User Equipment Power Saving Configuration Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing demand for always-on connections in user equipment leads to challenges in radio access network load and user equipment power consumption, particularly due to background traffic from applications like social networking and voice over internet protocol, which generates intermittent small packets and affects signaling load and radio resource usage.
Innovation Solution
User equipment sends a preference indication for power savings to the network, allowing it to configure and implement power-saving options such as deactivating secondary cells, releasing Physical Uplink Control Channel configurations, and terminating timing advance timers, enabling autonomous power-saving measures without network signaling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If user equipment maintains always-on connections for applications, then application availability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements Discontinuous Receive (DRX) cycles that periodically switch the user equipment between active and idle states. During idle periods, the device powers down radio receivers to save energy, while periodically waking up to check for incoming data. This periodic action maintains application availability by ensuring the device can quickly resume communication when needed, while significantly reducing power consumption during idle intervals.
2Loss of information
If user equipment sends frequent polling messages for background traffic, then data freshness is improved, but signaling load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network side serves itself by implementing network-initiated downlink data transmission. Instead of requiring user equipment to continuously poll the network for data, the network can proactively push data to the device when it becomes available. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for frequent polling messages, reducing signaling load while maintaining data freshness through immediate network-initiated transmissions.
3Use of energy by moving object
If user equipment enters idle mode to save power, then power consumption is reduced, but connection response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements connection release with configuration preservation. When user equipment transitions to idle mode, the network preserves the radio resource control configuration and connection context in advance. This preliminary action allows the device to enter idle mode and save power immediately, while the preserved configuration enables rapid connection resumption without full re-establishment procedures, thus minimizing connection response time when data needs to be transmitted.
4Reliability
If network maintains connected state for all user equipment, then service quality is improved, but radio resource usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic connection management where the network adaptively transitions user equipment between connected and idle states based on actual data activity. This dynamic approach allows the network to maintain connected state and high service quality only when necessary for active data transmission, while transitioning to idle state during periods of no activity to reduce radio resource usage. The system dynamically adjusts resource allocation to match actual service requirements rather than maintaining static connected state for all devices.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for power savings. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include sending, by a user equipment (114B), an indication (220) to a network (202), wherein the indication (220) represents whether there is a preference for power savings at the user equipment (114B); and performing, at the user equipment (114B) when the indication (220) is sent, one or more power savings actions (225). Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.