Sidelink Wake-Up Signal Waveform for UE Power Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current wireless communication systems face inefficiencies in power consumption due to UEs waking up at the beginning of each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, even when no data is scheduled, leading to unnecessary power usage.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a mechanism where UEs receive a wake-up signal (WUS) only when data is scheduled to be transmitted, allowing them to stay in a low power mode during unscheduled periods by using physical sidelink shared channels (PSSCH) or physical sidelink control channels (PSCCH) to wake up specifically for data reception.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If UEs wake up at the beginning of each DRX cycle to monitor for data, then they can receive scheduled transmissions promptly, but power consumption increases due to unnecessary wake-ups when no data is scheduled

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata reception reliabilityVSAvoidUE power consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by sending a wake-up signal before the DRX ON period to indicate whether data will be scheduled. This allows the UE to prepare in advance and avoid waking up unnecessarily, thus reducing power consumption while ensuring reliable data reception when needed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The wake-up signal acts as an intermediary between the network and the UE. It provides preliminary information about upcoming data transmissions, allowing the UE to make informed decisions about whether to wake up and monitor the channel, thereby balancing reliability and power consumption

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Use of energy by moving object

If UEs stay in low power mode during DRX OFF periods, then power consumption is reduced, but data reception is delayed if data is scheduled during the DRX ON period

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveUE power consumptionVSAvoiddata reception delay

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The wake-up signal is sent in advance during the offset period before the DRX ON period, providing early notification of scheduled data transmissions. This allows the UE to wake up at the precise moment needed, avoiding both premature wake-ups (wasting power) and delayed wake-ups (causing delays)

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Use of energy by moving object

If UEs monitor for wake-up signals during the offset period before DRX ON, then they can reduce unnecessary wake-ups, but monitoring overhead increases during the offset period

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveUE power consumptionVSAvoidmonitoring overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the wake-up signal monitoring function from the main data reception process. By separating the wake-up signal detection (during offset period) from the data monitoring (during DRX ON period), the UE can use simplified monitoring procedures during the offset period, reducing overall complexity while still achieving power savings

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS20240284336A1Waveform for sidelink wakeup signal

Publication Date: 2024.08.22 QUALCOMM INC

AI summary

Wireless communications systems and methods related to communicating control information are provided. A method of wireless communication performed by a first user equipment (UE) may include monitoring, during an offset before a discontinuous reception on (DRX ON) period, for a sequence in resource elements transmitted by a second UE, receiving, based on the monitoring for the sequence in resource elements, a wake-up signal (WUS) from the second UE, entering a DRX ON mode in response to receiving the wake-up signal, and receiving, from the second UE, a transport block via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).