication signaling message indicates the time offset of the start time of the Nth paging signaling message relative to the end position of the second indication signaling message and the paging signaling transmission period. Alternatively, in this method, the first indication information can indicate the absolute transmission time of the paging signaling message. The base station sends two indication signaling messages at any two time points. The first indication signaling message indicates the transmission time and transmission period of the Nth paging signaling message; the second indication signaling message is transmitted later than the Nth paging signaling message and is used to indicate the transmission time and transmission period of the (N+1)th paging signaling message. In this method, the transmission periods indicated by different indication signaling messages can also be different.

[0209] Furthermore, the indication signaling in any of the above indication methods may also include the number of waiting periods for the environmental IoT device to receive paging signaling. For example, if the first indication information indicates the time T1 when the most recent paging signaling was sent, the sending period P, and the number of waiting periods n for the environmental IoT device, then the time when the environmental IoT device determines that it has entered the available state to receive paging signaling is T1 + n*P.

[0210] In this example, when the first signaling is a command signaling, the indication signaling may also include the environmental IoT device ID or group ID corresponding to the command signaling transmission time. The base station can indicate one or more different command signaling transmission times and transmission periods (and possibly waiting periods) for a single environmental IoT device, or indicate one or more different command signaling transmission times and transmission periods (and waiting periods) for a group of A-IoT devices. The base station can also indicate different command signaling transmission times and transmission periods (and waiting periods) for different environmental IoT devices / device groups, with each different environmental IoT device / device group associated with at least one command signaling transmission time and transmission period (and waiting period).

[0211] Based on the aforementioned first indication information, this example illustrates the following workflow of an IoT device in an environment where the first state is the available state and the second state is the unavailable state:

[0212] Once the environmental IoT device is fully charged and in an available state, it detects an indication signal and determines when to send a paging signal. It then enters an unavailable state to continue charging. If the indication signal only contains the paging signal transmission time and transmission period, the environmental IoT device randomly selects a paging signal transmission time as its next available state. If the indication signal includes the paging signal transmission time, transmission period, and waiting period, that paging signal transmission time is used as its next available state.

[0213] Environmental IoT devices use clocks or counters to calculate the time a device is unavailable. The unit of the counter can be a time slot, a symbol, or a chip. In some implementations, environmental IoT devices can enter an available state a certain period in advance, which is used to allow time for clock skew.

[0214] Once the environmental IoT device returns to a usable state, it monitors and receives paging signaling.

[0215] Figure 6 is a second example of the state transition of an environmental IoT device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, the indication signaling includes the transmission time T1 and transmission period P of the paging signaling. The environmental IoT device selects the transmission time of the next paging signaling after the most recent paging signaling as the time when it will enter the available state next. It enters the available state a certain period of time before the transmission time (i.e., X in the figure), receives the paging signaling in the available state, and selects the appropriate RA resource to initiate random access according to the paging signaling.

[0216] Example 3: The second indication information indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in the first state and / or the second state.

[0217] In this example, the base station sends a second indication message to the environmental IoT device. This second indication message indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or a second state. The time-domain resource information can be a pattern ID for the environmental IoT device's state transition. Specifically, the protocol predefines various patterns for environmental IoT devices to transition between available and unavailable states, and the second indication message is the ID of one or more of these patterns. The environmental IoT device determines the time point for entering the available or unavailable state based on the pattern.

[0218] Alternatively, time-domain resource information may include at least one of the following:

[0219] The start time information of the environmental IoT device being in the first state;

[0220] Information on the duration of the environmental IoT device being in the first state;

[0221] The end time information of the environmental IoT device in the first state;

[0222] The start time information of the environmental IoT device in the second state;

[0223] Information on the duration of the environmental IoT device being in the second state;

[0224] The end time information of the environmental IoT device in the second state;

[0225] The total time for the environmental IoT device to complete one state transition cycle;

[0226] The cycle in which the environmental IoT device transitions to the first state or the second state.

[0227] The combination of the above information is not limited. For example, if the base station indicates the start time, duration, and total duration of one state transition cycle for the first state, then the remaining time within the total duration of one transition cycle is the time the IoT device in the environment is in the second state, and the base station does not need to indicate the second state information again. As another example, if the base station indicates the start time of the first state, the start time of the second state, and the total duration of one state transition cycle, the device determines the duration of the first state based on the start time of the first state and the start time of the second state, and determines the duration of the second state based on the start time of the second state and the total duration of one state transition cycle; the base station no longer indicates the duration of either state.

[0228] In this example, the start time of the first / second state can be an absolute time or a relative time, and the definition of absolute time or relative time is the same as in Example 1 and Example 2.

[0229] In this example, when the first signaling is a command signaling, the indication signaling may also include the environmental IoT device ID or group ID corresponding to the time-domain resource information of the device in the first and / or second states. The base station can indicate one or more different state-time information (i.e., the time-domain resource information of the device in the first and / or second states) for a single environmental IoT device, or indicate one or more different state-time information for a group of A-IoT devices. The base station can also indicate different state-time information for different environmental IoT devices / device groups, with each different environmental IoT device / device group associated with at least one state-time information.

[0230] The method of sending the instruction signaling may include at least one of the following:

[0231] Method 1: Indication signaling is sent periodically. The sending period can be fixed or change at any time, as in Example 1. The second indication information included in the indication signaling is as described above.

[0232] Method 1-1: The second indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is repeatedly transmitted. The second indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling by the base station during time period T1 is the same; the second indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling during time period T2 is also the same. Regardless of whether the transmission period of the indication signaling is the same in the two time periods, the second indication information contained in the two indication signalings can be different. For example, the indication signaling periodically transmitted by the base station during time period T1 indicates state transition pattern 1, and during time period T2, the indication signaling indicates state transition pattern 1 at a more frequent frequency. Alternatively, the indication signaling periodically transmitted by the base station during time period T1 indicates state transition pattern 1, and during time period T2, the indication signaling indicates state transition pattern 2 at the same frequency.

[0233] Method 1-2: The second indication information contained in the periodically transmitted indication signaling is transmitted independently. The base station transmits two indication signaling messages in period P1. The first indication signaling message indicates state transition pattern 1, and the second indication signaling message indicates state transition pattern 2.

[0234] Method 2: Aperiodic transmission of indication signaling. The base station transmits indication signaling at any time, indicating the time-domain resource information of the device in the first state and / or the second state, as described above.

[0235] Method 2-1: The second indication information included in the indication signaling sent by the base station is repeatedly transmitted. For example, the base station sends three indication signaling messages at any time, all indicating state transition pattern 1.

[0236] Method 2-2: The second indication information included in the indication signaling sent by the base station is sent independently. The base station sends two indication signaling messages at any two time points. The first indication signaling message indicates state transition pattern 1, and the second indication signaling message indicates state transition pattern 2.

[0237] Based on the aforementioned second indication information, this example illustrates the following workflow of an IoT device in an environment where the first state is the available state and the second state is the unavailable state:

[0238] Once the environmental IoT device is fully charged and ready for use, the monitoring system receives an instruction signal and determines when the device enters the first state and the second state.

[0239] Environmental IoT devices listen for paging signals from base stations during their available time and recharge during their unavailable time. The devices calculate the unavailable time using a clock or counter, with units such as time slots, symbols, or chips. In some implementations, the devices enter an available state a certain period in advance, allowing time for clock skew.

[0240] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first or second communication device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the first or second communication device includes a memory 720, a transceiver 710 and a processor 700; wherein the processor 700 and the memory 720 may also be physically arranged separately.

[0241] The memory 720 is used to store computer programs; the transceiver 710 is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor 700.

[0242] In Figure 7, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 700 and memory represented by memory 720. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described in detail herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 710 may be multiple elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, and other transmission media.

[0243] The processor 700 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, while the memory 720 can store the data used by the processor 700 during operation.

[0244] The processor 700 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0245] The processor 700 executes any of the methods provided in the first or second communication device according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in the memory 720.

[0246] It should be noted that the first communication device and the second communication device provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0247] The environmental IoT device state transition apparatus provided in the embodiments of this disclosure is described below. The environmental IoT device state transition apparatus described below and the environmental IoT device state transition method described above can be referred to in correspondence with each other.

[0248] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of one of the environmental IoT device state transition devices provided in this disclosure embodiment. As shown in Figure 8, the device includes:

[0249] The receiving unit 810 is used to receive indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0250] The state transition unit 820 is used to perform a state transition between a first state and a second state according to the instruction information.

[0251] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0252] The transmission time information of one or more first signaling messages;

[0253] The periodic information transmitted in the first signaling message;

[0254] The number of waiting cycles for an environmental IoT device to receive the first signaling;

[0255] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0256] In some embodiments, performing a state transition between a first state and a second state according to indication information includes:

[0257] Based on the first instruction information, determine the time to receive the first signaling;

[0258] At the moment of receiving the first signaling or before the moment of receiving the first signaling, the system transitions to the first state.

[0259] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0260] A state transition pattern identifier for one or more environmental IoT devices;

[0261] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices in their first state;

[0262] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0263] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0264] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices entering the second state;

[0265] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0266] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0267] The total time it takes for one or more environmental IoT devices to complete one state transition cycle;

[0268] The cycle in which one or more environmental IoT devices transition to a first state or a second state;

[0269] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0270] In some embodiments, performing a state transition between a first state and a second state according to indication information includes:

[0271] Based on the second instruction information, determine the start time of the first state; at or before the start time of the first state, transition to the first state; and / or,

[0272] Based on the second instruction, transition to the second state.

[0273] In some embodiments, the state transition unit 820 is further configured to:

[0274] After transitioning to the first state, either turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter; and / or,

[0275] After transitioning to the second state, turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter.

[0276] In some embodiments, the first state is an available state, or a powered-on state, or a state in which signaling can be sent and received and / or energy harvesting cannot be performed; and / or,

[0277] The second state is either unavailable, hibernating, or unable to send or receive signals and / or able to harvest energy.

[0278] In some embodiments, the signaling carrying indication information is periodically transmitted signaling, or aperiodically transmitted signaling; and / or,

[0279] The instruction message can be either a repeatedly sent instruction message or a once sent instruction message.

[0280] Figure 9 is a second structural schematic diagram of the environmental IoT device state transition device provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 9, the device includes:

[0281] The determining unit 910 is used to determine indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state.

[0282] The transmitting unit 920 is used to send indication information to environmental IoT devices.

[0283] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0284] The transmission time information of one or more first signaling messages;

[0285] The periodic information transmitted in the first signaling message;

[0286] The number of waiting cycles for an environmental IoT device to receive the first signaling;

[0287] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0288] In some embodiments, the second indication information includes one or more of the following:

[0289] A state transition pattern identifier for one or more environmental IoT devices;

[0290] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices in their first state;

[0291] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0292] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state;

[0293] Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices entering the second state;

[0294] Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0295] Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state;

[0296] The total time it takes for one or more environmental IoT devices to complete one state transition cycle;

[0297] The cycle in which one or more environmental IoT devices transition to a first state or a second state;

[0298] One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

[0299] In some embodiments, the sending unit 920 is further configured to:

[0300] Send the first signaling to the IoT devices in the first state of the environment.

[0301] It should be noted that the environmental IoT device state transition device provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0302] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this disclosure is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this disclosure can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0303] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this disclosure, in essence, or the part that contributes to related technologies, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this disclosure. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0304] On the other hand, embodiments of this disclosure also provide a processor-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to execute the environmental IoT device state transition method provided in the above embodiments.

[0305] It should be noted that the processor-readable storage medium provided in this embodiment can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiments and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0306] The processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that the processor can access, including but not limited to magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disk (MO)), optical memory (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0307] The technical solutions provided in this disclosure can be applied to a variety of systems. For example, applicable systems may include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5G New Radio (NR) systems and their evolved communication systems, and 6G (sixth generation mobile communication technology) systems. These systems may include terminal equipment and network equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or the 5G Core Network (5GC).

[0308] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this disclosure can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this disclosure can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0309] This disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart illustrations and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0310] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0311] These processor-executable instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0312] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this disclosure and their equivalents, this disclosure is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for state transition of an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising: Receive indication information, which is either a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. According to the indicated information, a state transition is performed between the first state and the second state.

2. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 1, wherein, The first indication information includes one or more of the following: The transmission time information of one or more first signaling messages; The periodic information transmitted in the first signaling message; The number of waiting cycles for an environmental IoT device to receive the first signaling; One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

3. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 2, wherein, The step of performing a state transition between the first state and the second state according to the indication information includes: Based on the first instruction information, determine the time to receive the first signaling; At the moment of receiving the first signaling or before the moment of receiving the first signaling, the system transitions to the first state.

4. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 1, wherein, The second indication information includes one or more of the following: A state transition pattern identifier for one or more environmental IoT devices; Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices in their first state; Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state; Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the first state; Information on the start time of one or more environmental IoT devices entering the second state; Information on the duration of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state; Information on the end time of one or more environmental IoT devices in the second state; The total time it takes for one or more environmental IoT devices to complete one state transition cycle; The cycle in which one or more environmental IoT devices transition to a first state or a second state; One or more environmental IoT device identifiers or device group identifiers.

5. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 4, wherein, The step of performing a state transition between the first state and the second state according to the indication information includes: Based on the second indication information, determine the start time of the first state; transition to the first state at or before the start time of the first state; and / or, Based on the second instruction information, the system transitions to the second state.

6. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: After transitioning to the first state, either turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter; and / or, After transitioning to the second state, turn on or reset the clock, or turn on or reset the counter.

7. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 1, wherein, The first state is an available state, or the first state is an powered-on state, or the first state is a state in which signaling can be sent and received and / or energy harvesting cannot be performed; and / or, The second state is an unavailable state, or a dormant state, or a state in which signaling cannot be sent or received and / or energy harvesting can be performed.

8. The environmental IoT device state transition method according to claim 1, wherein, The signaling carrying the indication information is either periodically transmitted or aperiodically transmitted; and / or, The indication information is either repeatedly sent or sent once.

9. A method for state transition of an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising: Determine indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. Send the instruction information to environmental IoT devices.

10. A first communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; Memory, used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Receive indication information, which is either a first indication information or a second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. According to the indicated information, a state transition is performed between the first state and the second state.

11. A second communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; Memory, used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Determine indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. Send the instruction information to environmental IoT devices.

12. An environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device state transition apparatus, comprising: A receiving unit is configured to receive indication information, which is either first indication information or second indication information. The first indication information indicates the time-domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time-domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. A state transition unit is used to perform a state transition between the first state and the second state according to the indication information.

13. A state transition device for an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device, comprising: A determining unit is configured to determine indication information, wherein the indication information is a first indication information or a second indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the first signaling transmission, and the second indication information indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a first state and / or indicates the time domain resource information of the environmental IoT device in a second state. The sending unit is used to send the indication information to environmental IoT devices.

14. A processor-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or to perform the method of claim 9.

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