System configuration method and apparatus for reporting device energy state information in low-power wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting: higher data transmission rates such as those of ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency and ultra-connectivity; connections between more devices; and the like. In addition, the present disclosure relates to a low-power communication system in which an apparatus having no battery or having only a capacitor-level energy storage capability is capable of operating. The present disclosure relates to operations of a reader and a device in a wireless communication system. The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus enabling a device to generate an indicator that includes energy status information of the device and report same to a reader so that the reader can acquire information about the availability of the device.

Description

System configuration method and device for reporting device energy status information in a low-power wireless communication system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a base station, and a low-power communication device in a communication system. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for a low-power communication device to check its availability and transmit information thereto to the terminal or base station in order to communicate with the terminal or base station.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band to enable fast transmission speeds and new services, and can be implemented not only in frequency bands below 6 GHz ('Sub 6 GHz'), such as 3.5 gigahertz (3.5 GHz), but also in ultra-high frequency bands called millimeter waves (mmWave), such as 28 GHz and 39 GHz ('Above 6 GHz'). In addition, for 6G mobile communication technology, which is referred to as a system beyond 5G, implementation in the terahertz band (e.g., the 3 terahertz (3 THz) band at 95 GHz) is being considered to achieve transmission speeds 50 times faster and ultra-low latency reduced to one-tenth compared to 5G mobile communication technology.

[0003] In the early stages of 5G mobile communication technology, aiming to satisfy service support and performance requirements for enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), technologies such as beamforming and Massive MIMO to mitigate path loss and increase transmission distance in ultra-high frequency bands, support for various numerologies (such as the operation of multiple subcarrier spacings) and dynamic operation of slot formats for the efficient utilization of ultra-high frequency resources, initial access techniques to support multi-beam transmission and broadband, definition and operation of Band-Width Parts (BWP), Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes for high-volume data transmission, new channel coding methods such as Polar Codes for the reliable transmission of control information, and L2 pre-processing (L2 Standardization has been carried out for pre-processing, network slicing which provides a dedicated network specialized for specific services, and other methods.

[0004] Currently, discussions are underway to improve and enhance the performance of the initial 5G mobile communication technology, taking into account the services that the 5G mobile communication technology was intended to support. Additionally, standardization of the physical layer is in progress for technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), which helps autonomous vehicles make driving decisions and enhance user convenience based on their own location and status information transmitted by the vehicle; NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed), which aims for system operation in unlicensed bands to comply with various regulatory requirements; NR terminal low power consumption technology (UE Power Saving); Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), which is direct terminal-satellite communication for securing coverage in areas where communication with the terrestrial network is impossible; and positioning.

[0005] In addition, standardization is underway in the field of wireless interface architecture / protocols for technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to support new services through linkage and convergence with other industries, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) which provides nodes to expand network service areas by integrating wireless backhaul links and access links, Mobility Enhancement including Conditional Handover and Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) Handover, and 2-step Random Access (2-step RACH for NR) which simplifies random access procedures. Standardization is also underway in the field of system architecture / services for 5G baseline architectures (e.g., Service based Architecture, Service based Interface) to incorporate Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), which provides services based on the location of the terminal.

[0006] When such 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices, which are increasing explosively, will be connected to the communication network. Accordingly, it is expected that there will be a need to enhance the functionality and performance of 5G mobile communication systems and to integrate the operation of connected devices. To this end, new research is planned to be conducted on 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction, support for AI services, support for metaverse services, and drone communication using eXtended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) to efficiently support Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR).

[0007] Furthermore, the advancement of these 5G mobile communication systems encompasses multi-antenna transmission technologies such as new waveforms, Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and large-scale antennas to guarantee coverage in the terahertz band of 6G mobile communication technology; metamaterial-based lenses and antennas; high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technology using Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM); and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) technology to improve terahertz band signal coverage; as well as full-duplex technology for enhancing frequency efficiency and system networks in 6G mobile communication technology; AI-based communication technologies that realize system optimization by utilizing satellites and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and the realization of services of complexity exceeding the limits of terminal computing capabilities by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources. It could serve as a foundation for the development of next-generation distributed computing technologies.

[0008] As mentioned above, with the advancement of wireless communication systems, it has become possible to provide various services, and thus measures are required to provide these services smoothly.

[0009] The present disclosure may provide an apparatus and method capable of effectively providing services in a mobile communication (or wireless communication) system.

[0010] The technical problems to be solved in the various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned technical problems may be considered by those skilled in the art from the various embodiments of the present disclosure described below.

[0011] In a mobile communication (or wireless communication) system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a low-power communication device (hereinafter referred to as "device") may report information regarding its energy status to a base station or a terminal (hereinafter referred to as "reader"). This energy status information may include various information that can infer the energy status of the device directly or indirectly. The device may be able to configure the energy status information according to a method of expressing the energy status information and transmit it to the reader. The reader may receive the energy status information reported by the device, determine the availability of the device, and perform appropriate scheduling based thereon. To support such energy status reporting by the device, the reader may transmit related configuration information to the device. The device may report to the reader device capabilities related to energy status reporting that it can perform. The reader may transmit configuration information related to energy status reporting or transmit an energy status reporting request to the device by referring to the device capabilities transmitted by the device.

[0012] A signal processing method by a device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may include: receiving a first signal from a reader; processing the received first signal; generating information regarding the energy state information or energy state reporting capability of the device based on the processing; and transmitting a second signal including the generated information to the reader.

[0013] The various embodiments of the present disclosure described above are merely some of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and various embodiments reflecting the technical features of the various embodiments of the present disclosure can be derived and understood by those skilled in the art based on the detailed description to be described below.

[0014] The disclosed embodiments can provide an apparatus and method capable of effectively providing services in a mobile communication system.

[0015] The effects obtainable from the present disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs from the description below.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the process of a low-power device and a reader transmitting and receiving signals in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of a transmission signal in an A-IoT system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an RA procedure between a reader and a device in an Ambient IoT system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 4 is an example showing the amount of energy (401) held by a device in an AIoT system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure over time (400).

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a protocol stack that can be configured between a device and a reader in an Ambient IoT system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of various transmission methods that can be used in Ambient IoT according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process in which, according to one embodiment of the present publication, a reader transmits ESR setting information to a device via R2D transmission, and the device performs D2R transmission including ESR transmission to the reader.

[0023] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the process of a device performing ESR transmission when data is divided at an A-IoT MAC or A-IoT PHY layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the process of a device performing ESR transmission when data repetition occurs in the A-IoT PHY layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which a device reports an ESR to a reader when A-IoT MAC data splitting and A-IoT PHY data iteration are performed in an Ambient IoT system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the process of performing ESR reporting by multiplexing ESR at the A-IoT MAC and PHY layers, respectively, according to one embodiment of the present publication.

[0027] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a low-power device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes its energy state information in a D2R transmission and transmits it.

[0028] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a low-power device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes its energy state information in a D2R transmission and transmits it.

[0029] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the operation when a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure performs a random connection procedure to connect to a reader.

[0030] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the operation when a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure performs a random connection procedure to connect to a reader.

[0031] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the structure of a device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the structure of a reader in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure may be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0034] In describing the embodiments, technical details that are well known in the art to which this disclosure belongs and are not directly related to this disclosure may be omitted. This is intended to convey the essence of this disclosure more clearly without obscuring it by omitting unnecessary explanations.

[0035] For the same reason, some components in the attached drawings have been exaggerated, omitted, or schematically depicted. Additionally, the dimensions of each component do not entirely reflect their actual dimensions. Identical or corresponding components in each drawing have been assigned the same reference numbers.

[0036] The advantages and features of the present disclosure, and the methods for achieving them, will become clear by referring to the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below but may be implemented in various different forms. These embodiments are provided merely to ensure that the disclosure is complete and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the present disclosure is defined only by the scope of the claims. Throughout the specification, the same reference numerals may refer to the same components. Furthermore, in describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related function or configuration would unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present disclosure, such detailed description may be omitted. Additionally, the terms described below are defined considering their functions in the present disclosure, and these may vary depending on the intentions or conventions of the user or operator. Therefore, their definitions should be based on the content throughout the entire specification.

[0037] In the present disclosure, a base station is an entity that performs resource allocation for terminals and may be at least one of a gNode B, eNode B, Node B, BS (Base Station), radio access unit, base station controller, or a node on a network. A terminal may include a UE (User Equipment), MS (Mobile Station), cellular phone, smartphone, computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions. In the present disclosure, a downlink (DL) may refer to a wireless transmission path for a signal transmitted by a base station to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) may refer to a wireless transmission path for a signal transmitted by a terminal to a base station. Furthermore, while LTE or LTE-A systems may be described below as examples, embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, 5th generation mobile communication technologies (5G, new radio, NR) developed after LTE-A may be included, and the 5G below may be a concept that includes existing LTE, LTE-A, and other similar services. In addition, the present disclosure may be applied to other communication systems with some modifications made at the discretion of a person with skilled technical knowledge, without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0038] At this point, it will be understood that each block of the process flow diagrams and combinations of the flow diagrams can be executed by computer program instructions. Since these computer program instructions can be loaded into the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, the instructions executed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment may create means for performing the functions described in the flow diagram block(s). Since these computer program instructions may also be stored in computer-available or computer-readable memory that can be directed toward the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement the function in a specific way, the instructions stored in such computer-available or computer-readable memory may also produce a manufactured item containing instruction means for performing the function described in the flow diagram block(s). Since computer program instructions can be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, instructions that perform a series of operation steps on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a process executed by the computer can also provide steps for executing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

[0039] Additionally, each block may represent a module, segment, or part of code containing one or more executable instructions for executing a specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative execution examples, the functions mentioned in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks described in succession may actually be executed substantially simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order according to their corresponding functions.

[0040] In this embodiment, the term "part" refers to a software or hardware component such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and the "part" may perform certain roles. However, the meaning of "part" is not limited to software or hardware. The "part" may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or configured to run one or more processors. Thus, as an example, the "part" may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, as well as processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided within the components and "parts" may be combined into a smaller number of components and "parts" or further separated into additional components and "parts." In addition, the components and 'parts' may be implemented to utilize one or more CPUs within the device or secure multimedia card. Also, in the embodiments, 'parts' may include one or more processors.

[0041] Wireless communication systems are evolving from providing early voice-oriented services to broadband wireless communication systems that provide high-speed, high-quality packet data services, such as communication standards like 3GPP’s HSPA (High Speed ​​Packet Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution or E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access)), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Pro, 3GPP2’s HRPD (High Rate Packet Data), UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), and IEEE’s 802.16e.

[0042] As a representative example of the above-mentioned broadband wireless communication system, the LTE system employs the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) method for the downlink (DL) and the Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) method for the uplink (UL). The uplink refers to a wireless link through which a terminal (User Equipment (UE) or Mobile Station (MS)) transmits data or control signals to a base station (eNode B, or base station (BS)), and the downlink refers to a wireless link through which a base station transmits data or control signals to a terminal. The above-mentioned multiple access method can distinguish the data or control information of each user by allocating and operating time-frequency resources to be carried on each user so that they do not overlap, that is, so that orthogonality is established.

[0043] As a future communication system following LTE, that is, a 5G communication system, it must be able to freely reflect the diverse requirements of users and service providers, and therefore, services that satisfy various requirements simultaneously may need to be supported. Services being considered for the 5G communication system include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), and Ultra Reliability Low Latency Communication (URLLC).

[0044] eMBB may aim to provide data transmission speeds that are superior to those supported by existing LTE, LTE-A, or LTE-Pro. For example, in a 5G communication system, eMBB may need to be able to provide a peak data rate of 20 Gbps in the downlink and 10 Gbps in the uplink from the perspective of a single base station. Furthermore, while providing the peak data rates, the 5G communication system may also need to provide an increased user-perceived data rate. To satisfy these requirements, improvements in various transmission and / or reception technologies, including enhanced Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) transmission technology, may be required. Additionally, while LTE transmits signals using a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz in the 2 GHz band, the 5G communication system can meet the data transmission speeds required by using a frequency bandwidth wider than 20 MHz in frequency bands of 3–6 GHz or above 6 GHz.

[0045] Simultaneously, mMTC is being considered to support application services such as the Internet of Things (IoT) in 5G communication systems. To efficiently provide IoT, mMTC may require support for a large number of terminal connections within a cell, improved terminal coverage, enhanced battery life, and reduced terminal costs. Since IoT devices are attached to various sensors and equipment to provide communication functions, it may be necessary to support a large number of terminals within a cell (e.g., 1,000,000 terminals / km²). Furthermore, due to the nature of the service, terminals supporting mMTC are likely to be located in dead zones not covered by cells, such as building basements; therefore, they may require wider coverage compared to other services provided by 5G communication systems. Terminals supporting mMTC must consist of low-cost devices, and since it is difficult to frequently replace terminal batteries, a very long battery life of 10 to 15 years may be required.

[0046] Finally, URLLC is a mission-critical cellular-based wireless communication service. Examples include services used for remote control of robots or machinery, industrial automation, unmanned aerial vehicles, remote health care, and emergency alerts. Therefore, the communication provided by URLLC may require very low latency and very high reliability. For instance, services supporting URLLC must satisfy an air interface latency of less than 0.5 milliseconds and simultaneously meet the requirement of a packet error rate of 10^-5 or less. Consequently, for services supporting URLLC, 5G systems must provide a Transmit Time Interval (TTI) smaller than other services, and design considerations may be required to allocate wide resources in the frequency band to ensure the reliability of the communication link.

[0047] The three 5G services, namely eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC, can be multiplexed and transmitted within a single system. In this case, different transmission and / or reception techniques and transmission and / or reception parameters may be used between the services to satisfy the different requirements of each service. Of course, 5G may not be limited to the three aforementioned services.

[0048] [Low-power communication: Ambient-IoT]

[0049] The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology in which various devices are interconnected via the internet to exchange data, and it is utilized in diverse fields such as smart homes, industrial automation, healthcare, and smart cities. Most existing IoT devices operate using batteries, requiring periodic replacement or charging. This increases maintenance costs and time consumption for IoT systems and can be a significant constraint, particularly when large-scale deployments are required or when used in hard-to-reach locations. Ambient IoT (AIoT) represents one of the next evolutionary stages for such IoT technology, a new type of IoT that is powered by collecting energy from the surrounding environment. AIoT devices can utilize energy harvesting technology to receive energy from light, radio waves, motion, heat, or other power sources deemed suitable, enabling them to operate for extended periods without battery replacement or charging. The output of energy harvesters typically ranges from 1 μW to several hundred μW, which is a very low level compared to the maximum power of 10 mW required for communication technology in current commercial systems. Accordingly, there is a growing need for new low-power communication technologies that can be used in various AIoT use cases.

[0050] In the present disclosure, the reader is an entity that transmits and receives data with a low-power device, and may include a base station or a terminal. Additionally, in the following disclosure, R2D (reader-to-device) transmission or AIoT downlink (hereinafter referred to as downlink in the present disclosure) may refer to a wireless transmission path for a signal transmitted by the reader to the low-power device, and D2R (device-to-reader) transmission or AIoT uplink (hereinafter referred to as uplink in the present disclosure) may refer to a wireless transmission path for a signal transmitted by the low-power device to the reader.

[0051] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the process of a low-power device (101) and a reader (100) transmitting and receiving signals (103, 104) in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] The reader (100) can instruct the device to transmit D2R (104) via R2D transmission (103) or transmit information necessary for the operation of the device (101) or for updating the state of the device (101). The device (101) can perform its own state information, report on the reader's instructions, etc. via D2R transmission (104).

[0053] FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of a transmission signal in an A-IoT system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0054] D2R transmission and R2D transmission may include physical channels for data transmission of each link, such as PDRCH (Physical device to reader channel) and PRDCH (Physical reader to device channel), and may be processed as data of the transmission signal (203, 205). According to one embodiment, the structure of the transmission signal when transmitting a physical layer channel in an A-IoT system may include a preamble (200) that is transmitted at the front of the signal and can be used to determine the signal's start point and clock. Specifically, the preamble (200) may include a start-indicator part (201) that can be used to indicate the signal's start point and a clock-acquisition part (202) that can be used to determine the clock to be used when receiving data. According to one embodiment, the structure transmitted prior to the A-IoT physical layer data (203) of the preamble (200) may be utilized for both R2D transmission and D2R transmission.

[0055] According to one embodiment, various additions such as a midamble (204) or a postamble (206) may be made to the signal when transmitting a physical layer channel to increase the accuracy of signal reception or to indicate the end time of the signal. These signals may be utilized for various purposes depending on the design and configuration of the signal, and the structure and use of the signal are not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2. According to one embodiment, the signals when transmitting a physical layer channel in an A-IoT system may be composed of binary signals represented by a specific pattern. For example, the signals may be composed of an ON (1)-OFF (0) pattern.

[0056] An AIoT device (hereinafter referred to as the device) is a device that receives energy through energy harvesting and can utilize the following two methods to generate a signal to be transmitted to a reader. First, the device can use backscattering communication to generate a signal by reflecting an incoming RF (radio frequency) signal to transmit data. In this case, the signal transmitted to the device from the outside for signal transmission from the device to the reader (i.e., the uplink of the AIoT system) can be referred to as a carrier wave (hereinafter referred to as CW). The CW can be transmitted to the device from an external node outside the device, and the device can generate an uplink signal to be transmitted to the reader by reflecting the corresponding signal. When based on backscattering communication, the device does not include a local oscillator (LO) in its internal structure, and thus can significantly reduce power consumption and device complexity. The device can encode information stored in memory while reflecting the signal, and the reflected signal can be delivered to the reader for decoding. Generating a signal directly within the device can be another method for generating a signal to be transmitted to a reader. In this case, since the device must generate the signal directly using an internal LO, greater power consumption and device complexity can be expected compared to when using backscattering communication. AIoT devices may also use amplifiers at the transmitting and receiving ends to improve communication performance.

[0057] While devices can generate signals for uplink transmission in various ways, to reduce the cost or complexity of system design, it may be appropriate to aim for a harmonized design that allows signals to be received at the base station reception side regardless of the uplink signal generation method. For example, by designing the device so that the signal generated by reflecting a CW and the signal generated internally share similar signal forms and transmission technologies, it may be possible to enable the receiver to receive and interpret these signals using the same algorithm. Therefore, although this document describes devices that generate signals by reflecting a CW, in cases where a signal is generated directly internally, the same reception technique can be applied when the reader receives the signal by designing the generated signal to have a form similar to the signal generated through CW reflection. As an example, when generating a signal through CW reflection, the CW signal is a sine wave with a single tone (frequency), and the device can reflect the signal by applying a frequency conversion of △f to the sine wave. When generating signals internally, a similar signal can be produced by directly generating a single-tone sine wave within the device and applying the same frequency shift. Alternatively, the signal can be generated by simulating a signal with applied frequency shift from the signal generation stage. This approach enables the receiver to receive and interpret signals using the same algorithm regardless of the signal generation method, which can help reduce system complexity and improve overall efficiency.

[0058] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an RA procedure between a reader (300) and a device (301) in an Ambient IoT system.

[0059] In an Ambient IoT system, when at least one device wishes to connect to a network for data transmission, an Ambient IoT random access procedure may be performed. The above Ambient IoT RA procedure may be triggered by a leader, and a message transmitted from the leader (300) to the device (301) to trigger the RA procedure may be called an A-IoT paging message (302) or R2D transmission triggering random access. The A-IoT paging message (302) may include information regarding an access occasion for at least one device, and the device (301) may perform the RA procedure by transmitting an A-IoT message1 (303) at at least one access occasion. The A-IoT paging message (302) may include information regarding a single device, a device group consisting of one or more devices, and an identifier indicating one or more devices. These identifiers may be used to restrict that only the device indicated by the corresponding indicator among the devices that have received the A-IoT paging message (302) performs the RA procedure, but this use is not limited. In this case, the A-IoT paging message (302) may not include the indicator. In this case, all devices that have received the A-IoT paging message (302) may perform the RA procedure. A device that has received the A-IoT paging message (302) may select one type of random access procedure, either contention-based or non-contention-based, by referring to the message. The reader (300) may transmit information and configuration information regarding the type of random access procedure to the device (301) directly or indirectly through the A-IoT paging message (301).If the device (301) performs a contention-free random access procedure, the device (301) can perform D2R transmission (e.g., A-IoT msg1 (303)) through a D2R occasion or resource directly or indirectly indicated in the A-IoT paging message (302). If the device (301) performs a contention-free random access procedure, the device (301) can perform A-IoT msg1 (303) transmission by selecting at least one access occasion from among at least one access occasion provided by the reader (300) through the A-IoT paging message (302). In this case, the device can randomly select an access occasion. Such access occasions can be multiplexed in the time axis or the frequency axis.

[0060] A reader (300) may send an A-IoT paging message (302) to a device (301) to trigger an RA procedure. If the A-IoT paging message (301) includes an identifier for a device or a device group, only the device or device group indicated by the identifier may perform the RA procedure. A device (301) performing the RA procedure may send an A-IoT Msg1 (003) to the reader (300). At this time, information regarding time and / or frequency resources for which the A-IoT Msg1 (303) can be sent may be included in the A-IoT paging message (302). For example, information regarding at least one time domain resource may be included in the A-IoT paging message (302). For example, information regarding at least one frequency domain resource may be included in the A-IoT paging message (302). In this case, information regarding the frequency domain resource may be the location of a specific frequency resource or an index representing the frequency transition capability of the device. For example, when the device multiplies a sub-carrier sequence in which the ON-OFF pattern is repeated 2*M times per unit time for frequency transition, or distinguishes the symbols of 1 and 0 using signal transitions from 0→1 or 1→0, it may repeat such signal transitions M times, such as 0→1→…→0→1 and 1→0→..→1→0. In this case, information regarding the available M value may be included in the A-IoT paging message (302). When performing a contention-based RA procedure, there may be at least one piece of information regarding the time resource and / or frequency resource that can be selected.When performing a contention-based RA procedure, information regarding selectable time resources and / or frequency resources is already set, and the resource indicated by said set information can be used for the A-IoT Msg1 transmission (303). The A-IoT Msg1 (303) may contain at least one of the following information. The A-IoT Msg1 (303) may contain a 16-bit random ID generated by the device (301). In this case, the 16-bit may be a random ID of a different length, for example. The A-IoT Msg1 (303) may contain the ID of the device, rather than a random ID. The A-IoT Msg1 (303) may contain part or all of the data coming down from the upper layer.

[0061] A reader (300) that receives Msg1 (303) transmitted by device (301) may attempt to resolve the competition by transmitting A-IoT Msg2 (304) to device (301). A-IoT Msg2 (304) may include at least one of the following information. A-IoT Msg2 (304) may include a random ID sent by device (301) from A-IoT Msg1 (303). A-IoT Msg2 (304) may include part or all of the data coming down from the upper layer. If device (301) receives an ID identical to the random ID transmitted from A-IoT Msg1 (303) through A-IoT Msg2 (304), device (301) may assume that the competition has been successfully resolved. After receiving A-IoT Msg2 (304) and determining that contention has been resolved, the device (301) may proceed with the procedure for transmitting upper-layer data. For example, some or all of the information of the upper layer, the ID of the device (301), etc., may be included. This upper-layer data may be transmitted via A-IoT Msg3 (305). If the device performs contention-based RA, it may skip the transmission and reception procedure of A-IoT Msg1 (303) or A-IoT Msg2 (304) and proceed directly to the procedure for transmitting upper-layer data. The random access procedure described in the above example is merely an example, and in reality, additional procedures may exist or some of the above procedures may be omitted, and is not limited to this example.

[0062] AIoT devices collect and acquire energy through energy harvesting and operate using the collected energy. Therefore, the time required for a device to possess sufficient energy for a specific operation can depend on various factors, such as the total amount of energy the device possesses, the efficiency or speed of energy harvesting, the distribution of energy sources, or the amount of energy required for the terminal to perform a specific operation. For example, when there are devices A and B that harvest energy from RF signals, if the area around device A is rich in RF signals available for harvesting while the area around device B is not, device A may harvest energy faster than device B, and the time required to collect sufficient energy to perform a specific operation may be relatively shorter. Consequently, the time required for a device to harvest sufficient energy for a specific operation can be configured differently for each device; even if implemented to be identical for all devices, it may vary due to reasons such as the distribution of surrounding energy sources or a decrease in energy harvesting efficiency caused by device aging. If a reader instructs a device to perform a specific operation when the device does not possess sufficient energy to do so, the device may be unable to execute it. For example, if a reader transmits a signal requesting device information and the device receives it, but the device lacks the energy required to generate a signal to transmit to the reader, the device may be unable to perform the operation.

[0063] FIG. 4 is an example showing the amount of energy (401) held by a device in an AIoT system over time (400).

[0064] For example, a device (e.g., a device of a specific device type) may collect energy through energy harvesting when not performing energy-consuming operations such as data transmission or reception. And / or another device (e.g., a device of a different device type than the specific device type) may have a set time for performing energy harvesting, collect energy through energy harvesting during the set time, and consume energy as standby power during the rest of the time. The operation of collecting energy or waiting when the device is not performing an instructed operation (e.g., an energy-consuming operation such as data transmission or reception) is not limited to this example. Although FIG. 3 does not illustrate the delay time from the transmission of a signal to its actual reception or the processing time within the device and reader, such delay time may actually need to be taken into account.

[0065] Referring to FIG. 4, if the device has energy greater than a specific energy level Ethreshold (407) at a specific time (405), it may be possible to perform a D2R transmission to transmit a signal to the reader at that time. However, if the device has energy lower than the energy level Ethreshold (407) at a specific time (406), it may not be possible to perform a D2R transmission at that time. At time t1 (403), the device has stored a level of energy higher than the energy level in the capacitor, and thus it can be determined that it has sufficient energy to perform a D2R transmission. When the device receives a D2R transmission instruction from the reader and performs it, the energy held by the device may be consumed, and the energy of the device at that time (410) may be lower than the energy level. The energy held by the device may decrease as the device performs the D2R transmission (409). The reader may assume that if the device collects energy for a period of time Tc (408) from the time (410) when it performed the D2R transmission, it can possess sufficient energy to perform the D2R transmission again. Therefore, the reader may issue a command to perform the D2R transmission again at the time (t2) when a period of time Tc (408) has elapsed from the time (410) when it performed the D2R transmission. However, in this case, for example, the density of energy sources around the device may be low, and only a lower energy harvesting efficiency may be achievable compared to the energy harvesting efficiency when collecting energy at the previous time. Therefore, even if the reader instructs the device to perform the D2R transmission at time t2 (404), the device may be unable to do so due to a problem of insufficient energy. When such a problem occurs, smooth information exchange between the reader and the device is impossible, and the reader may have difficulty properly scheduling the device.

[0066] Therefore, to prevent this, the reader can constantly monitor the device's energy status and transmit a signal instructing the device to perform a specific action only when the device is capable of doing so. However, this approach may result in wasted resources due to continuous monitoring and may be difficult to implement in IoT system scenarios where the number of devices requiring operation is expected to increase rapidly.

[0067] Accordingly, the present disclosure describes various methods that enable a reader to determine the availability of a device and perform efficient scheduling based on the device by having the device report its energy status to the reader.

[0068] Unless specifically stated otherwise, in the description of an embodiment of the present disclosure, "less than" may be replaced with "less than," and "less than" may be replaced with "less than." Unless specifically stated otherwise, in the description of an embodiment of the present disclosure, "greater than" may be replaced with "greater than," and "greater than" may be replaced with "greater than."

[0069] In this disclosure, the examples are described through a number of embodiments, but these are not independent, and one or more embodiments may be applied simultaneously or in combination.

[0070] In low-power wireless communication systems, such as Ambient IoT systems, only some of the upper layers defined in conventional 5G NR systems may be implemented. For example, only the lower two layers, such as the PHY and MAC layers, may constitute the layers of an Ambient IoT system. This may be intended to reduce system complexity by removing or simplifying certain functions or processes to design a low-power system. While this post assumes that only the PHY and MAC layers may exist in an Ambient IoT system, additional layers may be added or removed in actual implementations.

[0071] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a protocol stack that can be configured between a device (500) and a reader (503) in an Ambient IoT system.

[0072] Both the device (500) and the reader (503) may include A-IoT PHY layers (502 and 505) and A-IoT MAC layers (501 and 504) in their protocol stacks. When information exchange between the reader and the device is required, such as commands like reading and writing, and / or inventory information, this information may be transmitted as upper-layer information through the Ambient IoT wireless interface. The A-IoT PHY layers (502 and 505) may perform the process of converting the transport block received from the A-IoT MAC layers (501 and 504) into a wireless signal. In this case, the size of the data received from the upper layer at the A-IoT MAC layers (501 and 504) may be larger than the maximum size of the transport block. In this case, the data splitting function of the A-IoT MAC layers (501 and 504) may be used in the Ambient IoT system. Even if a transport block is received from the A-IoT MAC layer (501 and 504) at the A-IoT PHY layer (502 and 505), the size of the TB that can be transmitted through the wireless channel at any given time may vary depending on the target coverage, data rate, energy consumption, or device availability. Therefore, in an Ambient IoT system, a data splitting function at the A-IoT PHY layer (502 and 505) may be used. Additionally, an Ambient IoT system may want to perform repeated transmissions at the A-IoT PHY layer (502 and 505) to improve the reception coverage of each link.

[0073] Figure 6 illustrates an example of various transmission methods that can be used in Ambient IoT.

[0074] A MAC Header (606) may be added to the MAC SDU (605) at the MAC layer (600), and such a MAC PDU may be transmitted to the PHY layer (601). At this time, the combined size of the MAC SDU (605) and the MAC Header (606) may exceed the maximum size of the Transport block processed at the PHY layer (601). Therefore, it may be divided into multiple transport blocks and transmitted to the PHY layer (601) (602). In this example, it may be assumed that it is divided into two transport block #1 (610) and transport block #2 (614). Although Transport block #1 (610) satisfies the maximum size condition of the Transport block itself, when considering conditions such as the device's energy state, target data rate, and target coverage at a specific time when the TB is to be transmitted, it may be difficult to transmit the TB all at once at a single transmission time. Therefore, in this case, it may be possible to divide and transmit the TB at the PHY layer (601) as well (603). In this example, it can be assumed that transport block #1 (610) is divided into three segmentations #1, #2, and #3 (611, 612, 613). In this example, it can be assumed that transport block #2 (614) is transmitted repeatedly in two repetitions #1 and #2 (615, 616). When segmented transmission or repeated transmission is applied at the PHY layer (601), the unit of data transmitted through the actual wireless interface may be the unit of segmented or repeated transmission.

[0075] Example 1: Transmission and reception of configuration information for Energy state report (ESR)

[0076] In order for the device to perform an energy status report (ESR) to the reader, the reader may transmit the necessary configuration information to the device. This configuration information may be delivered to the device through an R2D transmission sent by the reader to the device.

[0077] Device-common configuration

[0078] ESR configuration information may consist of common configuration information for a device group including at least one device. A specific ID may be used in the R2D transmission conveying the common configuration information to indicate that it is common configuration information. For example, if the ID of a specific device group is included in the R2D transmission, the configuration information included in the R2D transmission may be interpreted as applicable to all devices receiving such configuration information. In this case, the device group may include at least one device. For example, if a reader performs a random access procedure for at least one device, the device-common configuration may be included in the A-IoT paging message. In this case, all devices receiving the A-IoT paging message may apply the common configuration information.

[0079] Device-specific configuration

[0080] ESR configuration information may consist of device-specific configuration information for a device group that includes at least one device. A specific ID may be used in the R2D transmission to indicate that the information is device-specific. For example, if the ID of a specific device group is included in the R2D transmission, the configuration information included in the R2D transmission can be interpreted as applicable only to the devices included within that device group. In this case, the device group may include at least one device. For example, when a reader performs a random access procedure for at least one device, the A-IoT Msg2 message may include device-specific configuration. In this case, if a device receives the A-IoT Msg2 and is included in the selector contained in the message, the device may apply the configuration information received.

[0081] The period during which the above configuration information applies may be at least one of the following. The above configuration information may remain valid from the time it is received until the connection between the device and the reader is disconnected. The above configuration information may remain valid from the time it is received until new configuration information regarding the same information is received. The above configuration information may remain valid from the time it is received as device-common configuration information until it is received as device-specific configuration information. The above configuration information may be valid only for a specific period of time instructed by the reader. The above configuration information may be valid only for a specific number of D2R transmissions instructed by the reader. After this, default settings may be applied to the above configuration information, or it may be assumed that the corresponding configuration information does not exist. Different validity periods may be defined for some information, or they may be applied equally to all configuration information.

[0082] All of the above-mentioned setting information received may include at least one of the following information.

[0083] The above configuration information may include information regarding the ESR reporting period. In the case of periodic reporting, after receiving an R2D signal containing the above configuration information, reports may be included in D2R transmissions that are not included in exceptions among all D2R transmissions occurring during the period in which the setting is valid. In the case of semi-persistent reporting, after receiving an R2D signal containing the above configuration information and receiving instructions regarding the Active / Release status from the reader, reports may be included in D2R transmissions that are not included in exceptions among D2R transmissions belonging to the active / release period, provided that the setting is valid. In this case, information regarding the active and release periods may be indicated through separate R2D signals. For example, the device may enter active mode from the moment a specific R2D signal is received and release from the moment a specific R2D signal is received. Alternatively, information regarding the active and release timings may be included in a single R2D signal, allowing the device to determine the active and release times based on that information. Alternatively, information regarding the active and release periods may be included together in the above configuration information. In the case of aperioditic reporting, it may be possible to perform dynamic reporting only in the case of a D2R transmission occurring immediately after receiving an R2D signal containing the above-mentioned configuration information, or a D2R transmission transmitted at a specific time instructed by the reader immediately after receiving the R2D signal, or at a specific time agreed upon between the reader and the device. For example, if the reader instructs the device to perform reporting at a specific time after the device receives R2D configuration information from the reader, or if there is a prior agreement, it can be assumed that the D2R transmission transmitted from the device at that time will include an ESR. The above-mentioned configuration information may include information regarding the bit length of the ESR.The above configuration information may include information on how the ESR is multiplexed with existing data. The above configuration information may include prior information necessary for the device to generate the ESR. For example, the device may determine whether the energy remaining in its capacitor is less than or greater than a specific threshold value, and report 1 to the reader as a 1-bit ESR if it is greater, and 0 if it is smaller. In this case, information regarding the threshold value may be included in the above configuration information. Such values ​​may be predefined for all available values, and the reader may instruct the device in a manner that indicates the index to which the value is mapped. The values ​​that can be indicated and the indices mapped to them may be agreed upon in advance between the device and the reader so that separate signaling is not required, or they may be instructed to the device in advance by the reader, or they may all be included within the above configuration information.

[0084] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process in which, according to one embodiment of the present publication, a reader transmits ESR setting information to a device via R2D transmission (700, 702), and the device performs D2R transmission (701, 703, 704) including ESR transmission to the reader in accordance with this.

[0085] In the R2D transmission (700), the reader can transmit device common ESR setting information applicable to all devices through the R2D signal by indicating 0 in the ID field. In this example, the ESR transmission is composed of 1-bit, and the ESR is transmitted dynamically, so the ESR_periodicity field can be set to 2 to include the ESR only for the D2R transmission immediately after receiving the R2D. At this time, the threshold value required to determine the ESR value can be set to a value corresponding to indicator 0 among the values ​​agreed upon between the device and the reader (Cap_threshold=0). The device that received the R2D can transmit to the reader including the 1-bit ESR in the subsequent D2R transmission (701). At this time, the device can transmit the 1-bit ESR by indicating 0 if the amount of energy the device currently possesses is smaller than the specific threshold indicated by Cap_threshold = 0, and 1 otherwise.

[0086] In an R2D transmission (702), the reader can transmit device-specific ESR setting information applicable only to a specific device via the R2D signal by specifying 3 in the ID field. Additionally, the setting information may include a value of 2 for the previously transmitted ESR_length field. In this case, the device can overwrite the previous value for that field with a new value. By setting the ESR_periodicity field to 0, the device can be instructed to include ESR for all subsequent D2R transmissions. At this time, this setting information may remain valid until new setting information is instructed, a release signal is transmitted from the reader, or the connection between the device and the reader is broken because neither D2R transmission nor R2D transmission occurs for a certain period of time. The device can generate a total of 2-bit ESR, each 1-bit, using two threshold values ​​indicated to the reader as values ​​of 1 and 3. That is, each ESR bit may represent the relationship between the device energy and the different threshold values. After receiving an R2D transmission (702) containing the configuration information, the device may transmit to the reader a subsequent D2R transmission (703, 704) that includes a 2-bit ESR. In this example, it is assumed that each ESR is 1-bit, but the ESR may have a length of more than 1 bit depending on system support and is not limited to this example.

[0087] According to one embodiment, in a D2R transmission (at least one of 701, 703, and 704), the device may include the ESR in the preamble of the corresponding message and transmit it to the reader. According to one embodiment, the indication of the ESR included in the preamble may be transmitted through the methods of A) to D) below.

[0088] A) A method of setting (or reserving) the indication of the above ESR to N-bit (where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 1).

[0089] B) A method for setting (or reserving) a specific occasion for the indication of the above ESR (e.g., an occasion corresponding to the lowest ID or the highest ID)

[0090] C) Method for setting (or reserving) a specific RNTI codepoint for the indication of the above ESR

[0091] D) A method of combining at least one of the methods A) to C) above.

[0092] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of A) to D) for the device may not be predetermined. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of A) to D) for the device.

[0093] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods A) to D) regarding the indication of the ESR may be directed (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be directed (or set) to the device via the SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods A) to D) regarding the device.

[0094] Example 2: Multiplexing method according to various transmission methods

[0095] In an Ambient IoT system, as described above, at least one of data splitting at the A-IoT MAC layer, data splitting at the A-IoT PHY layer, and repetitive transmission may occur. If a device transmits a D2R transmission including at least 1 bit of ESR, the ESR may be added to the existing data at at least one time point in the stage before or after the data splitting and repetitive transmission.

[0096] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the process of a device performing ESR transmission when data is divided at an A-IoT MAC or A-IoT PHY layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0097] In FIG. 8(a), the device can multiplex an n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESR (801) with existing data (800) before data splitting occurs. The data splitting may occur at the A-IoT MAC or A-IoT PHY layer. That is, the existing data (800) may be either a MAC PDU or a Transport block. In this example, it is assumed that the data is divided into two splits, but this is for convenience of explanation and more than two values ​​may be considered. After the data is split, the ESR may be included in at least one of the two split data (802, 803). In this example, it is assumed that the ESR (801) added before data splitting is added to the subsequent split data (803) (804), but it may be added to the preceding split data (802) to allow for faster reporting to the reader.

[0098] In FIG. 8(b), the device can multiplex n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESRs (813, 814) onto the existing data (811, 812) after data splitting occurs. Thus, the split data may contain each ESR, and each ESR may convey different ESR information.

[0099] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 8 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be predetermined and not indicated to the device. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 8 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR.

[0100] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 8 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device via a SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 8 (a) to (b) for the device.

[0101] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the process of a device performing ESR transmission when data repetition occurs in the A-IoT PHY layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0102] In FIG. 9(a), the device can multiplex an n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESR (901) with existing data (900) before data repeat transmission occurs. In this example, it is assumed that the data is repeated twice, but for convenience of explanation, two or more values ​​may be considered. After the data is repeated, the ESR can be included in two repeat transmissions (902, 903) and transmitted (904, 905). At this time, the ESR (904, 905) transmitted in addition to the two repeat transmissions may be the same ESR.

[0103] In FIG. 9(b), the device can transmit an n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESR (913, 914) by multiplexing it onto the existing data (911, 912) after data repetition occurs. The transmitted ESR may contain different information.

[0104] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 9 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be predetermined and not indicated to the device. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 9 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR.

[0105] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 9 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device via a SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 9 (a) to (b) for the device.

[0106] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which a device reports an ESR to a reader when A-IoT MAC data splitting and A-IoT PHY data iteration are performed in an Ambient IoT system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0107] In FIG. 10(a), the device can multiplex an n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESR (1001) to the MAC data (1000). The ESR can be added to the MAC layer data by multiplexing it to the MAC SDU in the form of MAC-CE or by additionally multiplexing it to the MAC PDU. Since the MAC layer data containing the ESR does not satisfy the Transport block size condition, the MAC layer data can be divided into two TB#1 (1002) and TB#2 (1004) through A-IoT MAC data splitting. In this case, the ESR (1001) can be added to the data of the preceding TB#1 (1002) to allow it to be transmitted to the reader faster. TB#1 (1002) containing the ESR (1003) can be transmitted twice to improve D2R transmission reliability. Accordingly, the data may be transmitted twice, including the above ESR (1003) (1005, 1006, 1008, 1009). At this time, the ESR (1008, 1009) included in each repetition may be a report containing the same information as the previous ESR (1003).

[0108] In the case of the device in FIG. 10(b), it can be assumed that data splitting occurs at the A-IoT MAC layer, causing the MAC PDU (1010) to be split into two TB#1 (1011) and TB#2 (1012). In this case, it can be assumed that for TB#1 (1011), two repeated transmissions (1013, 1014) are performed to improve the reliability of the D2R link. In the case of TB#2 (1012), it can be assumed that A-IoT PHY data splitting occurs due to reasons such as the device's energy shortage, causing TB#2 to be divided and transmitted into TB#2-SEG1 (1015) and TB#2-SEG2 (1016). At this time, for the iteration and partitioning transmissions in the PHY layer, an n-bit (n ≥ 1) ESR can be added and transmitted (1017, 1018, 1019, 1020). At this time, the ESRs may have the same length or different lengths, and may contain different report information or the same report information.

[0109] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 10 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be predetermined and not indicated to the device. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 10 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR.

[0110] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 10 (a) to (b) for the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device via a SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 10 (a) to (b) for the device.

[0111] Various types of ESR multiplexing occurring in FIGS. 8 to 10 may occur by combining the examples of this publication. For example, the ESR added at the MAC layer in FIG. 10 (a) and the ESR added at the PHY layer in FIG. 10 (b) may be added simultaneously by a single device. In such cases, the device may multiplex the two ESRs together and transmit them to the reader, or select only one of the two ESRs and transmit it to the reader. When two ESRs are included in a data stream simultaneously, the reader may instruct the device which ESR is transmitted, or it may be pre-configured in the device. Although the above embodiment describes ESR being multiplexed only at the end or beginning of the data, actual ESR may be multiplexed at the beginning, end, middle, and multiple points of the data and is not limited to the above embodiment.

[0112] Example 3: Event Definition for ESR

[0113] In Ambient IoT systems, data fragmentation can occur at both the A-IoT MAC layer and the A-IoT PHY layer. In other words, the data transmitted at a single point in time may be unfragmented at all, fragmented at the A-IoT MAC layer, or fragmented at the A-IoT PHY layer. In such cases, the unit of data transmitted by the device at a given point in time may vary depending on the transmission method, such as data fragmented at the PHY layer or data repeatedly transmitted at the PHY layer. Therefore, when a device transmits data at the actual PHY layer, if the report information included in that data is passed down from an upper layer and added to the data at the PHY layer, this report information may be invalid or inaccurate due to the time difference between when the report is generated and when the data is transmitted. For example, if an ESR is added before data splitting at the MAC layer, followed by data splitting at the A-IoT MAC layer and data repetitive transmission at the A-IoT PHY layer, the device may have an energy state that is inconsistent with the report generated by the upper layer for the final repetitive transmission at the actual PHY layer. Therefore, in an Ambient IoT system, an ESR can be generated based on the information required by each layer and multiplexed at the A-IoT MAC or A-IoT PHY layer depending on the data transmission method.

[0114] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the process of performing ESR reporting by multiplexing ESR at the A-IoT MAC and PHY layers, respectively, according to one embodiment of the present publication.

[0115] The device can multiplex an ESR (1101) generated based on long-term or logical information at the A-IoT MAC layer by including it in a MAC PDU (1101). At this time, the ESR (1101) may be included in a MAC-CE and multiplexed into a MAC SDU, or additionally multiplexed into a MAC PDU containing a MAC-CE; in this disclosure, it is assumed that it is included in a MAC-CE and multiplexed into a MAC-SDU. Data splitting occurs at the A-IoT MAC layer, and two TBs (1102, 1104) may be transmitted. At this time, the ESR may be included in the preceding TB and transmitted to the reader. The preceding TB#1 (1102) may be repeatedly transmitted at the A-IoT PHY layer including the ESR. In this disclosure, it is assumed that a total of two repeated transmissions (1105, 1106) occur. The ESR multiplexed at the MAC layer can be commonly included in both iterations of transmission (1108, 1109). At this time, additional ESRs can be multiplexed for each iteration at the A-IoT PHY layer (1110, 1111). At this time, the ESRs multiplexed at each layer may be reports containing different information depending on the needs of the reader and device, and the time at which they are generated and the time at which they are actually multiplexed and transmitted can be configured in various ways depending on the needs of the reader and device, and the number of bits in the ESR may also vary depending on the reader and device. For example, the PHY ESR multiplexed at the A-IoT PHY layer may be information reflecting the real-time state of the device. This information may be information that immediately indicates the total amount of energy the device possesses at a specific point in time.In this case, it may be possible to report the device's real-time status information to the reader by indicating 1 if the device's total energy exceeds a specific threshold, and 0 otherwise. ESR reported based on this type of event can be useful for determining the device's current state. For example, MAC ESR, which is multiplexed at the A-IoT MAC layer, may be information processed based on the device's real-time data or derived through long-term observation and calculation. This information can be reported to the device using at least one bit of ESR after determining energy consumption rates or energy harvesting efficiency by measuring changes in energy reserves over a certain period. Specific thresholds or boundary values ​​for determining the device's ESR information may be instructed to the reader or stored in the device in advance. ESR reported based on this type of event can be helpful for optimizing the system or identifying trends or efficiency regarding the device's energy status. These direct or indirect pieces of information may be multiplexed at the A-IoT PHY or MAC layer, respectively, and the layers at which such multiplexing may occur are not limited to the examples provided. When a device transmits one or more ESRs to a reader, information such as the ESR type may be included in the ESR to enable identification. Whether or not such information regarding the ESR type is included and where it is located may be instructed to the device in advance by the reader, or it may be configuration information already stored in the device.

[0116] The following embodiments describe various examples of ESR information of one bit or more that a device can transmit to a reader, but the types of ESR that can actually be transmitted are not limited thereto, and embodiments composed of combinations of the following examples may also be considered. In the following description, D2R data may be data from the A-IoT PHY or A-IoT MAC layer, and the following ESR configuration method and ESR multiplexing method may be applied in combination with the above embodiments.

[0117] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 11 for the indication of the ESR may be predetermined and not indicated to the device. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 11 for the indication of the ESR.

[0118] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 11 for the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device via the SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods of FIG. 11 for the device.

[0119] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a low-power device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes its energy state information in a D2R transmission and transmits it.

[0120] Example 3-1: Transmitting a 1-bit indicator with D2R data

[0121] FIG. 12(a) is a diagram illustrating an example in which a device performs a D2R transmission (1202) including an energy status indicator (1201) having a size of at least 1 bit in the D2R data (1200). The device can transmit its energy status information to a reader by including the energy status indicator in the D2R transmission. In this case, the energy status indicator may include feedback indicating, for example, whether the time required for the device to charge sufficient energy for a specific operation is shorter (less than) or longer (more than) a specific time T' (a specific threshold).

[0122] In this case, a specific time T' may be a value set by default or recorded in the device's memory and / or may be instructed to the device by the reader upon initial connection. The information transmitted to the device may be information included in the R2D transmission from the reader. The length of the specific time T' may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the length of the specific time T' is predefined / set, it may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0123] In addition, the starting point for measuring a specific time T' (the starting point for a specific time T') may include various methods, such as the point when the reader starts or completes receiving a D2R transmission previously performed by the device, the point when the device starts or completes transmitting a D2R transmission, or the point when a certain offset is applied at such a point. The certain offset may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the certain offset is predefined / set, it may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0124] After the reader finishes receiving a D2R transmission including this energy state indicator from the device, if the indicator is composed of, for example, 1 bit and indicates 1, the reader may determine that the device will be in a state where another D2R transmission is possible after a time T' has elapsed since the device transmitted the D2R. Conversely, if the indicator is composed of, for example, 1 bit and indicates 0, the reader may determine that the device will not be in a state where another D2R transmission is possible even after a time T' has elapsed since the device finished transmitting the D2R.

[0125] More specifically, for example, the reader may transmit a signal instructing the device to perform a D2R transmission. This instruction signal may be included in the R2D transmission. If this instruction signal is the first signal transmitted while a connection between the reader and the device has not yet been established, the reader may transmit the instruction signal to the device in accordance with the default set period (Tdefault) and repeatedly instruct the device until a D2R transmission occurs. When the device receives the instruction signal and checks the scheduling information for the D2R transmission to prepare for the transmission, the device may indicate its availability—whether it can perform the D2R transmission after a specific time T' has elapsed following the completion of the D2R transmission—using an energy status indicator based on factors such as the energy it possesses, the efficiency of energy harvesting, or the amount of energy required to perform the D2R transmission. In this case, the specific time T' may be a value included in the previous R2D transmission or / or a default value set in the device. Alternatively, T' may be the same value as Tdefault, which is the transmission period of the previous R2D transmission. The device includes the corresponding indicator in the D2R transmission and sends it to the reader, and the reader receives it to check the device's energy status information. If the device sends 0 as the indicator, the reader determines that the device may not be able to perform the operation because it does not possess the energy required for D2R transmission even after the time Tdefault has elapsed, and may send a signal instructing the device to perform D2R transmission with a period Tdefault, new (> Tdefault) that is longer than the time. In this case, the reader may continuously use the value of Tdefault, new, use it only for a certain period and then return to the original value, and / or use it until new energy information is received from the device.

[0126] For example, an energy status indicator may represent information regarding the total amount of energy currently held by the device. In this case, this total amount of energy may be for before or after the current D2R transmission that the device transmits including the indicator. An energy status indicator included in a D2R transmission may be information regarding the total amount of energy of the device before or after the execution of the corresponding D2D transmission. The device may use at least one bit of an energy status indicator to indicate whether the total amount of energy it holds immediately before performing the corresponding D2R transmission exceeds a specific energy level (specific threshold). In this case, the specific energy level may be determined as a certain percentage (e.g., 50%) of the total amount of energy that the tag (device) can hold (e.g., the size of the tag's (device's) capacitor). This information regarding the specific energy level may be a value set by default in the device's memory or information received from the reader. The specific energy level may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If a specific energy level is predefined or set, this may be predefined or set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, if the device possesses 50% or more of the total energy it can hold, it may indicate '1' as an indicator, and if not, indicate '0', and include this in the D2R transmission. The reader receives this, checks the device's energy status information, determines at what point the device has the availability to perform the D2R transmission, and performs appropriate scheduling. At this time, the point in time when the device checks the energy level may be applied at various times, such as immediately before generating the indicator, immediately after transmitting the D2R data, or a certain offset time prior to performing the D2R transmission.Alternatively, the device may check its energy level for a certain period of time and generate an indicator using the average value.

[0127] Alternatively, a 1-bit energy status indicator may represent information regarding the energy harvesting efficiency or energy harvesting rate of the device. For example, the device may use a 1-bit energy status indicator to indicate whether its energy harvesting efficiency or energy harvesting rate exceeds a certain value (a certain threshold). In this case, the energy harvesting efficiency or rate may be represented as the total amount of energy charged per unit time. Therefore, the device may be able to use a 1-bit indicator to indicate whether the total amount of energy it has charged per unit time is greater than or equal to a certain value. This certain value may be a value set by default for the device or information received from the reader. The certain value for the energy harvesting rate may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the certain value is predefined / set, it may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, if the amount of energy charged by the device during a unit of time exceeds a certain value, the indicator value can be set to '1', and if not, '0', and this can be included in the D2R transmission. The reader receives this to check the device's energy status information, determines when the device is available to perform a D2R transmission, and performs appropriate scheduling. In this case, various points in time can be applied for the device to check the harvesting efficiency or speed, such as immediately before generating the indicator, immediately after transmitting D2R data, or a certain offset time prior to performing the D2R transmission. Alternatively, the device may check its energy harvesting efficiency or speed over a certain period of time and generate the indicator using the average value.

[0128] In this example, the availability of whether the device can perform D2R transmission was described, but this can be replaced with other operations that the device can perform. For example, the above procedure can be defined for operations such as whether the device can perform D2R repeated transmission, whether the device can perform R2D reception of a certain length or longer, or whether the device can perform D2R transmission of a certain length or longer. A 1-bit energy state indicator has the advantage of not significantly increasing the length of the D2R transmission and can efficiently transmit the device's energy state information to the reader.

[0129] Example 3-2: Transmitting an n-bit (n>1) indicator with D2R data

[0130] FIG. 12(b) is a diagram illustrating an example in which a device performs a D2R transmission (1212) by including an n (n>1) bit indicator (1211) in the D2R data (1210). The device can transmit its energy status information to a reader by including the n bit indicator in the D2R transmission. In this case, the n bit indicator can, for example, indicate whether the time required for the device to charge sufficient energy for a specific operation is shorter or longer than a specific time T'.

[0131] In this case, the specific time T' may be a value set by default for the device or a value used by the device as instructed by the reader. The length of the specific time T' may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the length of the specific time T' is predefined / set, this may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the starting point for measuring the specific time T' may be applied in various ways, such as when the reader starts or completes receiving the D2R transmission previously performed by the device, when the device starts or completes transmitting the D2R transmission, or when a certain offset is applied at such a point. The certain offset may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the certain offset is predefined / set, this may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0132] For example, if a device includes a 2-bit indicator in a D2R transmission, the reader can predict the range of time it takes for the device to charge enough energy to perform another D2R transmission through the indicator.

[0133] FIG. 12(c) is a diagram showing three reference times on the time axis (1220) when the device uses a 2-bit indicator and indicates its energy state information for three reference times T1 (1221), T2 (1222), and T3 (1223). In this case, the multiple reference times may be values ​​pre-set to the device or values ​​indicated by the reader. The reference times may be pre-defined / set or set by the reader. If the reference times are pre-defined / set, they may be pre-defined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0134] For example, if the 2-bit indicator is '00', the device may indicate that it has enough energy to perform another D2R transmission after a time of T1 has elapsed since performing one D2R transmission. That is, the time required for the device to charge enough energy to perform another D2R transmission may be within a range smaller than T1 (1224).

[0135] When the 2-bit indicator is '01', it indicates that the device can have enough energy to perform another D2R after a time of T2 has passed following one D2R transmission, but it may not be possible after a time of T1 has passed. That is, the time required for the device to charge enough energy to perform another D2R transmission may be in the range greater than T1 and less than T2 (1225).

[0136] If the 2-bit indicator is '10', it may indicate that the device can have enough energy to perform another D2R after a time of T3 has elapsed since performing one D2R transmission, but that it may not be possible after a time of T2 has elapsed. That is, the time required for the device to charge enough energy to perform another D2R transmission may be in the range greater than T2 and less than T3 (1226).

[0137] If the 2-bit indicator is '11', it indicates that the device cannot retain enough energy to perform another D2R even after T3 has passed since performing one D2R transmission. That is, the time required for the device to charge enough energy to perform another D2R transmission may be in a range greater than T3 (1227).

[0138] The indications that these 2-bit indicators can represent are summarized in Table 1.

[0139] [Table 1]

[0140]

[0141] The reader receives a D2R transmission containing an n-bit indicator from the device and, through this indicator, can determine information about the range to which the time required for the device to charge the energy for another D2R transmission belongs.

[0142] More specifically, for example, the reader can transmit a signal instructing the device to perform a D2R transmission. This instruction signal may be included in the R2D transmission. If this instruction signal is the first signal transmitted while a connection between the reader and the device has not yet been established, the reader may be able to transmit the instruction signal to the device according to a default period (Tdefault) and repeat this process until a D2R transmission occurs to the device. When the device receives the instruction signal and checks the scheduling information for the D2R transmission to prepare for the transmission, the device can determine the time range required to recharge the energy needed for another D2R transmission after completing the current one, based on factors such as its own energy, energy harvesting efficiency, and the amount of energy required to perform the D2R transmission. In this case, the time range may be divided by values ​​pre-set in the terminal or by reference values ​​set by the reader. The device includes this indicator in the D2R transmission and sends it to the reader, and the reader receives it to check the device's energy status information.

[0143] If the device sends 11 as the indicator and Tdefault = T4, the reader may determine that the device may not be able to perform the operation because it does not possess the energy required for D2R transmission even after the time of Tdefault has elapsed, and may send a signal to the device instructing D2R transmission with a period Tdefault, new (> Tdefault) that is longer than that time. In this case, the reader may continuously use the value of Tdefault, new, use it only for a certain period and then use the existing value again, or use it until new energy information is received from the device.

[0144] Alternatively, the device may report to the reader the time required to charge the energy needed to perform another D2R transmission by quantizing it using an n-bit indicator. For example, when using a 2-bit indicator, the reader can interpret the time required for the device to charge energy for another D2R transmission by quantizing it as T'1 when the indicator is 00, T'2 when the indicator is 01, T'3 when the indicator is 10, and T'4 when the indicator is 11. After performing the D2R transmission, the device can predict the time required to charge energy for another D2R transmission, select the value closest to this among {T'1, T'2, T'3, T'4}, and transmit the corresponding indicator to the reader to communicate its energy status information.

[0145] Alternatively, an n-bit indicator may represent information regarding the total amount of energy currently possessed by the device. In this case, this total amount of energy may be for before or after the current D2R transmission that the device transmits, including the indicator. The indicator included in the D2R transmission may be information regarding the total amount of energy of the device before or after the execution of the corresponding D2D transmission. For example, the device may use an n-bit indicator to indicate which energy range the total amount of energy it possesses immediately before performing the D2R transmission to send the indicator belongs to. In this case, the energy level dividing the energy range may be determined as a certain percentage (e.g., 50%) of the total amount of energy the tag (device) can possess (e.g., the size of the tag's (device's) capacitor). This information regarding the specific energy level may be a value set as a default for the device or information received from the reader. The specific energy level may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If specific energy levels are predefined / set, they may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, if the device holds energy in the range of 0 to 25% of the total amount of energy it can hold, '00' may be indicated as an indicator; '01' for the range of 25 to 50%; '10' for the range of 50 to 75%; and '11' for the range of 75 to 100%, and this may be included in the D2R transmission. The reader may receive this, check the device's energy status information, determine at what point the device has availability to perform D2R transmission, and perform appropriate scheduling. Alternatively, the total amount of energy currently held may be indicated to the reader by quantizing it into specific energy levels using an n-bit indicator.For example, when using a 2-bit indicator, the reader can interpret the energy value held by the device by quantizing it as follows: 0% when the indicator is 00, 35% when the indicator is 01, 70% when the indicator is 10, and 100% when the indicator is 11. If the total amount of energy held by the device is 65.5% of the total energy storage space, the device may be able to quantize and transmit its actual total energy amount to the reader by indicating the indicator as 10 and sending it to the reader. The total amount of energy held by the device may represent a value relative to a specific value or have an absolute value, and is not limited to this example. In this case, various points in time may be applied for the device to check the energy level, such as immediately before generating the indicator, immediately after transmitting D2R data, or a certain offset time prior to performing the D2R transmission. Alternatively, the device may check its energy level for a certain period of time and generate the indicator using the average value.

[0146] Alternatively, an n-bit indicator may represent information regarding the device's energy harvesting efficiency or energy harvesting rate. For example, the device may use an n-bit indicator to provide information regarding the range to which its energy harvesting efficiency or energy harvesting rate belongs. In this case, the energy harvesting efficiency or rate may be represented as the total amount of energy charged per unit time. Therefore, the device may use an n-bit indicator to indicate which of the ranges defined by a specific value the total amount of energy charged per unit time falls into. The specific value that can set the range may be a value set by default for the device or information received from the reader. The specific value may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the specific value is predefined / set, it may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Various points in time may be applied for the device to check the harvesting efficiency or rate, such as immediately before generating the indicator, immediately after transmitting D2R data, or a certain offset time prior to performing the D2R transmission. Alternatively, the device may check its energy harvesting efficiency or speed over a certain period of time and generate an indicator using the average value.

[0147] For example, A <B<C 의 관계를 만족하는 3개의 값 A, B, C 에 대하여, 디바이스의 에너지 하베스팅 효율 (X) 은 (1) X<A, (2) A ≤ X < B, (3) B ≤ X < C, (4) C≤X 와 같이 4개의 구간 중 하나에 속할 수 있다. 따라서 2 비트의 지시자를 통해서 디바이스의 에너지 하베스팅 효율이 어느 구간에 속하는지가 지시될 수 있다. 예를 들어, 지시자가 00인 경우에는 (1) 구간을, 지시자가 01 인 경우에는 (2) 구간을, 지시자가 10 인 경우에는 (3) 구간을, 지시자가 11 인 경우에는 (4) 구간을 지시할 수 있다. 리더는 이를 수신하여 디바이스의 에너지 상태 정보를 확인하고, 어느 시점에 디바이스가 D2R 전송을 수행할 수 있는 가용성을 가지는지를 판단하고 적절한 스케줄링을 수행할 수 있다.

[0148] Alternatively, the device may display its energy harvesting efficiency or energy harvesting speed to the reader by quantizing it into a specific value using an n-bit indicator. For example, when using a 2-bit indicator, the reader can interpret the device's energy harvesting efficiency by quantizing it as 0% when the indicator is 00, 35% when the indicator is 01, 70% when the indicator is 10, and 100% when the indicator is 11. The values ​​of energy harvesting efficiency and speed may represent relative values ​​to a specific value or have absolute values, and are not limited to this example.

[0149] In the description of the above embodiments, the mapping relationship between the code point of an n-bit indicator and the information indicated by that code point is an example, and the mapping relationship between the information according to the value of the indicator may change. In addition, although the above description of the embodiments mainly uses the case where the indicator is 2 bits as an example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the bit size of the indicator may change depending on the number of pieces of information that the code point of the indicator can indicate.

[0150] Additionally, an n-bit indicator may be composed of a combination of 1-bit indicators as in Example 1. For example, a total of 3 bits of indicators may be included in the D2R transmission, where each bit may indicate the energy state information of the device. In this case, each bit may be a 1-bit indicator defined according to the example of Example 1.

[0151] Example 3-3: Energy State Information Indication Using Signal Transmission Omission

[0152] FIG. 12(d) is a diagram illustrating an example in which a device performs D2R transmission (1232) including a signal omission section (1231) in D2R data (1230). The reader can obtain information about the time at which D2R data is transmitted through control information included in the D2R transmission or a postamble signal that can be transmitted attached to the end of the D2R transmission. If D2R data is transmitted only during a section shorter than the length of D2R data expected by the reader through the control information or postamble signal, and a section in which no signal is transmitted occurs, the reader may interpret this as the device reporting that it cannot perform another D2R transmission after a certain time T' has elapsed since performing the D2R transmission as in Example 1, or reporting that the amount of energy held by the device immediately before or immediately after performing the D2R transmission including the indicator is lower than a certain level, or reporting that the energy harvesting efficiency or speed measured by the device is lower than a certain value. The specific method of interpreting the information may follow Example 1. In this case, the length of the interval during which the signal is omitted may correspond to the time taken to transmit 1 bit or a larger bit. This signal omission method has the advantage of allowing the device to reduce the energy consumed in signal transmission while simultaneously enabling the device to report its energy status information to the reader.

[0153] Example 3-4: Transmitting time-step indicators with D2R data

[0154] The device may be able to report its energy state over time to the reader by including indicators representing the device's energy state in the D2R transmission in a time-step (or sequential) manner.

[0155] For example, the device may use three 1-bit indicators to map a 1-bit indicator to include in the D2R signal whether the total amount of energy it possesses exceeds a certain energy level (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 1) or not (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 0) immediately before transmitting the D2R signal, during transmitting the D2R signal, and immediately after completing transmission of the D2R signal. In this case, the method of configuring each 1-bit indicator may refer to Example 1 and may follow Example 1.

[0156] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a low-power device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes its energy state information in a D2R transmission and transmits it.

[0157] FIG. 13(a) is a diagram showing an example in which a device performs D2R transmission (1300) by including 1-bit indicators (1301, 1302, 1303) corresponding to time step indicators (or sequential indicators) in D2R data (1304, 1305).

[0158] For example, a 1-bit indicator (1301) transmitted in the preceding part of a D2R signal may indicate whether the total amount of energy held by the device immediately before transmitting the D2R exceeds a certain energy level (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 1) or not (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 0). In this case, the certain energy level may be a value set by default in the device or set by the reader. The certain energy level may be predefined / set or set by the reader. If the certain energy level is predefined / set, it may be predefined / set between the reader and the device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0159] A 1-bit indicator (1302) transmitted in the middle of the D2R signal (transmitted during the transmission of the D2D signal) may indicate whether the total amount of energy held by the device during the D2R transmission exceeds a certain energy level (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 1) or not (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 0). At this time, the point in the middle of the transmission may be a point in time such as after the transmission of half (1304) of the total data scheduled for transmission has been performed (after half (404) of the data to be transmitted has been transmitted), but is not limited to such examples. After the transmission of the 1-bit indicator (1302) transmitted in the middle of the D2R signal, the transmission of the remaining data (1305) may be performed.

[0160] A 1-bit indicator (403) transmitted at the end of the D2R signal may indicate whether the total amount of energy the device possesses after completing the corresponding D2R transmission exceeds a certain energy level (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 1) or not (e.g., in this case, the value of the indicator may be 0). Such an indicator may be an indicator representing information regarding the energy harvesting efficiency of the device or an indicator of the time it takes for the device to obtain sufficient energy to perform another D2R transmission, as in Example 1, rather than the total amount of energy the device possesses, and is not limited to such examples.

[0161] In addition, these time step indicators can be composed of n bits (n>1) instead of each 1 bit.

[0162] FIG. 13(b) is a diagram illustrating an example in which a device performs a D2R transmission (410) by including n-bit indicators (1311, 1312, 1313) corresponding to time-step indicators in D2R data (1314, 1315). The method of configuring each n-bit indicator may be followed by reference to Example 2, but the timing of generating and / or transmitting each indicator may vary in a time-step manner, such as immediately before, during, or after the D2R transmission containing the indicators. The timing of the generation of the indicators may vary according to various examples and is not limited to the examples of the present disclosure. Additionally, the positions of the indicators within the D2R transmission may be divided into the beginning, middle, and end of the signal, or all indicators may be transmitted continuously at the beginning, middle, and end.

[0163] For example, an n-bit indicator (1311) transmitted at the beginning of the D2R signal may be transmitted, and after performing transmission of a portion (1314) of the entire data scheduled for transmission, an n-bit indicator (1312) transmitted at the middle of the D2R signal (transmitted during the transmission of the D2D signal) may be transmitted. At this time, the middle of the transmission may be a time such as after performing transmission of half (1314) of the entire data scheduled for transmission (after half (1314) of the data to be transmitted has been transmitted), but is not limited to this example. After the transmission of the n-bit indicator (1312) transmitted at the middle of the D2R signal, transmission of the remaining data (1315) may be performed. Subsequently, an n-bit indicator (1313) transmitted at the end of the D2R signal may be transmitted. The information indicated by each n-bit indicator may be followed by reference to Example 2.

[0164] In this example, the availability of whether a device can perform D2R transmission was described, but this can be replaced with other operations that the device can perform. For example, the above procedure can also be defined for operations such as whether the device can perform D2R repeated transmission, whether the device can perform R2D reception of a certain length or longer, or whether the device can perform D2R transmission of a certain length or longer.

[0165] A 1-bit indicator can have the advantage of efficiently transmitting the device's energy status information to the reader without significantly increasing the length of the D2R transmission. An n-bit indicator (n>1) can have the advantage of transmitting the device's energy status information to the reader in more detail compared to a 1-bit indicator. A time-step indicator can have the advantage of allowing the reader to identify additional information regarding the device's availability and utilize it for device scheduling by reporting the device's energy status information that changes over time to the reader.

[0166] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of Examples 3-1 to 3-4 regarding the indication of the ESR may be predetermined and not indicated to the device. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of Examples 3-1 to 3-4 regarding the indication of the ESR.

[0167] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of Examples 3-1 to 3-4 regarding the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device via a SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods of Examples 3-1 to 3-4 regarding the device.

[0168] Example 4: Reporting of device's ESR-related capability

[0169] In an Ambient IoT system, a device can report ESR-related capabilities to a leader. This can be reported to the leader via a D2R transmission when the initial connection between the leader and the device is established, or when performing data transmission through additional D2R transmissions. For example, the device can report to the leader the maximum memory size or capacity for storing energy status logs for ESR report generation, the storage cycle, and the log retention period as its capabilities. Additionally, the device can report to the leader the time required to generate an ESR report, the information processing speed during generation, the feasibility of ESR reporting and generation itself, the possibility of ESR reporting for each device state when a sleep state or active state is defined, and the maximum number of reports as its capabilities. Upon receiving these capability reports from the device, the leader may instruct additional ESR-related settings tailored to the device's capabilities or request ESR transmission from the device by referencing its capabilities.

[0170] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the operation when a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure performs a random connection procedure to connect to a reader. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the random connection procedure is performed through the transmission of messages Msg1 to Msg3, but this is not limited to this embodiment, and some procedures may be omitted or added depending on the information included in each message. In addition, ESR setting information, ESR request, ESR, etc. transmitted in this example may be transmitted in messages other than those presented, and is not limited to this example. Messages such as ESR setting information, ESR request, ESR, etc. may be included in all R2D or D2R transmissions between the device and the reader, not just in the random connection procedure, and are not limited to this example.

[0171] The drawing of FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary method that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the method illustrated in the flowchart. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, the various steps in each drawing may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In other examples, steps may be omitted or replaced with other steps.

[0172] In steps (1402) and (1406), the reader (1400) may send an A-IoT paging message to the device (1401) to trigger an A-IoT random access procedure. The A-IoT paging message may include at least some or all of the configuration information of the upper layer or physical layer required for the device to perform ESR. In steps (1403) and (1407) of FIG. 14 (b), the device (1401) may determine an ESR transmission parameter based on the received ESR configuration information. Based on the parameter, it may be transmitted to the reader (1400) via A-IoT Msg1, for example, including a 1-bit ESR. In this example, by indicating '1' as the 1-bit ESR, the device (1401) may report to the reader (1400) that the total amount of energy in the device's capacitor is currently below a specific energy level. At this time, a specific energy level may be set from the reader via the A-IoT paging message.

[0173] According to one embodiment, in steps (1403) and (1407), the device (1401) may include the ESR in the preamble of the A-IoT Msg1 and transmit it to the reader (1400). According to one embodiment, the indication of the ESR included in the preamble may be transmitted through the methods of A) to D) below.

[0174] A) A method of setting (or reserving) the indication of the above ESR to N-bit (where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 1).

[0175] B) A method for setting (or reserving) a specific occasion for the indication of the above ESR (e.g., an occasion corresponding to the lowest ID or the highest ID)

[0176] C) Method for setting (or reserving) a specific RNTI codepoint for the indication of the above ESR

[0177] D) A method of combining at least one of the methods A) to C) above.

[0178] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods of A) to D) for the device (1401) may not be predetermined and indicated. According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be predetermined together with at least one of the reporting methods of A) to D) for the device (1401).

[0179] According to one embodiment, at least one of the reporting methods A) to D) regarding the indication of the ESR may be indicated (or set) to the device (1401) via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the reporting method may be indicated (or set) to the device (1401) via the SIB together with at least one of the reporting methods A) to D) regarding the device (1401).

[0180] In steps (1404) and (1408), the reader (1400) may transmit an A-IoT Msg2 to the device (1401) to continue the random access procedure. It can be assumed that the reader may transmit information regarding the transmission resources for the transmission of the A-IoT Msg3 through the A-IoT Msg2. The reader may instruct the D2R transmission parameters by performing the R2D transmission. At this time, the reader may refer to the ESR received from the device to determine that the device's current energy reserve is insufficient, and may send setting information to transmit the Msg3 at a later timing (1410), for example, than the time (1409) when the Msg3 transmission was originally intended to be instructed. Thus, the device can obtain sufficient energy required to transmit the Msg3 by performing energy harvesting for a longer period of time.

[0181] In steps (1405) and (1410), the device can transmit an A-IoT Msg3 based on the configuration information in the received A-IoT Msg2.

[0182] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the operation when a device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure performs a random connection procedure to connect to a reader.

[0183] In this embodiment, it is assumed that a random access procedure is performed through the transmission of messages Msg1 to Msg3, but this is not limited to this embodiment, and some procedures may be omitted or added depending on the information included in each message. In addition, ESR setting information, ESR request, ESR, etc. transmitted in this example may be transmitted in messages other than those presented, and are not limited to this example. Messages such as ESR setting information, ESR request, ESR, etc. may be included in all R2D or D2R transmissions between the device and the reader, not just in the random access procedure, and are not limited to this example.

[0184] The drawing of FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary method that can be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the method illustrated in the flowchart. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, the various steps in each drawing may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In other examples, steps may be omitted or replaced with other steps.

[0185] In steps (1502) and (1508), the reader (1500) may send an A-IoT paging message to the device (1501) to trigger an A-IoT random access procedure. The A-IoT paging message may include at least some or all of the configuration information of the upper layer or physical layer required for the device to perform ESR.

[0186] In steps (1503) and (1509), the device (1501) may report an ESR capability to the reader. The content of the reported ESR capability may vary depending on the received ESR setting information. The capability may include information related to the ability to report ESR, such as whether ESR reporting is possible, the number of ESR reporting bits, and the types of energy statuses that can be reported.

[0187] In steps (1504) and (1510), the reader (1500) may transmit an A-IoT Msg2 to the device (1501) to continue the random access procedure. At this time, the reader may transmit an ESR request to the device via the A-IoT Msg2 by referring to the ESR capability report. The ESR request may include the ESR configuration information, and the information may be updated and used by retransmitting some of the information previously included in the A-IoT paging message.

[0188] In steps (1505) through (1507) and steps (1511) through (1513), the device may report to the reader by including the ESR in the subsequent A-IoT Msg3 based on the received ESR request. In this example, the reader may instruct the device to repeat the A-IoT Msg3 three times, and such instructions may be included in the A-IoT paging or A-IoT Msg2 or may be pre-configured in the terminal. At this time, the device may want to report via ESR whether it currently holds sufficient energy in the capacitor to perform the subsequent D2R transmission after performing the D2R transmission. The determination of whether there is sufficient energy may be made by whether the total amount of energy currently held exceeds a specific threshold value received from the reader, and this method is not limited to this embodiment. In steps (1506) and (1512), the device performs a second iteration transmission and may report to the reader via the ESR that it does not currently possess sufficient energy to perform the subsequent third iteration transmission. Therefore, the subsequent third iteration transmission (1507, 1513) is not performed, and the reader may anticipate this transmission cancellation or omission via the ESR.

[0189] According to one embodiment, a transmission and reception method for at least one of the ESR setting information, ESR request, and ESR described in FIG. 15 may be predetermined and not indicated to the device and / or reader. According to one embodiment, a priority for the transmission and reception method may be predetermined along with the transmission and reception method for at least one of the ESR setting information, ESR request, and ESR described in FIG. 15.

[0190] According to one embodiment, a transmission and reception method for at least one of the ESR setting information, ESR request, and ESR described in 15 may be indicated (or set) to a device via a system information block (SIB). According to one embodiment, a priority for the transmission and reception method may be indicated (or set) to a device via a SIB along with the transmission and reception method for at least one of the ESR setting information, ESR request, and ESR described in 15. For more specific details regarding the operation of a reader according to one embodiment of the present disclosure described above, refer to the description of one embodiment of the present disclosure described above.

[0191] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the structure of a device in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0192] Referring to FIG. 16, the device may include a transceiver (1600, 1606) referring to a device receiver (1600) and a device transmitter (1606), a memory (1604), and a device processing unit (1603, or a device control unit or processor). Additionally, in the case of a low-power device, it may include an energy collection unit (1601) and an energy storage unit (1602) to support energy harvesting. When the device receives a CW transmitted from the outside and generates a D2R signal by reflecting it, a backscattering unit (1605) required for backscattering may be included in the device. If the device directly generates a signal internally and generates a D2R signal through it, the corresponding unit may not be included in the device. According to the communication method of the device described above, the device transmitter (1606), receiver (1600), energy collection unit (1601), energy storage unit (1602), backscattering unit (1605), memory (1604), and device processing unit (1603) may operate. The device processing unit (1603, or processor) may control the operation of the device according to each of the embodiments described above, as well as a combination of at least one embodiment.

[0193] However, the components of the device are not limited to the examples described above. For instance, the device may include more or fewer components than those described above. Furthermore, the transceiver, memory, and processor may be implemented as a single chip.

[0194] The transceiver can transmit and receive signals with a reader. Here, the signal may include control information and data. To this end, the transceiver may be composed of an RF transmitter that up-converts and amplifies the frequency of a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver that low-noise amplifies a received signal and down-converts its frequency. However, this is merely one embodiment of the transceiver, and the components of the transceiver are not limited to an RF transmitter and an RF receiver.

[0195] In addition, the transceiver receives a signal through a wireless channel and outputs it to a processor, and can transmit the signal output from the processor through a wireless channel.

[0196] Memory can store programs and data necessary for the operation of the device. Additionally, memory can store control information or data included in signals transmitted and received by the device. Memory can be composed of storage media or combinations of storage media, such as ROM, RAM, hard disks, CD-ROMs, and DVDs. Additionally, there may be multiple memory units.

[0197] In addition, the processor can control a series of processes to enable the device to operate according to the aforementioned embodiment. For example, there may be multiple processors, and the processors can perform component control operations of the device by executing a program stored in memory.

[0198] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the structure of a reader in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The reader may be a device designed for a base station, a terminal, or a low-power communication device in a wireless communication system.

[0199] Referring to FIG. 17, the reader may include a transceiver unit referring to a reader receiver (1700) and a reader transmitter (1702), a memory (not shown), and a reader processing unit (1701, or reader control unit or processor). According to the communication method of the reader described above, the transceiver unit (1700, 1702), memory, and reader processing unit (1701) of the reader may operate. The reader processing unit (1701, or processor) may control the operation of the reader according to each of the embodiments described above, as well as a combination of at least one embodiment. However, the components of the reader are not limited to the examples described above. For example, the reader may include more components or fewer components than the components described above. Furthermore, the transceiver unit, memory, and processor may be implemented in the form of a single chip.

[0200] The transceiver can transmit and receive signals with a device. Here, the signal may include control information and data. To this end, the transceiver may be composed of an RF transmitter that up-converts and amplifies the frequency of a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver that low-noise amplifies a received signal and down-converts its frequency. However, this is merely one embodiment of the transceiver, and the components of the transceiver are not limited to an RF transmitter and an RF receiver.

[0201] In addition, the transceiver receives a signal through a wireless channel and outputs it to a processor, and can transmit the signal output from the processor through a wireless channel.

[0202] The memory can store programs and data necessary for the operation of the reader. Additionally, the memory can store control information or data included in signals transmitted and received by the reader. The memory may be composed of storage media or combinations of storage media, such as ROM, RAM, hard disks, CD-ROMs, and DVDs. Additionally, there may be multiple memories.

[0203] The processor can control a series of processes to enable the reader to operate according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described above. There may be multiple processors, and the processors can perform component control operations of the reader by executing a program stored in memory.

[0204] Methods according to the claims or embodiments described in the specification of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0205] When implemented in software, a computer-readable storage medium may be provided for storing one or more programs (software modules). One or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium are configured for execution by one or more processors within an electronic device. One or more programs include instructions that cause the electronic device to execute methods according to the claims or embodiments described in the specification of this disclosure.

[0206] Such programs (software modules, software) may be stored in random access memory, non-volatile memory including flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), magnetic disc storage devices, Compact Disc-ROM (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), or other forms of optical storage devices, magnetic cassettes. Alternatively, they may be stored in memory composed of some or all of these. Additionally, each constituent memory may include multiple units.

[0207] Additionally, the program may be stored on an attachable storage device accessible via a communication network such as the Internet, Intranet, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide LAN (WLAN), or Storage Area Network (SAN), or a combination thereof. Such a storage device may be connected to a device performing an embodiment of the present disclosure through an external port. Additionally, a separate storage device on a communication network may be connected to a device performing an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0208] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described above, the components included in the embodiments are expressed in a singular or plural form according to the specific embodiments presented. However, the singular or plural expression is selected to suit the situation presented for convenience of explanation, and the present disclosure is not limited to singular or plural components; even if a component is expressed in the plural form, it may be composed of a singular form, and even if a component is expressed in the singular form, it may be composed of a plural form.

[0209] Meanwhile, the embodiments of the present disclosure disclosed in this specification and drawings are merely specific examples provided to facilitate the explanation of the technical content of the present disclosure and to aid in understanding the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. That is, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that other variations based on the technical concept of the present disclosure are possible. Furthermore, each of the above embodiments may be combined and operated together as needed.

Claims

1. In a method by means of a device in a wireless communication system, A step of receiving configuration information from a reader for an energy status report (ESR) of the above device; A step of generating the ESR based on setting information for the ESR; and A method comprising the step of transmitting to the reader, including the ESR for each repetition transmission or segmentation transmission of a TB (transport block) in the physical layer.

2. In paragraph 1, the setting information for the ESR is, A method comprising at least one of device-common configuration information for a device group including at least one device, device-specific configuration information, information on an ESR reporting period, information on the bit length of the ESR, information on how the ESR is multiplexed with data, or a threshold value used to generate the ESR.

3. In Paragraph 1, A step of multiplexing the ESR in the form of a MAC CE (control element) into a MAC (medium access control) SDU (service data unit); or A method comprising the step of multiplexing the ESR into a MAC PDU (protocol data unit).

4. In Paragraph 1, If the MAC data including the ESR above does not satisfy the TB size condition, the step of dividing the MAC data into a first TB and a second TB; The step of adding the above ESR to the above first TB preceding the above second TB; and A method comprising the step of repeatedly transmitting the first TB containing the above ESR a preset number of times.

5. In a method using a reader in a wireless communication system, A step of transmitting configuration information for an energy status report (ESR) of a device to the device; and The method includes the step of receiving the ESR generated based on the configuration information for the ESR from the device. A method in which the ESR is included for each repetition transmission or segmentation transmission of a TB (transport block) in the physical layer.

6. In paragraph 5, the setting information for the above ESR is, A method comprising at least one of device-common configuration information for a device group including at least one device, device-specific configuration information, information on an ESR reporting period, information on the bit length of the ESR, information on how the ESR is multiplexed with data, or a threshold value used to generate the ESR.

7. In Paragraph 5, A method in which the above ESR is multiplexed in the form of a MAC CE (control element) to a MAC (medium access control) SDU (service data unit) or multiplexed to a MAC PDU (protocol data unit).

8. In Paragraph 5, If the MAC data including the above ESR does not satisfy the TB size condition, the MAC data is divided into a first TB and a second TB, and The ESR is added to the first TB preceding the second TB, and A method in which the first TB including the above ESR is repeatedly transmitted a preset number of times.

9. In a device in a wireless communication system, At least one transceiver; At least one processor connected to communicate with the above at least one transceiver; and It includes at least one memory that is communicably connected to the at least one processor and stores instructions that are executable individually or in combination by the at least one processor. The above command is that the above device: Receive configuration information for the energy status report (ESR) of the above device from the reader, and Generate the ESR based on the setting information for the above ESR, and A device that transmits to the reader, including the ESR, for each repetition transmission or segmentation transmission of a TB (transport block) in the physical layer.

10. In paragraph 9, the setting information for the above ESR is, A device comprising at least one of device-common configuration information for a device group including at least one device, device-specific configuration information, information on an ESR reporting period, information on the bit length of the ESR, information on how the ESR is multiplexed with data, or a threshold value used to generate the ESR.

11. In paragraph 9, the above command is that the device: Multiplexing the above ESR in the form of a MAC CE (control element) into a MAC (medium access control) SDU (service data unit), or A device that multiplexes the ESR into a MAC PDU (protocol data unit).

12. In paragraph 9, the above command is that the device: If the MAC data including the above ESR does not satisfy the TB size condition, the MAC data is divided into a first TB and a second TB, and Add the above ESR to the above 1 TB preceding the above 2 TB, and A device that transmits the first TB including the above ESR repeatedly a preset number of times.

13. In a reader in a wireless communication system, At least one transceiver; At least one processor connected to communicate with the above at least one transceiver; and It includes at least one memory that is communicably connected to the at least one processor and stores instructions that are executable individually or in combination by the at least one processor. The above command is the above reader: Transmit configuration information for the device's energy status report (ESR) to the device, and The device receives the ESR generated based on the configuration information for the ESR, and A reader that includes the ESR for each repetition transmission or segmentation transmission of a TB (transport block) in the physical layer.

14. In Clause 13, the setting information for the above ESR is, A reader comprising at least one of device-common configuration information for a device group including at least one device, device-specific configuration information, information on an ESR reporting period, information on the bit length of the ESR, information on how the ESR is multiplexed with data, or a threshold value used to generate the ESR.

15. In Paragraph 13, A reader in which the above ESR is multiplexed in the form of a MAC CE (control element) to a MAC (medium access control) SDU (service data unit) or multiplexed to a MAC PDU (protocol data unit).

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