Methods and apparatus for optimizing network energy consumption

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. According to an example of the present disclosure, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) included in a wireless communications system, the method comprising: receiving, from an entity in the wireless communications system, information on at least one energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each of the at least one energy area is associated with at least one cell and indicates an energy consumption; and transmitting, to the entity, an indication of a first energy area, among the at least one energy area, in case that the UE camps on a first cell included among the at least one cell associated with the first energy area, is provided.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZING NETWORK ENERGY CONSUMPTION

[0001] Certain examples of the present disclosure relate to methods, apparatus and / or systems for optimizing energy consumption in a network. In various examples, the energy consumption relates to RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode, such as for UE(s) in the network or in a cell. According to various examples, network or cell energy consumption is calculated according to one or more of various methods or metrics. According to various examples, techniques for associating cells with energy consumption are provided, including introducing Energy Area(s) and / or Energy Level(s). In various examples, methods are provided for updating or registering a, Energy Area or Energy Level, such as may occur when a UE performs cell reselection. Other examples relating to optimising energy consumption are provided herein.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in "Sub 6GHz" bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in "Above 6GHz" bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] It is an aim of certain examples of the present disclosure to address, solve and / or mitigate, at least partly, at least one of the problems and / or disadvantages associated with the related art, for example at least one of the problems and / or disadvantages described herein. It is an aim of certain examples of the present disclosure to provide at least one advantage over the related art, for example at least one of the advantages described herein.

[0009] The present disclosure is purposed to provide a method and apparatus for calculating per-UE network energy consumption for UEs in RRC idle or RRC inactive states, enabling the network to identify energy consumption associated with the UEs.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment (UE) included in a wireless communications system, the UE configured to: receive, from an entity in the wireless communications system, information on one or more energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell and indicates an energy consumption; and transmit, to the entity, an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, based on the UE camping on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0011] According to various examples, the UE is configured to transmit the indication of the energy area based on reselecting to the first cell.

[0012] According to various examples, the first energy area associated with the first cell is different to a second energy area associated with a second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell.

[0013] According to various examples, the first energy area is associated with a different energy consumption to the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different to a second energy level associated with the second energy area.

[0014] According to various examples, the UE is configured to transmit the indication of the energy area based on one or: the difference in energy area between the first cell and the second cell, the different energy consumption between the first energy area and the second energy area, or the different energy level between the first energy area and the second energy area.

[0015] According to various examples, the UE is configured to transmit the indication of the energy area based on a difference in energy level between the first energy area and the second energy area being greater than a threshold.

[0016] According to various examples, the difference in energy area corresponds to a difference in energy area code between the first energy area and the second energy area.

[0017] According to various examples, the indication is transmitted when the UE performs a tracking area update or a radio access network (RAN) notification area update.

[0018] According to various examples, the indication is included in a message transmitted as part of the tracking area update or the RAN notification area update.

[0019] According to various examples, the indication is included in a registration message or a message for updating energy area.

[0020] According to various examples, the registration message or the message for updating energy area is a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0021] According to various examples, the NAS message is transmitted to an access and mobility management function (AMF) or mobility management engine (MME) via the entity.

[0022] According to various examples, the indication is included in a message, the message also including one or more of: access updates performed in a previous energy area, on-demand system update(s), a number of tracking area updates in an energy area, or length of access and / or camping on a specific energy area.

[0023] According to various examples, the energy consumption indicated by an energy area, among the one or more energy area, relates to: the energy consumption for each of the one or more cell of said energy area, or the energy consumption for handling UE(s) in RRC idle state and UE(s) in RRC inactive state in the one or more cell of said energy area.

[0024] According to various examples, each of the one or more energy area is defined as an energy level, and the received information on one or more energy area includes one or more energy levels.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an entity included in a wireless communications system, the entity configured to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communications system, or broadcast information on one or more energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell; and receive, from the UE, an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, wherein the UE is camped on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0026] According to various examples, the entity is configured to: compute RRC idle or RRC inactive state per-UE network energy consumption, based on the indication of the first energy area from the UE.

[0027] According to various examples, the indication of the first energy area is received following performing a cell reselection procedure with the UE, wherein the entity controls the first cell.

[0028] According to various examples, the first energy area associated with the first cell is different to a second energy area associated with a second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell, and the entity controls the second cell.

[0029] According to various examples, the first energy area is associated with a different energy consumption to the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different to a second energy level associated with the second energy area.

[0030] According to various examples, the indication is received during performing a tracking area update or a radio access network (RAN) notification area update with the UE; and / or the indication is included in a registration message or a message for updating energy area.

[0031] According to various examples, the registration message or the message for updating energy area is a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0032] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of a user equipment (UE) included in a wireless communications system, the method comprising: receiving, from an entity in the wireless communications system, information on one or more energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell and indicates an energy consumption; and transmitting, to the entity, an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, based on the UE camping on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0033] According to various examples, the method includes one or more features, step and / or operations to implement the functionality of a UE according to any of the examples described above.

[0034] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of an entity included in a wireless communications system, the method comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communications system, or broadcast information on one or more energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell; and receiving, from the UE, an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, wherein the UE is camped on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0035] According to various examples, the method includes one or more features, step and / or operations to implement the functionality of an entity according to any of the examples described above.

[0036] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform a method according to any aspect, example or embodiment described above.

[0037] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0038] According to the aspect of the present disclosure, by performing an Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update, accurate calculation of per-UE network energy consumption is provided.

[0039] Furthermore, by including an indication in a Tracking Area update or RAN Notification Area Update, minimization of signaling overhead is provided.

[0040] Embodiments / examples of the present disclosure are further described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for logging requests according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 2A illustrates Energy Levels for different cells in a network according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 2B illustrates Energy Area Codes for different cells in a network according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0044] FIG. 3 is graph illustrating energy levels over time as reported by a UE according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0045] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for indicating energy consumption or energy efficiency according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0046] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0048] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure;

[0049] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example structure of an entity in accordance with certain examples of the present disclosure;

[0050] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of a UE according to various examples of the present disclosure;

[0051] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of an entity according to various examples of the present disclosure;

[0052] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0053] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0054] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network entity 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0055] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0057] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0058] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0059] Herein, it will be understood that each block of flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may 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 data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0060] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0061] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a "~unit / module" may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word "~unit / module" does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The "~unit / module" may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the "~unit / module" includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the "~unit / module" may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a "~unit / module," or divided into additional components and a "~unit / module." Moreover, the components and "~units / modules" may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the "쪟unit / module" may include one or more processors.

[0062] The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0063] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital　signal processors, FPGA, ASIC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like. The one processor or the combination of processors executes instructions that can be stored in a memory, such as the　operating system, in order to control the overall operation of the device.　Also, the one processor or the combination of processors is also capable of executing other processes and programs　resident in the memory, such as processes for the disclosure.

[0064] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0065] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure. Additionally, or alternatively, such software may be a computer program [product] comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0066] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0067] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0068] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0069] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0070] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0071] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0072] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0073] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0074] Furthermore, "if condition A and condition B are satisfied," as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0075] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, elements or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0076] Furthermore, the terms "first ~", "second ~", etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0077] Furthermore, even if "first ~" and "second ~" are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by "first ~" and "second ~" may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0078] In addition, the terms "if ~" and "in case that ~" as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of "when (or upon) ~," "in response to ~," "based on ~," or "according to ~," and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure. If a method step (e.g. transmit a signal) is performed according to the disclosure of the application in connection with one of the above terms (such as "in case that ~" or the like), it may be interpreted to include the meanings (disclosure) of a prior determination that a feature has a specific state "~" (e.g. a bit length is above X), and then perform the method step in response to said determination.

[0079] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0080] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0081] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0082] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0083] In the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0084] The drawings or flowcharts described herein illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0085] The process of the flowchart may be performed by a device. One or more of the steps of the　flowchart can be implemented by one or more processors / computer programs executing　instructions to perform the noted functions.

[0086] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the present disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the present disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0087] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0088] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0089] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms describedherein, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0090] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0091] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0092] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0093] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a terminal transmits a signal to a BS.

[0094] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5G mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0095] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0096] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), RRC, or MAC control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0097] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), DCI, UE-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0098] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0099] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0100] The content of the following documents is referred to below and / or their content provides background information that the following disclosure should be considered in the context of:

[0101] [1] 3GPP RP-223540, "New WID: Network energy savings for NR".

[0102] [2] 3GPP RP-230566, "WID revision: Network energy savings for NR".

[0103] [3] 3GPP TR 28.813, "Management and orchestration; Study on new aspects of Energy Efficiency (EE) for 5G", (e.g. v17.0.0).

[0104] [4] 3GPP TR 28.913, "Study on new aspects of Energy Efficiency (EE) for 5G phase 2", (e.g. v18.0.1).

[0105] [5] 3GPP TS 28.310, "Management and orchestration; Energy efficiency of 5G", (e.g. v18.7.0).

[0106] [6] 3GPP TS 28.552, "Management and orchestration; 5G performance measurements", (e.g. v19.2.0).

[0107] [7] 3GPP TS 28.554, "Management and orchestration; 5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI)", (e.g. v19.2.0).

[0108] [8] 3GPP SP-231723, "New SID: Study on energy efficiency and energy saving aspects of 5G networks and services".

[0109] [9] 3GPP TR 22.882, "Study on Energy Efficiency as service criteria", (e.g. v19.3.0).

[0110]

[0010] 3GPP TS 22.261, "Service requirements for the 5G system", (e.g. v20.1.0).

[0111]

[0011] 3GPP S1-240310, "Study on Energy Efficiency as Service Criteria Ph2".

[0112]

[0012] 3GPP TS 28.104, "Management and orchestration; Management Data Analytics (MDA)", (e.g. v19.0.0).

[0113]

[0013] 3GPP TS 28.558, "Management and orchestration; UE level measurements for 5G system", (e.g. v19.2.0).

[0114]

[0014] 3GPP SP-211621, "LS on Energy Efficiency as guiding principle for new solutions".

[0115]

[0015] 3GPP SP-231192, "New SID on 5GS Enhancement for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving".

[0116]

[0016] 3GPP S2-2313823, "Key issue for WT#2: Subscription and policy control to enable energy efficiency as a service criteria".

[0117]

[0017] 3GPP TR 23.700-66, "Study on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving", (e.g. v19.0.0).

[0118]

[0018] 3GPP SP-241388, "New WID on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving".

[0119]

[0019] 3GPP RP-234065, "New WID: Enhancements of network energy savings for NR".

[0120] Note: the indicated version numbers are provided for illustrative purposes, other (including future) versions of these documents are considered also.

[0121] For example, any acronyms or abbreviations not defined in this document may be interpreted in the context of one of the above referenced documents or an appropriate document referenced therein.

[0122] Wireless or mobile (cellular) communications networks in which a mobile terminal (e.g., user equipment (UE), such as a mobile handset) communicates via a radio link with a network of base stations, or other wireless access points or nodes, have undergone rapid development through a number of generations. The 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) design, specify and standardise technologies for mobile wireless communication networks. Fourth (4th) Generation (4G) and Fifth Generation (5G) systems (5GS) are now widely deployed, while beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G systems are being considered.

[0123] 3GPP standards for 4G systems include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and an Enhanced-UTRAN (E-UTRAN: an Enhanced Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network). The E-UTRAN uses Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology. LTE is commonly used to refer to the whole system including both the EPC and the E-UTRAN, and LTE is used in this sense in the remainder of this document. LTE should also be taken to include LTE enhancements such as LTE Advanced and LTE Pro, which offer enhanced data rates compared to LTE.

[0124] In 5G systems a new air interface has been developed, which may be referred to as 5G New Radio (5G NR) or simply NR. NR is designed to support the wide variety of services and use case scenarios envisaged for 5G networks, though builds upon established LTE technologies. B5G systems, such as 6G, are currently being considered and developed, and are expected to at least partly build on 5G systems.

[0125] New frameworks and architectures are being developed as part of 5G network (and beyond, such as 6G networks) in order to increase the range of functionality and use cases available through 5G networks.

[0126] I - General description of Energy usage / consumption and energy efficiency of 3GPP system

[0127] Currently, there are more than 110 countries committed to a net zero emissions target by 2050. What the Paris Agreement attempts to uphold is making sure the increase in global average temperatures stay within 2C by 2100, but preferably closer to 1.5C. The motivation of reducing the energy emissions and increase the energy efficiency of the telecoms sector is more urgent than before. Also, considering the price of energy is increasing and the increasing traffic load of the telecoms system, mobile network operators are keen to optimize the costs of ongoing operations (opex). Energy-saving measures in network operations are necessary for 5G New Radio (NR) radio equipment and other components of telecommunications systems.

[0128] Compared to the previous generations, NR offers a significant energy-efficiency improvement in its first release (3GPP Rel-15), i.e. cell activation / deactivation over Xn / X2 / F1 interface via coordination between peer eNB / gNBs, sparser RS and SS signals, URLLC, CU / DU architecture and MR-DC, etc. However, based on the GSMA report '5G energy efficiencies: Green is the new black' (https: / data.gsmaintelligence.com / api-web / v2 / research-file-download?id=54165956&file=241120-5G-energy.pdf) published in 2020, Network opex tends to account for around 25% of Verizon's cost base, or 10% of revenue. In addition, over 90% of network costs are spent on energy, consisting mostly of fuel and electricity consumption.

[0129] To further reduce energy consumption and improve the efficiency of the 3GPP system, in the releases later than Rel-15, some of the working groups (WGs) in RAN, SA and CT have completed or are developing mechanisms to increase energy saving or energy efficiency. To reduce the energy consumption of RAN part, in Rel-18, RAN WG started to study and specify the techniques on network energy savings (RAN WID in RP-223540 / RP-230566 Sept. 2023), and RAN will further work on network energy saving improvement in Rel-19 (RP-234065) on supporting on-demand SSB SCell operation for UEs in connected mode, on-demand SIB1 for UEs in idle / inactive mode, and adaptation of common signal / channel transmissions.

[0130] SA5 started their work on Energy efficiency of the 5G system in Rel-16. In Rel-17 (TR 28.813 - Study on new aspects of Energy Efficiency (EE) for 5G) and Rel-18 (TR 28.913), SA5 extended its scope from RAN only to the whole 5G system. The specified techniques are documented in TS 28.310 'Management and orchestration; Energy efficiency of 5G' and the corresponding KPIs and measurements related to Energy efficiency (EE) are documented TS 28.552 'Management and orchestration; 5G performance measurements' and TS 28.554 'Management and orchestration; 5G end to end Key Performance Indicators (KPI)'. In Rel-19, SA5 will keep working on energy efficiency and energy saving aspects of 5G networks and services according to the SID approved in SP-231723 in Dec 2023.

[0131] SA1 is currently working on the potential requirements and solutions on Rel-19 Energy Efficiency as a service criteria (acronym: EnergyServ). This topic was completed by TSG 102 (Dec, 2023). The outcome of the study phase is documented in TR 22.882 - Study on Energy Efficiency as service criteria). And some of the specified SA1 stage 1 requirements, e.g. the max. energy credit, might be down streamed to SA2 for further stage 2 work.

[0132] II - Existing and ongoing work in 3GPP SA1 working groups

[0133] In the previous releases of NR (i.e. earlier than Rel-19), the studies concentrated more on how to satisfy user experience and try to achieve energy efficiency at the same time. The use cases and solutions basically concern enhancements within the 3GPP network. For example, requirements for energy efficiency have been introduced by SA1 to clause 6.15 of TS 22.261 as a fundamental 5G system requirement. However, those requirements more focused on the optimization of UEs battery life based on network configuration and control, including the UEs using small rechargeable and single coin cell batteries. But the verticals (diverse industry sectors' service providers) and customers have no approach to enhance or improve the energy efficiency for the whole system.

[0134] SA1 completed a study on energy efficiency as a service in Rel-19 (TR 22.882), which enables the users to select energy efficiency criteria based on request and some of the network performance parameters as needed. Therefore, in some scenarios, e.g. satellite and terrestrial convenience scenario, the users or operators could choose or request the best way in satisfying both user experience and energy efficiency. At the same time, the network could also deploy the more efficient strategies, i.e. energy-efficient network resource allocation and scheduling.

[0135] The SA1 work on Energy Efficiency as a service criteria mainly focuses on:

[0136] · Define and support energy efficiency criteria as part of communication service to user and application services.

[0137] · Provide information exposure on systematic energy consumption or level of energy efficiency to vertical customers.

[0138] The conclusions of this study have been captured in the 5G system requirements specification, TS 22.261. These requirements might be addressed by SA2, the system architecture group. SA2 is studying potential solutions to accomplish or satisfy the corresponding SA1 requirements. The consolidated conclusions include but are not limited to the following (in clause 6 of TR 22.882 and clause 6.15a of TS 22.261):

[0139] · Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support subscription policies and means to enforce the policy that define a maximum energy consumption rate for services without QoS criteria.

[0140] · The 5G network shall support a means to define maximum energy consumption rate with specific granularities (which include subscriber granularity, network slice granularity).

[0141] · Subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support subscription policies that define a maximum energy credit limit for services. The maximum energy credit limit could be used to control the services.

[0142] · Charging related requirements, i.e. subject to operator's policy, the 5G system shall support a means to associate energy consumption with charging information based on subscription policies.

[0143] · The 5G system shall support different energy states of network elements and network functions and dynamic switch between different energy states.

[0144] · For Monitoring and measurement related to energy efficiency purposes, the 5G network shall support energy consumption monitoring at per network slice and per subscriber granularity, 5G system shall be able to acquire energy consumption information of the network functions serving this 3rd party, 5G system shall be able to acquire the ratio of renewable energy used to provide dedicated communication service to this 3rd party on periodic basis, , the 5G system shall be able to acquire the energy efficiency information (e.g., including the estimated carbon emissions) related to a subscriber based on the subscriber's data volume over a specific period of time, the operator's network energy consumption, and the carbon intensity of operator's network.

[0145] In Rel-20, SA1 approved Study on Energy Efficiency as Service Criteria Ph2 in S1-240310 during SA1 Meeting # 105 (26 Feb - 1 March 2024). From S1-240310

[0011] , the objectives include:

[0146] This study is aiming at identifying use cases, providing gap analysis and defining potential requirements in the following aspects regarding enhancement on energy as service criteria.

[0147] The objectives are:

[0148] - Information exposure of energy-related characteristics of the network for the communication service (i.e. energy consumption, energy supply mix, carbon footprint, energy capacity and availability conditions) to authorized users or authorized 3rdparties.

[0149] - Potential dynamic adjustments of the delivered communication service from 5G system perspective (including service performance adjustments) resulting from the changes of energy-related characteristics of this service.

[0150] Note: Dynamic adjustments can be based on criteria such as network decision, user preference or agreement between authorized 3rdparties and network.

[0151] - Other aspects including security, charging and privacy for the scenarios above.

[0152] Note: It is expected that use cases result in net energy saving."

[0153] SA1 may also continue working on energy related topics towards 6G.

[0154] III - Existing and ongoing work in 3GPP SA5 working groups

[0155] 3GPP SA5 started the work on 'Energy efficiency of 5G' since Rel-16. In Rel-16, SA5 focused on the Energy Efficiency (EE) and Energy saving (ES) of mobile networks. In Rel-17, the SA5 extended the scope from RAN part only to the whole 5G system. EE Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been defined for the 5G core network, network slices etc. SA5 work focuses on OA&M, i.e. define mechanisms to collect measurements from the 5G Network Functions via OA&M standardized APIs.

[0156] Performance of network slices has been defined per type of network slice, namely for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC) and massive Internet of Things (MIoT), whereas user plane traffic volumes have been considered to define the performance of the 5GC. How to measure the energy consumption (EC) of Physical Network Functions (PNF) has been defined by ETSI EE, however to measure the EC of Virtualized Network Functions (VNF) was blank. In Rel-17, SA5 has defined a method to estimate it, based on the estimated energy consumption of the underlying virtual compute resource instance(s), i.e. Virtual Machine(s) (VM). Currently, SA5 is still working on Rel-18 energy efficiency of 5G. On top of Rel-17, in Rel-18, SA5 is working on more accurate virtual CPU usage measurements from ETSI NFV MANO which could be used to estimate the Energy Consumption of virtual machines, new use cases for Energy Saving in the whole 3GPP system, considerations on digital sobriety etc.

[0157] In the future releases, some of the parameters and measurement technique / metrics may be further enhanced by SA2 WG to support the system level energy saving and the efficient operation.

[0158] SA5 also introduced the MDA (Management Data Analytics) assisted Energy Saving in clause 7.2.4 and clause 8.4.4 of TS 28.104. The MDA assisted energy saving is achieved by activating the energy saving mode of the NR capacity booster cell or 5GC NFs (e.g. UPF etc.). With considering the energy saving policies setup by the operators, the Management Data Analytics Service (MDAS) producer is able to provide energy saving recommendations to the service consumer to assist with the energy saving decision-making. For example, the MDAS procedure may provide the output to indicate where the energy efficiency issues (e.g. high-energy consumption, low energy efficiency) exist in the system and the cause of the energy efficiency issues based on the request of the consumer.

[0159] Currently, SA5 can support the measurements and exposure of multiple energy related information at different granularities. For example, in TS 28.554, Energy Efficiency (EE) KPI was introduced including:

[0160] · Energy Efficiency (EE) of 5GC, NG-RAN data and Network slice

[0161] · Energy Consumption (EC) of NF, 5GC, network slice, NG-RAN and single gNB node.

[0162] The above EE KPIs in TS 28.554 can be calculated based on the Power, Energy and Environmental (PEE) measurements in clause 5.1.1.19 of TS 28.552 and other necessary measurements, e.g. data volume at different granularities.

[0163] In Rel-18, SA5 introduced TS 28.558 for Management and orchestration; UE level measurements for 5G system. Even though, currently, the per UE energy related parameters are not available in the TS, the TS opens to the door to collect per UE level information from RAN and UE for energy related parameters at potential finer granularities.

[0164] IV - Existing and ongoing work in 3GPP in SA2

[0165] Considering the energy cost is one of the most significant sources of operations costs for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), there has been increasing work in 3GPP on improving energy efficiency (EE), energy saving (ES) and reducing the energy consumption (EC) of 5GS. In the above clauses, the existing work related to EE, ES and EC in other 3GPP WGs is reviewed. From the network perspective, the previous solutions studied how to optimize energy consumption by adapting the network itself, e.g. activating and deactivating parts of the network including cells, network functions (NFs), etc. Such change to the topology and components of the network could be either transparent to the network architecture or have implications with the architecture, e.g. reselection of proper network functions. The previous work is more from the perspective of network management, including the OAM and Ran node / cell management; or from the UE perspective. Previous work does not study how to improve and enhance the energy saving and energy efficiency from the system level, i.e. considering the end-to-end energy saving and energy efficiency of a service or UE etc. before R19, standardization work on Enhancement for Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving as Service Criteria for NR system has not been introduced to SA2 before Rel-19.

[0166] As mentioned in section II above, stage 1 requirements for energy as a service criteria have been identified by SA1 in the FS_EnergyServ study. Some of the SA1 requirements need to be addressed by SA2, i.e. by introducing new functionalities and mechanisms by SA2. The goal of the SA1 energy efficiency is to provide the same services in a more efficient manner, i.e. the services could be provided in an energy-aware manner with considering the energy use control as service criteria, functional requirements include the ability to control energy use based on operator policies such as 'energy credit limits' and 'maximum energy usage rate' applying to services provided to a UE or group of UEs.

[0167] Also, SA plenary has issued a 3GPP-wide recommendation on considering Energy efficiency as an important design criterion for the technical solutions 3GPP defines in their specifications (see SP-211621). Therefore, SA2 decided to investigate options for improved system behaviour aimed at energy saving and energy efficiency in Re-19.

[0168] The SID of SA2 work has been approved in the plenary meeting in SP-231192 (September 2023), including:

[0169] · WT #1. Study potential framework for network energy consumption exposure. This will include whether and what information is exposed, how it is exposed (e.g., charging) and at what granularity, e.g., at RAN level, Core Network level, network slice level, UE level, PDU session level, and / or QoS flow level. Additionally, whether and how renewable energy or carbon emission information for such granularities can be exposed by an MNO will be studied.

[0170] · WT #2. Study enhancement for subscription and policy control to enable network energy savings as service criteria.

[0171] · WT #3. Study 5GS enhancements (e.g., energy usage adjustment for NF from CN aspect, energy saving related decision making, NF selection leveraging NF energy states) for network energy saving including 5GC(NFs) and NG-RAN interactions, analytics, etc. Impacts on the UE are not ruled out e. g., for scenarios specified in TR 22.882 by SA1 EnergyServ.

[0172] In order to support the above objectives, SA2 study is being carried out between Nov. 2023 to May 2024.

[0173] For WT#2, the Key Issue (KI) descriptions have been approved in S2-2313823 in SA2 160 meeting in Nov. 2023 and documented in clause 5.2 of TR 23.700-66:

[0174] "5.2 Key Issue #2: Subscription and policy control to support energy efficiency and energy saving as service criteria

[0175] 5.2.1 Description

[0176] Energy related information as service criteria allows delivering services based on e.g., energy related subscriptions and policies to achieve the goal of energy saving.

[0177] The following aspects will be studied for this key issue:

[0178] - Whether and how to enhance the existing subscription and policy control framework to support energy related information as service criteria, including:

[0179] - Whether and what new energy related UE subscription information are to be defined, and whether and how to use the energy related UE subscription information.

[0180] - Whether and what new energy related policies are to be defined, and how to perform energy related policy control, e.g. to determine, provision and enforce energy related policies.

[0181] - At what granularity (e.g., network slice, UE, NF, PDU Session, QoS flow, application ID, etc.) the energy related policy control can be performed.

[0182] - What network energy related information is required for subscription and policy control and how it is obtained.

[0183] - Whether and how the above enhancements on subscription and policy control will impact charging.

[0184] NOTE　1: Charging enhancement aspects, if any, are to be addressed in coordination with SA　WG5.

[0185] NOTE　2: The study will address use cases corresponding to the identified requirements as described in clause　6.15a.2 of TS　22.261　[8]. The possible enhancements on subscription and policy control depend on the use case. Solutions should identify related use cases which will be addressed.

[0186] NOTE　3: The potential impact of the enhancements will be evaluated to ensure not to consume more energy than expected to save. "

[0187] The WID of SA2 R19 Energy_sys was approved in SP-241388 during SA# 105 meeting, 10 - 13 September 2024. Referring to SP-241388

[0018] , the objectives include:

[0188]

[0189]

[0190]

[0191]

[0192]

[0193] Based on the SA2 conclusions for Rel-19 Energy_sys documented in TR　23.700-66:

[0194]

[0195]

[0196] V - Idle and Inactive mode operation

[0197] Idle mode and inactive mode mobility is based on a UE autonomously performing measurements and deciding according to some rules whether a UE shall re-select to another cell or not to camp on.

[0198] During cell selection, the UE identifies suitable cells, which is according to a cell suitability criteria based on signal strength and signal quality measurements. After identifying one or several suitable cells, the UE can choose any of them. For instance the UE can select the cell with the strongest signal strength and signal quality within a PLMN. Cell selection can performed following PLMN selection (which may be after a UE is turned on), after being released by a network, or during the RRC re-establishment procedure and a number of other cases.

[0199] A cell may be classified into a number of different types of cells. A suitable cell is a cell that fulfills the cell selection criteria, the cell is not barred etc and is part of the tracking area of the UE - thus a normal type of cell. An acceptable cell is a cell on which the UE is only allowed to camp for specific reasons such as emergency cases, but the cell cannot be barred and the cell selection criteria need to be fulfilled. A UE only camps on such a cell if it cannot find a suitable cell. A reserved cell is a reserved if the system information indicates that it is reserved.

[0200] When camped on a cell, the UE shall perform the cell reselection procedures which includes searching and detecting cells and camping on a better or more suitable cell.

[0201] In the cell reselection procedure, the UE searches intra-frequency cells, inter-frequencies cells and inter-RAT cells following the signalling by the serving cell. Each frequency (inter-RAT or intra-RAT) may have a specific cell reselection priority. The cell reselection algorithm is designed to ensure that the UE chooses a cell with highest priority, given that it is not barred or not allowed to camp on. A UE shall always select an inter-frequency or inter-RAT cell with a higher priority over a lower priority cell. If frequencies of equal priority are detected, then the UE shall rank all of the cells, where the ranking metric is based on signal strength and signal quality measurements and then choose the best candidate. The UE then camps on the newly re-selected cell.

[0202] There are also certain rules on for how long a new cell shall be better than the serving cell before camping on the new cell. This parameter is called Treselection and can be specific for a RAT or for other cases. There are also thresholds for the signal strength of signal quality that may need to be fulfilled before selecting a new cell to camp on, which may depend on whether the cell is lower or higher priority, and depend on whether the cell is inter-frequency or inter-RAT.

[0203] As part of the idle mode and inactive procedures, the UE also checks whether a cell is barred or not. If a cell is barred or not, the UE is not allowed to connect to the cell, not allowed to camp or consider the cell for cell reselection. In 4G, the barring bit is signalled in SIB1 while in 5G NR, the barring bit is signalled in MIB.

[0204] Inter-RAT may be considered any other than the current RAT. As an example for 4G E-UTRA UE, the following may be considered inter-RAT: 2G, 3G, 4G NB-IoT, 5G NR or 6G.

[0205] VI - Technical Problem

[0206] As part of work in RAN and SA, there have been discussions on functionality to support calculating the network Energy Consumption of a specific UE. This is said to be useful, for example, for the purposes of charging and policy control (e.g. AM, SM, UE policies, PCC rule and QoS, etc.), but also to identify potential network energy consumption and energy efficiency shortcomings to improve the network (e.g. network performance by optimising traffic and load control, operating expense (on energy)). It may also be used to indicate to a user or customer whether their connectivity is "green" or sustainable.

[0207] So far these discussions have centred around determining the amount of energy consumption of downlink transmissions to a UE, in particular when the UE is in RRC connected state. However, one issue is that a large amount of power consumption arises from managing and maintaining the network for UEs when they are not in RRC connected. The energy consumption in this case for instance includes transmitting broadcasted signals etc, which are still "consumed" by UEs in the cell. Having an estimate or a relative indication on the energy "consumed" by UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive may be important not only potentially for charging purposes, but also for the consumer to understand whether the communication is efficient, or environmentally friendly.

[0208] Thus in the present disclosure we provide methods and apparatus for calculating or estimating the per-UE network energy consumption that arises when a UE is in RRC idle and RRC inactive.

[0209] Certain examples of the present disclosure relate to methods, apparatus and / or systems for optimizing energy consumption in a network. In various examples, the energy consumption relates to RRC idle or inactive modes, such as for UE(s) in the network or in a cell. According to various examples, network or cell energy consumption is calculated according to one or more of various methods or metrics. According to various examples, techniques for associating cells with energy consumption are provided, including introducing Energy Area(s) and / or Energy Level(s). In various examples, methods are provided for updating or registering a, Energy Area or Energy Level, such as may occur when a UE performs cell reselection.

[0210] As described above, various embodiments of the present disclosure aim to provide methods for calculating or estimating the per-UE network energy consumption that arises when a UE is in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode. Also, various embodiments relate to providing methods for computing and / or optimizing network energy consumption in RRC idle and / or RRC inactive modes.

[0211] References herein to computing energy consumption may also be understood to mean any of: determining energy consumption, identifying energy consumption, calculating energy consumption, estimating energy consumption, deriving energy consumption etc. Additionally, in various examples said computing (etc.) of energy consumption is performed by a network entity / function, such as core network (CN), cell, base station (e.g. gNB), UE or specific function of the CN.

[0212] We now introduce / identify some concepts from 4G and 5G and potential equivalents in a 6G system that may be applied to the examples disclosed herein:

[0213] · 4G and 5G RRC connected state - UE having established a connection with a RAN, i.e. a cell, gNB or similar identity.

[0214] · Cell - This may be also be a different concept in a 6G system. For instance in a cell-less case a UE may attach, connect and be associated with a beam or other similar identity.

[0215] · RRC idle - UE not in a RRC connected state, i.e not having established a connection. RRC idle also means that UE will be camping on a cell or similar identity and then performing measurements and evaluating to find a better cell or similar identity.

[0216] · 5G RRC inactive - UE in a state similar to RRC idle where the UE stores the RRC configuration and resumes the RRC connection using the configuration. The network also stores the UE context and uses it to restore the UE connection.

[0217] · 5G RRC procedures (RRC Setup, RRC Resume, RRC Re-establishment, RRC Reconfiguration) - Any procedures that aims to establish a connection with a cell, a gNB or similar identity. For instance a procedure that aims to establish a 5G-6G Dual Connectivity setting with a 5G and 6G cell.

[0218] · Random access - The process of synchronizing the MAC layer via sending a preamble and receiving a message that synchronizes the uplink, as well as following messages to resolve any contention.

[0219] · Radio Link Failure - Failure of the radio link, which may be a failure based on measured radio signals, or based on operation in the cell, such as a number of retransmissions, random access failures, the radio beams failing etc. After the radio link failure the UE may try to reselect to another cell and re-establish the RRC connection.

[0220] · Handover - Performing active mobility to another cell, gNB or similar identity.

[0221] · Releasing RRC connection - The UE is released via a messages such as RRC Release that releases the RRC connection the UE has to one or more cells. This may also include the UE

[0222] Different granularities / levels, as may be applicable to various examples disclosed herein, include one or more of the following:

[0223] · PLMN level (e.g. multiple core networks / 5GCs / 6GCs)

[0224] · single Core Network (e.g. one 5GC or 6GC) level

[0225] · Core network function (e.g. NF) level

[0226] · network slice level

[0227] · RAN level (e.g. include one or more base stations)

[0228] · RAN node level (e.g. per gNB)

[0229] · UE level

[0230] · PDU session level

[0231] · QoS flow level

[0232] · Resource block level ( e.g. one or more Resource blocks)

[0233] · byte / bit level

[0234] Different entities / resources, as may be applicable to various examples disclosed herein, include one or more of the following:

[0235] · PLMN

[0236] · Core network, e.g. 5GC, 6GC

[0237] · Core network function (e.g. NF)

[0238] · network slice

[0239] · Base station (e.g. gNB, RAN node)

[0240] · TRP (Transmission-Reception Point)

[0241] · UE

[0242] · PDU session

[0243] · Qos flow

[0244] · Radio resources, e.g. Resource block

[0245] · Byte / bit

[0246] Energy related information, as may be applicable for various examples disclosed herein, may include one or more of the following:

[0247] · Energy Efficiency (EE): Indicating the energy efficiency at different granularities (e.g. Low, Medium, High, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

[0248] · Energy Consumption (EC): Indicating the average amount of energy consumed over the duration e.g. configured by the operator. The EC can be the energy consumed by one or more Network function of the core network, one or more UEs, one or more slices, etc.

[0249] · Maximum Allowed Energy Consumption: Indicating the maximum allowed amount of energy consumption of the NF.

[0250] · Energy credit: the Maximum Allowed Energy Consumption

[0251] · Renewable Energy Factor: Indicating the ratio of the renewable energy to the total energy (see ISO / IEC 30134-3:2016).

[0252] · Carbon Emission Factor: Indicating the amount of carbon emissions relative to an amount of resource consumption. E.g. kilograms of equivalent carbon dioxide emitted per kWh (kg of CO2eq / kWh) (see ETSI GS OEU 020).

[0253] · Energy state / status: the state / status of different entities considers energy, e.g. (not) energy saving mode, different levels of sleeping mode (e.g. deep, medium, light levels), etc.

[0254] · Renewable energy sources: e.g. solar power, wind power, hydropower, Bioenergy, Tidal and wave power, etc.

[0255] A - Energy consumption of inactive and idle UEs

[0256] For the UEs in RRC idle and inactive mode, the network energy consumption is mainly used for transmission of common signaling, e.g. MIB, SIBs, paging, etc. That is, network energy is consumed in the transmission of common signalling (e.g. reception of such signalling, for the case of a UE), and this may be a prominent, even main, source of energy consumption in the network. The UEs in RRC connected state may also require common signaling. For a cell in normal operation (which is the subject of examples below unless stated otherwise), the cell will serve both idle / inactive and connected mode UEs. For instance, some common signalling, such as SSBs, are used for both initial access and connected mode operation. System information, however, would only be consumed by idle / inactive devices. Paging is also largely for idle / inactive mode UEs. Therefore, for various examples we assume that the network energy consumption for broadcasting is almost exclusively spent on serving IDLE / INACTIVE UEs.

[0257] It may be assumed that the gNB, in various examples, is able to count or otherwise quantify the resources allocated for transmission of common signaling, such as system information.

[0258] It is assumed that the gNB, in various examples, is able to split the energy consumption of common signaling and data transmitted to specific UEs, e.g. based on the number of resources used for control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) payload or the output or transmission power of the control plane and user plane payload. This may mean that the gNB is able to separate the resources and the energy used for transmission of signalling such as system information, paging etc. In other words, in various examples, a base station (such as a gNB) is configured to split energy consumption of one or more of common signalling and data transmitted to at least one UE (e.g. one or more specific UEs) based on a number of resources for a payload (e.g. UP and / or CP payload) and / or output or transmission power of the payload (e.g. the UP and / or CP payload).

[0259] There can be different ways of estimating the energy consumption for UEs in IDLE and INACTIVE, some of which are now discussed. It will be appreciated that these examples / aspects / embodiments etc. described below may outline a method for determining / calculating energy consumption (e.g. of a UE or UEs) or a component thereof (i.e. a part of the total energy consumption), such as may be performed by an entity in the network (e.g. CN, NW, cell, UE, gNB etc.).

[0260] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, at least one component of the energy consumption for UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive, or any other non-connected state, is composed of dividing the cell or network energy consumption (e.g. the energy consumption associated with the cell or with the network) among the UEs camping or otherwise associated with the cell or a set of cells. For instance, in an example the calculated (or determined, estimated, measured, computed etc.) energy consumption includes a per-UE energy consumption for each, or a, UE included in the cell, the UE(s) camping on the cell or otherwise being associated with the cell or a set of cells.

[0261] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, at least one component of the energy consumption for UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive, or any other non-connected state, is composed of registering to a cell or a set of cells that the UE is camping or otherwise connected to, and then assigning the UE the energy consumption associated with the cell, network or area. This may then be fixed regardless of the number of UEs camping or are otherwise associated with the cell or a set of cells. For example, the UE may register its presence in the cell, for instance for the purpose of determining or facilitating determining (e.g. by another entity) per-UE network energy consumption. In various examples, the UE is configured to register its presence to a cell for other purposes, such as to track a UE for paging purposes or to maintain the UE context.

[0262] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, at least one component of the network or cell energy consumption is related to on-demand System information requests. This may mean that when the UE requests System information on-demand, the per-UE network energy consumption of this is tracked. This can be done by, for example, the UE logging every time the UE transmits the System Information request. In various examples, this is implemented via a counter, which may be a counter for all requests for System Information Blocks, or a counter for each type of System Information Blocks. As an example, the UE maintains separate counters for MIB, SIB1, SIB2, SIB3, SIB4 etc. The counter(s) may be reported to a gNB or a core network, or other network element, which is used for / by the network to calculate the UE-specific network energy consumption. The counter(s) may be specific to a cell, or to a specific network or network area. Computing the network or cell energy consumption due to on-demand SI may also be done by averaging the number of on-demand system information requests by the UEs (e.g. all UEs or a subset of UEs) in the cell and then dividing it per UE. This may be useful, as on-demand system information allows a network to not broadcast certain system information, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0263] In various examples, the network energy consumption calculations include the network or cell energy consumption information related to on-demand System information, plus the energy consumption at the UE side incurred by such requests. For the latter, an average value can be used, or it can be vendor-specific (either known / declared, or signalled by the UE). For instance, in an example a method includes: calculating first energy consumption information relating to on-demand system information associated with a cell or network, calculating second energy consumption information relating to on-demand system information associated with a UE; and, optionally, adding the first and second energy consumption information.

[0264] According to various examples, in a future cellular system where a cell is considered to be on-demand, the per-UE network energy consumption may include any network consumption rising from requesting an on-demand cell to turn on. An on-demand cell may be a cell that is turned off or in a low-power or extremely low-power mode, which is turned on based on a request from a UE, or a request from another entity.

[0265] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, one component of the per-UE network energy consumption is the energy consumption incurred due to Paging. This is because Paging is typically an energy consuming operation. In various examples, the per-UE paging energy consumption may be calculated by including all Paging attempts performed by a network and averaging it across the UEs in the cell. In further examples, the per-UE paging energy consumption may be calculated by including all Paging attempts to a specific UE. This can for instance be done by each and every gNB or cell that attempted to page a UE (e.g. on the request of a core network element or function, such as an AMF) counting how many paging attempts were performed to a UE. If one Paging message contains paging of multiple UEs, then the energy consumption of the Paging message may be divided across the UEs.

[0266] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, one component of the per-UE network energy consumption includes the energy consumption of Multicast Broadcast Services (MBS) broadcast or other types of data broadcast or multicasting. This may be useful or pertinent because the MBS broadcast service may involve high downlink traffic volume for the corresponding services.

[0267] In view of the above, various examples of the present disclosure include the following:

[0268] In a first example, there is provided an entity (e.g. CN, NW, AF, NF, UE, gNB etc.) configured to compute (or determine, identify, estimate, calculate, derive etc.) the energy consumption for one or more UE (e.g. a per-UE energy consumption). The one or more UE may be in RRC idle or inactive state, or any other non-connected state. Computing the energy consumption comprises one or more of:

[0269] · Computing a first energy consumption component by dividing (or splitting, apportioning etc.) energy consumption associated with a cell(s) or network (e.g. CN, PLMN, RAN etc.) among the one or more UE, said one or more UE camping on or otherwise associated with the cell(s) or the network.

[0270] · Computing a second energy component by assigning a UE, among the one or more UE, an energy consumption amount / value associated with a cell(s), network or area in which said UE is located (e.g. camping or otherwise connected to). Optionally, said UE registers to the cell(s) (e.g. on which it is camping or otherwise connected to); thereby facilitating the entity in assigning the energy consumption amount / value. The energy consumption amount / value may, e.g. once assigned, be fixed, such that it may not change as the number of UEs camping or otherwise associated with the cell(s) changes. The second energy component may be the sum of the energy consumption amount / value assigned to the one or more UE (e.g. the total of the number of the one or more UE multiplied by the energy consumption amount / value).

[0271] · Computing a third energy consumption component by calculating energy consumption from on-demand requests (e.g. on-demand system information requests) relating to the one or more UE. This may be based on information indicating a number of times each UE, of the one or more UE, transmits a system information request, e.g. the information may be received from said UE. Said UE may log or otherwise record the number of times it transmits a system information on-demand request, and then transmit this number to the entity (e.g. periodically, or when certain numbers of requests are recorded, or on request from the entity). Optionally, the third energy consumption is averaged for the one or more UE by summing the energy consumption amount associated with on-demand requests for each UE and then dividing by the total number of the one or more UE.

[0272] · Computing a fourth energy consumption component by computing cell or network energy consumption associated with on-demand requests (e.g. on-demand system information requests) from the one or more UE, computing UE-side energy consumption associated with the on-demand requests, and summing the computed amounts. Optionally, the UE-side energy consumption may be an average value or predetermined value - e.g., the actual amount of UE energy consumption associated with the on-demand requests is not calculated / computed for each of the one or more UE but instead a given value is used.

[0273] · Computing a fifth energy consumption component by computing cell energy consumption arising from requesting a cell (e.g. an on-demand cell) to turn on (this may also include energy consumption in turning the cell on). Here, turning a cell on may also refer to changing the cell from a low power or power-save mode to a normal operating mode or higher power mode.

[0274] · Computing a sixth energy consumption component based on paging for the one or more UE. Computing the sixth energy consumption component may include calculating energy consumption for all paging attempts for the one or more UE, and identifying a per-UE energy consumption by averaging the calculated amount across the one or more UE. This may be across a cell. In other cases, the per-UE energy consumption may be obtained by calculating energy consumption for all paging attempts for each UE among the one or more UE (i.e. an individual amount is calculated for each UE, rather than averaging). A paging entity may record or otherwise log an amount of times it attempts to page a / each UE to facilitate this.

[0275] · Computing a seventh energy consumption component as the energy consumption associated with MBS and / or other types of data broadcast or multicasting.

[0276] In various examples, deriving the energy consumption includes adding together any one or more of the first to seventh energy consumption components.

[0277] According to various examples of the present disclosure (e.g. those described above), the per-UE related energy consumption information (including per-UE energy consumption, per-UE renewable energy consumption, per-UE energy consumption of traditional energy, etc.) and per-UE carbon emission could be exposed or reported to other entities, e.g.: to 3rd party or an AF, between a RAN node and a core network, within core network between network functions, between different PLMNs, or to the UEs. This may be done by the entity that computes the energy consumption (i.e. as referred to above).

[0278] The information described in the examples above (or a combination thereof) may be used by the network or 3rd party for UE related traffic / QoS / policy control or negotiation, e.g. the UEs with different per-UE EC will be configured for different QoS. From the UE side, the UE may determine to lower its energy consumption by terminating some services; or in another example, the UE that is using renewable energy (e.g. a high ratio of renewable energy, such as in comparison to non-renewable energy) may determine to establish more services and / or require the configuration for high / higher service quality (e.g. higher QoS, higher data rate, lower packet error rate, more frequent (re-)transmission, etc.)

[0279] In various examples, the network (NW) or core network (or another entity) may configure the UE to send an indication (e.g. to said entity) once the UE is camping on a new cell. Interaction between gNBs may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be provided to indicate that the UE moved out from an old cell and camps on a new cell. Therefore, the network can understand how many UEs are in RRC idle and / or RRC inactive, e.g. on / in the cell. Therefore, calculation of cell specific (or specific group of cells / specific part of NG-RAN) per UE control plane energy consumption may be facilitated.

[0280] In any of the examples described above, the energy consumption may be under or for a specific time T (e.g. a time period T, a time of T from a certain time (such as a time when a signal is received or when the certain time is reached) etc.). The Time T may be configurable, or it may be sent as part of the reported network energy consumption.

[0281] A.1 - Detailed methods for calculating per-UE network energy consumption

[0282] In various examples, the per-UE network energy consumption for UEs in IDLE and INACTIVE mode may be calculated by dividing energy consumption of the network based on the number of UEs in the cell:

[0283] ECUE idle= ECNW_idle / inactive / (number of IDLE and INACTIVE UEs in the cell)

[0284] According to various examples of the present disclosure, the network energy consumption of idle / inactive, ECNW_idle / inactive, may be or include the energy consumption of broadcasting system information in the cell, optionally as well as any type of reference signals. In a 4G system this may include Cell-Specific Reference Signals, and in a 5G system may include SSBs.

[0285] According to various examples of the present disclosure, the network energy consumption of idle / inactive, ECNW_idle / inactive, may additionally or alternatively be or include a combined energy consumption, which may include all of the cell or base station energy consumption excluding energy consumption from UEs in the RRC connected. This may include energy consumption of other RRC idle and inactive operation, such as on-demand system information and / or Paging etc. This can for instance mean that, in some cases, and in some future cellular systems, the network energy consumption increases with more UEs camping on the cell.

[0286] According to various examples of the present disclosure, the network energy consumption of idle / inactive ECNW_idle / inactivemay additionally or alternatively be or include a combined network energy consumption of UEs performing certain idle / inactive mode actions, such as on-demand requests and / or paging, while excluding network operations that are required when the cell is on. This may for instance include excluding the network broadcasting reference signals and / or certain system information such as SIB1 and MIB (which may be regarded as vital). This means that the network energy consumption may increase with more UEs camping on the cell. In various examples, this may be averaged across all UEs in the cell.

[0287] In the examples disclosed herein (e.g. those given above), the number of UEs may include the number of UEs in RRC idle and / or RRC inactive. This may be estimated or determined by tracking the UEs camping on a specific cell. In the case of a small number of UEs (e.g. a number of UEs under a predefined or set threshold), the network or cell energy consumption per UE will tend towards the energy consumption of a cell, which can be seen if the (number of UEs in the cell) = 1. This may not be considered acceptable, so in some scenarios, the denominator may be lower-bounded by for instance a configured number:

[0288] ECUE idle= ECNW_idle / inactive / max(lower bound, (number of UEs in the cell))

[0289] It will be understood that the ECNW_idle / inactivemay be different for each cell, each tracking area or notification area.

[0290] In various examples of the present disclosure, the NW or CN may configure the UE to send an indication (e.g. to the NW or CN, or another suitable entity such as gNB) once the UE is camping on a new cell. E.g. the UE may be configured to transmit an indication when camping on a new cell; the indication may indicate that the UE is camping on a new cell, that the UE has changed cell or that the UE has left the old cell. Interaction between gNBs may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be provided to indicate the UE moved out from an old cell and camps on a new cell. For example, a gNB or base station may transmit, e.g. to NW or CN, an indication that a UE has moved cell or camps on a new cell (optionally including an indication of the new cell also). Therefore, the network can understand how many UEs in RRC idle and / or RRC inactive, e.g. for a specific cell. Therefore, cell specific (or specific group of cells / specific part of NG-RAN) per UE control plane energy consumption may be calculated.

[0291] In various examples, the NW (or CN) determines to calculate the per UE network control plane energy consumption for each Tracking Area (TA). For a Tracking Area, the network has the knowledge on how many UEs are in each Tracking Area. Therefore, the tracking area-specific per UE network control plane energy consumption may be calculated. It will be appreciated that in other examples the per UE network CP energy consumption is calculated for another type of area defined in the 3GPP specifications, e.g. RAN notification area(s) .

[0292] In another aspect of the present disclosure, the per-UE network energy consumption in RRC idle and RRC inactive includes the operations that the UE performs in those states, but may not include network energy consumption of the minimum broadcasting required to maintain the cell. For example, if the UE requests certain system information in RRC idle, which may be outside of the minimum broadcasted system information (e.g. system information which is required to be broadcast), where the certain system information may be required to be requested in certain scenarios or for certain types of UEs, then only this marginal network energy consumption accounts for the per-UE energy consumption. That is, the per-UE energy consumption in this case accounts only for that associated with the request of the certain system information, and does not account for the minimum broadcasted system information. If there is on-demand reference signal, which could for instance be that the UE requests SSBs or other reference signals while in RRC idle or RRC inactive, then the network energy consumption of this is included in the per-UE energy consumption. Similarly, if the UE in RRC inactive requests certain system information, which it may be required to, then only this marginal network energy consumption (i.e. that associated with the requesting of the certain system information, as opposed to any energy consumption associated with minimum broadcasted system information) is accounted for in the per-UE energy consumption.

[0293] For example, the UE may log every time one of these (e.g. the certain system information or the on-demand reference signal mentioned above) are requested, and then the log is indicated to the network (e.g. at some point in time, such as a configured time or set time), in order to compute the per-UE network energy consumption. An example of this can be seen in FIG. 1, which illustrates logging on-demand requests and using this to compute RRC idle and inactive per-UE network energy consumption.

[0294] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for logging requests according to examples of the present disclosure.

[0295] In FIG. 1, UE 100 is in RRC idle or inactive.

[0296] In operation 1 of FIG. 1, UE 100 requests, from cell 200 (e.g. transmits a request to cell 200 for), one or more of on-demand system information, on-demand reference signals, and on-demand cell.

[0297] In operation 2 of FIG. 1, UE 100 receives, from cell 200, the requested one or more of on-demand system information, on-demand reference signals, and on-demand cell.

[0298] In operation 3 of FIG. 1, UE 100 logs the request(s).

[0299] In operation 4 of FIG. 1, UE 100 transmits or reports, to the cell 200, the log or the on-demand request(s).

[0300] In operation 5 of FIG. 1, cell 200 (or the NW, or CN) computes the per-UE network energy consumption.

[0301] It will be understood that various examples of the present disclosure relate to only the UE of FIG. 1, or to only the cell / network 200 of FIG. 1, or to the system of both.

[0302] B - Energy consumption areas

[0303] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a concept of Energy Consumption Area is defined. These may also (e.g. alternatively) be called Energy Areas, or Energy Level areas. Alternatively, an Energy Level area may relate to a similar concept as an Energy Consumption Area, but have a different definition; e.g. an Energy Level area may define an area associated with a specific Energy Level, while an Energy Consumption Area more generally defines an area with an approximately similar energy consumption. These are areas where the network energy consumption, or the energy consumption rate (i.e. power) is roughly the same (e.g. the same, or similar to within a predefined range, or similar to within a tolerance), and if the UE moves to a new cell or a new area where the UE energy consumption or UE energy consumption rate is different, the UE may be configured to indicate its presence for the purpose of allowing a network to register or to compute its energy consumption. These areas may also be assigned specific Energy levels, which indicate the relative energy consumption or energy consumption rate of a cell, for instance relative to other neighbouring cells. If the UE camps or otherwise associates with a cell with different Energy Area Code (e.g. an Energy Area Code may be assigned or provided for each Energy Area) or the energy level changes, the UE may be configured to register with the cell or the network. An example of this can be seen in FIG. 3, which illustrates energy level(s) reported by a UE (e.g. to a cell or NW) as it camps on cells with new / different energy levels over a time period. That is, FIG. 3 illustrates energy levels over time as reported by a UE.

[0304] FIG. 2A illustrates an example of energy levels of different cells in a network, and FIG. 2B illustrates an example of Energy Area Codes of different cells in a network. For example, as can be seen in FIGS. 2A and 2B, cells having the same or similar energy level may be assigned or provided the same Energy Area Code (EAC). Alternatively, energy level and EAC may be considered independent concepts to one another.

[0305] The Energy Areas may be configured by an operator(s) based on cell deployment and / or energy sources (e.g. renewables) for a given cell or group of cells. For example, based on the size, radius and / or diameter of the cell. More generally, Energy Areas may be configured based on one or more features or characteristics of each of a plurality of cells. As the transmission output power may be determined by considering the area to be covered, if the coverage area is in similar size or if the transmission output power applied to those cells is similar. As a result, those cells may be considered in the same energy level and / or in the same energy area. The configuration of the Energy Areas may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be related to specific manufacturers of the base station (e.g. associated with said cell(s)) whereby certain base stations are more energy efficient or energy consuming than others, for instance via more powerful signal processing techniques that allow the cell to use lower transmission powers or cell on and off procedures.

[0306] The energy areas and / or energy level may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively to any one or more of the above examples) be determined by considering the renewable energy related aspects or features. In examples of this disclosure, the renewable energy related aspects may include any one of more of: the ratio of renewable energy, a Renewable Energy Factor, a Carbon Emission Factor, the amount of Carbon Emission, Renewable energy sources etc. For example, the cells with the same or similar renewable energy related aspects can be categorised into the same energy level and / or energy areas.

[0307] In another example, the renewable energy related aspects or features may be considered together with at least one of the (relative) energy consumption level and the other aspect(s) / example(s) mentioned above to determine the energy level and / or energy areas.

[0308] To calculate the per UE energy consumption in an Energy Area, the calculation may be dependent on the number of cells of the Energy Area and the number of UEs in the energy area. This can be done by calculating the full network energy consumption of the network broadcasting in the Energy Area and dividing it by the number of UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive in the Energy Area. In an example this may be calculated as:

[0309] ECUE idle= ECEnergy Area_broadcasting* / (number of UEs in Energy Area) = (number of cells in Energy Area) * ECCell_broadcasting* / (number of UEs in Energy Area)

[0310] In another aspect of the present disclosure, if the energy levels are used, then the network may compute the energy consumption based on the Energy Level areas that the UE has reported camping on. If the energy levels represent the energy consumption rate, then this may be based on the time that a UE camps on specific Energy Level and / or average signalling load and / or average traffic load (average across all UEs; average for given UE based on historic or anticipated values; etc.), or the average or median Energy Level that the UE camps on may be used to calculated the energy consumption of a UE in RRC idle and RRC inactive. The average or median energy level may then be converted to real energy consumption.

[0311] According to various examples, the network (e.g. CN) may also compute an average energy level based on the times that the UE has camped on cells of different energy levels, which can be used to determine a relative energy consumption of the UE. For example, the UE or another entity (e.g. NW, CN) may record this information about the UE, and determine the average energy level accordingly. In some examples, the average is updated continually (e.g. periodically or after a preset number of cell changes) to reflect changes in the cell the UE camps on over time.

[0312] The concept or a feature of Energy Areas may be represented by an identifier that is broadcasted or otherwise signalled by the network. Such an identifier may be named Energy Area Code (EAC). This may be broadcasted or otherwise indicated by a 6G cell, a 5G NR cell, 4G LTE E-UTRAN cell, or even a WLAN cell or network. The concept of Energy area may or may not represent the actual energy consumption. It may be used for the purpose of UEs reporting its presence.

[0313] The concept or a feature of Energy Levels may be represented by an identifier that indicates the relative energy consumption or energy consumption rate of a group of cells (e.g. a group may include one or more cells). This may be broadcasted or otherwise indicated by a 6G cell, a 5G NR cell, 4G LTE E-UTRAN cell, or even a WLAN cell or network. In an example, this may be an identifier 0 to 7 (or other suitable identifier(s)), which may be a relative level, which may be defined by network implementation.

[0314] In another aspect of the present disclosure, the Energy Level may be the actual or estimated energy usage and / or may be defined as the energy usage of a cell, for examples the Joules the cell is using (e.g. currently or recently), or a range of Joules that the cell is using (e.g. currently or recently). If the Energy Level(s) represent the energy consumption rate (which may also be called power), then the energy level(s) may be defined in Watts showing the rate at which a cell uses energy, or in a range of energy usage rates. In one example, if energy level 0 is used, it may be considered that the cell uses 100% renewable energy. That is, for example, energy levels may indicate a usage of renewable energy relative to non-renewable energy; with different energy levels giving / indicating a different ratio of one to the other.

[0315] In various examples, energy levels may also be standardized (i.e. defined by a standard) energy consumption or energy consumption rate levels that are defined based on how much energy consumption or energy consumption rate that a specific base station, cell or gNB uses. This can for instance be specific to energy consumption overall, or just for handling UEs in RRC idle and RRC inactive states. The energy level may also be related to standardized energy consumption rates, i.e. power consumption. For example, this may also be power consumption bands, i.e. power consumption between X and Y Watts.

[0316] In various examples, if the UE registers with a cell of, or having, an energy level or Energy area code, the network may be able to track the energy consumption of the UE in RRC idle or RRC inactive (e.g. while it is registered with said cell). Cells with the same specific energy levels or with the same Energy area code may be expected to have similar energy consumption.

[0317] In various examples of the present disclosure, a UE may be configured by the network to perform the Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update. This can be an update to indicate to the core network or the cell that the UE is utilizing the resources of the cell and that the energy consumption or energy consumption rate related to this is to be tracked, calculated or logged. This can be configured by the area of a core network element, or it may be configured by a cell, for instance by broadcasting an indicator that it is required. It may also be implicitly configured if the network broadcasts the Energy Area Identifier or Energy Level.

[0318] The UE may indicate to the network that it wants or intends to update the network on the Energy Area or Energy level that a UE is associated with. In other words, the UE may indicate that it wants to send an Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update. Using this, the network may configure the UE to perform the Energy Area update or Energy Level Update. In various examples, the network may decide the UE is to perform the update, and so configure the UE accordingly.

[0319] Performing the Energy Area Update or Energy Level update may not be a mandatory action by the UE. It may for instance be a configuration that is set manually by the wireless device or the user. If a network configures the Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update, it may also be overridden by the wireless device, in other words not performed if the user has configured the device not to do so.

[0320] A UE may indicate to the network that it does not wish to update the network on the Energy Area or Energy level that a UE is associated with. In other words, the UE may indicate that it does not want to send an Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update. This may be in response to a message or instruction from the network to send the update.

[0321] The concept of an Energy Area or Energy Level is different from a Tracking Area, because the Tracking Area is usually for the purpose of paging a UE and thus related to a specific location where the UE may be found. An Energy Area or Energy level may be different for different cells in a specific Tracking Area, and Energy Area may be disjoint from a Tracking area. An Energy Area or Energy Level is also different from a RAN Notification Area, which is used to maintain the UE context when the UE is RRC inactive. This is because RAN Notification Area may be shared by a group of base stations or cells with different energy consumption, for instance on different frequencies.

[0322] In another aspect of the present disclosure, the energy level of one or more cells or network elements may be used by the wireless device (e.g. UE) to indicate to the wireless device user the energy consumption of the current connection. The device or user may potentially use this information in order to determine whether a device shall attempt or not attempt to attach to another network, such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), for example a 802.11 WLAN cell or BSS.

[0323] In various examples, the energy level or other measures of energy efficiency, green energy, clean energy, renewable or sustainability may be indicated as part of a 6G icon or user interface icon. For instance it may indicate itself by colour of a 6G icon which is shown to a user on wireless device, such as on the wireless device screen. For example: green colour may be used to indicate low energy consumption, high energy efficiency, green energy, clean energy, renewable or sustainable energy consumption; yellow colour may be used to indicate medium energy consumption, medium energy efficiency, medium green energy, medium clean energy, medium renewable or medium sustainability; and red colour may be used to indicate high energy consumption or low energy efficiency, not green energy, not clean energy, not renewable or sustainable energy. It may also be indicated by changing the colour of a signal strength indicator in a similar fashion as describe above, which is shown to a user on a wireless device, such as on the wireless device screen. An example of this can be seen in FIG. 4.

[0324] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a method for indicating cell energy consumption or energy efficiency.

[0325] In operation 1 of FIG. 4, cell 200 transmits (e.g. broadcasts or signals) an indication of cell energy consumption or energy efficiency to UE 100. In other examples (e.g. modifications), UE 100 receives the indication from another entity, e.g. another UE in the same cell.

[0326] In operation 2 of FIG. 4, UE 100 indicates, to a user of the UE 100, the cell energy consumption or energy efficiency. UE 100 may display an icon or change an icon to indicate this information. For example, UE 100 may change a colour of a 6G icon or a signal strength indicator displayed on a screen of UE 100 to correspond to the cell energy consumption or energy efficiency.

[0327] One example of how this can be used is together with the Energy Levels broadcasted by the cell. A cell that a UE camps on may broadcast the energyConsumptionLevel field (or other field with similar concept) in system information. A low energy level, which may represent that the energy consumption is low, or that the energy used is green, or that the energy used is sustainable, may then be indicated to the user via a 6G icon turning green. Similarly, if the energy level broadcasted in the cell the UE is camping on is very high, indicating high energy consumption, non-green energy used, or non-sustainable energy used, may then be indicated to the user via a 6G icon turning red.

[0328] B.1 - Energy Area or Energy Level Update

[0329] An Energy Area or Energy Level Update or registration may be defined as a UE registering (or notifying, indicating etc.) its Energy Area or Energy Level with a cell or a core network. An example procedure can be seen in FIG. 5.

[0330] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure.

[0331] In operation 1 of FIG. 5, UE 100 is camping on a cell with a different energy consumption. For example, UE 100 may have reselected to a cell with different energy consumption.

[0332] In operation 2 of FIG. 5, UE 100 transmits or performs an energy consumption area update. For example, UE 100 updates the network 300 on its energy consumption area. The UE 100 may identify its energy consumption area from information received from the cell on which the UE 100 camps.

[0333] In operation 3 of FIG. 5, network 300 computes the RRC idle or inactive per-UE network energy consumption. For example, this may take into account that UE 100 now camps on the cell, as the UE 100 has now updated the network 300 about this.

[0334] It will be appreciated that, in other examples, a cell detects that a UE now camps on it, and updates the network about this. The network can then compute the RRC idle or inactive per-UE network energy consumption by taking into account that the UE now camps on the cell, as the cell has informed the network about this.

[0335] In various examples, Energy Area or Energy Level Update or registration is triggered based on the Energy Area Code changing, for instance during mobility of a UE, such as camping on a new cell. For example, if the UE is camping in RRC idle or RRC inactive or otherwise non-RRC connected state and the Energy Area changes from EAC=5 to EAC=6 (i.e. from a first EAC to a second EAC) as the UE camps on a new cell, the UE can be configured to indicate the new Energy Area to the cell or the network. In various examples, said indication is sent in a message such as a registration message, or a new message specifically to update the Energy Area (e.g. informing the cell or network of a change in the Energy Area).

[0336] The update procedure(s) may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be triggered based on the Energy Level of a cell or network changing, for instance during mobility of a UE, such as camping on a new cell. For example, if the UE is camping in RRC idle or RRC inactive or otherwise non-RRC connected state and the Energy Level changes from EL=1 to EL=2 (i.e. from a first Energy Level to a second Energy Level), the UE can be configured to indicate the new Energy Level to the cell or the network. This may be sent in a message such as a registration message or a new message specifically to update the Energy Level.

[0337] The update procedure(s) may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be triggered if the energy level changes by a large enough degree or amount, for instance above a threshold. For instance if the UE is currently camping on EL=1 (i.e. a first Energy Level) and then camps on a new cell with EL=2 (i.e. a second Energy Level, which may have a difference (e.g. of energy) to the first Energy Level within a threshold), then the UE will not report the new energy level. If the UE instead camps on a new EL=3 (i.e. a third Energy Level, which may have a difference (e.g. of energy) to the first Energy Level outside of the threshold), then the UE reports the new energy level. This can be defined based on the difference between last reported energy level and new energy level being larger than a threshold.

[0338] In various examples, the update procedure may be merged or performed at the same time as other update or notification procedures. For example, if the UE performs Tracking Area update or RAN Notification Area Update, then this indication (i.e. an indication relating to the Energy Area or Energy Level Update or registration, such as an indication of a new Energy Area or new Energy Level) may be included in the same procedure. If a specific message is used, then that specific message may be cancelled and the indication may be included in the other notification update procedure.

[0339] Other types of energy consumption parameters may also be reported in an Energy Area Update or Energy Level Update. This may include any access updates performed in the previous Energy Area or Energy Level. It may also include on-demand system information updates, number of Tracking area updates in an energy Area or Energy Level, length of access and / or camping on a specific Energy Area or Energy Level.

[0340] The message for the update procedure can be sent in a message such as a registration message in a NAS message, or it may be sent in a new NAS message specifically for the purpose of updating the Energy area or Energy Level. In this case the message would be sent to an AMF or an MME, or any similar 6G network node, but it may also be sent to other network nodes. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0341] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure.

[0342] In operation 1 of FIG. 6, UE 100 is camping on a cell with different energy consumption. For example, UE 100 may have performed cell reselection such that it is camping on a new cell that has different energy consumption to the previous cell on which UE 100 was camping.

[0343] In operation 2 of FIG. 6, UE 100 performs establishment procedure containing NAS message with energy consumption area update. That is, as part of an establishment procedure, UE 100 sends NAS message including an energy consumption area update to a base station 400 (e.g. eNB, gNB, xNB etc.).

[0344] In operation 3, base station 400 forwards the NAS message to CN 500.

[0345] In other examples of the present disclosure, the message for the update procedure may be sent over AS, for instance in an RRC message. This may be a part of a message that is used for updating a RAN Area, i.e. for sending a RAN Area Notification Update. Here, for example, the Energy Area or Energy Level Update may be included in a RRC Resume message, for instance by utilizing a new Resume cause. This may then be forwarded to the MME, AMF or other network element(s). If the Energy Area or Energy Level update includes more detailed information on the energy usage, this can be either sent in a RRC Resume Complete message, or in a UEInformationResponse message (if the network requests the information via an UEInformationRequest), or in another suitable message. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0346] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for an Energy Area or Energy Level update or registration according to examples of the present disclosure.

[0347] In operation 1 of FIG. 7, UE 100 is camping on a cell with different energy consumption. For example, UE 100 may have performed cell reselection such that it is camping on a new cell that has different energy consumption to the previous cell on which UE 100 was camping.

[0348] In operation 2 of FIG. 7, UE performs RRC establishment (RRC Setup / RRC Resume) indicating energy consumption area update. For example, energy consumption area update is indicated as part of (e.g. during) the RRC establishment procedure. Base station 400 (e.g. eNB, gNB, xNB etc.) receives energy consumption area update as a result, e.g. through being involved with RRC establishment with UE 100.

[0349] In operation 3, base station 400 forwards or otherwise indicates the energy consumption area update of the UE to CN 500.

[0350] The message may also be a part of a Tracking area update. Thus when a Tracking Area update is triggered, the UE also includes the Energy Area or the Energy Level that is sent or broadcasted by a cell.

[0351] In various examples, a resume and an establishment cause is introduced or provided for this purpose, i.e. to indicate energy consumption area update.

[0352] In various examples, for the purpose of tracking the energy consumption a UE in RRC idle or RRC inactive, a new identity may be provided. This may be an identity that is assigned to a UE by the core network, and indicated to a RAN node for the purpose of tracking the energy consumption. The specific energy consumption ID may be sent specifically in case the UE performs the energy consumption area update and may not be present in other cases. This may also be a specific set of Temporary IDs, i.e. specific Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identities (TMSIs).

[0353] B.2 - Cell (re-)selection considering Energy related aspects

[0354] In various examples of the present disclosure, a UE determines to perform cell (re-)selection by considering one or more energy related aspects. This may be configured by network, it may be configured by the UE, or configured based on a 3rd party configuration. For example, upon detecting to perform cell (re-)selection (e.g. on occurrence of a trigger for doing so), the UE may determine to perform cell (re-)selection based on one or more energy related aspect. This determination may be based on configuration information stored in the UE, received from the network or provided by another entity.

[0355] The Energy related aspects may include one or more of: energy area, energy level, per-UE / cell / RAN node / PDU session / QoS flow / slice / network function level energy consumption / energy efficiency / renewable energy consumption / carbon emission, energy related cell priority information / access control information, etc. It will be appreciated that all combinations of these Energy related aspects are considered herein.

[0356] In various examples, the network (e.g. CN) indicates energy-related parameters which may be used by the UE for the purpose of performing cell (re-)selection, e.g. to select a cell in RRC idle, RRC inactive or other non-connected RRC states. The energy related parameters may be indicated to the UE by the network, e.g. via SIB / MIB or any other RRC signaling. In one example, the energy related cell priority information may indicate the priority of the cell based on energy related aspects. For example, if the cell uses a higher ratio of renewable energy (e.g. relative to other cells), the UE may prioritize that cell. In another example, the energy related access control information may be used to control the UE access to optimise the network performance, e.g. by optimising the cell energy consumption / energy efficiency / carbon emission. For instance, if the cell energy consumption is high, or carbon emission is high, fewer UEs will be, or are, allowed or encouraged to camp on the cell. For instance, if energy consumption is low, more UEs will be allowed to camp on the cell. In various examples, the number of UEs that camp on a cell may not significantly alter the network energy consumption, but when the UE enters RRC connected, the UE should connect to the cell with either lowest energy consumption or highest amount of renewable energy, which may be achieved if more UEs prioritize the cell.

[0357] From UE side, the UE may consider the energy related aspects for cell (re-)selection. The aspects for cell (re-)selection might be indicated to UE by the network, e.g. via SIB or MIB or any other broadcast signaling, or any (UE specific) RRC signaling. The UE may prefer or prioritize the cells with certain (or specific, configured, preset etc.) energy related aspects during cell (re-)selection, if configured by network or based on UE implementation. For example, the UE might select or prioritize the cells based on one or more of:

[0358] · using energy areas, where energy areas are defined as in any of the examples, embodiments, aspects etc. provided herein;

[0359] · using energy levels defined as in any of the examples, embodiments, aspects etc. provided herein. For instance the UE may prioritize certain energy levels;

[0360] · With certain per-UE level energy consumption (level), or high than / lower than certain per-UE level energy consumption levels;

[0361] · With renewable energy related indication of the cell or the energy area, e.g. an indication to show whether the cell or the energy area is (partially) powered by renewable energy, the ratio of renewable energy of the cell or the energy area, the carbon emission level / amount / information of the cell / energy area, etc.

[0362] Based on one or more of the above energy related aspects for cell (re-)selection, the UE may prioritize the cell with the one or more certain energy related aspects for cell (re-)selection that can meet UE requirement. For example, the UE may prioritize the cell with higher renewable energy ratio, de-prioritize the cell with higher carbon emission, etc.

[0363] In other examples, the network may take one or more energy related aspects into account to determine a consolidated energy related indication for UE cell (re-)selection, and signal the consolidated energy related indication to the UE. For example, the consolidated energy related indication can be determined by applying different weights to different energy related aspects. Based on the consolidated energy related indication, the UE determine the priority of the certain cells.

[0364] In various examples, the energy related aspects work in conjunction with the other aspects for UE cell (re-)selection. For instance, UE cell (re-)selection criteria for inter-frequency and intra-frequency (including signal strength, cell carrier frequency, etc.) may be used together with the energy related aspects. For example, if the cells are determined in the same priority level based on the existing UE cell (re-)selection criteria, then the UE may check the energy related aspects to further prioritize or de-prioritize of those cells. Then the final decision of UE cell (re-)selection is determined by energy related aspects on top of / and the existing UE cell (re-)selection criteria.

[0365] In various examples, the UE may be allowed to prioritize cells with different energy parameters only among cells within in a frequency. This means that the UE would first determine one or more frequencies according to its frequency priority, and then when selecting a cell within one or more frequencies, the energy related parameters may be used to prioritize between cells. In other words, the UE may only use the energy-related parameters to select a cell for in-frequency prioritization.

[0366] In various examples, the cell-ranking for cell reselection takes energy-related parameter(s) into account. Cell-ranking is used during cell reselection to determine the best cell to camp on. This is done by comparing all cells of equal frequency priority according to signal strength and signal quality, including some configured parameters. In an example, an offset is added to the cell ranking based on energy-related parameters. For instance, a negative offset may be added to cells with high energy consumption, while a positive offset is added to cells with low energy consumption. The application of the offset may be configurable and may be a fixed value for all cells, which may either be positive or negative depending on the energy related parameter. The specific offset may also be configurable per cell. This will then lead to cells with lower energy consumption being prioritized.

[0367] The energy levels as discussed above may also (e.g. additionally or alternatively) be used in the cell ranking. For instance, it may be used such that if the energy levels are different in between different cells, a constant offset to cell ranking may be used. In other examples, the energy levels may be used to compute an offset the scales with the difference in energy level.

[0368] In various examples, the UE is allowed or configured to use the energy parameters to prioritize among frequencies. For example, a frequency can be prioritized based on energy. For example, if a UE detects a cell with lower energy consumption, the frequency may be prioritized over other frequencies, for instance other frequencies without any cells with lower energy consumption.

[0369] As one example of how energy-related parameters may be used, a cell may broadcast that it is currently using renewable energy. This may be renewable energy above some threshold or similar, for instance above 50%. This can be used for a UE to prioritize such a cell, e.g. via an offset to cell ranking or to produce inter-frequency prioritization.

[0370] Energy-related prioritization for cell selection (i.e. not cell re-selection) may be up to UE to decide. For example, it may not be mandatory for a UE to prioritize based on energy related parameters.

[0371] There is now provided an example of changes to a standards specification (in this case TS 38.331) to implement various features disclosed herein:

[0372] Example 1

[0373] Changes to the specification are shown inunderlined text.

[0374] ----------------- 38.331 V18.4.0 Example -----------------

[0375] - PLMN-IdentityInfoList

[0376] The IEPLMN-IdentityInfoListincludes a list of PLMN identity information.

[0377] PLMN-IdentityInfoListinformation element

[0378]

[0379]

[0380]

[0381] ----------------- 38.331 V18.4.0 Example -----------------

[0382] It will be appreciated that all combinations of the above and below examples are considered to be included herein.

[0383] FIG. 9 illustrates a method of a UE according to an example of the present disclosure.

[0384] In step S910, the UE receives, from an entity (e.g. cell, base station, NG-RAN, CN, NF etc.) included in a wireless communication network, information on one or more energy area in the wireless communications network, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell and indicates an energy consumption.

[0385] In step S920, the UE transmits, to the entity (or to a different entity in the wireless communication network), an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, based on the UE camping on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0386] FIG. 10 illustrates a method of an entity (e.g. cell, base station, NG-RAN, CN, NF etc.) according to examples of the present disclosure.

[0387] In step S1010, the entity transmits, to a UE included in a wireless communication network, or broadcasts information on one or more energy area in a wireless communications system, wherein each energy area is associated with one or more cell.

[0388] In step S1020, the entity receives, from the UE, an indication of a first energy area, among the one or more energy area, wherein the UE is camped on a first cell included among the one or more cell associated with the first energy area.

[0389] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus, or entity, that may be used in examples of the present disclosure. The skilled person will appreciate said entity may be implemented, for example, as a network element on a dedicated hardware, as a software instance running on a dedicated hardware, and / or as a virtualised function instantiated on an appropriate platform, e.g. on a cloud infrastructure.

[0390] The entity 1000 comprises a processor (or controller) 1001, a transmitter 1003 and a receiver 1005. The receiver 1005 is configured for receiving one or more messages from one or more other entities, for example as described above. The transmitter 1003 is configured for transmitting one or more messages to one or more other entities, for example as described above. The processor 1001 is configured for performing one or more operations, for example according to the operations as described above.

[0391] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0392] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0393] Referring to FIG. 11, the UE 1100 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 1101, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 1102, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 1103. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 of the UE 1100 may operate. However, components of the UE 1100 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 11. In another embodiment, the UE 1100 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1101, the processor 1102, or the memory 1103 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0394] The transceiver 1101 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1100 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1101 may enable the UE 1100 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1101 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1101) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0395] According to an embodiment, the UE 1100 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1100 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1100 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1100 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0396] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1101 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1101 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1101 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1102 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1102.

[0397] The processor 1102 may control general operations of the UE 1100 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1102 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1102 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1103, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1102 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0398] The processor 1102 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1101 to control the transceiver 1101.

[0399] The processor 1102 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1102 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1102 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1102 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1101 or the memory 1103.

[0400] The processor 1102 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1100 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1102 may control operations of the UE 1100 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1102 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1103, so as to control other components of the UE 1100 to enable execution of various operations.

[0401] The memory 1103 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1103 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0402] The memory 1103 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1102 and may be accessed by the processor 1102.

[0403] The memory 1103 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1102 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1103, the processor 1102 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0404] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1100 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1103 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0405] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0406] The BS 1200 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1200 through a wireless channel. The BS 1200 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication.

[0407] Referring to FIG. 12, the BS 1200 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply "transceiver") 1201, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply "processor") 1202, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply "memory") 1203. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, and the memory 1203 of the BS 1200 may operate. However, components of the BS 1200 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 12. In another embodiment, the BS 1200 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, or the memory 1203 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0408] The transceiver 1201 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1200 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1201 may enable the BS 1200 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE X00 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1201 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1201) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1201 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1201 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1201 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1202 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1202.

[0409] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1200 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1200 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 12, when the BS 1200 performs wired communication, the BS 1200 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1201. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0410] The processor 1202 may control general operations of the BS 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1202 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1202 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1203, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1202 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0411] The processor 1202 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1201 to control the transceiver 1201.

[0412] The processor 1202 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1202 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1202 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1201 or the memory 1203.

[0413] The processor 1202 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1200 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1202 may control operations of the BS 1200 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1200 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1202 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1203, so as to control other components of the BS 1200 to enable execution of various operations.

[0414] The memory 1203 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1203 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0415] The memory 1203 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1202 and may be accessed by the processor 1202.

[0416] The memory 1203 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1202 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1203, the processor 1202 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0417] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1200 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1203 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0418] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), rtc.) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0419] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0420] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a network entity 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0421] The network entity 1300 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1300.

[0422] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0423] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN), etc.

[0424] Referring to FIG. 13, the network entity 1300 may include at least one network interface 1301, at least one processor 1302 (hereinafter, "processor"), and at least one memory 1303 (hereinafter, "memory"). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1300, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 13. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0425] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1301, the processor 1302, and the memory 1303 of the network entity 1300 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1300 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 13. In another embodiment, the network entity 1300 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1301, the processor 1302, or the memory 1303 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0426] The network interface 1301 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1300 and a receiver part of the network entity 1300, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1301 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1301 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1301 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0427] The processor 1302 may control general operations of the network entity 1300 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1302 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1302 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1303, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1302 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0428] According to an embodiment, the processor 1302 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1301 to control the network interface 1301.

[0429] The processor 1302 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1302 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1302 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1301 or the memory 1303.

[0430] The processor 1302 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1300 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1302 may control operations of the network entity 1300 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1302 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1303, so as to control other components of the network entity 1300 to enable execution of various operations.

[0431] The memory 1303 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1303 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0432] The memory 1303 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1302 and may be accessed by the processor 1302.

[0433] The memory 1303 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1303, the processor 1302 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0434] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1300 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1303 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0435] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[0436] Acronyms and Definitions (as may be used herein)

[0437] 3GPP 3rdGeneration Partnership Project

[0438] 5G 5thGeneration

[0439] 5GC 5G Core

[0440] 5QI 5G QoS Identifier

[0441] 5GS 5G System

[0442] 5GSM 5G System Session Management

[0443] 5GMM 5G System Mobility Management

[0444] AF Application Function

[0445] AI Artificial Intelligence

[0446] AIML Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

[0447] AM Acknowledged Mode

[0448] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0449] AS Application Server

[0450] ASP Application Service Provider

[0451] CDRX Connected Mode Discontinuous Reception

[0452] CIoT Cellular Internet of Things

[0453] CSI Channel Status Information

[0454] DCAF Data Collection Application Function

[0455] DNN Data Network Name

[0456] DNS Domain Name Server

[0457] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0458] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0459] eNB Evolved Node B

[0460] EPS Evolved Packet System

[0461] FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name

[0462] GBR Guaranteed Bit Rate

[0463] gNB Next generation Node B

[0464] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0465] GPSI Generic Public Subscription Identifier

[0466] Hbh Hop-by-hop

[0467] IAB Integrated Access and Backhaul

[0468] ID Identity / Identifier

[0469] IoT Internet of Things

[0470] IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identities

[0471] IP Internet Protocol

[0472] I-SMF Intermediate SMF

[0473] LMF Location Management Function

[0474] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0475] MA-PDU Multiple Access PDU

[0476] ML Machine Learning

[0477] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0478] MN Master Node

[0479] MNO Mobile Network Operator

[0480] MT Mobile Termination

[0481] NAS Non-Access Stratum

[0482] NB Narrowband

[0483] NR New Radio

[0484] NRF Network Repository Function

[0485] NG-RAN Next Generation Radio Access Network

[0486] NG-eNB Next Generation eNB

[0487] NSA Non-Standalone

[0488] NS-AoS Network Slice Area of Service

[0489] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

[0490] NTN Non-Terrestrial Network

[0491] NW Network

[0492] NWDAF Network Data Analytics Function

[0493] OAM Operations, Administration and Maintenance

[0494] PCF Policy Control Function

[0495] PCC Policy and Charging Control

[0496] PCO Protocol Configuration Options

[0497] PDR Packet Detection Rule

[0498] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0499] PMF Performance Measurement Function

[0500] PSA PDU session anchor

[0501] QFI QoS Flow Identifier (ID)

[0502] QoE Quality of Experience

[0503] QoS Quality of Service

[0504] RA Registration Area

[0505] RACH Random Access Channel

[0506] RAN Radio Access Network

[0507] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0508] RLC-AM Radio Link Control Acknowledge Mode

[0509] RLC-UM Radio Link Control Unacknowledge Mode

[0510] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0511] SA Standalone

[0512] SBA Service-Based Architecture

[0513] SBI Service-Based Interface

[0514] SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function

[0515] SCP Service-Based Communication Proxy

[0516] SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol

[0517] SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol

[0518] SDU Service Data Unit

[0519] SIM Subscriber Identity Module

[0520] SLA Service Level Agreement

[0521] SM Session Management

[0522] SMF Session Management Function

[0523] SN Secondary Node

[0524] S-NSSAI Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

[0525] SSB Synchronization Signal Block

[0526] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0527] SUPI Subscription Permanent Identifier

[0528] TA Tracking Area

[0529] TE Terminal Equipment

[0530] TM Transparent Mode

[0531] TS Technical Specification

[0532] UDM Unified Data Manager

[0533] UDR Unified Data Repository

[0534] UE User Equipment

[0535] UL Uplink

[0536] UM Unacknowledged Mode

[0537] UP User Plane

[0538] UPF User Plane Function

[0539] URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication

[0540] URSP UE Route Selection Policy

Claims

A user equipment (UE) included in a wireless communications system, the UE comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:receive, from an entity in the wireless communications system, information on at least one energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each of the at least one energy area is associated with at least one cell and indicates an energy consumption; andtransmit, to the entity, an indication of a first energy area, among the at least one energy area, in case that the UE camps on a first cell included among the at least one cell associated with the first energy area.The UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted in case that the UE camps on the first cell by performing cell reselection from a second cell,wherein the first energy area associated with the first cell is different from a second energy area associated with the second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell, andwherein an energy consumption associated with the first energy area is different from an energy consumption associated with the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different from a second energy level associated with the second energy area.The UE of claim 2, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted based on at least one of:(i) a determination that the first energy area and the second energy area are different,(ii) a determination that the energy consumption associated with the first energy area and the energy consumption associated with the second energy area are different, or(iii) a determination that a difference between the first energy level and the second energy level is greater than a threshold,wherein a difference between the first energy area and the second energy area corresponds to a difference between an energy area code of the first energy area and an energy area code of the second energy area.The UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted when the UE performs a tracking area update or a radio access network (RAN) notification area update,wherein the indication of the first energy area is included in a message transmitted as part of the tracking area update or the RAN notification area update.The UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first energy area is included in a registration message or a message for updating energy area,wherein the registration message or the message for updating energy area is a non-access stratum (NAS) message,wherein the NAS message is transmitted to an access and mobility management function (AMF) or mobility management engine (MME) via the entity.The UE of claim 1, wherein the indication is included in a message, the message further including at least one of: access updates performed in a previous energy area, on-demand system update(s), a number of tracking area updates in an energy area, or length of access and / or camping on a specific energy area.An entity included in a wireless communications system, the entity comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the entity to:transmit, to a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communications system, information on at least one energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each of the at least one energy area is associated with at least one cell and indicates an energy consumption; andreceive, from the UE, an indication of a first energy area, among the at least one energy area, in case that the UE camps on a first cell included among the at least one cell associated with the first energy area.The entity of claim 7, wherein the indication of the first energy area is received in case that the UE camps on the first cell by performing cell reselection from a second cell,wherein the first energy area associated with the first cell is different from a second energy area associated with the second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell, andwherein an energy consumption associated with the first energy area is different from an energy consumption associated with the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different from a second energy level associated with the second energy area.A method performed by a user equipment (UE) included in a wireless communications system, the method comprising:receiving, from an entity in the wireless communications system, information on at least one energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each of the at least one energy area is associated with at least one cell and indicates an energy consumption; andtransmitting, to the entity, an indication of a first energy area, among the at least one energy area, in case that the UE camps on a first cell included among the at least one cell associated with the first energy area.The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted in case that the UE camps on the first cell by performing cell reselection from a second cell,wherein the first energy area associated with the first cell is different from a second energy area associated with the second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell, andwherein an energy consumption associated with the first energy area is different from an energy consumption associated with the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different from a second energy level associated with the second energy area.The method of claim 10, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted based on at least one of:(i) a determination that the first energy area and the second energy area are different,(ii) a determination that the energy consumption associated with the first energy area and the energy consumption associated with the second energy area are different, or(iii) a determination that a difference between the first energy level and the second energy level is greater than a threshold,wherein a difference between the first energy area and the second energy area corresponds to a difference between an energy area code of the first energy area and an energy area code of the second energy area.The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the first energy area is transmitted when the UE performs a tracking area update or a radio access network (RAN) notification area update,wherein the indication of the first energy area is included in a message transmitted as part of the tracking area update or the RAN notification area update.The method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the first energy area is included in a registration message or a message for updating energy area,wherein the registration message or the message for updating energy area is a non-access stratum (NAS) message,wherein the NAS message is transmitted to an access and mobility management function (AMF) or mobility management engine (MME) via the entity.A method performed by an entity included in a wireless communications system, the method comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment (UE) in the wireless communications system, information on at least one energy area in the wireless communications system, wherein each of the at least one energy area is associated with at least one cell and indicates an energy consumption; andreceiving, from the UE, an indication of a first energy area, among the at least one energy area, in case that the UE camps on a first cell included among the at least one cell associated with the first energy area.The method of claim 14, wherein the indication of the first energy area is received in case that the UE camps on the first cell by performing cell reselection from a second cell,wherein the first energy area associated with the first cell is different from a second energy area associated with the second cell on which the UE camped prior to reselecting to the first cell, andwherein an energy consumption associated with the first energy area is different from an energy consumption associated with the second energy area, or a first energy level associated with the first energy area is different from a second energy level associated with the second energy area.

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