One or more offset values for cell reselection evaluation

Abstract

Disclosed is a method comprising: receiving information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks, wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion; selecting, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by an apparatus, wherein the selection is further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings, or historical information of one or more services; and evaluating one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

Description

[0001] ONE OR MORE OFFSET VALUES FOR CELL RESELECTION EVALUATION

[0002] FIELD

[0003] The following example embodiments relate to wireless communication.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In wireless communication, optimizing power consumption of user equipment is desirable to prolong battery life and enhance user experience by ensuring longer usage periods.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] The scope of protection sought for various example embodiments is set out by the claims. The example embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments.

[0008] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a network entity, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks, wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion; selecting, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by an apparatus; and evaluating, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

[0009] The first aspect enables the apparatus to receive and utilize the offset value(s) for efficient cell reselection, optimizing power consumption and ensuring timely wake-up for paging messages.

[0010] According to a second aspect, there is provided the method of the first aspect, further comprising: determining whether the one or more frequency bands support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based on determining that the frequency bandsupports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus; and performing, based on the evaluation, the cell reselection procedure to a cell operating on the frequency band selected.

[0011] The second aspect enhances the selection process by ensuring that the selected frequency band supports the offset value(s) supported by the apparatus, thus optimizing power consumption of the apparatus.

[0012] According to a third aspect, there is provided the method of the first or second aspect, further comprising: determining a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band that supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus is given a higher priority than a frequency band that does not support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the selection is based on the priority order, such that the frequency band with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.

[0013] The third aspect introduces a priority order for frequency bands to prioritize frequency band(s) that supports the offset value(s) supported by the apparatus, thus optimizing power consumption of the apparatus.

[0014] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided the method of any preceding aspect, wherein the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus comprises multiple different offset values, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based on determining that the frequency band supports a smallest offset value among the multiple different offset values supported by the apparatus.

[0015] In the fourth aspect, selecting the frequency band with the smallest offset value helps to minimize the wake-up delay and thus minimize latency of communication services.

[0016] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided the method of any preceding aspect, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the one or more cell reselection criteria.The fifth aspect defines how to select the frequency band, when multiple frequency bands support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, thus providing flexibility and improving the likelihood of finding an optimal connection.

[0017] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided the method of the fifth aspect, further comprising: determining that two or more frequency bands from the multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria; and ranking the two or more frequency bands based on a received signal strength or quality measured per frequency band of the two or more frequency bands, wherein the frequency band is selected from the two or more frequency bands based on the ranking.

[0018] The sixth aspect adds a ranking mechanism based on signal strength or quality, ensuring that the best available frequency band is selected, enhancing connection stability and performance.

[0019] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided the method of any of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus; wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from the network entity, an indication indicating a cell reselection priority order for the multiple frequency bands, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the cell reselection priority order indicated from the network entity.

[0020] The seventh aspect incorporates a network-provided cell reselection priority order, aligning the selection process of the apparatus with network preferences and improving overall network efficiency.

[0021] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided the method of any preceding aspect, further comprising: receiving, on a target cell of the cell reselection procedure, a low-power wake-up signal configuration comprising the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the at least one offset value indicates a delay between transmitting a low-power wake-up signal and transmitting a paging message on the target cell; monitoring, based on the low-power wake-up signal configuration, for the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell; receiving the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell based on the monitoring; receiving the pagingmessage on the target cell based on the at least one offset value; and establishing a connection to the target cell based on receiving the paging message.

[0022] The eighth aspect ensures accurate wake-up and paging message reception, leading to reliable connection establishment.

[0023] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a network entity, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks, wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion; selecting, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the selection is further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services used by the apparatus; and evaluating, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

[0024] The ninth aspect enables the apparatus to utilize offset values for efficient cell reselection, optimizing energy consumption and ensuring timely wake-up for paging messages. The inclusion of estimated energy savings and / or historical service information further enhances the selection process (e.g., by further optimizing the power consumption).

[0025] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided the method of the ninth aspect, further comprising: estimating an amount of energy savings provided by each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein the amount of energy savings is relative to a length of the time gap between the low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the one or more frequency bands based at least partly on the estimation; and performing, based on the evaluation, the cell reselection procedure to a cell operating on the frequency band selected.The tenth aspect enhances the selection process by estimating energy savings for each frequency band, leading to more accurate and efficient cell reselection based on energy conservation.

[0026] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided the method of the tenth aspect, wherein the frequency band is selected based on determining that the amount of energy savings provided by the frequency band is above a threshold.

[0027] The eleventh aspect introduces a threshold for energy savings, ensuring that only frequency bands providing significant energy savings are selected, optimizing power management.

[0028] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided the method of the tenth aspect, further comprising: determining a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band that is estimated to provide a higher amount of energy savings is given a higher priority than a frequency band that is estimated to provide a lower amount of energy savings, wherein the selection is based on the priority order, such that the frequency band with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.

[0029] The twelfth aspect introduces a priority order based on estimated energy savings, ensuring that the most energy-efficient frequency band is selected.

[0030] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to twelfth aspects, wherein the selection is further based on a maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services used by the apparatus.

[0031] The thirteenth aspect incorporates maximum tolerable latency requirements, ensuring that the selection process considers service-specific latency needs, enhancing user experience.

[0032] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided the method of the thirteenth aspect, wherein the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus comprises multiple different offset values, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based on determining that the frequency band supports a largest offset value among the multiple different offset values that fulfils the maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services.The fourteenth aspect enables selecting the frequency band with the largest offset value that meets the latency requirements, balancing energy savings and service performance.

[0033] According to a fifteenth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to fourteenth aspects, further comprising: determining whether the one or more frequency bands support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based at least partly on determining that the frequency band supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus.

[0034] The fifteenth aspect ensures that the selected frequency band supports the offset value(s) supported by the apparatus, leading to more accurate and efficient cell reselection.

[0035] According to a sixteenth aspect, there is provided the method of the fifteenth aspect, further comprising: determining that two or more frequency bands from the multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria; and ranking the two or more frequency bands based on a received signal strength or quality measured per frequency band of the two or more frequency bands, wherein the frequency band is selected from the two or more frequency bands based at least partly on the ranking.

[0036] The sixteenth aspect adds a ranking mechanism based on signal strength or quality, ensuring that the best available frequency band is selected, enhancing connection stability and performance.

[0037] According to a seventeenth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to fourteenth aspects, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus; wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from the network entity, an indication indicating a cell reselection priority order for the multiple frequency bands, wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the cell reselection priority order indicated from the network entity.The seventeenth aspect incorporates a network-provided cell reselection priority order, aligning the selection process of the apparatus with network preferences and improving overall network efficiency.

[0038] According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to seventeenth aspects, wherein the information received from the network entity further indicates whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

[0039] In the eighteenth aspect, by grouping the offset values in this way, signaling overhead can be reduced compared to providing the offset value individually for each frequency or frequency layer or frequency band or cell or public land mobile network.

[0040] According to a nineteenth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to eighteenth aspects, further comprising: receiving, from the network entity, an indication of which configuration from a set of configurations is applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell; wherein the configuration comprises information on at least one of: an offset value applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell, a paging latency applied, targeted, or supported on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell, or a reference signal configuration applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell.

[0041] The nineteenth aspect may improve compatibility of the apparatus with sixth generation communication systems. For example, in sixth generation communication systems, certain cells may have less frequent reference signal configurations or different types of reference signals.

[0042] According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to nineteenth aspects, further comprising: receiving, from the network entity, additional information to be applied to the cell reselection procedure, the additional information comprising one or more band-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands, wherein the one or more band-specific paging configurations indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, areference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability.

[0043] The twentieth aspect enables the apparatus to use this additional information (e.g., paging cycle and / or latency) to further refine the cell re-selection procedure, so that the apparatus can take into account, for example, the service requirements, and avoid frequency bands or layers where the resulting paging cycle or delay would result in too high latency.

[0044] According to a twenty-first aspect, there is provided the method of any of the ninth to twentieth aspects, further comprising: receiving, on a target cell of the cell reselection procedure, a low-power wake-up signal configuration comprising the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the at least one offset value indicates a delay between transmitting a low-power wake-up signal and transmitting a paging message on the target cell; monitoring, based on the low-power wake-up signal configuration, for the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell; receiving the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell based on the monitoring; receiving the paging message on the target cell based on the at least one offset value; and establishing a connection to the target cell based on receiving the paging message.

[0045] The twenty-first aspect ensures accurate wake-up and paging message reception, leading to reliable connection establishment.

[0046] According to a twenty-second aspect, there is provided the method of any preceding aspect, wherein the method is performed by the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment or comprised in a user equipment.

[0047] According to a twenty-third aspect, there is provided a method comprising: obtaining information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks, wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion; and transmitting the information to a user equipment for evaluating whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.The twenty-third aspect describes the network's role in providing offset information, ensuring that the user equipment has the necessary data for efficient cell reselection and to optimize power consumption at the user equipment.

[0048] According to a twenty-fourth aspect, there is provided the method of the twenty-third aspect, wherein the information further indicates whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

[0049] In the twenty-fourth aspect, by grouping the offset values in this way, signaling overhead can be reduced compared to providing the offset value individually for each frequency or frequency layer or frequency band or cell or public land mobile network.

[0050] According to a twenty-fifth aspect, there is provided the method of the twenty-third or twenty-fourth aspect, further comprising: transmitting, to the user equipment, additional information comprising one or more band-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands, wherein the one or more bandspecific paging configurations indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, a reference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability.

[0051] The twenty-fifth aspect enables the user equipment to use this additional information (e.g., paging cycle and / or latency) to further refine the cell re-selection procedure, so that the user equipment can take into account, for example, the service requirements, and avoid frequency bands or layers where the resulting paging cycle or delay would result in too high latency.

[0052] According to a twenty-sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for causing the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the first to twenty-second aspects.

[0053] According to a twenty-seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for causing the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the twenty-third to twenty-fifth aspects.

[0054] According to a twenty-eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that,when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the first to twenty-second aspects.

[0055] According to a twenty-ninth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the twenty-third to twenty-fifth aspects.

[0056] According to thirtieth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the first to twenty-second aspects.

[0057] According to thirty-first aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of twenty-third to twenty-fifth aspects.

[0058] According to a thirty-second aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the first to twenty-second aspects.

[0059] According to a thirty-third aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of any of the twenty-third to twenty-fifth aspects

[0060] According to a thirty-fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of any of the first to twenty-second aspects.

[0061] According to a thirty-fifth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of any of the twenty-third to twenty-fifth aspects.

[0062] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0063] In the following, various example embodiments will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0064] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a wireless communication network;

[0065] FIB. IB illustrates an example of a system;

[0066] FIG. 2A illustrates operation of a low-power wake-up receiver;FIG. 2B illustrates operation of a low-power wake-up receiver;

[0067] FIG. 3 illustrates a signal flow diagram;

[0068] FIG.4 illustrates a flow chart;

[0069] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart;

[0070] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an apparatus; and

[0071] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an apparatus.

[0072] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] The following embodiments are exemplifying. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments within the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned, and such embodiments may also contain features that have not been specifically mentioned. Reference numbers, in the description and / or in the claims, serve to illustrate the embodiments with reference to the drawings, without limiting the embodiments to these examples only.

[0074] Further, it should be appreciated that, as used herein, the terms “the at least one” and “the one or more” mean “any one of the at least one” and “any one of the one or more”, respectively. Furthermore, as used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0075] Some example embodiments described herein may be implemented in a wireless communication network comprising a radio access network based on one or more of the following radio access technologies (RATs): fifth generation (5G), 5G new radio (NR), 5G-Advanced (i.e., 3GPP NR Rel-18 and beyond), sixth generation (6G), or seventh generation (7G). Some examples of radio access networks include the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio access network (UTRAN),the evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRA), or the next generation radio access network (NG-RAN).

[0076] FIG. 1A depicts an example of a simplified wireless communication network showing some physical and logical entities. The connections shown in FIG. 1A may be physical connections or logical connections. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the wireless communication network may also comprise other physical and logical entities than those shown in FIG. 1A.

[0077] The example embodiments described herein are not, however, restricted to the wireless communication network given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the example embodiments described herein to other wireless communication networks provided with necessary properties.

[0078] The example wireless communication network shown in FIG. 1A includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network 110.

[0079] FIG. 1A shows user equipment (UE) 100, 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a radio cell with an access node 104 of a radio access network.

[0080] The access node 104 may comprise a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the access node 104 and to be in a wireless connection with one or more UEs 100, 102. The access node 104 may also be referred to as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), an access point, a cell site, a network node, a radio access network node, a RAN node, or a network device.

[0081] The access node 104 maybe, for example, an evolved NodeB (abbreviated as eNB or eNodeB), or a next generation evolved NodeB (abbreviated as ng-eNB), or a next generation NodeB (abbreviated as gNB or gNodeB), providing the radio cell. The access node 104 may include or be coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the access node 104, a connection may be provided to an antenna unit that establishes a bi-directional radio link to one or more UEs 100, 102. The antenna unit may comprise an antenna or antenna element, or a plurality of antennas or antenna elements.

[0082] The wireless connection (e.g., radio link) from a UE 100, 102 to the access node 104 may be called uplink (UL) or reverse link, and the wireless connection (e.g., radio link) from the access node 104 to the UE 100, 102 may be called downlink (DL) or forward link. A UE 100 may also communicate directly with another UE 102, andvice versa, via a wireless connection generally referred to as a sidelink (SL). It should be appreciated that the access node 104 or its functionalities maybe implemented by using any node, host, server, access point or other entity suitable for providing such functionalities.

[0083] The radio access network may comprise more than one access node 104, in which case the access nodes may also be configured to communicate with one another over wired or wireless links. These links between access nodes may be used for sending and / or receiving control plane signaling and also for routing data from one access node to another access node.

[0084] The access node 104 may further be connected to a core network (CN) 110. The core network 110 may comprise an evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or a 5thgeneration core network (5GC). The EPC may comprise network entities, such as a serving gateway (S-GW for routing and forwarding data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity of UEs to external packet data networks, and / or a mobility management entity (MME). The 5GC may comprise one or more network functions, such as at least one of: a user plane function (UPF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a location management function (LMF), and / or a session management function (SMF).

[0085] The core network 110 may also be able to communicate with one or more external networks 113, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet, or utilize services provided by them. For example, in 5G wireless communication networks, the UPF of the core network 110 may be configured to communicate with an external data network via an N6 interface.

[0086] The illustrated UE 100, 102 is one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface may be allocated and assigned. The UE 100, 102 may also be called a wireless communication device, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device, just to mention but a few names. The UE 100, 102 may be a computing device operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of computing devices: a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, a computing device comprising a wireless modem (e.g., an alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, atablet, a game console, a notebook, a multimedia device, a reduced capability (RedCap) device, a wearable device (e.g., a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) with radio parts, a household appliance with radio parts, a sensor comprising a wireless modem, or a computing device comprising a wireless modem integrated in a vehicle or in a house.

[0087] It should be appreciated that the UE 100, 102 may also be a nearly exclusive uplink-only device, of which an example may be a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. The UE 100, 102 may also be a device having capability to operate in an Internet of Things (loT) network, which is a scenario in which objects may be provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

[0088] The wireless communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services. For example, at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in FIG. 1A by “cloud” 114). The UE 100, 102 may also utilize the cloud 114. In some applications, the computation for a given UE may be carried out in the cloud 114 or in another UE.

[0089] 5G wireless communication networks may also apply network slicing, in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same physical infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

[0090] In one embodiment, an access node 104 may comprise: a radio unit (RU) 103 comprising a radio transceiver (TRX), i.e., a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx); one or more distributed units (DUs) 105 that may be used for the so-called Layer 1 (LI) processing and real-time Layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) 108 (also known as a centralized unit) that may be used for non-real-time L2 and Layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU 108 maybe connected to the one or more DUs 105 for example via an Fl interface. Such an embodiment of the access node 104 may enable the centralization of CUs relative to the cell sites and DUs, whereas DUs may be more distributed and may even remain at cell sites. The CU and DU together may also be referred to as baseband or a baseband unit (BBU). The CU and DU may also be comprised in a radio access point (RAP).

[0091] The CU 108 may be a logical node hosting radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) and / or packet data convergence protocol(PDCP), of the NR protocol stack for an access node 104. The CU 108 may comprise a control plane (CU-CP), which may be a logical node hosting the RRC and the control plane part of the PDCP protocol of the NR protocol stack for the access node 104. The CU 108 may further comprise a user plane (CU-UP), which may be a logical node hosting the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol of the CU for the access node 104.

[0092] The DU 105 may be a logical node hosting radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and / or physical (PHY) layers of the NR protocol stack for the access node 104. The operations of the DU 105 may be at least partly controlled by the CU 108. It should also be understood that the distribution of functions between the DU 105 and the CU 108 may vary depending on the implementation.

[0093] Cloud computing systems may also be used to provide the CU 108 and / or DU 105. A CU provided by a cloud computing system may be referred to as a virtualized CU (vCU). In addition to the vCU, there may also be a virtualized DU (vDU) provided by a cloud computing system. Furthermore, there may also be a combination, where the DU may be implemented on so-called bare metal solutions, for example application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or customer-specific standard product (CSSP) system-on-a-chip (SoC).

[0094] A 5G wireless communication network (“5G network”) may also comprise a non-terrestrial communication network, such as a satellite communication network, to enhance or complement the coverage of the 5G radio access network. For example, satellite communication may support the transfer of data between the 5G radio access network and the core network 110, enabling more extensive network coverage. Possible use cases may include: providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway, maritime, or aeronautical communications. Satellite communication may utilize geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, or low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, such as mega-constellations (i.e., systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). Alternatively, the satellites may be airborne devices, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or a high-altitude platform system (HAPS). A given satellite 106 may provide communication services on Earth via one or more satellite beams. The one ormore satellite beams create one or more cells over a given service area that may be bounded by the field of view of the satellite 106.

[0095] It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the access node 104 depicted in FIG. 1A is just an example of a part of a radio access network, and in practice the radio access network may comprise a plurality of access nodes 104, the UEs 100, 102 may have access to a plurality of radio cells, and the radio access network may also comprise other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay access nodes or other entities. At least one of the access nodes may be a Home eNodeB or a Home gNodeB. A Home gNodeB or a Home eNodeB is a type of access node that may be used to provide indoor coverage inside a home, office, or other indoor environment.

[0096] Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio access network, a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which may be large cells having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The access node(s) 104 of FIG. 1A may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio network may be implemented as a multilayer access networks including several kinds of radio cells. In multilayer access networks, one access node may provide one kind of a radio cell or radio cells, and thus a plurality of access nodes may be needed to provide such a multilayer access network.

[0097] For fulfilling the need for improving performance of radio access networks, the concept of “plug-and-play” access nodes may be introduced. A radio access network, which may be able to use “plug-and-play” access nodes, may include, in addition to Home eNodeBs or Home gNodeBs, a Home Node B gateway (HNB-GW) (not shown in FIG. 1A). An HNB-GW, which may be installed within an operator’s radio access network, may aggregate traffic from a large number of Home eNodeBs or Home gNodeBs back to a core network 110 of the operator.

[0098] FIG. IB illustrates an example of a system, to which some example embodiments may be applied. FIG. IB may be understood to depict a part of the wireless communication network of FIG. 1A, but with greater accuracy with respect to a cell reselection procedure.

[0099] The system comprises at least a UE 100 and a plurality of access nodes 104, 104B, 104C, 104D controlling a plurality of cells 121, 122, 123, 124. Herein the term“cell” refers to a radio cell. Although four cells 121, 122, 123, 124 and four access nodes 104, 104B, 104C, 104D are shown in FIG. IB, it should be noted that the number of cells and access nodes may also be higher or lower than four, and that a single access node may control one or multiple cells.

[0100] Referring to FIG. IB, when the UE 100 switches to idle (RRCJDLE) or inactive (RRC JNACT1VE) state, the network (e.g., the access node 104) may configure the UE 100 (e.g., through an RRC release message or cell broadcast information) to perform cell reselection measurements of its serving cell 121 and one or more neighbor cells 122, 123, 124.

[0101] With cell selection or cell reselection, the UE 100 searches for a suitable cell of the selected public land mobile network (PLMN) or selected stand-alone non-public network (SNPN), chooses that cell to provide available services, and monitors its control channel. This procedure is defined as "camping on the cell". If the UE 100 finds a more suitable cell than its current serving cell 121, and if the cell reselection condition(s) are fulfilled, the UE 100 reselects onto that cell and camps on it. For example, cell reselection may be based on measurements and evaluations of at least one of: signal strength, signal quality, and / or other metrics of the current serving cell 121 and one or more neighbor cells 122, 123, 124.

[0102] In other words, the cell reselection evaluation process is based on the UE’s measurements on the cell 121 that it is camping on and a list of neighbor cells 122, 123, 124. Cell reselection may happen, if the measured received signal power and / or quality from the cell 121 that the UE 100 is currently camping on is below a configured value, and if the measured received signal power and / or quality from another cell 122, 123, 124 is higher than that of the cell 121 with a configured threshold (e.g., denoted as treshx,Highp), and during a configured time denoted as T_reselection. The T_reselection timer indicates a time-to-trigger criterion for cell reselection. The UE 100 may perform the measurements according to a minimum measurement rate that maybe configured or pre-defined at the UE 100. The measurement rate indicates how frequently the UE 100 should perform the measurements.

[0103] The measurements performed by the UE 100 may be based on the synchronization signal block (SSB) of a given cell. For example, the UE 100 may measure the synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP)and / or the synchronization signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ) of the cell. SS-RSRP is a metric for the received power of the secondary synchronization signal included in the SSB. SS-RSRQ is a metric for the received signal quality of the secondary synchronization signal included in the SSB. For example, the UE 100 may measure the SS-RSRP and / or SS-RSRQ level of the serving cell 121 and evaluate the cell reselection criterion for the serving cell 121 at at least every discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle.

[0104] The measurements may comprise intra-frequency measurements and / or inter-frequency measurements. Intra-frequency measurements refer to measurements of cells that operate on the same or similar frequency. Inter-frequency measurements refer to measurements of cells that operate on different frequencies. For intra-frequency cells that are identified and measured according to the measurement rules, the UE 100 may measure SS-RSRP and / or SS-RSRQ at at least every T_measure,NRJntra, which denotes the measurement interval as a number of DRX cycles. For measurements of inter-frequency cells, the UE 100 may measure SS-RSRP and / or SS-RSRQ at least every Kcamer * T_measure,NRJnter for identified lower or equal priority inter-frequency cells, where the parameter Kcamer represents the number of inter-frequency carriers, and T_measure,NRJnter denotes a number of DRX cycles.

[0105] 5G systems are designed and developed targeting both mobile telephony and vertical use cases. Besides latency, reliability, and availability, UE energy efficiency is also one key consideration in 5G. Currently, 5G UEs may have to be recharged for example per week or day, depending on the individual’s usage time. In general, 5G UEs may consume tens of milliwatts in RRC idle or inactive state, and hundreds of milliwatts in RRC connected state. Designs to prolong battery life are beneficial for improving energy efficiency as well as for better user experience.

[0106] Energy efficiency may be even more vital for UEs without a continuous energy source, such as UEs using small rechargeable batteries and single coin cell batteries. Among vertical use cases, sensors and actuators are deployed extensively for monitoring, measuring, charging, etc. These batteries may not be rechargeable, but the batteries may be expected to last at least a few years. Furthermore, for wearables including smart watches, rings, eHealth related devices, and medical monitoringdevices, it is challenging to sustain up to 1-2 weeks of battery life, which may be required of them.

[0107] The UE power consumption depends on the configured length of wake-up periods (e.g., paging cycle). Currently, a UE 100 may need to periodically wake up once per DRX cycle. When the UE 100 wakes up, the power consumption of the UE 100 increases.

[0108] To meet the battery life requirements above, a longer extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle may be used, but this results in higher latency, which is not suitable for services that require both long battery life and low latency. For example, in fire detection and extinguishment use case, fire shutters need to be closed and fire sprinklers need to be turned on by the actuators within 1 to 2 seconds from the time when the fire is detected by sensors, and a long eDRX cycle cannot meet these delay requirements. Thus, eDRX may not be suitable for latency-sensitive use cases.

[0109] Another technique to reduce UE power consumption is to use a low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS) to trigger the main receiver (MR) of the UE, such that a separate low-power wake-up receiver (abbreviated as LR or LP-WUR) at the UE monitors for the wake-up signal with lower power consumption compared to the main receiver. The low-power wake-up receiver may also be referred to as an ultra-low-power wake-up receiver. The main receiver of the UE may be in a sleep mode (or even powered off) for power saving and activated only upon the reception of the wake-up signal from the network (e.g., from the access node 104). The main receiver may also be referred to as a main radio.

[0110] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrate UE operations with a low-power wake-up receiver 200.

[0111] Referring to FIG. 2A, the network (e.g., the access node 104) may trigger the UE 100 to wake-up when needed in an event-driven manner, by transmitting a low-power wake-up signal to the UE 100. The low-power wake-up receiver 200 at the UE 100 monitors for the low-power wake-up signal. The low-power wake-up signal may comprise or include the UE’s unique address. When the UE 100 receives the low-power wake-up signal, the low-power wake-up receiver 200 triggers the wake-up of the main receiver 201 for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, andcommunication (using the MR 201) can then start. The low-power wake-up receiver 200 and the main receiver 201 may be separate receivers in the UE 100.

[0112] Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 2B, the main receiver 201 may be powered off or kept in a deep sleep state (i.e., a power-saving state). The LP-WUR 200 may be operated in an always-on manner with very low power consumption. The LP-WUR 200 may consume significantly less power compared to the MR 201, by designing a simple wake-up signal and the use of specialized hardware for its monitoring, which is able to receive the wake-up signal.

[0113] In RRC idle and inactive modes, significant UE power saving gains (e.g., up to more than 90 %) may be obtained by using the LP-WUS and LP-WUR 200 to trigger paging monitoring with the UE MR201, compared with currentidle mode DRX (1-DRX) operation (with and without paging early indications), if sufficient relaxation to the main receiver’s radio resource management (RRM) measurement is applied. Further, compared with the current eDRX operation, significant paging latency reduction and moderate UE power saving gain may be achieved, if LP-WUS monitoring and the corresponding paging monitoring after MR wake-up is performed.

[0114] In RRC connected mode, moderate UE power saving gains (e.g., up to more than 10%) may be obtained with marginal impact to capacity by using the LP-WUS and LP-WUR 200 to trigger PDCCH monitoring with the UE MR 201, compared with currently available UE power-saving techniques across different types of extended reality (XR) traffic and system load scenarios. Furthermore, significant UE power saving gains (e.g., up to more than 60%) and moderate user-perceived throughput (UPT) improvement (e.g., up to more than 10%) may be obtained for file transfer protocol (FTP) and instant messaging (IM) traffic, when the UE MR 201 enters the deep sleep state during the LP-WUS monitoring.

[0115] The LP-WUS operating principle is that in every wake-up cycle, called w-cycle, the LP-WUR 200 monitors a set of specified subcarriers for a short duration of time to determine whether it receives a wake-up indicator (Wl) or not. Once the LP-WUR 200 successfully detects the Wl, the baseband processor (BBP) or main receiver 201 will be switched on. After that, the BBP or main receiver 201 decodes the PDCCH messages at an active state for a preconfigured on-duration period, followed by the initiation of its inactivity timer. After the inactivity timer is initiated, and if a newPDCCH message is received before the timer expiration, the BBP re-initiates its inactivity timer. However, if there is no PDCCH message received before the expiration of the inactivity timer, a sleep period starts (i.e., the UE 100 switches to its sleep state), and the LP-WUR 200 operates according to its w-cycle.

[0116] By using the LP-WUR 200, the main receiver 201 of the UE 100 can enter an ultra-deep sleep state (i.e., its power consumption may be reduced) or be turned off. The ultra-deep sleep state may be entered, when one or more predefined conditions are fulfilled. During ultra-deep sleep or when using the LP-WUR 200, the UE’s main receiver 201 may not perform measurements as in legacy procedures.

[0117] The measurements of the serving cell 121 may be offloaded from the MR 201 to the LP-WUR 200 to enable larger power savings. The LP-WUR 200 may carry out the measurements related to the serving cell evaluation based on a new reference signal called a low-power synchronization signal (LP-SS), or based on SSB (depending on the type of the LP-WUR 200). However, the coverage of the low-power wake-up signals and the LP-WUR 200 is limited (e.g., the LP-WUR may have only one receiver and a higher noise figure), and thus the LP-WUR 200 may not be suitable for neighbor cell measurements.

[0118] When the UE 100 moves further away from the serving cell 121 (and the measured signal power falls below a set threshold), then the measurements with the main receiver 201 may be (re) initiated, possibly first with a relaxed periodicity (i.e., less frequently). If the observed radio conditions of the serving cell 121 degrade further, then the measurement periodicity of the main receiver 201 may be adjusted such that the measurements are performed more frequently.

[0119] A difference between LP-WUS and LP-SS is that LP-SS is transmitted periodically (i.e., at regular intervals), while LP-WUS is transmitted only when the network (e.g., access node 104) has a need to wake up one or more UEs for PDCCH monitoring.

[0120] There may be different types of low-power wake-up receivers, such as envelope detectors (ED) and sequency detectors (SD). An envelope detector may only be capable of detecting ON / OFF keying. This type of LP-WUR may have no in-phase and quadrature (IQ) branch to perform coherent sequence detection, and it may only receive LP-WUS and / or LP-SS.On the other hand, the sequence detector may use IQ branches to perform coherent detection. However, this consumes more power due to the higher accuracy of the crystal oscillators (XO) used to drive the phase-locked loops (PLLs). This type of receiver can also receive SSBs in addition to LP-WUS or LP-SS.

[0121] In some implementations, the LP-WUR 200 may be implemented as a more power-efficient operation mode of the UE receiver, and the main receiver 201 may be seen as a more capable (and hence more power consuming) mode of the UE receiver. In other words, in this case, the UE 100 may comprise a single receiver with two different operation modes (instead of the LP-WUR 200 and the main receiver 201 being separate receivers).

[0122] The network (e.g., the access node 104) initiates the paging procedure by transmitting a paging message at the UE's paging occasion (or paging monitoring occasion). The network may address multiple UEs within a paging message by including one paging record for each UE.

[0123] The network may configure one or more offsets between the paging monitoring occasion (PO) and the LP-WUS monitoring occasion associated to the PO. The UE may monitor for the LP-WUS based on the shortest offset it supports (as per wake-up capability), or the UE may need to fallback to monitor paging according to the legacy procedure (without LP-WUS monitoring).

[0124] It should be noted that the ramp-up time for waking up the main receiver 201 from the ultra-deep sleep state may be quite long, for example 400 to 800 milliseconds or even longer.

[0125] Depending on the UE capability, the UE may support only some minimum time gap (wake-up delay) between the LP-WUS and the PDCCH monitoring (i.e., paging monitoring). Depending on the service demand, the network may determine to configure one or more offsets.

[0126] The network and UE may not support LP-WUS on all frequency bands. Thus, the network may indicate one or more frequency bands supporting LP-WUS, and the UE can then consider these frequency band(s) to be the highest priority in the cell (re)selection procedure. Alternatively, the UE (supporting LP-WUS) may be provided with different priorities for the cell (re)selection.The network may operate on different paging configurations on different frequency layers including the LP-WUS configuration. Hence, the network may choose to configure multiple offsets (e.g., 2) on some frequency layers, and one offset on another frequency layer. The values of the offset may be different on different frequency layers. As the offset can be different for different frequency layers or bands, the UE may not know which frequency layer or band to select (e.g., based on priorities to enable LP-WUS operation). Thus, plain priority-based cell reselection may not be sufficient to ensure that the UE selects a frequency layer where it is able to use LP-WUS and attain the power savings.

[0127] In some cases, the UE may (re)select a cell or frequency layer that does not support the offset between the PO and LP-WUS monitoring occasion that the UE supports (e.g., the offset supported by the cell or frequency layer may shorter than that supported by the UE). In this case, the UE cannot perform LP-WUS-based triggering of paging monitoring, and the LP-WUS power saving gains would consequently be lost.

[0128] In some example embodiments, a network entity (e.g., access node 104) may provide information to the UE about the offset(s) applied between paging monitoring and LP-WUS monitoring, so that the UE may use this information to reselect to an appropriate frequency or frequency layer or frequency band or cell or PLMN that allows the UE to use LP-WUS (based on its capability) and thus achieve power saving.

[0129] A frequency layer may refer to a single frequency layer (e.g., carrier). A frequency band may contain one or more configured frequency layers for cell reselection purposes. Frequency layers may be configured or defined by providing the SSB center frequency as an absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN).

[0130] A cell is a geographic unit of a mobile network, served by a base station (access node). Each cell provides coverage to a specific area, allowing mobile devices (i.e., UEs) to connect to the network.

[0131] A PLMN is a mobile network operated by a carrier, providing wireless communication services to the public. Each PLMN may be identified by a unique code and offers services like voice, text messages, and data.

[0132] Some example embodiments are described below using principles and terminology of 5G radio access technology without limiting the example embodimentsto 5G radio access technology, however. For example, some example embodiments may also be applied in 6G and beyond.

[0133] FIG. 3 illustrates a signal flow diagram according to an example embodiment. Although three cells (cell 1, cell 2, cell 3) are shown as an example in FIG.

[0134] 3, it should be noted that the number of cells may also be different than three. In other words, there may be one or more cells. In addition, the signaling procedure illustrated in FIG. 3 may be extended and applied according to the actual number of cells.

[0135] Referring to FIG. 3, at 301, a network entity transmits, to a UE 100, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies (i.e., radio frequencies), one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks. For example, the network entity may provide the information by broadcast (e.g., in system information) and / or dedicated signalling (e.g., in an RRC Release message).

[0136] As used herein, the terms “frequency”, “frequency layer”, “frequency band”, “cell” and “public land mobile network” may be used interchangeably and should be understood to refer to the same or similar concept, unless otherwise specified.

[0137] The one or more offset values are associated with or indicative of a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion (i.e., when the UE 100 checks for wake-up signals) and a paging monitoring occasion (i.e., when the UE 100 checks for incoming paging messages). These offsets help the UE 100 manage its power consumption by determining when to wake up and check for paging messages.

[0138] For example, the network entity may refer to an access node 104 controlling a first cell 121, and the one or more offset values may comprise a first offset value (X milliseconds) for the first cell 121 (or for a first frequency or band or layer that the first cell 121 is operating on), a second offset value (Y milliseconds) for a second cell 122 (or for a second frequency or band or layer that the second cell 122 is operating on), and a third offset value (Z milliseconds) for a third cell 123 (or for a third frequency or band or layer that the third cell 123 is operating on). The UE 100 may support at least one of these offset values. For example, the UE 100 may support the third offset value (Z milliseconds) used by the third cell 123.

[0139] The network entity (e.g., the access node 104 of the first cell 121) may request the offset values of the other cells from the access nodes 104B, 104C of theseother cells (e.g., via the X2 interface), for example when populating the system information for the neighbor cell information. Alternatively, the offset values may be configured by the network operator, for example.

[0140] Herein the terms “first cell”, “second cell”, and “third cell” are used to distinguish the cells, and they do not necessarily mean a specific order or specific identifiers of the cells.

[0141] The information may further indicate whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

[0142] In one example, the same offset value(s) may be used in every frequency or layer or band or cell in the PLMN. For example, the network may be mandated to use the same offsets, ensuring consistency in how the UE handles wake-up and paging monitoring. By using the same offset, the amount of information that needs to be provided is reduced (i.e., the signaling overhead is reduced), compared to providing the offset individually to each frequency or layer or band or cell.

[0143] The network entity may transmit, to the UE 100, an indication of which offset value is applied in the whole PLMN (in case the same offset is used in every cell of that operator). This indication may be delivered through broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling.

[0144] The network entity may transmit, to the UE 100, additional information comprising one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands or layers. For example, the one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations may indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, a reference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability. In other words, the network entity may provide the UE 100 with detailed information about the paging configuration specific to different layers, frequencies, bands, cells, or PLMNs.

[0145] The UE 100 may use this additional information (e.g., paging cycle and / or latency) to further refine the cell reselection procedure, so that the UE 100 can take into account, for example, the service requirements, and avoid frequency bands or layers where the resulting paging cycle or delay would result in too high latency. Forexample, if two frequency layers have the same offset (e.g., 500 milliseconds) but different DRX cycles (e.g., 640 milliseconds and 1280 milliseconds), then these layers will have different paging latencies. Thus, if the UE 100 has some services that require lower (or can tolerate longer) latency, then the UE 100 can also consider this aspect (in addition to LP-WUS applicability).

[0146] As a further example, if the UE 100 has emergency services ongoing, then the UE 100 should avoid cells with long delays due to LP-WUS. If the UE 100 has emergency services ongoing, then an emergency call back is possible (i.e., authorities may call back after emergency call), and any unnecessary delays should be avoided.

[0147] The paging cycle refers to the time interval at which the UE 100 checks or monitors for paging messages.

[0148] The intended paging latency is the expected delay between the network sending a paging message and the UE receiving it. Lower latency is beneficial for timesensitive applications.

[0149] The reference signal periodicity is the frequency or rate at which reference signals (such as SSB) are transmitted. These signals help the UE synchronize with the network and maintain a stable connection.

[0150] The type of reference signal and their availability refers to information about the specific type of reference signal used (e.g., SSB) and their availability. This helps the UE 100 understand when and where to expect these signals.

[0151] The network entity may transmit, to the UE 100, an indication of which configuration from a set of configurations is applied on which frequency, frequency layer, frequency band, or cell. This indication may be delivered through broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling. The set of configurations may be transmitted by the network entity to the UE 100, or the set of configurations may be pre-defined in the specifications. In other words, the network may provide the UE 100 with specific information about which configuration is applied to different network elements, such as layers, frequencies, or cells. For example, in 6G, certain cells may have less frequent reference signal configurations or different types of reference signals.

[0152] For example, the configuration (or set of configurations) may comprise information on at least one of: an offset value applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell, a paging latency applied, targeted, or supportedon the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell, or a reference signal configuration applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell.

[0153] The reference signal configuration comprises information about the reference signal (e.g., SSB) used for synchronization and communication, including their periodicity and type.

[0154] At 302, based on the information, the UE 100 selects or prioritizes at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the UE 100. This selection is performed for cell reselection (i.e., the offset value(s) are used for cell reselection evaluation) or cell selection.

[0155] For example, the UE 100 may determine whether the one or more frequencies or frequency layers or frequency bands or cells or PLMNs support the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100. In this case, the selection may comprise selecting, based on the determination, the frequency or frequency layer or frequency band or cell or PLMN that supports the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100. In other words, the UE 100 may attempt to find or select a frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN supporting the same offset that the UE 100 supports.

[0156] The UE 100 may determine a priority order of the one or more frequencies or frequency layers or frequency bands or cells or PLMNs, such that a frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN that supports the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100 is given a higher priority than a frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN that does not support the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100. In this case, the selection may be based on the priority order, such that the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN with the higher or highest priority is selected for the cell reselection, even if multiple frequency bands fulfil the cell reselection criteria. In other words, the UE 100 may select or prioritize the frequency(ies) or layer(s) or band(s) or cell(s) or PLMN(s) that support the offset value supported by the UE 100. Alternatively, or additionally, the UE 100 may consider the frequency(ies) or layer(s) or band(s) or cell(s) or PLMN(s) with offset value(s) not supported by the UE 100 to be the lowest priority in the cell reselection.As an example, if the UE 100 supports the third offset value (Z milliseconds), and the third offset value (Z milliseconds) is supported by the third cell 123, then the UE 100 may select the third cell 123 (or consider the third cell 123 as the highest priority cell) for the cell reselection evaluation, since the third cell 123 uses the offset value supported by the UE 100.

[0157] If the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100 comprises multiple different offset values (i.e., if the UE 100 supports multiple offset values), then the selection may comprise selecting the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN based on determining that the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN supports a smallest offset value among the multiple different offset values supported by the UE 100. In other words, the UE 100 may select or prioritize the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN that support the shortest offset supported by the UE 100.

[0158] If multiple frequencies or layers or bands or cells or PLMNs support the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100, then the selection may comprise selecting or prioritizing the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN from the multiple options based at least partly on the one or more cell reselection criteria. In other words, if there are, for example, multiple cells with an offset value that the UE 100 supports, and these cells have the same offset value between the LP-WUS monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion, then the UE 100 may treat these cells with the same or equal level of priority (e.g., highest priority) during the cell reselection process. The UE 100 may then perform the cell reselection procedure to the cell (among the multiple cells treated with the highest priority) that first fulfils the cell reselection criteria. In this case, the UE does not need to differentiate between these cells based on the offset value, since the offset value is the same for these cells. By using the same priority for cells with the same offset, the UE can quickly and efficiently make cell reselection decisions, ensuring optimal connectivity and power saving.

[0159] If the UE 100 determines that two or more frequencies or layers or bands or cells (which support the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100) fulfil the cell reselection criteria, then the UE 100 may rank the two or more frequencies or layers or bands or cells based on a received signal strength (e.g., RSRP) or quality (e.g., RSRQ) measured per frequency or layer or band or cell. In this case, the UE 100 may select the target cell for the cell reselection procedure based on the ranking. Forexample, the UE 100 may select the cell with the highest received signal strength or quality.

[0160] Alternatively, the UE 100 may receive, from the network entity, an indication indicating a cell reselection priority order for the multiple frequencies or layers or bands or cells. In this case, the selection may comprise selecting the frequency or layer or band or cell based at least partly on the cell reselection priority order indicated from the network entity (e.g., by selecting the cell with the highest priority indicated by the network entity, which also supports the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100).

[0161] The selection may be further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services (e.g., an emergency service) used by the UE 100 (i.e., based on what kind of services the UE 100 has been using). For example, the UE 100 may estimate an amount of energy savings provided by each of the one or more frequencies or layers or bands or cells or PLMNs, wherein the amount of energy savings is relative to a length of the time gap between the low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion (the longer the time gap, the higher the amount of energy savings, since the main receiver 201 will remain longer in the low-power sleep state). In other words, the UE 100 may select or prioritize the frequency or layer or band or cell or PLMN that is estimated to provide the highest amount of energy savings, or at least good enough energy savings (e.g., above a threshold).

[0162] For example, based on the historical information, the UE 100 may learn whether it is paged frequently or rarely. As another example, the UE 100 may know that it is running some application(s) that receive information from a server at a certain periodicity, or that the services have certain quality requirements (e.g., latency requirements).

[0163] The UE 100 may also take latency into account in the selection in order to find a balance or tradeoff between the energy savings and the latency. This may be beneficial in order to ensure that the maximum tolerable latency of latency-sensitive service(s) or application(s) is not exceeded. With a larger offset value (longer time gap), the amount of energy savings is higher, since the longer time gap enables keeping the main receiver 201 in deeper sleep or power saving mode by allowing a longer timeperiod for waking up the main receiver 201. However, with a longer time gap, the latency also increases, since it will take longer for the main receiver 201 to wake up.

[0164] Alternatively, if the UE 100 determines that none of the frequencies or layers or bands or cells or PLMNs support the at least one offset value supported by the UE 100, then the UE 100 may fall back to using legacy cell reselection priorities.

[0165] At 303, the UE 100 evaluates, based on or after the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria or conditions for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure (e.g., to the cell or frequency or frequency layer or frequency band selected at 302). As an example, based on the evaluation, the UE 100 may determine that the one or more cell reselection criteria are fulfilled for the third cell 123.

[0166] The one or more cell reselection criteria may indicate to perform the cell reselection procedure, if the measured received signal strength and / or quality from the first cell 121 that the UE 100 is currently camping on is below a configured value, and if the measured received signal power and / or quality from another cell 122, 123, 124 is higher than that of the first cell 121 by a configured threshold (e.g., denoted as treshx,Highp), and during a configured time denoted as T_reselection.

[0167] At 304, based on or in response to determining that the one or more cell reselection criteria are fulfilled for the third cell 123, the UE 100 performs a cell reselection procedure to the third cell 123 operating on the frequency or band or layer selected at 302.

[0168] At 305, receives, on a target cell of the cell reselection procedure (e.g., on the third cell 123 or from an access node 104C controlling the third cell 123), a low-power wake-up signal configuration comprising the at least one offset value (or one of the offset values) supported by the UE 100. The offset value indicates a time gap or delay between transmitting a low-power wake-up signal and transmitting a paging message on the target cell 123.

[0169] At 306, the UE 100 monitors, based on the received low-power wake-up signal configuration, for the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell 123 (or from the access node 104C controlling the target cell 123).

[0170] At 307, based on the monitoring, the UE 100 detects or receives the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell 123 (or from the access node 104C controllingthe target cell 123) with the low-power wake-up signal receiver 200 of the UE 100. The low-power wake-up signal is a signal used to wake up the main receiver 201 of the UE 100 from a low-power state (deep sleep state) or from an off-state.

[0171] At 308, based on detecting or receiving the low-power wake-up signal, the UE 100 (or the low-power wake-up signal receiver 200) triggers a wake-up of the main receiver 201 of the UE 100 (i.e., to power on the main receiver 201, or to wake up the main receiver 201 from a deep sleep state).

[0172] At 309, the UE 100 receives the paging message on the target cell 123 based on or according to the offset value indicated in the low-power wake-up signal configuration. The offset value indicates the time gap between the transmission of the low-power wake-up signal and the transmission of the paging message, so that the UE 100 knows when to expect the paging message. For example, after the reception of the low-power wake-up signal, the UE 100 may start a timer configured to expire after the time gap indicated by the offset value, and the UE 100 may start to monitor for the paging message after the timer expires. The UE 100 receives the paging message using the main receiver 201.

[0173] The paging message may be used to indicate to the UE 100 that there is an incoming communication, such as a call, text message, or data session for the UE 100.

[0174] At 310, based on or in response to receiving the paging message, the UE 100 establishes a connection (e.g., an RRC connection) to the third cell 123 (i.e., the UE 100 is switched to RRC connected mode).

[0175] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method (e.g., a computer-implemented method) for using one or more offset values for cell reselection evaluation. The method of FIG.4 may be performed by an apparatus 600 depicted in FIG. 6. For example, the apparatus 600 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a user equipment (UE) 100, 102.

[0176] Referring to FIG. 4, in block 401, the apparatus 600 receives, from a network entity 104, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells 121, 122, 123, 124, or one or more public land mobile networks. The one or more offset values are associated with a time gapbetween a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion.

[0177] The information received from the network entity 104 may further indicate whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells 121, 122, 123 124, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

[0178] In block 402, the apparatus 600 selects, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell 122 or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600.

[0179] In block 403, the apparatus 600 evaluates, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure (e.g., to the frequency or frequency layer or frequency band or cell or PLMN selected in block 402).

[0180] The selection may be further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services used by the apparatus 600.

[0181] For example, the apparatus 600 may estimate an amount of energy savings provided by each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein the amount of energy savings is relative to a length of the time gap between the low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion. In this case, the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band from the one or more frequency bands based at least partly on the estimation. The apparatus 600 may perform, based on the evaluation, the cell reselection procedure to a cell operating on the frequency band selected.

[0182] The frequency band may be selected based on determining that the amount of energy savings provided by the frequency band (or by the offset value supported by the frequency band) is above a threshold. Alternatively, the apparatus 600 may determine a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band that is estimated to provide a higher amount of energy savings is given a higher priority than a frequency band that is estimated to provide a lower amount of energysavings. In this case, the selection may be based on the priority order, such that the frequency band with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.

[0183] The selection may be further based on a maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services used by the apparatus 600.

[0184] The at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600 may comprise multiple different offset values. In this case, the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) based on determining that the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) supports a largest offset value among the multiple different offset values that fulfils the maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services (i.e., by using the largest offset value that fulfils the maximum tolerable latency requirement). Alternatively, the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) based on determining that the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) supports a smallest offset value among the multiple different offset values supported by the apparatus 600.

[0185] Alternatively, or additionally, the apparatus 600 may determine whether the one or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600, wherein the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) based at least partly on determining that the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600.

[0186] The apparatus 600 may determine a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) that supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600 is given a higher priority than a frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) that does not support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600. In this case, the selection may be based on the priority order, such that the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.In case the one or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) comprise multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600, then the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) from the multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) based at least partly on the one or more cell reselection criteria. In other words, in this case, the multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) may be treated with equal priority for the cell reselection procedure, such that any frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) among these may be selected for the cell reselection procedure, if it fulfils the one or more cell reselection criteria.

[0187] In case the apparatus 600 determines that two or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) from the multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria, the apparatus 600 may rank the two or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) based on a received signal strength or quality measured per frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) of the two or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs). In this case, the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) may be selected from the two or more frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) based at least partly on the ranking.

[0188] Alternatively, the apparatus 600 may receive, from the network entity 104, an indication indicating a cell reselection priority order for the multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs), wherein the selection may comprise selecting the frequency band (or frequency or frequency layer or cell or PLMN) from the multiple frequency bands (or frequencies or frequency layers or cells or PLMNs) based at least partly on the cell reselection priority order indicated from the network entity 104.

[0189] The apparatus 600 may receive, from the network entity 104, an indication of which configuration from a set of configurations is applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell 122. The configuration may compriseinformation on at least one of: an offset value applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell 122, a paging latency applied, targeted, or supported on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell 122, or a reference signal configuration applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell 122.

[0190] The apparatus 600 may receive, from the network entity 104, additional information to be applied to the cell reselection procedure, the additional information comprising one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands or for the one or more frequency layers. The one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations may indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, a reference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability.

[0191] The apparatus 600 may receive, on a target cell 122 of the cell reselection procedure, a low-power wake-up signal configuration comprising the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus 600, wherein the at least one offset value indicates a delay between transmitting a low-power wake-up signal and transmitting a paging message on the target cell 122. The apparatus 600 may monitor, based on the low-power wake-up signal configuration, for the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell 122. The apparatus 600 may receive the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell 122 based on the monitoring. The apparatus 600 may receive the paging message on the target cell 122 based on the at least one offset value. The apparatus 600 may establish a connection to the target cell 122 based on receiving the paging message.

[0192] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method (e.g., a computer-implemented method) for providing one or more offset values for cell reselection evaluation. The method of FIG. 5 may be performed by an apparatus 700 depicted in FIG.7. For example, the apparatus 700 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a network entity such as an access node 104 of a radio access network.

[0193] Referring to FIG. 5, in block 501, the apparatus 700 obtains information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or morecells 121, 122, 123, 124, or one or more public land mobile networks. The one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion.

[0194] In block 502, the apparatus 700 transmits the information to a user equipment 100 for evaluating whether to perform a cell reselection procedure at the user equipment 100.

[0195] The information may further indicate whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

[0196] The apparatus 700 may transmit, to the user equipment 100, additional information to be applied to the cell reselection procedure, the additional information comprising one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands or for the one or more frequency layers. The one or more band-specific or layer-specific paging configurations may indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, a reference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability.

[0197] The blocks, related functions, and information exchanges (messages) described above by means of FIGS. 3 to 5 are in no absolute chronological order, and some of them may be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the described one. Other functions can also be executed between them or within them, and other information may be sent, and / or other rules applied. Some of the blocks or part of the blocks or one or more pieces of information can also be left out or replaced by a corresponding block or part of the block or one or more pieces of information.

[0198] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an apparatus 600 comprising means for performing one or more of the example embodiments (e.g., the method of FIG. 4, and / or the functionalities of the UE 100 of FIG. 3) described above. For example, the apparatus 600 may be an apparatus such as, or comprising, or comprised in, a user equipment (UE) 100, 102.

[0199] The apparatus 600 may comprise a circuitry or a chipset applicable for realizing one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, the apparatus 600 may comprise at least one processor 610. The at least one processor610 interprets instructions (e.g., computer program instructions) and processes data. The at least one processor 610 may comprise one or more programmable processors. The at least one processor 610 may comprise programmable hardware with embedded firmware and may, alternatively or additionally, comprise one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0200] The at least one processor 610 is coupled to at least one memory 620. The at least one processor is configured to read and write data to and from the at least one memory 620. The at least one memory 620 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that there may be one or more units of non-volatile memory and one or more units of volatile memory or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) or synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be for example readonly memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to as non-transitory computer readable media. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). The at least one memory 620 stores computer readable instructions that are executed by the at least one processor 610 to perform one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer readable instructions, and the at least one processor 610 executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions. The computer readable instructions may refer to computer program code.

[0201] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the at least one memory 620 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions by the at least one processor 610 causes the apparatus 600 to perform one or more of the example embodiments described above. That is, the at least oneprocessor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide the means for providing or causing the performance of any of the methods and / or blocks described above.

[0202] In the context of this document, a “memory” or “computer-readable media” or “computer-readable medium” may be any non-transitory media or medium or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0203] The apparatus 600 may further comprise, or be connected to, an input unit 630. The input unit 630 may comprise one or more interfaces for receiving input. The one or more interfaces may comprise, for example, at least one of: one or more temperature, motion and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and / or one or more touch detection units. Further, the input unit 630 may comprise an interface to which external devices may connect to.

[0204] The apparatus 600 may also comprise an output unit 640. The output unit may comprise or be connected to one or more displays capable of rendering visual content, such as a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) and / or a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display. The output unit 640 may further comprise one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be for example loudspeakers.

[0205] The apparatus 600 further comprises a connectivity unit 650. The connectivity unit 650 enables wireless connectivity to one or more external devices. The connectivity unit 650 comprises at least one transmitter and at least one receiver that may be integrated to the apparatus 600 or that the apparatus 600 may be connected to. For example, the connectivity unit 650 may comprise at least one of: the low-power wake-up receiver 200 and / or the main receiver 201 described above.

[0206] The at least one transmitter comprises at least one transmission antenna, and the at least one receiver comprises at least one receiving antenna. The connectivity unit 650 may comprise an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuitsthat provide the wireless communication capability for the apparatus 600. Alternatively, the wireless connectivity may be a hardwired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The connectivity unit 650 may also provide means for performing at least some of the blocks or functions of one or more example embodiments described above. The connectivity unit 650 may comprise one or more components, such as: power amplifier, digital front end (DFE), analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter (DAC), frequency converter, (de) modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units.

[0207] It is to be noted that the apparatus 600 may further comprise various components not illustrated in FIG. 6. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0208] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an apparatus 700 comprising means for performing one or more of the example embodiments (e.g., the method of FIG. 5, and / or the functionalities of cell 1 of FIG. 3) described above. For example, the apparatus 700 may be an apparatus such as, or comprising, or comprised in, a network entity such as an access node 104 of a radio access network.

[0209] The apparatus 700 may comprise, for example, a circuitry or a chipset applicable for realizing one or more of the example embodiments described above. The apparatus 700 may be an electronic device comprising one or more electronic circuitries. The apparatus 700 may comprise a communication control circuitry 710 such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 720 storing instructions 722 which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus 700 to carry out one or more of the example embodiments described above. Such instructions 722 may, for example, include computer program code (software). The at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide the means for providing or causing the performance of any of the methods and / or blocks described above.

[0210] The processor is coupled to the memory 720. The processor is configured to read and write data to and from the memory 720. The memory 720 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that there may be one or more units of non-volatile memory and one or moreunits of volatile memory or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) or synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be for example read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to as non-transitory computer readable media. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). The memory 720 stores computer readable instructions that are executed by the processor. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer readable instructions, and the processor executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions.

[0211] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the memory 720 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions causes the apparatus 700 to perform one or more of the functionalities described above.

[0212] The memory 720 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and / or removable memory. The memory may comprise a configuration database for storing configuration data, such as a current neighbour cell list, and, in some example embodiments, structures of frames used in the detected neighbour cells.

[0213] The apparatus 700 may further comprise or be connected to a communication interface 730, such as a radio unit, comprising hardware and / or software for realizing communication connectivity with one or more wireless communication devices according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 730 comprises at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx) that may be integrated to the apparatus 700 or that the apparatus 700 may be connected to. The communication interface 730 may provide means forperforming some of the blocks and / or functions (e.g., transmitting and receiving) for one or more example embodiments described above. The communication interface 730 may comprise one or more components, such as: power amplifier, digital front end (DFE), analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter (DAC), frequency converter, (de) modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units.

[0214] The communication interface 730 provides the apparatus with radio communication capabilities to communicate in the wireless communication network. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to one or more UEs 100, 102. The apparatus 700 may further comprise or be connected to another interface towards a core network 110, such as the network coordinator apparatus or AMF, and / or to other access nodes of the wireless communication network.

[0215] The apparatus 700 may further comprise a scheduler 740 that is configured to allocate radio resources. The scheduler 740 may be configured along with the communication control circuitry 710 or it may be separately configured.

[0216] It is to be noted that the apparatus 700 may further comprise various components not illustrated in FIG. 7. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0217] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog, digital and / or quantum circuitry); and b) combinations of hardware circuit(s) and software, such as (as applicable): i) a combination of analog, digital and / or quantum hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and ii) any or all portions of hardware processor(s) (including digital and / or quantum processor(s)) with software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile device, computing device, or server, to perform various functions; and c) any or all portions of hardware circuit(s), such as microprocessor(s), processor(s) and / or quantum processor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0218] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the termcircuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0219] The techniques and methods described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or combinations thereof. For a hardware implementation, the apparatus(es) of example embodiments may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be carried out through modules of at least one chipset (for example procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means, as is known in the art. Additionally, the components of the systems described herein may be rearranged and / or complemented by additional components in order to facilitate the achievements of the various aspects, etc., described with regard thereto, and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

[0220] It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the proposed concept may be implemented in various ways within the scope of the claims. The embodiments are not limited to the example embodiments described above, but may vary within the scope of the claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiments.

Claims

43CLAIMS1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:receive, from a network entity, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks,wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion;select, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection is further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services used by the apparatus; andevaluate, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further being caused to:estimate an amount of energy savings provided by each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein the amount of energy savings is relative to a length of the time gap between the low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the one or more frequency bands based at least partly on the estimation; andperform, based on the evaluation, the cell reselection procedure to a cell operating on the frequency band selected.

443. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the frequency band is selected based on determining that the amount of energy savings provided by the frequency band is above a threshold.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further being caused to:determine a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band that is estimated to provide a higher amount of energy savings is given a higher priority than a frequency band that is estimated to provide a lower amount of energy savings,wherein the selection is based on the priority order, such that the frequency band with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the selection is further based on a maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services used by the apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus comprises multiple different offset values,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based on determining that the frequency band supports a largest offset value among the multiple different offset values that fulfils the maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services.

7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further being caused to: determine whether the one or more frequency bands support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based at least partly on determining that the frequency band supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus.

458. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the one or more cell reselection criteria.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further being caused to:determine that two or more frequency bands from the multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria; andrank the two or more frequency bands based on a received signal strength or quality measured per frequency band of the two or more frequency bands,wherein the frequency band is selected from the two or more frequency bands based at least partly on the ranking.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus;wherein the apparatus is further caused to:receive, from the network entity, an indication indicating a cell reselection priority order for the multiple frequency bands,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the cell reselection priority order indicated from the network entity.

11. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the information received from the network entity further indicates whether the one or more offset values are the same or different across the at least one of: the one or more frequencies, the one or more frequency layers, the one or more frequency bands, the one or more cells, or the one or more public land mobile networks.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further being caused to:receive, from the network entity, an indication of which configuration from a set of configurations is applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell;wherein the configuration comprises information on at least one of: an offset value applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell,a paging latency applied, targeted, or supported on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell, ora reference signal configuration applied on the frequency, the frequency layer, the frequency band, or the cell.

13. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further being caused to: receive, from the network entity, additional information to be applied to the cell reselection procedure, the additional information comprising one or more band-specific paging configurations for the one or more frequency bands,wherein the one or more band-specific paging configurations indicate at least one of: a paging cycle, an intended paging latency, a reference signal periodicity, an applied reference signal type, or a reference signal availability.

14. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further being caused to: receive, on a target cell of the cell reselection procedure, a low-power wake-up signal configuration comprising the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus, wherein the at least one offset value indicates a delay between transmitting a low-power wake-up signal and transmitting a paging message on the target cell;monitor, based on the low-power wake-up signal configuration, for the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell;receive the low-power wake-up signal on the target cell based on the monitoring;receive the paging message on the target cell based on the at least one offset value; andestablish a connection to the target cell based on receiving the paging message.

15. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment, UE, or wherein the apparatus is comprised in a UE.

16. A method comprising:receiving, from a network entity, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks,wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion;selecting, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection is further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services used by the apparatus; andevaluating, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:estimating an amount of energy savings provided by each of the one or more frequency bands, wherein the amount of energy savings is relative to a length of the time gap between the low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and the paging monitoring occasion,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the one or more frequency bands based at least partly on the estimation; and performing, based on the evaluation, the cell reselection procedure to a cell operating on the frequency band selected.4818. The method of claim 17, wherein the frequency band is selected based on determining that the amount of energy savings provided by the frequency band is above a threshold.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:determining a priority order of the one or more frequency bands, such that a frequency band that is estimated to provide a higher amount of energy savings is given a higher priority than a frequency band that is estimated to provide a lower amount of energy savings,wherein the selection is based on the priority order, such that the frequency band with the higher priority is selected if multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria.

20. The method of any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the selection is further based on a maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services used by the apparatus.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus comprises multiple different offset values,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based on determining that the frequency band supports a largest offset value among the multiple different offset values that fulfils the maximum tolerable latency requirement of the one or more services.

22. The method of any of claims 16 to 21, further being caused to: determine whether the one or more frequency bands support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band based at least partly on determining that the frequency band supports the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus.4923. The method of any of claims 16 to 22, wherein the one or more frequency bands comprise multiple frequency bands that support the at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection comprises selecting the frequency band from the multiple frequency bands based at least partly on the one or more cell reselection criteria.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:determining that two or more frequency bands from the multiple frequency bands fulfil the one or more cell reselection criteria; andranking the two or more frequency bands based on a received signal strength or quality measured per frequency band of the two or more frequency bands, wherein the frequency band is selected from the two or more frequency bands based at least partly on the ranking.

25. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:receiving, from a network entity, information indicating one or more offset values supported by at least one of: one or more frequencies, one or more frequency layers, one or more frequency bands, one or more cells, or one or more public land mobile networks,wherein the one or more offset values are associated with a time gap between a low-power wake-up signal monitoring occasion and a paging monitoring occasion;selecting, based on the information, at least one of: a frequency, a frequency layer, a frequency band, a cell or a public land mobile network that supports at least one offset value supported by the apparatus,wherein the selection is further based on at least one of: an estimated amount of energy savings resulting from the selection, or historical information of one or more services used by the apparatus; andevaluating, based on the selection, one or more cell reselection criteria for determining whether to perform a cell reselection procedure.

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