Dynamic Coverage Enhancement Paging for Idle Mode UEs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing coverage enhancement levels for user equipment (UE) in idle mode, particularly for power-limited devices, where coordinating new coverage enhancement levels can limit operating life or affect performance.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic coverage enhancement (CE) configuration is established, allowing UE to autonomously transition between CE levels, with the network blindly detecting CE changes during paging procedures, and base stations retransmitting paging messages at different CE levels based on this configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the network coordinates a new coverage enhancement (CE) level for the UE, then the UE can receive messages intended for it, but the operating life of the power-limited device is limited or adversely affected
Solution Approach 1:
The UE autonomously selects a new CE level based on its own measurements of downlink signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) without requiring network coordination. The UE independently determines when to transition between CE levels and notifies the network only of the final selection, enabling self-service operation that conserves battery power while maintaining reliable message reception.
Solution Approach 2:
The network pre-configures the UE with multiple CE levels and the criteria for selecting between them before the UE needs to transition. This preliminary configuration allows the UE to autonomously make decisions later without real-time network intervention, reducing signaling overhead and power consumption while ensuring reliable operation across varying channel conditions.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the UE autonomously transitions between CE levels, then power consumption is reduced, but the network must blindly detect the CE change during paging procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new dimension for CE level indication by using the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource selection as an implicit indicator of CE level. Instead of explicit signaling, the UE's choice of PUSCH resources (time/frequency location, resource block allocation) encodes the CE level information, allowing the network to infer the UE's selected CE level from the dimension of resource allocation rather than direct communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The PUSCH resource allocation acts as an intermediary that carries CE level information indirectly. The UE's selected PUSCH resources serve as a mediator between the UE's autonomous CE level selection and the network's need to know the current CE level, enabling blind detection without direct signaling while maintaining power efficiency.
3Reliability
If the base station retransmits paging messages at different CE levels, then message delivery reliability is improved, but operational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the base station systematically retransmitting paging messages at all possible CE levels (excessive action), the system uses the UE's autonomously selected CE level to determine the appropriate transmission level. The base station transmits paging messages only at the CE level indicated by the UE through PUSCH resource selection, performing partial action that is sufficient for reliable delivery without the overhead of exhaustive retransmissions at multiple levels.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may establish a dynamic coverage enhancement (CE) configuration and then autonomously transition from one CE level to another while in idle mode. The network may blindly detect the CE change during a paging procedure. For example, a mobility management entity (MME) may store dynamic CE information, and it may provide the dynamic CE information to base stations when the UE is paged. In some cases, the base stations may autonomously retransmit paging messages at different CE levels based on the dynamic CE information. In other examples, the MME may direct the base station to retransmit at different CE levels.