Mobile Wireless Control Indicators for Low-Power Blind Decoding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication devices face high power consumption due to unnecessary blind decoding attempts of physical control channels, particularly in the transition to 5G-NR, which lacks efficient mechanisms to reduce such decoding.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a control indicator system where a base station transmits an indication to UEs about the presence or absence of physical control channels, allowing UEs to perform blind decoding only when necessary, and enter a sleep state otherwise, using per-UE or per-group signaling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If UEs perform blind decoding of physical control channels in every slot to ensure reliable detection of downlink assignments, then detection reliability is improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary action by transmitting a control indicator in advance that indicates whether a physical control channel will be present in the current slot. This allows the UE to prepare appropriately before the actual channel transmission, avoiding unnecessary blind decoding when the channel will not be present, thus reducing power consumption while maintaining reliable detection when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
A control indicator is introduced as an intermediary element between the base station and the UE. This indicator acts as a mediator that conveys information about the presence or absence of physical control channels, enabling the UE to make informed decisions about whether to perform blind decoding, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliable detection and power consumption.
2Speed
If UEs continuously monitor for physical control channels without control indicators, then communication responsiveness is improved, but unnecessary blind decoding attempts increase power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The base station transmits control indicators in advance to inform UEs about upcoming physical control channel transmissions. This preliminary information allows UEs to maintain communication responsiveness by knowing when to expect channels, while avoiding continuous blind monitoring, thus reducing power consumption without sacrificing responsiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous monitoring, the system adopts periodic action where UEs monitor for control indicators at specific intervals and only perform blind decoding when indicated by the control signal. This periodic monitoring approach maintains communication responsiveness while significantly reducing power consumption compared to continuous blind decoding.
3Measurement precision
If control indicators are transmitted to all UEs individually (per-UE signaling), then decoding accuracy is improved, but signaling overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments UEs into different groups and transmits control indicators at different levels: group-common indicators for shared information and UE-specific indicators for precise individual scheduling. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high decoding accuracy for scheduled UEs while reducing overall signaling overhead by using group-level indicators for unscheduled groups, avoiding the need to send individual indicators to every UE.
Solution Approach 2:
The control indicator mechanism is designed with multi-functionality to serve different purposes: it can provide group-common information for multiple UEs simultaneously or UE-specific information for individual scheduling. This universal approach allows the same indicator structure to achieve both high decoding accuracy for targeted UEs and reduced signaling overhead for groups, eliminating the need for purely individual per-UE signaling.
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless communication device (UE) may receive control indicator information (CII) indicating whether one or more candidate physical control channels (PCCs) are available to the UE for decoding. The UE may perform respective blind decoding if the CII indicates that the one or more candidate PCCs are available, to decode a respective PCC intended for the UE. The UE may receive the CII in the same slot in which PCCs are transmitted, or it may receive the CII in another slot, which may be a narrowband slot. The UE may receive the PCCs in the same slot in which corresponding physical data channels (PDCs) are transmitted, or it may receive the PCCs in another slot, e.g. a slot immediately preceding the slot in which the corresponding PDCs are transmitted. By eliminating unnecessary blind decoding and receiving the CII over narrowband, power consumption of the UE may be greatly reduced.