Communication device and communication method

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to reduce power consumption of a terminal. This terminal comprises: a first wireless circuit; a second wireless circuit that operates at lower power than the first wireless circuit and receives a control signal instructing activation of the first wireless circuit from a sleep state; and a control circuit that controls a monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit on the basis of the control state of the first wireless circuit.

Description

Communication device and communication method

[0001] This disclosure relates to communication devices and communication methods.

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) completed the specification development of New Radio Access Technology (NR) in Release 15 as a standard specification for realizing 5th Generation mobile communication systems (5G). Release 15 NR focused on functions that enable high-speed and high-capacity communication, and in Release 16 and beyond, in order to expand these functions and new scenarios or use cases, technologies that realize highly reliable and low-latency communication, simultaneous connection of many terminals, low cost, and low power consumption have been considered (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 1).

[0003] 3GPP TS 38.300 V18.4.0, "NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall description; Stage-2 ", December 2024. 3GPP TS 38.840 V16.0.0, "NR; Study on User Equipment (UE) power saving in NR ", June 2019. 3GPP TS 38.212 V18.5.0, "NR; Multiplexing and channel coding", December 2024. 3GPP TR 38.869 V18.0.0, "Study on low-power wake-up signal and receiver for NR ", Dec. 2023. 3GPP TS38.321 V18.4.0, 5G;NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol specification, December 2024. 3GPP TS38.331 V18.4.0, 5G;NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol specification, December 2024. 3GPP TS38.213 V18.5.0, 5G;NR; Physical layer procedures for control, December 2024.

[0004] There is room for further consideration regarding power consumption reduction of the terminal.

[0005] Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure contribute to providing a communication device and a communication method capable of reducing power consumption of a terminal.

[0006] A communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first radio circuit, a second radio circuit that operates with less power compared to the first radio circuit and receives a control signal for instructing activation from the sleep state of the first radio circuit, and a control circuit that controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second radio circuit based on the control state of the first radio circuit.

[0007] These comprehensive or specific embodiments may be implemented as systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, or recording media, or as any combination of systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, and recording media.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a terminal with lower power consumption.

[0009] Further advantages and effects of one embodiment of this disclosure will be made apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or effects are provided by several embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them are necessarily provided in order to obtain one or more identical features.

[0010] Figures illustrating system configurations incorporating Low-Power Wake Up Receiver (LP-WUR) and Low-Power Wake Up Signal (LP-WUS); Figures illustrating the operation of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring; Figures illustrating the operation of timers related to retransmission control; Figures illustrating the operation of timers related to retransmission control; Figures illustrating the operation of PDCCH skipping; Figures illustrating the operation of Search Space Set Group (SSSG) switching; Figures illustrating the operation of LP-WUS monitoring; Block diagrams illustrating some configurations of a base station; Block diagrams illustrating some configurations of a terminal; Block diagrams illustrating some configurations of a base station; Block diagrams illustrating some configurations of a terminal; Flow diagrams illustrating terminal operation; Flow diagrams illustrating terminal operation; Figure 3: Exemplary architecture of a GPP NR system; Figure 5: Exemplary functional partitioning in G O-RAN.

[0011] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is a technology defined in LTE (Long Term Evolution) that enables low power consumption in terminals (UE: User Equipment). In DRX, for example, the terminal repeats a DRX cycle at regular intervals, consisting of a wake-up period (also called "OnDuration" or "DRX active state") in which it monitors (or monitors and receives) signals such as the downlink control signal PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and a sleep period (also called "OffDuration" or "DRX inactive state") in which signal monitoring is not required. This ensures sleep time and reduces the terminal's power consumption.

[0013] The DRX cycle is called the "C-DRX (Connected DRX) cycle" in RRC CONNECTED mode, for example. In Release 16, assuming C-DRX cycle operation, the WUS (Wake Up Signal) was defined as Downlink Control Information (DCI) in DCI format 2_6.

[0014] WUS notifies terminals in the RRC CONNECTED state, and the terminal is instructed to wake up or skip PDCCH monitoring before the C-DRX active section (this instruction is also called a "wake-up indication"). This allows the terminal to know in advance whether PDCCH monitoring is necessary and reduces unnecessary wake-ups, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal in the RRC CONNECTED state (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 2 and 3).

[0015] [LP-WUR, LP-WUS] In Release 18, it was considered to add a new low-power receiving module called LP-WUR (Low-Power Wake Up Receiver, hereinafter also referred to as "LR" or "LR unit") to the terminal. The LP-WUR monitors the LP-WUS (Low-Power Wake Up Signal), which is a control signal different from the DCI format transmitted by PDCCH, such as the WUS defined in Release 16. For example, the LP-WUR may be a control signal with a simple waveform, such as OOK (ON-OFF Keying). By using LP-WUS, it is being considered to reduce the power consumption related to terminal wake-up (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 4).

[0016] LP-WUS is being considered for use at least in notifying terminals of wake-up. The payload size for wake-up notifications is constrained to simplify LP-WUS generation and simplify and conserve power reception processing by LP-WUR.

[0017] For example, it is being considered that a terminal in the RRC CONNECTED state equipped with LP-WUR can trigger a wake-up (activation) of an existing NR receiving module (also called the "main receiver," "Main Radio (MR)," or "MR unit") in sleep mode, depending on the content of the LP-WUS notification received, and that the activated MR can perform PDCCH monitoring based on the NR signal processing procedure.

[0018] Figure 1 shows an example of a system configuration incorporating LP-WUR and LP-WUS. The system shown in Figure 1 may include, for example, a base station (also called a gNB) and a terminal (UE). As shown in Figure 1, the terminal may be equipped with an NR signal receiving module (MR unit) and a standby receiving-only module (LR unit). The LR unit operates at lower power than the MR unit. By equipping the terminal with an LR unit that operates at lower power than the MR unit, a terminal with lower power consumption can be provided.

[0019] In Figure 1, the LR unit, for example, intermittently or continuously receives LP-WUS at regular intervals. The LR unit may perform intermittent or continuous reception at regular intervals regardless of the operating state of the MR unit (e.g., signal standby state or sleep state). In addition to the NR signal, the base station transmits LP-WUS as a control signal to the LR unit.

[0020] The terminal demodulates and decodes the received LP-WUS signal in the LR section. The LP-WUS receiving antenna may be the same as the NR signal receiving antenna, as shown in Figure 1, or it may be dedicated to LP-WUS reception.

[0021] When the terminal is in the RRC CONNECTED state, if the decoding result in the LR unit includes an instruction to activate the MR unit, the terminal activates the MR unit in response to the instruction from the LR unit and performs NR signal monitoring. In these configurations, the terminal's power consumption can be reduced by using low-power LP-WUS detection by the LR unit and ensuring a sleep time for the MR unit.

[0022] [LP-WUS detection by LR and PDCCH monitoring by MR] The following two procedures are being considered for the operation of LP-WUS monitoring (detection) and PDCCH monitoring at the terminal. Figures 2 and 3 show examples of the operation of LP-WUS monitoring and PDCCH monitoring.

[0023] Figures 2 and 3 show the operation of the LR and MR units in chronological order. The terminal monitors the LP-WUS in the LR unit during the LP-WUS monitoring interval (MO: Monitoring Occasion), which is repeated at regular intervals. When the LR unit receives and demodulates the LP-WUS and detects an instruction to start the MR unit, the terminal starts the MR unit and monitors the PDCCH.

[0024] In the first monitoring operation procedure shown in Figure 2, the terminal starts the on-duration (active time) of the C-DRX cycle operation triggered by an LP-WUS (e.g., an LP-WUS instructing wake-up), and monitors the PDCCH within the on-duration interval. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2, if the terminal does not receive (or detect) an LP-WUS, or if it receives (or detects) an LP-WUS instructing not to wake up, it does not start the on-duration of the C-DRX cycle operation and does not monitor the PDCCH. The operation shown in Figure 2 is the same as when the terminal receives an existing DCI format 2_6.

[0025] In the second monitoring operation procedure shown in Figure 3, the terminal, triggered by an LP-WUS received at least outside the C-DRX on-duration interval (e.g., an LP-WUS instructing wake-up), starts a separate timer different from the timers associated with the existing C-DRX operation, and monitors the PDCCH within the operating interval of that timer.

[0026] [C-DRX Timer related to the Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest process] Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) is a technology widely supported in current wireless communication standards and is a communication reliability enhancement technology that controls data retransmission based on ACK / NACK (Acknowledgement / Negative ACK) feedback, which is a response signal.

[0027] Timers related to the DRX operation of terminals in the HARQ process include "drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL" and "drx-RetransmissionTimerDL" for downlink communication, and "drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL" and "drx-RetransmissionTimerUL" for uplink communication (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 5 and 6).

[0028] Figure 4 shows an example of operation when drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL and drx-RetransmissionTimerDL are applied.

[0029] In Figure 4, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is a timer that defines the minimum time until resource allocation (e.g., DL assignment) of the downlink (e.g., PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel) for HARQ data retransmission. drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL may be started, for example, after a response signal (e.g., HARQ NACK) to downlink data (e.g., PDSCH) is sent from the terminal. While drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is operating, the terminal is inactive and does not send or receive signals.

[0030] Furthermore, in Figure 4, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL is a timer that defines the maximum period until a retransmission by HARQ (e.g., a PDSCH retransmission) is received. drx-RetransmissionTimerDL may be started after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL has finished. While drx-RetransmissionTimerDL is running, the terminal remains active to receive the retransmitted data.

[0031] Figure 5 shows an example of operation when drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL are applied.

[0032] In Figure 5, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL is a timer that defines the minimum time until resource allocation of the uplink (e.g., PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel) for data retransmission by HARQ. drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL may be started, for example, after uplink data (e.g., PUSCH) has been transmitted from the terminal. While drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL is operating, the terminal is inactive and does not send or receive signals.

[0033] Furthermore, in Figure 5, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is a timer that defines the maximum period until it receives uplink resource allocation information (e.g., UL assignment) to be used for retransmission by HARQ (e.g., PUSCH retransmission). drx-RetransmissionTimerUL may be started after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL has finished. While drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is running, the terminal remains active to receive uplink resource allocation information to be used for retransmission.

[0034] [PDCCH skipping] In Release 17, "PDCCH skipping" was introduced to reduce the number of PDCCH monitoring opportunities by stopping PDCCH monitoring for a certain period during the PDCCH monitoring period, with the aim of saving power during the terminal's PDCCH monitoring operation (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 7).

[0035] For example, as shown in Figure 6, a terminal that is active and monitoring the PDCCH may suspend PDCCH monitoring for a certain period of time based on instructions from the base station via DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, or DCI format 1_1, DCI format 1_2) (e.g., a PDCCH skipping indication). After the period of suspension of PDCCH monitoring has elapsed, the terminal may resume PDCCH monitoring.

[0036] The period during which the terminal stops monitoring the PDCCH may be pre-configured (or instructed / notified) by the base station to the terminal, for example, via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

[0037] [SSSG switching] In Release 17, "SSSG (Search Space Set Group) switching" was introduced as a technology to reduce power consumption of terminals by reducing the opportunities for PDCCH monitoring while terminals are monitoring PDCCH (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 7).

[0038] For example, as shown in Figure 7, a terminal that is in an active state and monitoring the PDCCH may switch the SSSG based on instructions from the base station in DCI (e.g., DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, or DCI format 1_1, DCI format 1_2) (e.g., SSSG switching indication).

[0039] SSSGs (for example, candidate SSSGs) may be pre-configured (or notified) to the terminal via RRC messages. A terminal may be configured with multiple SSSGs, and each SSSG may have its own individually configured PDCCH monitoring cycle (for example, different monitoring cycles).

[0040] The base station transmits a DCI (Data Control Indicator) to notify the terminal of a change (or switch) in the SSSG based on the data transmission cycle to the terminal. The terminal switches the SSSG for a certain period of time based on the notification from the base station. In the example in Figure 7, the terminal switches from SSSG0, which continuously monitors the PDCCH, to SSSG1, which has a coarser monitoring interval for the PDCCH than SSSG0, based on the DCI instructing the SSSG switching. This allows the terminal to monitor the PDCCH at a cycle that matches the data transmission interval from the base station.

[0041] This concludes the explanation of SSSG switching.

[0042] As mentioned above, reducing terminal power consumption can be achieved by reducing the opportunities for unnecessary transmission and reception of NR signals and ensuring sufficient sleep time for the MR unit. Furthermore, even with a low-power LP-WUR, it is possible to reduce terminal power consumption by reducing the opportunities for the LP-WUR to monitor the LP-WUS.

[0043] In Release 19, the association between the timer related to C-DRX operation in a CONNECTED state terminal and the LP-WUS monitoring operation in the terminal is being discussed. As one of the discussions, the monitoring operation of LP-WUS in cooperation with the operation period of drx-inactivityTimer is being examined.

[0044] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, drx-inactivityTimer may be started after the terminal detects PDCCH during the operation period of drx-onDurationTimer (e.g., the On-duration period). During the operation period of drx-inactivityTimer, the terminal does not transition to the inactive state, maintains the active state, and continues to monitor PDCCH. For example, it may be defined that the terminal is in an active state (e.g., C-DRX active time) during the periods when drx-onDurationTimer and drx-inactivityTimer are operating, and the terminal is in an inactive state (e.g., C-DRX inactive time) in other periods.

[0045] Also, as shown in FIG. 8, it is being considered to monitor LP-WUS during the period when the terminal is in an inactive state.

[0046] On the other hand, similar to the timers related to C-DRX operations such as drx-onDurationTimer and drx-inactivityTimer, the timer related to the HARQ process (e.g., refer to FIG. 4 or FIG. 5), which is a timer that controls the active and inactive states of the terminal, has not been sufficiently examined regarding the LP-WUS monitoring operation in an operating terminal.

[0047] Also, similar to the timer, PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching that controls the PDCCH monitoring interval has not been sufficiently examined regarding the LP-WUS monitoring operation in an operating terminal.

[0048] In a non-limiting example embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for LP-WUS monitoring that reduces power consumption in a terminal in which a timer related to a HARQ process, PDCCH skipping, or SSSG switching is operating will be described.

[0049] Hereinafter, non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0050] [Overview of Communication System] A communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes, for example, at least one base station 100 (e.g., corresponding to a communication device) and at least one terminal 200 (e.g., corresponding to a communication device). The terminal 200 may include, for example, an MR part and an LR part.

[0051] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of the base station 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of the terminal 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] In the base station 100 shown in FIG. 9, a control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) has a first radio circuit (e.g., an MR part) and a second radio circuit (e.g., an LR part) that operates with less power compared to the first radio circuit, and generates a control signal (e.g., LP-WUS) for instructing the activation of the first radio circuit from the sleep state to the terminal 200 that controls the signal monitoring operation by the second radio circuit based on the control state of the first radio circuit. A communication unit (e.g., corresponding to a transmission circuit) transmits the control signal.

[0053] In the terminal 200 shown in FIG. 10, the communication unit includes a first radio circuit (e.g., an MR part) and a second radio circuit (e.g., an LR part) that operates with less power compared to the first radio circuit and receives a control signal (e.g., LP-WUS) for instructing the activation of the first radio circuit from the sleep state. A control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second radio circuit based on the control state of the first radio circuit.

[0054] (Embodiment 1) The purpose of LP-WUS for a terminal in the RRC CONNECTED state is to issue a startup command to the MR unit for PDCCH monitoring. The terminal can maintain the sleep state of the MR unit until it is activated by the detection of LP-WUS by the LR unit, thus maintaining a low power consumption state in the terminal.

[0055] Here, regarding terminal operations based on the timers related to HARQ operation (e.g., drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL, and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL) as described above, the terminal is aware of the timing of the end of operation based on each timer. Therefore, a terminal that is inactive due to timer control related to HARQ operation can transition to an active state even without additional activation instructions. Thus, during the operation period of the timers related to HARQ operation, it is not necessary to receive activation instructions for the MR unit by LP-WUS.

[0056] Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, terminal 200 may stop monitoring LP-WUS while the timer related to HARQ operation (e.g., retransmission control) is running (during operation). This makes it possible to suppress the increase in power consumption of terminal 200 while the timer related to the HARQ process is running.

[0057] Furthermore, in PDCCH skipping operation (see, for example, Figure 6) and SSSG switching operation (see, for example, Figure 7), the terminal is aware of the monitored and unmonitored sections of the PDCCH. Therefore, the terminal does not need to monitor LP-WUS even during the unmonitored sections of the PDCCH in PDCCH skipping operation or SSSG switching operation.

[0058] Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring operation during PDCCH skipping and SSSG switching operations (for example, during the non-monitoring and monitoring sections of the PDCCH). This suppresses the increase in power consumption of terminal 200 during PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching operations. Furthermore, since frequent switching between the PDCCH monitoring operation by the MR unit and the LP-WUS monitoring operation by the LR unit is not required, the processing load on terminal 200 can be reduced.

[0059] [Example of Base Station 100 Configuration] Figure 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a base station 100 according to this embodiment. The base station 100 may include, for example, a receiving unit 101, a demodulation / decoding unit 102, a scheduling unit 103, a control information holding unit 104, an LP-WUS signal generation unit 105, an LP-WUS modulation unit 106, a data / control signal generation unit 107, an encoding / modulation unit 108, and a transmitting unit 109.

[0060] Furthermore, at least one of the demodulation / decoding unit 102, scheduling unit 103, control information holding unit 104, LP-WUS signal generation unit 105, LP-WUS modulation unit 106, data / control signal generation unit 107, and encoding / modulation unit 108 shown in Figure 11 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 9. At least one of the receiving unit 101 and transmitting unit 109 shown in Figure 11 may be included in the communication unit shown in Figure 9.

[0061] The receiving unit 101 performs reception processing such as down-conversion and A / D conversion on the received signal received via the antenna, and outputs the processed signal to the demodulation / decoding unit 102.

[0062] The demodulation / decoding unit 102 demodulates and decodes the received signal input from the receiving unit 101, and outputs control information (e.g., scheduling requests, etc.) transmitted from the terminal 200 from the decoding result to the scheduling unit 103. The demodulation / decoding unit 102 also outputs the demodulated and coded uplink data (UL data).

[0063] The scheduling unit 103 performs scheduling for the terminals 200 within the cell. For example, the scheduling unit 103 may determine control information related to the LP-WUS settings of the terminals 200 (for example, also called LP-WUS setting information) or control information related to PDCCH monitoring (for example, also called PDCCH monitoring control information) based on the capabilities of the terminals 200, such as whether or not the terminals 200 have an LR unit installed (for example, UE capability), information reported from the terminals 200, such as the presence or absence of DL data to the terminals 200, startup instructions to the terminals 200, and the presence or absence of UL data from the terminals 200. The scheduling unit 103 may also determine scheduling information for the terminals 200.

[0064] The scheduling unit 103 outputs the determined control information to the control information holding unit 104. The scheduling unit 103 also outputs the determined scheduling information to the encoding and modulation unit 108. The scheduling unit 103 also outputs LP-WUS setting information to the LP-WUS signal generation unit 105 and the LP-WUS modulation unit 106. The scheduling unit 103 also outputs signaling information regarding LP-WUS assignment to the LP-WUS modulation unit 106. The scheduling unit 103 also outputs information (for example, called a data / control information generation instruction) to the data / control signal generation unit 107 that instructs the generation of at least one of data and control signals based on the determined control information (for example, including LP-WUS setting information, PDCCH monitoring and control information, and scheduling information).

[0065] The control information holding unit 104 holds the control information input from the scheduling unit 103 and outputs the held control information to the scheduling unit 103 as needed.

[0066] The LP-WUS signal generation unit 105 generates an LP-WUS signal sequence based on, for example, information from a higher layer and at least one of the LP-WUS setting information input from the scheduling unit 103, and outputs the generated LP-WUS signal sequence to the LP-WUS modulation unit 106.

[0067] The LP-WUS modulation unit 106 modulates the LP-WUS signal sequence input from the LP-WUS signal generation unit 105 and allocates resources based on the signaling information regarding LP-WUS allocation input from the scheduling unit 103, and outputs the LP-WUS signal to the transmission unit 109.

[0068] The data and control signal generation unit 107 generates at least one of the data for MR (DL data) and control information based on the data and control information generation instruction input from the scheduling unit 103, and outputs the generated signal to the encoding and modulation unit 108. The data and control signal generation unit 107 also arranges the data (for example, by allocating resources) based on the signaling information input from the scheduling unit 103 and outputs it to the encoding and modulation unit 108.

[0069] The encoding and modulation unit 108 encodes and modulates the signals input from the data and control signal generation unit 107 based on the scheduling information input from the scheduling unit 103, and outputs the generated transmission signal to the transmission unit 109.

[0070] The transmitting unit 109 performs transmission processing such as D / A conversion, upconversion, and amplification on the MR signal (e.g., NR signal) input from the encoding / modulation unit 108 and the LR signal (e.g., LP-WUS) input from the LP-WUS modulation unit 106, and transmits the processed wireless signal from the antenna to the terminal 200.

[0071] [Example Configuration of Terminal 200] Figure 12 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of terminal 200 according to this embodiment. Terminal 200 may include, for example, an LR unit 21 that performs LP-WUS reception processing and an MR unit 22 that performs NR signal transmission and reception processing.

[0072] Furthermore, for example, the LR unit 21 may include a reception control unit 201, an LP-WUS reception unit 202, an LP-WUS detection unit 203, and a control information holding unit 204. Also, for example, the MR unit 22 may include a reception control unit 205, a transmission control unit 206, an MR reception unit 207, a demodulation / decoding unit 208, a control information holding unit 209, a transmission signal generation unit 210, an encoding / modulation unit 211, and an MR transmission unit 212.

[0073] Note that at least one of the receiving control unit 201, LP-WUS detection unit 203, control information holding unit 204, receiving control unit 205, transmission control unit 206, demodulation / decoding unit 208, control information holding unit 209, transmission signal generation unit 210, and encoding / modulation unit 211 shown in Figure 12 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 10. At least one of the LP-WUS receiving unit 202, MR receiving unit 207, and MR transmitting unit 212 shown in Figure 12 may be included in the communication unit shown in Figure 10.

[0074] In the LR unit 21, the receiving control unit 201 controls the LP-WUS monitoring process linked to the control state of the MR unit 22 based on the control information input from the control information holding unit 209 of the MR unit 22, and instructs the LP-WUS receiving unit 202 to receive or monitor LP-WUS.

[0075] The LP-WUS receiving unit 202 performs reception processing such as down-conversion and A / D conversion on the LP-WUS received via the antenna, in accordance with the control of the receiving control unit 201, and outputs the processed signal (received LP-WUS) to the LP-WUS detection unit 203.

[0076] The LP-WUS detection unit 203 detects the demodulation and control information of the received LP-WUS input from the LP-WUS receiving unit 202, and acquires control information including, for example, the activation instruction for the MR unit 22, and outputs the acquired control information to the control information holding unit 204.

[0077] The control information holding unit 204 holds the control information input from the LP-WUS detection unit 203 and outputs the held control information (for example, a startup instruction) to the MR unit 22 (for example, the receiving control unit 205 or the transmitting control unit 206) as needed.

[0078] In the MR unit 22, the receiving control unit 205 performs the activation of the receiving function of the MR unit 22 and the reception control of the NR signal based on, for example, control information input from the control information holding unit 204 of the LR unit 21 (for example, control information related to the activation of the MR unit 22) and control information input from the control information holding unit 209 (for example, control information related to the reception of the MR unit 22). The receiving control unit 205 also gives instructions to the MR receiving unit 207 to activate and control signal reception based on, for example, the control information from the LR unit 21.

[0079] The transmission control unit 206 controls the activation of the transmission function of the MR unit 22 and the transmission of the NR signal based on control information input from the control information holding unit 204 of the LR unit 21 (for example, control information regarding the activation of the MR unit 22) and control information input from the control information holding unit 209 (for example, control information regarding the transmission of the MR unit 22). The transmission control unit 206 may, for example, instruct the transmission signal generation unit 210 to activate and generate a transmission signal based on the control information from the LR unit 21, and may also output data to be transmitted (for example, UL data).

[0080] The MR receiving unit 207 performs reception processing such as down-conversion and A / D conversion on the signal received via the antenna (for example, an NR signal) according to instructions from the receiving control unit 205, and outputs the processed signal to the demodulation / decoding unit 208.

[0081] The demodulation / decoding unit 208 demodulates and decodes the received signal input from the MR receiving unit 207 to acquire DL data or control information. The demodulation / decoding unit 208 outputs the acquired control information to the control information holding unit 209.

[0082] The control information holding unit 209 holds the control information input from the demodulation / decoding unit 208 and outputs the held control information (for example, information related to LP-WUS monitoring processing, information related to the transmission and reception of NR signals) to the LR unit 21 (for example, the receiving control unit 201) and the receiving control unit 205 or transmission control unit 206 of the MR unit 22 as needed.

[0083] The transmission signal generation unit 210 generates transmission data based on data or control information generation instructions input from the transmission control unit 206, and outputs the generated transmission data to the encoding and modulation unit 211.

[0084] The encoding and modulation unit 211 encodes and modulates the transmission data input from the transmission signal generation unit 210, and outputs the generated transmission signal to the MR transmission unit 212.

[0085] The MR transmission unit 212 performs transmission processing such as D / A conversion, upconversion, and amplification on the signal input from the encoding and modulation unit 211, and transmits the processed radio signal from the antenna to the base station 100.

[0086] [Example of operation of terminal 200] Below, an example of LP-WUS monitoring operation (for example, stopping and restarting LP-WUS monitoring) in terminal 200 having the above configuration will be described.

[0087] In this embodiment, the terminal 200 controls the monitoring operation of the LP-WUS in the LR unit 21 based on the control state of the MR unit 22.

[0088] For example, terminal 200 may stop monitoring LP-WUS by LR unit 21 if the control state of MR unit 22 falls under one or more of the following states (for example, if the conditions for stopping LP-WUS monitoring are met).

[0089] Alternatively, terminal 200 may detect LP-WUS if the control state of MR unit 22 falls under one or more of the following states, and may decide whether to use the detection result or discard the detection result depending on the implementation of terminal 200.

[0090] Furthermore, terminal 200 will monitor the LP-WUS using the LR unit 21 if the control state of the MR unit 22 does not fall under any of the following states (for example, if the conditions for stopping LP-WUS monitoring are not met). For example, terminal 200 may resume monitoring the LP-WUS using the LR unit 21 if, after stopping the LP-WUS monitoring operation, the control state of the MR unit 22 no longer falls under any of the following states (for example, if the conditions for stopping LP-WUS monitoring are not met).

[0091] <State 1: When the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer is running> Terminal 200 may stop monitoring the LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer (for example, while the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer is running).

[0092] Alternatively, during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer, the terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS using the LR unit 21, and may decide whether to use the detection results (for example, whether or not to use the detection results) depending on the implementation of the terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results. In other words, the terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer.

[0093] As described above, terminal 200 is aware of the inactive period from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer (for example, the period from sending an ACK / NACK until it can receive a PDSCH retransmission), and can transition to an active state even without a startup instruction from LP-WUS. In other words, terminal 200 understands that, by setting the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer, it will become active after the timer expires and will be able to monitor the PDCCH. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 1, terminal 200 can reduce power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while enabling the startup of the MR unit 22 for PDCCH monitoring (for example, transition to an active state due to the expiration of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer).

[0094] <State 2: State when the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer is running> Terminal 200 may stop monitoring the LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 during the active state of the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer from start to finish (for example, while the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer is running).

[0095] Alternatively, terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS using the LR unit 21 during the active state from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer, and may decide whether to use the detection results (for example, whether or not to use the detection results) depending on the implementation of terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results. In other words, terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the active state from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer.

[0096] Terminal 200 is already active from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL timer (for example, the period during which it can receive PDSCH retransmissions) even without a startup instruction from LP-WUS. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 2, terminal 200 can reduce its power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while still enabling PDCCH monitoring.

[0097] <State 3: When the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer is running> Terminal 200 may stop monitoring LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer (for example, while the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer is running).

[0098] Alternatively, during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer, the terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS using the LR unit 21, and may decide whether to use the detection results (for example, whether or not to use the detection results) depending on the implementation of the terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results. In other words, the terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the inactive state from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer.

[0099] As described above, terminal 200 is aware of the inactive period from the start to the end of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer (for example, the period from sending a PUSCH until it can receive a UL resource allocation for a PUSCH retransmission), and can transition to an active state even without a startup instruction from LP-WUS. In other words, terminal 200 understands that, by setting the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer, it will become active after the timer expires and will be able to monitor PDCCH. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 3, terminal 200 can reduce power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while enabling the startup of the MR unit 22 for PDCCH monitoring (for example, transition to an active state due to the expiration of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer).

[0100] <State 4: State when the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer is operating> Terminal 200 may stop monitoring the LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 during the active state of the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer from start to finish (for example, while the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer is running).

[0101] Alternatively, terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS using the LR unit 21 during the active state from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer, and may decide whether to use the detection results (for example, whether or not to use the detection results) depending on the implementation of terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results. In other words, terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the active state from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer.

[0102] Terminal 200 is already active from the start to the end of the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL timer (for example, the period during which it can receive UL resource allocation for PUSCH retransmissions) even without a startup instruction from LP-WUS. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 4, terminal 200 can reduce its power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while still enabling PDCCH monitoring.

[0103] <State 5: State in which PDCCH skipping operation is performed based on instructions from base station 100 via DCI notification> When terminal 200 is in an active state (e.g., PDCCH monitoring in progress), it may stop monitoring LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 while it has stopped PDCCH monitoring operation based on instructions from base station 100 (e.g., PDCCH skipping operation in progress).

[0104] Alternatively, while in an active state (e.g., PDCCH monitoring), the terminal 200 may, at the instruction of the base station 100, stop the PDCCH monitoring operation (e.g., during PDCCH skipping operation), perform LP-WUS monitoring and detection using the LR unit 21. The terminal 200 may decide whether to use the detection results (e.g., whether or not to use the detection results) on an implementation-dependent basis, or it may discard the detection results. In other words, the terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the PDCCH skipping operation.

[0105] As described above, terminal 200 is aware of the non-monitoring and monitoring periods of PDCCH due to PDCCH skipping during the active state, and can start PDCCH monitoring even without a startup instruction from LP-WUS. In other words, terminal 200 understands that after a non-monitoring period of PDCCH due to PDCCH skipping, a monitoring period for PDCCH will begin, and that PDCCH can be monitored. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 5, terminal 200 can reduce power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while enabling PDCCH monitoring (e.g., restarting PDCCH monitoring).

[0106] Furthermore, the terminal 200 is not limited to stopping the LP-WUS monitoring operation in the non-monitoring section when PDCCH skipping is performed, in which the MR unit 22 dynamically switches between a monitoring section (e.g., a first section) in which it monitors the PDCCH and a non-monitoring section (e.g., a second section) in which it does not monitor the PDCCH. For example, the terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring operation in both the non-monitoring section and the monitoring section due to PDCCH skipping while in the active state.

[0107] <State 6: State in which SSSG switching operation is being performed based on instructions from base station 100 via DCI notification> When terminal 200 is in the active state (for example, monitoring PDCCH), it may dynamically change the PDCCH monitoring cycle based on instructions from base station 100 and stop monitoring and stopping PDCCH (for example, during SSSG switching operation), while LR unit 21 is monitoring LP-WUS.

[0108] Alternatively, while in an active state (e.g., PDCCH monitoring), the terminal 200 may dynamically change the PDCCH monitoring cycle based on instructions from the base station 100 and perform PDCCH monitoring and stopping operations (e.g., during SSSG switching operation). During this time, the LR unit 21 may monitor and detect the LP-WUS, and the use of the detection results (e.g., whether or not to use the detection results) may be decided on an implementation-dependent basis by the terminal 200, or the detection results may be discarded. In other words, the terminal 200 may stop the LP-WUS monitoring process (or reception process) during the SSSG switching operation.

[0109] As described above, terminal 200 is aware of the non-monitoring and monitoring periods of PDCCH, which depend on the setting (or change) of the PDCCH monitoring period by SSSG switching during the active state, and can monitor PDCCH even without a start instruction from LP-WUS. In other words, terminal 200 understands that it can monitor PDCCH at a cycle set by the SSSG switching operation in which the MR unit 22 dynamically switches between a monitoring period (e.g., a first period) in which PDCCH is monitored and a non-monitoring period (e.g., a second period) in which PDCCH is not monitored. Therefore, by stopping LP-WUS monitoring in state 6, terminal 200 can reduce power consumption by reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring while enabling PDCCH monitoring (e.g., resuming PDCCH monitoring).

[0110] The above describes an example of the control state of the MR unit 22 regarding the stopping and restarting of LP-WUS monitoring by the LR unit 21.

[0111] The terminal 200 may control the LP-WUS monitoring operation by the LR unit 21 based on any of the control states of the MR unit 22 from states 1 to 6 described above, or it may control the LP-WUS monitoring operation by the LR unit 21 based on at least two of the control states of the MR unit 22 from states 1 to 6 described above (for example, any combination of states 1 to 6).

[0112] Figure 13 shows an example of the processing flow of terminal 200 performing the operations described above.

[0113] The example of operation of terminal 200 shown in Figure 13 is monitoring and control of MR unit 22, which is controlled by at least one of the timer setting time for MR unit 22 and the effective time of PDCCH monitoring and control.

[0114] In Figure 13, terminal 200 (UE) is in an inactive state (non-active state; for example, a state in which it does not transmit or receive NR signals) (S101).

[0115] Terminal 200 determines whether the control state of terminal 200 (MR unit 22) is such that the DRX timer related to HARQ operation is activated (for example, any of states 1 to 4 described above), or that PDCCH monitoring is being performed by PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching operation (for example, state 5 or 6) (S102).

[0116] If terminal 200 does not fall under any of the conditions in S102 (S102: No), it performs LP-WUS monitoring based on the LP-WUS monitoring setting information (LP-WUS setting information) (S103).

[0117] On the other hand, if terminal 200 falls under any of the conditions in S102 (S102: Yes), it may stop LP-WUS monitoring (S104). Alternatively, terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS, and decide whether to use the detection results in a manner dependent on the implementation of terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results.

[0118] Terminal 200 determines whether the DRX timer related to the HARQ operation has expired, or whether the PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching operation has been completed (S105). For example, terminal 200 determines whether the control state of the MR unit 22 determined in S102 is no longer applicable.

[0119] If the DRX timer for HARQ operation has not expired, or if the PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching operation has not been completed (S105: No), terminal 200 may repeat the processes S102 to S104. On the other hand, if the DRX timer for HARQ operation has expired, or if the PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching operation has been completed (S105: Yes), terminal 200 performs LP-WUS monitoring based on the LP-WUS configuration information (S106).

[0120] Thus, the terminal 200, which includes an LR unit 21 and an MR unit 22, controls the LR reception operation by the LR unit 21 (for example, control of stopping and restarting LP-WUS monitoring) based on the control state (or operation control) of the MR unit 22.

[0121] As a result, terminal 200 can appropriately control the stopping and restart of LP-WUS monitoring by the LR unit 21 while a timer related to the HARQ process (see, for example, Figure 4 or 5), which is a timer that controls the active and inactive states of terminal 200, is operating, and after the timer expires. Also, terminal 200 can appropriately control the stopping and restart of LP-WUS by the LR unit 21 while PDCCH skipping and SSSG switching, which control the monitoring interval of PDCCH, are operating, similar to the timer.

[0122] Therefore, according to this embodiment, while PDCCH monitoring is performed in the MR unit 22 at terminal 200 where a timer, PDCCH skipping, or SSSG switching related to the HARQ process is in operation, the LP-WUS monitoring operation can be reduced, and the power consumption of terminal 200 can be further reduced.

[0123] (Embodiment 2) For example, if a terminal directly uses the operating times of the DRX timer, PDCCH skipping, or SSSG switching related to the HARQ process (e.g., set parameters) to control the LP-WUS stop interval, the complexity of terminal operation control may increase if the difference in these set times is large, or if multiple HARQ processes are operating simultaneously.

[0124] Therefore, in this embodiment, we will describe the monitoring and control of LP-WUS using thresholds.

[0125] [Example of base station 100 configuration] The configuration of base station 100 is the same as the configuration of embodiment 1.

[0126] [Example of Terminal 200 Configuration] The configuration of terminal 200 may be the same as in Embodiment 1, but some functions will differ.

[0127] In the MR unit 22, the control information holding unit 209 holds, for example, information regarding the switching time between the LR unit 21 and the MR unit 22, information regarding the timer related to HARQ, or information regarding the monitoring and control of PDCCH.

[0128] In the LR unit 21, the receiving control unit 201 determines the control of LP-WUS monitoring (e.g., stop or restart operation) based on the control information held by the control information holding unit 209 and a threshold (e.g., X) calculated from the operation time related to the HARQ (retransmission control) operation or PDCCH monitoring operation.

[0129] In the LR unit 21, the LP-WUS receiving unit 202 monitors and receives LP-WUS based on control information regarding LP-WUS reception from the receiving control unit 201, and the LP-WUS detection unit 203 decodes the activation instruction for the MR unit 22.

[0130] "Example of Operation of Terminal 200" Below, an example of operation of terminal 200 having the above-described configuration (for example, stopping and restarting the monitoring operation of LP-WUS) will be explained.

[0131] Figure 14 shows an example of the processing flow of terminal 200 according to this embodiment.

[0132] In Figure 14, terminal 200 (UE) is in an inactive state (non-active state; for example, a state in which it does not transmit or receive NR signals) (S201).

[0133] Terminal 200 determines whether the following conditions are met (S202). The conditions are, for example, that the control state of terminal 200 (e.g., MR unit 22) is such that no signals are being transmitted or received by the MR unit 22, and that an NR signal such as PDCCH or PDSCH is received or monitored within a specified time (threshold; for example, X msec).

[0134] If the conditions in S202 are met (S102: Yes), terminal 200 may stop LP-WUS monitoring in the section corresponding to the specified time X (S203). Alternatively, terminal 200 may monitor and detect LP-WUS, and decide whether to use the detection results in a manner dependent on the implementation of terminal 200, or it may discard the detection results.

[0135] On the other hand, if the conditions in S202 are not met (S202: No), terminal 200 performs LP-WUS monitoring based on the LP-WUS monitoring configuration information (for example, LP-WUS configuration information) (S204).

[0136] [Example of setting a threshold for deciding to stop LP-WUS monitoring operation] The following values ​​may be set as the sum of the thresholds (e.g., X) used by terminal 200 when deciding to stop LP-WUS monitoring: (i) Time required to switch from operation in LR unit 21 to operation in MR unit 22 (time interval) (ii) Any time considering the monitoring control time of the timer or PDCCH related to HARQ operation. This arbitrary time may be the same value as the monitoring control time of the timer or PDCCH related to HARQ, a value greater than or less than the monitoring control time of the timer or PDCCH related to HARQ. (iii) Time required to switch from operation in MR unit 22 to operation in LR unit 21

[0137] Through the above operation, for example, if the terminal 200 is in a state where an NR signal is received or monitored within the time threshold X, the LR unit 21 stops LP-WUS monitoring. This allows the MR unit 22 to be activated for PDCCH monitoring without relying on LP-WUS after the time threshold X has elapsed, while reducing the opportunities for LP-WUS monitoring, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal 200.

[0138] Furthermore, if the terminal 200 does not receive or monitor an NR signal within a time threshold X, for example, the LR unit 21 performs LP-WUS monitoring, which enables the activation of the MR unit 22 for PDCCH monitoring by LP-WUS.

[0139] Thus, the terminal 200, which includes an LR unit 21 and an MR unit 22, controls the LR reception operation by the LR unit 21 (for example, control of stopping and restarting LP-WUS monitoring) based on the control state of the MR unit 22 (for example, the reception and monitoring state in the MR unit 22 based on a threshold X). As a result, the terminal 200 can appropriately control, for example, the stopping of LP-WUS monitoring by the LR unit 21 during time intervals when the MR unit 22 is not receiving or monitoring signals.

[0140] According to this embodiment, by controlling the LP-WUS monitoring stop operation based on threshold X, the power consumption of the terminal 200 can be reduced while flexibly controlling the LP-WUS monitoring operation stop, independently of the operating time of the timer or PDCCH monitoring control related to HARQ, and taking into account the operation switching time between the LR unit 21 and the MR unit 22.

[0141] The threshold X (specified time) is not limited to the sum of the times in (i), (ii), and (iii) described above, but may be any other time interval. In other words, the threshold X may be determined based on at least one of the following: the time interval required for switching between the LR unit 21 and the MR unit 22 (for example, corresponding to the times in (i) and (iii) described above), the time interval related to the HARQ operation (retransmission control) in the MR unit 22 (for example, corresponding to the time in (ii) described above), and the time interval related to the control that dynamically switches between the section in which the MR unit 22 monitors the PDCCH (for example, the monitoring section) and the section in which it does not monitor the PDCCH (for example, the non-monitoring section) (for example, PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching) (for example, corresponding to the time in (ii) described above).

[0142] The embodiments of this disclosure have been described above. In the embodiments described above, the terminal 200 was configured in which the LR unit 21 and the MR unit 22 were separated into two parts. However, the invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the MR unit 22 of the terminal 200 may have the functions of the LR unit 21 inside, and the MR unit 22 may receive LP-WUS signals.

[0143] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, "LP-WUS" may be referred to as "low power control information," "low power indication," or any other name.

[0144] Furthermore, although the above embodiment described a case in which the base station 100 transmits LP-WUS, it is not limited to this, and for example, the device that transmits LP-WUS may be a device other than the base station 100 (for example, another terminal), or it may be a separate transmitting device independent of the base station 100 and the terminal 200.

[0145] Furthermore, although the above embodiment described the monitoring operation of the LP-WUS by the LR unit 21, the signal to be monitored is not limited to the LP-WUS. For example, it could be another signal received by the LR unit 21 (for example, a synchronization signal for the LR unit 21 (LP-Synchronization Signal (SS))) or another signal received by the terminal 200 (for example, the LR unit 21 or the MR unit 22).

[0146] Furthermore, although the above embodiment described the monitoring operation of the downlink control signal (for example, PDCCH) by the MR unit 22, it is not limited to PDCCH and other signals may be used.

[0147] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the parameters to be set on the terminal 200 (for example, parameters related to LP-WUS, HARQ retransmission, PDCCH skipping, and SSSG switching) may be set (or notified, instructed) from the base station 100 to the terminal 200 using at least one of DCI, Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE), and RRC, or they may be pre-set on the terminal 200, or they may be specified in a standard.

[0148] (Supplement) Information indicating whether the terminal 200 supports each of the embodiments described above and each supplement may be transmitted (or notified) from the terminal 200 to the base station 100 as, for example, capability information or capability parameters of the terminal 200.

[0149] The capability information may include an information element (IE) that individually indicates whether the terminal 200 supports at least one of the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the embodiments, modifications, and supplements described above. Alternatively, the capability information may include an information element that indicates whether the terminal 200 supports any two or more combinations of the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the embodiments, modifications, and supplements described above.

[0150] The base station 100 may, for example, determine (or decide or assume) which functions, operations, or processes the source terminal 200 supports (or does not support) based on capability information received from the terminal 200. The base station 100 may perform operations, processes, or controls in accordance with the determination result based on the capability information. For example, the base station 100 may control the process related to the wake-up operation of the terminal 200 based on capability information received from the terminal 200.

[0151] Furthermore, the fact that terminal 200 does not support some of the functions, operations, or processes described in each embodiment, each modification, and each supplement described above may be interpreted as the terminal 200 having restrictions on such some functions, operations, or processes. For example, information or requests regarding such restrictions may be notified to base station 100.

[0152] Information regarding the capabilities or limitations of terminal 200 may be defined, for example, in a standard, or it may be implicitly communicated to base station 100 in association with information known at base station 100 or information transmitted to base station 100.

[0153] The embodiments, modifications, and supplementary information relating to one non-limiting embodiment of this disclosure have been described above.

[0154] (Control Signals) In this disclosure, the downlink control signals (or downlink control information) relating to one embodiment of this disclosure may be, for example, signals (or information) transmitted in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) at the physical layer, or signals (or information) transmitted in a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) or Radio Resource Control (RRC) at a higher layer. Furthermore, the signals (or information) are not limited to being notified by downlink control signals, but may be predetermined in a specification (or standard), or may be pre-configured in base stations and terminals.

[0155] In this disclosure, the uplink control signal (or uplink control information) related to one embodiment of this disclosure may be, for example, a signal (or information) transmitted in the physical layer PUCCH, or a signal (or information) transmitted in the upper layer MAC CE or RRC. Furthermore, the signal (or information) is not limited to being notified by the uplink control signal, but may be predetermined in the specification (or standard), or may be pre-configured in the base station and terminal. In addition, the uplink control signal may be replaced with, for example, uplink control information (UCI), 1st stage sidelink control information (SCI), or 2nd stage SCI.

[0156] (Base Station) In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station may be a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), cluster head, access point, Remote Radio Head (RRH), eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), Base Station (BS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), master unit, gateway, etc. Also, in side-link communication, the terminal may assume the role of a base station. Alternatively, instead of a base station, there may be a relay device that relays communication between the upper node and the terminal. There may also be a roadside unit.

[0157] (Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink) An embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to, for example, an uplink, a downlink, or a sidelink. For example, an embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) of an uplink, a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), PDCCH, Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) of a downlink, or a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) of a sidelink.

[0158] PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of downlink control channels, downlink data channels, uplink data channels, and uplink control channels, respectively. PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of sidelink control channels and sidelink data channels. PBCH and PSBCH are examples of broadcast channels, and PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0159] (Data Channel / Control Channel) One embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to either a data channel or a control channel, for example. For example, the channel in one embodiment of the present disclosure may be replaced with any of the data channels PDSCH, PUSCH, PSSCH, or the control channels PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, PSBCH.

[0160] (Reference Signal) In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference signal is, for example, a signal known to both the base station and the mobile station, and may be called a Reference Signal (RS) or pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of the following: Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

[0161] (Time Interval) In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the unit of time resource is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, but may be a time resource unit such as a frame, superframe, subframe, slot, time slot, subslot, minislot, or symbol, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or any other time resource unit. Furthermore, the number of symbols contained in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above embodiment, but may be any other number of symbols.

[0162] (Frequency Band) One embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to either a licensed band or an unlicensed band.

[0163] (Communication) One embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to any of the following: communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu-link communication), communication between terminals (Sidelink communication), V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication, or communication between an Ambient IoT Reader and an Ambient IoT Device. For example, the channels of the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), PSBCH, PRDCH (Physical Reader-to-Device Channel), PDRCH (Physical Device-to-Reader Channel), PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, or PBCH. For example, the control information in one embodiment of the present disclosure may be replaced with any of DCI, UCI, SCI (Sidelink Control Information), R2D Control Information, or D2R Control Information.

[0164] Furthermore, one embodiment of this disclosure may be applied to any of the following: a terrestrial network, a satellite, or a non-terrestrial network (NTN) using a high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS). Also, one embodiment of this disclosure may be applied to terrestrial networks with large cell sizes, ultra-wideband transmission networks, and other networks where transmission delay is large relative to symbol length or slot length.

[0165] (SBFD) In ​​one embodiment of the present disclosure, the operation for uplink, downlink, and sidelink symbols may also be applied to symbols (e.g., SBFD symbols) on which SBFD (Subband non-overlapping full duplex, Subband full duplex) operation or control is performed. In an SBFD symbol, a frequency domain (or frequency resource, frequency band) is divided into multiple frequency domains (e.g., also called subbands, RB sets, subbands, or sub-BWPs (Bandwidth parts)). A terminal transmits and receives in different directions (e.g., downlink or uplink) on a subband basis. In an SBFD symbol, a terminal may transmit and receive in either the uplink or downlink direction only, and not in the other direction. On the other hand, a base station may be able to transmit and receive both uplink and downlink simultaneously. An SBFD symbol may have less frequency domain available for downlink transmission compared to a symbol that transmits and receives only downlink. Similarly, an SBFD symbol may have less frequency domain available for uplink transmission compared to a symbol that transmits and receives only uplink.

[0166] Furthermore, in the SBFD symbol, a terminal may transmit and receive both uplink and downlink simultaneously. In this case, the frequency domain from which the terminal transmits and the frequency domain from which it receives may not be adjacent, and a frequency gap (also called a frequency interval) may be maintained between them.

[0167] Furthermore, sidelink transmission and reception may be included as different transmission and reception directions for each subband unit, which is a divided region.

[0168] (XDD: cross division duplex) In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the operation for uplink, downlink, and sidelink symbols may be applied to symbols (e.g., full duplex symbols) on which full duplex operation or control is performed. In full duplex symbols, both the terminal and the base station can transmit and receive uplink and downlink simultaneously. In full duplex symbols, the terminal and base station may transmit and receive simultaneously in the available frequency domain (or frequency resource, frequency band), or they may transmit and receive simultaneously in some frequency domains (i.e., they may transmit or receive in other frequency domains). In this case, the frequency domain on which the base station or terminal transmits and the frequency domain on which it receives may not be adjacent, and a frequency gap (also called a frequency gap) may be maintained between them. Alternatively, for example, to reduce interference, either the terminal or the base station may transmit and receive simultaneously (i.e., the other may transmit or receive).

[0169] Furthermore, full duplex operation may be applied to operations where the terminal can simultaneously transmit and receive sidelinks. Also, full duplex operation may be applied to operations where the terminal can simultaneously transmit and receive sidelinks and uplinks or downlinks.

[0170] (Antenna Port) In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) composed of one or more physical antennas. For example, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to a single physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna composed of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas that make up an antenna port is not specified, and it may be defined as the smallest unit on which a terminal station can transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit on which the weighting of a precoding vector is multiplied.

[0171] (Ambient IoT) In one embodiment of this disclosure, the terminal and base station may be replaced with either an Ambient IoT Device or an Ambient IoT Reader. The Ambient IoT Device may be a wireless communication device that has backscattering capabilities or a transmit / receive bandwidth of a few resource blocks or less. The Ambient IoT Reader may be a wireless communication device that has the capability to communicate with the Ambient IoT Device. The Ambient IoT Device may also be called an Ambient IoT terminal, IoT terminal, LPWA terminal, or tag.

[0172] <5G NR System Architecture and Protocol Stack> The 5G NR system architecture as a whole assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs. The gNBs provide the UE-side termination for the user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols of NG radio access. The gNBs are connected to each other by Xn interfaces. Furthermore, the gNBs are connected to the NGC (Next Generation Core) by Next Generation (NG) interfaces, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing the AMF) by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing the UPF) by NG-U interfaces. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 15 (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0, section 4).

[0173] <RRC Connection Setup and Reconfiguration Procedure> This describes the communication between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED in the NAS section (see TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0174] RRC is a higher-layer signaling (protocol) used for configuring the UE and gNB. The AMF prepares the UE context data (which includes, for example, the PDU session context, security key, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB along with an Initial Context Setup Request. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responding to the gNB with a SecurityModeComplete message. Subsequently, the gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, the gNB reconfigures itself to set up the Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, the SRB2 and DRB are not set up, so the RRCReconfiguration step is omitted. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an Initial Context Setup Response.

[0175] Accordingly, this disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) comprising a control circuit that establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with gNodeB during operation, and a transmission unit that sends an initial context setup message to gNodeB via the NG connection during operation so that a signaling radio bearer between gNodeB and User Equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, including a Resource Allocation Setting Information Element (IE), to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then transmits on the uplink or receives on the downlink based on the resource allocation setting.

[0176] <QoS Control> The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows where a guaranteed flow bit rate is required (GBR: Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flows) and QoS flows where a guaranteed flow bit rate is not required (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS within a PDU session. QoS flows are identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI: QoS Flow ID) carried in the encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0177] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes, for example, at least one Data Radio Bearers (DRB) in accordance with the PDU session. Additional DRBs for the QoS flow of that PDU session can be configured later (when this is done is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to various PDU sessions to various DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL packets and DL packets with QoS flows, while AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL QoS flows and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0178] (Open-RAN) The base station described in each embodiment (for example, a 5G NR base station called a gNB) may consist of three functional modules: a Centralized Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), and a Radio Unit (RU).

[0179] CU may be referred to as, for example, a central node, aggregation node, central station, aggregation station, or central unit. DU may be referred to as, for example, an O-DU (O-RAN Distributed Unit), a distributed node, a distributed station, or a distributed unit. RU may be referred to as, for example, an O-RU (O-RAN Radio Unit), a radio device, a radio node, a radio station, an antenna unit, or a radio unit.

[0180] The functional division configuration (or functional division point) between CU, DU, and RU has multiple division options defined. The term "functional division point" is sometimes referred to as "split," "option," or "split option."

[0181] Examples of "splitting options" include the following splitting options 1 to 8. The functions of the base station described in each embodiment may be split into CU, DU, and RU functions according to any of the following splitting options 1 to 8. For example, CU, DU, and RU may be functionally split individually, or functional split may occur only between CU and DU, or only between DU and RU. (1) Splitting option 1: Between RRC (radio resource control) and PDCP (2) Splitting option 2: Between PDCP and RLC (High-RLC) (3) Splitting option 3: Between High-RLC and Low-RLC (4) Splitting option 4: Between RLC (Low-RLC) and MAC (High-MAC) (5) Splitting option 5: Between High-MAC and Low-MAC (6) Splitting option 6: Between MAC (Low-MAC) and PHY (High-PHY) (7) Splitting option 7: Between High-PHY and Low-PHY (8) Splitting option 8: Between PHY (Low-PHY) and RF

[0182] The functional division point between the CU and O-DU may be Split Option 2. The section between the CU and O-DU is called the midhaul, and the F1 interface is defined by 3GPP. The section between the O-DU and O-RU is called the fronthaul, and its functional division point may be Split Option 7-2x, which has been adopted as the O-RAN fronthaul specification.

[0183] Figure 16 shows an example of splitting the base station functions of a gNB into CU, O-DU, and O-RU using Split Option 2 and Split Option 7-2x.

[0184] The CU may, for example, include RRC (radio resource control) functionality, SDAP (service data adaptation protocol) functionality, and PDCP (packet data convergence protocol) functionality.

[0185] The O-DU may include, for example, RLC (radio link control) functionality, MAC functionality, and high-level physical layer (HIGH-PHY) functionality. The HIGH-PHY functionality may also include encoding functionality, scrambling functionality, modulation functionality, layer mapping functionality, precoding functionality, and RE (resource element) mapping functionality for downlink (DL) transmission. The HIGH-PHY functionality may also include decoding functionality, descrambling functionality, demodulation functionality, layer demapping functionality, and RE (resource element) demapping functionality for uplink (UL) reception.

[0186] The O-RU may, for example, be equipped with a LOW-PHY function and an RF function. The LOW-PHY function may also be equipped with a beamforming function, an IFFT (Inverse First Fourier Transform) + CP (Cyclic Prefix) application function, and a D / A (Digital to Analog) conversion function for downlink transmission. The LOW-PHY function may also be equipped with an A / D (Analog to Digital) conversion function, a CP removal + FFT (First Fourier Transform) function, and a beamforming function for uplink reception.

[0187] If the O-DU does not have a precoding function, the O-RU may have a precoding function.

[0188] O-RU may also include functions related to LBT (listen before talk).

[0189] In Split Option 7-2x, eCPRI (Evolved Common Public Radio Interface) is specified as the communication method between the O-DU and O-RU. In Split Option 7-2x, eCPRI transmits and receives not only the sampling sequence of the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of the OFDM signal in the frequency domain, but also information used for beamforming in the antenna and time synchronization signals.

[0190] The information transmitted by the signals described in each embodiment (PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, MAC CE, RRC, etc.) may be transmitted between the O-DU and O-RU via the eCPRI's User Plane (U-Plan) or Control Plane (C-Plane).

[0191] If the functions described in each embodiment are executed in the O-RU by functional partitioning, the O-DU may control the O-RU by transmitting information for controlling the functions via a control signal (e.g., eCPRI) between the O-DU and the O-RU.

[0192] If the functions described in each embodiment are executed in the O-DU by functional partitioning, the O-RU may receive the result of the execution of the function in the O-DU via a control signal (e.g., eCPRI) and control the O-RU based on the received result.

[0193] The CU, O-DU, and O-RU may be deployed in physically different devices connected by optical fibers or the like, or some or all of their functions may be deployed in the same physical device.

[0194] CU and O-DU may be logical entities implemented as software running on a server such as a cloud, as a virtualized RAN (virtual Radio Access Network: vRAN). Furthermore, some or all of the functions of CU and O-DU may be provided as a service of virtualized network functions (NFV).

[0195] The transceiver does not have to be a wireless transceiver; for example, it may be a network transceiver, an optical transceiver, etc. The wireless resources allocated by the O-DU may be resources for wireless communication between the O-RU and the UE.

[0196] This disclosure can be implemented using software, hardware, or software integrated with hardware.

[0197] Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be implemented partially or entirely as an integrated circuit (LSI), and each process described in the above embodiments may be controlled partially or entirely by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. An LSI may consist of individual chips, or it may consist of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. An LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the degree of integration, LSIs may also be referred to as ICs, system LSIs, super LSIs, or ultra LSIs.

[0198] The integrated circuit implementation method is not limited to LSIs; it may also be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or a reconfigurable processor that allows for the reconfiguration of the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may also be used. This disclosure may be implemented as digital or analog processing.

[0199] Furthermore, if advancements in semiconductor technology or related technologies lead to the emergence of integrated circuit technologies that can replace LSIs, then naturally, these technologies can be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, for example, is a possibility.

[0200] This disclosure is applicable to all types of devices, systems, and equipment having communication capabilities (collectively referred to as communication equipment). Communication equipment may include a radio transceiver and a processing / control circuit. The radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both as functions. The radio transceiver (transmitter, receiver) may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or similar. Non-exclusive examples of communication devices include telephones (mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (digital still / video cameras, etc.), digital players (digital audio / video players, etc.), wearable devices (wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles or mobile transport with communication capabilities (cars, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the above-mentioned devices.

[0201] Communication devices are not limited to portable or movable devices, but also include all kinds of non-portable or fixed devices, devices, and systems, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting fixtures, smart meters or measuring instruments, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0202] Communication includes data communication via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, and communication satellite systems, as well as data communication using combinations of these.

[0203] Furthermore, the communication device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors that are connected to or linked to a communication device that performs the communication functions described in this disclosure. For example, this includes controllers and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that performs the communication functions of the communication device.

[0204] Furthermore, communication equipment includes infrastructure facilities such as base stations, access points, and any other devices, devices, and systems that communicate with or control the aforementioned non-limited types of equipment.

[0205] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises: a first wireless circuit; a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit and receives a control signal that instructs the first wireless circuit to start up from a sleep state; and a control circuit that controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0206] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control state is the retransmission control state in the first wireless circuit, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation while the timer for the retransmission control is running.

[0207] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control state is a state in which the first wireless circuit is dynamically switching between a first section in which it monitors the downlink control signal and a second section in which it does not monitor the downlink control signal, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation in the first section and the second section.

[0208] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control state is a state in which the first wireless circuit is not performing signal transmission or reception operations, and a state in which signal transmission or reception will occur within a specified time, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation during the interval corresponding to the specified time until the signal is received.

[0209] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the specified time is determined based on at least one of the following: a time interval required for switching between the first wireless circuit and the second wireless circuit; a time interval related to retransmission control in the first wireless circuit; and a time interval related to control for dynamically switching between a first interval in which the first wireless circuit monitors the downlink control signal and a second interval in which it does not monitor the downlink control signal.

[0210] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication device comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to receive a control signal instructing a second wireless circuit, which operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, to wake up the first wireless circuit from a sleep state, and to control the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0211] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device receives a control signal instructing the first wireless circuit to start up from a sleep state in a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0212] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is controlled by an integrated circuit.

[0213] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method controlled by an integrated circuit, wherein the communication device receives a control signal instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from a sleep state in a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than a first wireless circuit, and controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0214] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an integrated circuit comprising a circuit, wherein the circuit controls the reception of a control signal instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from a sleep state in a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than a first wireless circuit, and controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0215] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the integrated circuit comprises at least one input coupled to the circuit for inputting data, and at least one output coupled to the circuit for outputting data.

[0216] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit comprises a first wireless circuit, a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit and receives a control signal that instructs the first wireless circuit to wake up from a sleep state, and a control circuit that controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0217] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer-readable recording medium having content that causes a processing circuit to execute a method, wherein the method involves a communication device receiving a control signal instructing a second wireless circuit, which operates with less power than a first wireless circuit, to wake up the first wireless circuit from a sleep state, and controlling the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

[0218] In the non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the contents include configuration settings.

[0219] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure has a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and comprises a control circuit that generates a control signal to instruct a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit to wake up the first wireless circuit from its sleep state, and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

[0220] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication device comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to have a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and to cause a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit to generate a control signal instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from its sleep state, and to transmit the control signal.

[0221] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device has a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and generates a control signal to a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from its sleep state, and transmits the control signal.

[0222] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is controlled by an integrated circuit.

[0223] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method controlled by an integrated circuit, wherein the communication device has a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and generates a control signal to a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from its sleep state, and transmits the control signal.

[0224] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an integrated circuit comprising a circuit, the circuit having a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and controlling the generation of a control signal that instructs a terminal controlling the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit to wake the first wireless circuit from its sleep state, based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, and controlling the transmission of the control signal.

[0225] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the integrated circuit comprises at least one input coupled to the circuit for inputting data, and at least one output coupled to the circuit for outputting data.

[0226] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit comprises a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and includes a control circuit that generates a control signal to instruct a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit to wake up the first wireless circuit from its sleep state, and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

[0227] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer-readable recording medium having content that causes a processing circuit to execute a method, wherein the method includes a communication device having a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, a control signal is generated to a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit, instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from its sleep state, and the control signal is transmitted.

[0228] In the non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the contents include configuration settings.

[0229] All disclosures in the specification, drawings, and abstract contained in the Japanese application No. 2025-014122, filed on January 30, 2025, are incorporated herein by reference.

[0230] One embodiment of this disclosure is useful for wireless communication systems.

[0231] 21 LR unit 22 MR unit 100 Base station 101 Receiving unit 102, 208 Demodulation / Decoding unit 103 Scheduling unit 104, 204, 209 Control information holding unit 105 LP-WUS signal generation unit 106 LP-WUS modulation unit 107 Data / control signal generation unit 108, 211 Encoding / modulation unit 109 Transmitting unit 200 Terminal 201, 205 Receiving control unit 202 LP-WUS receiving unit 203 LP-WUS detection unit 206 Transmitting control unit 207 MR receiving unit 210 Transmitting signal generation unit 212 MR transmitting unit

Claims

1. A communication device comprising: a first wireless circuit; a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit and receives a control signal that instructs the first wireless circuit to start from a sleep state; and a control circuit that controls the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control state is the retransmission control state in the first wireless circuit, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation while the timer for the retransmission control is running.

3. The control state is a state in which the first wireless circuit is dynamically switching between a first section in which it monitors the downlink control signal and a second section in which it does not monitor the downlink control signal, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation in the first section and the second section, the communication device according to claim 1.

4. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control state is a state in which no signal transmission or reception operation is performed in the first wireless circuit, and a signal transmission or reception will be performed within a specified time, and the control circuit stops the monitoring operation in the section corresponding to the specified time until the signal is received.

5. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the prescribed time is determined based on at least one of a time interval required for switching between the first wireless circuit and the second wireless circuit, a time interval related to retransmission control in the first wireless circuit, and a time interval related to control for dynamically switching between a first interval in which the first wireless circuit monitors the downlink control signal and a second interval in which it does not monitor the downlink control signal.

6. A communication device comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to receive a control signal instructing a second wireless circuit, which operates at lower power than a first wireless circuit, to wake up the first wireless circuit from a sleep state, and to control the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

7. A communication method comprising: a communication device, a second wireless circuit operating at lower power than the first wireless circuit, receiving a control signal instructing the first wireless circuit to start from a sleep state, and controlling the monitoring operation of the control signal by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit.

8. A communication device comprising: a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, and a control circuit that generates a control signal to instruct a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation of the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit to start the first wireless circuit from a sleep state; and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

9. A communication device comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to generate a control signal instructing a terminal that has a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, to wake the first wireless circuit from its sleep state based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, and to transmit the control signal.

10. A communication device comprising a first wireless circuit and a second wireless circuit that operates with less power than the first wireless circuit, wherein the communication device generates a control signal to a terminal that controls the signal monitoring operation by the second wireless circuit based on the control state of the first wireless circuit, instructing the first wireless circuit to wake up from its sleep state, and transmits the control signal.

Images