Sidelink UE Aggregation With Aligned Paging for Lower Power XR Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 5G NR systems face challenges in efficiently managing power consumption and resource allocation for devices with varying QoS demands, particularly in sidelink communications and XR services, where devices like smart glasses require high-capacity links with stringent radio latency and reliability, and sidelink relays consume excessive battery power due to continuous monitoring and decoding.
Innovation Solution
Implementing device aggregation methods where a primary user equipment (UE) coordinates with secondary UEs to monitor and decode downlink paging indications, optimizing power consumption by aligning paging resource occasions and performing traffic splitting, with network awareness to dynamically adjust resources for efficient radio function aggregation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a primary user equipment monitors and decodes downlink paging indications for multiple secondary user equipment, then power consumption is reduced in secondary UEs, but the primary UE experiences increased processing load and decoding complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the paging monitoring function by separating the primary UE (which performs blind decoding) from secondary UEs (which would otherwise need to wake up and decode). The primary UE decodes paging indications for multiple secondary UEs, dividing the monitoring burden from individual devices to a coordinated group approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The primary UE performs multiple functions: it monitors its own paging indications while simultaneously decoding paging indications for multiple secondary UEs. This multi-functionality allows one device to serve the entire aggregation group, eliminating the need for each secondary UE to independently monitor paging channels.
2Reliability
If sidelink relay devices continuously monitor and decode downlink traffic, then communication reliability is improved, but battery power is depleted rapidly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles where relay UEs periodically wake up to monitor paging indications and then return to sleep mode. Instead of continuous monitoring, devices wake up at configured paging occasions, decode relevant information, and sleep during non-critical periods, maintaining reliability while reducing power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses network-configured paging occasions and alignment mechanisms to automatically manage when relay UEs need to wake up. The network coordinates paging alignment responses and resource occasions, allowing relay devices to autonomously manage their wake/sleep cycles based on pre-configured parameters without continuous network control signaling.
3Ease of operation
If multiple user equipment devices wake up at different paging occasions, then individual device monitoring is simplified, but overall system resource efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple paging occasions into aligned resource occasions where a single wake event can serve multiple devices. By coordinating paging alignment responses from the network, the system combines monitoring opportunities so that relay UEs can wake up once and decode paging indications for multiple secondary UEs simultaneously, improving resource efficiency while maintaining operational simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
In a sidelink aggregation group, a primary user equipment may receive from one or more secondary user equipment user equipment information that may comprise device identifiers, flow identifiers, flow quality indicators, decoding information, or decrypting information. The primary user equipment may transmit the user equipment information to a radio access network node in an aggregation request. The node may respond with a paging alignment response signaling message that may indicate that paging indications for one or more of the secondary user equipment are accepted to be aligned/combined in an aggregation downlink message. The primary user equipment may wake up to decode an aggregation downlink message at a scheduled paging occasion, and while awake decode paging occasions, directed to secondary user equipment, contained in the aggregation downlink message. Data traffic directed to a secondary user equipment may be transmitted to a primary user equipment at a data rate corresponding thereto.