CN113632585A

CN113632585A - Discontinuous reception configuration of terminal equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113632585A
Application number: CN201980094439.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: N·曼加尔维德赫; R·拉塔萨克; S·赛瓦加纳帕西; J-P·科斯基南; 李海涛
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2019-01-21
Filing date: 2019-01-21
Publication date: 2021-11-09
Also published as: WO2020150871A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to discontinuous reception configurations. One method comprises the following steps: determining, at the terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from the network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for discontinuous reception by the terminal device; determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by the other terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and transmitting a second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception to the other terminal device. In this way, by optimizing the paging time for terminal devices outside the coverage area, the power consumption of terminal devices within the coverage area is reduced.

Description

Discontinuous reception configuration of terminal equipment

Technical Field

The disclosed embodiment relates to the field of telecommunications, in particular to discontinuous reception configuration of terminal equipment.

Background

Narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) and enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) technologies are specified in release 13 and enhanced in release 14 and release 15. NB-IoT and eMTC are low power technologies intended for delay tolerant, low data rate applications, and for very long battery life. The techniques support coverage enhancement to support devices that may experience high path loss. A further enhancement of this technique is envisaged in release 16. One such enhancement includes the use of User Equipment (UE) relays to further extend coverage. Narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) and eMTC UEs support Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX), which is important to reduce UE power consumption. Release 15 also introduces wake-up signal (WUS) operation to enable UEs to save power by monitoring pages only when they receive an indication over the WUS, which monitoring and detection is low power operation.

NB-IoT and eMTC devices for metered services may be deployed in locations that experience significant penetration loss from best serving base stations, such as in basements or closets deep in buildings. Alternatively, the device may be used in an area where there is a network deployment. In this case, the device may be out of network coverage. One potential solution is to employ relaying through other NB-IoT and eMTCUE within network coverage. Both in-coverage and out-of-coverage UEs may use DRX to reduce power consumption. However, the DRX configuration should enable the network to reach out-of-coverage UEs for paging and subsequent connection establishment.

Disclosure of Invention

In summary, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for DRX configuration of a terminal device.

In a first aspect, a method for discontinuous reception is provided. The method comprises the following steps: determining, at the terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from the network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for discontinuous reception by the terminal device; determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by the other terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and transmitting a second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

In a second aspect, a method for discontinuous reception is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration being determined based on a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and determining a time period for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages based on a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception.

In a third aspect, an apparatus for discontinuous reception is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determining, at the terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from the network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for discontinuous reception by the terminal device; determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by the other terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and transmitting a second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, an apparatus for discontinuous reception is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration being determined based on a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and determining a time period for the terminal device to start receiving the paging message based on a second configuration relating to discontinuous reception.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing the steps of the method according to the first aspect. The device includes: means for determining, at the terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from the network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for discontinuous reception by the terminal device; means for determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by another terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and means for transmitting a second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing the steps of the method according to the second aspect. The device includes: means for receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration being determined based on a first configuration associated with the discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and means for determining a time period for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages based on a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the second aspect.

It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example process 200 for discontinuous reception by a terminal device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a diagram of time intervals for discontinuous reception, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a diagram of time intervals for discontinuous reception, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates a diagram of time intervals for discontinuous reception, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 600 of discontinuous reception by a terminal device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 700 of discontinuous reception by a terminal device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are presented to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the disclosure and are not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways other than those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard or protocol, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), and 5GNR, and employs any suitable communication technology, including, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), OFDM, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), bluetooth, ZigBee, Machine Type Communication (MTC)), eMBB, MTC, and urrllc technologies. For purposes of discussion, in some embodiments, an LTE network, an LTE-a network, a 5GNR network, or any combination thereof are examples of communication networks.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any suitable device on the network side of a communication network. The network device may comprise any suitable device in an access network of a communication network, including for example a Base Station (BS), a relay, an Access Point (AP), a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G or next generation NodeB (gnb), a remote radio module (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a low power node (such as femto, pico), and the like. For discussion purposes, in some embodiments, an eNB is taken as an example of a network device.

The network devices may also include any suitable device in the core network, including, for example, multi-standard radio (MSR) radios such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or Base Station Controllers (BSCs), multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) and MMEs, operations and management (O & M) nodes, Operations Support Systems (OSS) nodes, self-organizing networks (SON) nodes, location nodes such as enhanced serving mobile location centers (E-SMLCs), and/or Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs).

As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, arranged to, and/or operable to communicate with a network device or another terminal device in a communication network. The communication may involve sending and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic signals, radio waves, infrared signals, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network side, the terminal device may transmit information to the network device according to a predetermined schedule.

Examples of end devices include, but are not limited to, User Equipment (UE) such as a smart phone, wireless-enabled tablet, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), laptop installation equipment (LME), and/or wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). For discussion purposes, some embodiments will be described below with reference to a UE as an example of a terminal device, and the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" (UE) may be used interchangeably in the context of this disclosure.

As used herein, the term "cell" refers to an area covered by radio signals transmitted by a network device. Terminal devices within a cell may be served by and access a communication network via a network device.

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only) and

(b) a combination of hardware circuit(s) with software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor (s)), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not be present when it is not required for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including all uses in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations in hardware circuitry only or a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuitry or a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. By way of example, and where applicable to particular claim elements, the term circuitry also encompasses baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "including" and its variants are to be read as open-ended terms, which mean "including, but not limited to". The term "based on" should be read as "based, at least in part, on. The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be read as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be read as "at least one other embodiment". Other definitions, whether explicit or implicit, may be included below.

Fig. 1 illustrates a communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication environment 100 may conform to any suitable protocol or standard that already exists or will be developed in the future. In some embodiments, the communication environment 100 may be an LTE (or LTE-a) network, an NR network, or a combination thereof.

Communication environment 100 may include network device 110 and terminal devices 120-1 and 120-2. Network device 110 may provide wireless connectivity for terminal device 120-1 (hereinafter also referred to as UE 120-1) within coverage area 125 of network device 110 and terminal device 120-2 (hereinafter also referred to as UE 120-2) outside coverage area 125 of network device 110. Terminal device 120-1 may communicate with network device 110 via wireless transmission channel 105. Further, terminal device 120-1 may communicate with terminal device 120-2 via another wireless transmission channel 115.

It is to be understood that the number of network devices and the number of terminal devices shown in fig. 1 are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to suggest any limitation. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and any suitable number of terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, it should be appreciated that various wireless as well as wired communications may exist between these additional network devices and additional terminal devices, if desired.

Communications in communication environment 100 may conform to any suitable standard including, but not limited to, global system for mobile communications (GSM), extended coverage global system for mobile internet of things (EC-GSM-IoT), Long Term Evolution (LTE), evolved LTE, LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), and so forth.

Further, communications in communication environment 100 may be performed according to any generational communication protocol currently known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth generation (5G) communication protocols.

As an illustrative example, the various example implementations or techniques described herein may be applied to various terminal devices, such as Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal devices, enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) terminal devices, internet of things (IoT) terminal devices, and/or narrowband IoT terminal devices.

An IoT may refer to an ever-growing set of objects that may have internet or network connectivity such that the objects may send and receive information to and from other network devices. For example, many sensor-type applications or devices may monitor physical conditions or states and may send reports to a server or other network device, such as when an event occurs. Machine type communication (MTC, or machine-to-machine communication) may be characterized by fully automatic data generation, exchange, processing, and actuation between smart machines, for example, with or without human intervention.

Further, in an example implementation, the terminal device or UE may be a UE/terminal device having a URLLC application. A cell (or cells) may include a plurality of terminal devices connected to the cell, including different types or classes of terminal devices, e.g., classes including MTC, NB-IoT, URLLC, or other UE classes.

Various example implementations may be applied to multiple wireless technologies or wireless networks, such as LTE, LTE-a, 5G, cmWave, and/or mmWave band networks, IoT, MTC, eMTC, URLLC, etc., or any other wireless network or wireless technology. These example networks or technologies are provided as merely illustrative examples, and various example implementations may be applied to any wireless technology/wireless network.

Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) are supported for narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) UEs and are important to reduce UE power consumption. Release 15 also introduces wake-up signal (WUS) operation to enable UEs to save power by monitoring pages only when they receive an indication over the WUS, which monitoring and detection is low power operation.

NB-IoT devices for metered services may be deployed in locations that experience a large amount of penetration loss from best serving base stations, such as in basements or closets deep in buildings. Alternatively, the device may be used in an area where there is a network deployment. In this case, the device may be outside network coverage or in poor network coverage. One potential solution is to employ relaying by other NB-IoT UEs or relay nodes (e.g., relay enbs) that are within network coverage or have better network coverage. For example, a UE with poor network coverage may prefer to connect to and relay its data through another UE with good network coverage, rather than directly connecting to the network. Both in-coverage and out-of-coverage UEs may use DRX to reduce power consumption. However, the DRX configuration should enable the network to reach out-of-coverage UEs for paging and subsequent connection establishment.

Traditionally, cell-specific and UE-specific DRX configurations may be specified for terminal devices in the coverage of a cell. As shown in fig. 1, terminal device 120-1 may obtain its DRX configuration directly from network device 110. For out-of-coverage terminal devices, such as terminal device 120-2, the paging procedure initiated by network device 110 may be performed by an in-coverage terminal device, i.e., terminal device 120-1. For example, terminal device 120-1 may monitor for pages at its paging occasions. Network device 110 may also perform DRX configuration for terminal device 120-2 through terminal device 120-1.

In addition, the network device 110 may configure a wake-up signal (WUS) for all terminal devices in its coverage area 125.

As mentioned above, the DRX configuration for out-of-coverage terminal devices is configured by the network device. However, network device 110 does not communicate directly with out-of-coverage terminal device 120-2, and thus pages from the network device to the out-of-coverage terminal device must be forwarded by the appropriate in-coverage terminal or relay device. In the case where the in-coverage terminal device acts as a relay for the out-of-coverage terminal device and the communication between the in-coverage and out-of-coverage terminal devices may be based on the D2D side link, the in-coverage terminal device may transmit synchronization and broadcast signals to the out-of-coverage terminal device. The terminal devices within the coverage area can assist the terminal devices outside the coverage area to register, update the tracking area, and the like. Currently, when configuring a conventional DRX configuration for out-of-coverage terminal devices, the DRX configuration for in-coverage terminal devices is not considered.

The present disclosure proposes a method for configuring DRX for out-of-coverage terminal devices when both the in-coverage and out-of-coverage terminal devices are operating in an NB-IoT system. A terminal device within coverage may determine the DRX configuration of a terminal device outside coverage based on its own DRX configuration. The DRX configuration of the out-of-coverage terminal device may be determined in consideration of an offset between periods of time during which the in-coverage terminal device and the out-of-coverage terminal device may monitor for paging messages. One approach reduces power consumption of terminal devices within a coverage area by optimizing paging times for terminal devices outside the coverage area.

Furthermore, the method can also be used to coordinate data transmission between the network and out-of-coverage terminals when paging is not required on the sidelink. In this case, the DRX or WUS configuration of the relay and the out-of-coverage terminal device may be coordinated such that the out-of-coverage terminal is active based on the relay terminal DRX or WUS configuration.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 2, which illustrates a process 200 according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Process 200 may involve DRX configuration for a terminal device.

As shown in fig. 2, terminal device 120-1 determines 205 for itself a configuration associated with the discontinuous reception based on one of a plurality of parameters related to the configuration received from network device 110.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may receive one or more parameters for determining: the length of the DRX cycle, the starting position of the paging frame, and the starting position of the paging occasion. For example, in LTE, the Paging Occasion (PO) and Paging Frame (PF) are determined using DRX parameters defaultPagingCycle and nB provided by the network. The PF is determined using the following formula: SFN mod T ═ T div N (UE _ ID mod N) where T is the DRX cycle of the UE derived from the parameter defaultPagingCycle, N ═ min (T, nB) where nB is a parameter provided by the network, and UE _ ID is the device identifier. The PO is determined using a table whose index is given by i _ s floor (UE _ ID/N) mode Ns, where Ns max (1, nB/T). In another example, in NR, a Paging Occasion (PO) and a Paging Frame (PF) are determined using parameters defaultPagingCycle, nAndPagingFrameOffset, and ns provided by a network.

In some embodiments, the DRX configuration may indicate at least a time interval for discontinuous reception by terminal device 120-1. In some embodiments, the term "configuration associated with discontinuous reception" may refer to a configuration of Discontinuous Reception (DRX) or an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX). The terminal device may support both DRX and eDRX, or one of them.

In some embodiments, the DRX configuration may be referred to as an RRC _ IDLE DRX configuration, which may indicate a period of time for which terminal device 120-1 monitors for paging messages from network device 110.

In some embodiments, where the configuration is a DRX configuration, the time interval of terminal device 120-1 may be referred to as a DRX cycle. The DRX cycle may include a paging frame with a paging occasion. The paging frame indicates a time period (radio frame) for terminal device 120-1 during which terminal device 120-1 may begin monitoring for incoming paging messages. The paging occasion indicates a time period (subframe) within the paging frame for terminal device 120-1 during which terminal device 120-1 may begin receiving paging messages.

In this case, terminal device 120-1 may determine at least one of: the length of the DRX cycle, the starting position of the paging frame, and the starting position of the paging occasion.

Based on the received DRX configuration of terminal device 120-1, terminal device 120-1 determines 210 a DRX configuration of terminal device 120-2 located outside of coverage area 125 of network device 110. The DRX configuration of terminal device 120-2 may indicate at least a time interval for DRX for terminal device 120-2. The DRX time interval for terminal device 120-2 may be offset from the DRX time interval for terminal device 120-1.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine the offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to terminal device 120-2. Terminal device 120-1 may determine a starting position of a paging frame in the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-2 based on the determined offset and the starting position of the paging frame in the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-1.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an offset between the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1 and the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-2.

As shown in FIG. 3, DRX cycle 311 for terminal device 120-1 may include paging frame 310-1. In general, the DRX cycle may refer to a period of time from a starting position of a paging frame 310-1 to a starting position of a next paging frame 310-2. DRX cycle 321 of terminal device 120-2 may include paging frame 320-1.

As described above, terminal device 120-1 may determine offset 330 based on the time requirement for forwarding the paging message to terminal device 120-2.

In some embodiments, to determine the offset, terminal device 120-1 may determine a first length of time for processing of a paging message from network device 110 to terminal device 120-2 by terminal device 120-1. Terminal device may also determine a second length of time to generate a paging message for terminal device 120-2. Terminal device 120-1 may determine the offset based on at least one of the first length of time and the second length of time.

Further, terminal device 120-2 is paged in order to provide terminal device 120-1 with multiple paging opportunities. Terminal device 120-1 may determine a relationship between the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1 and the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-2. For example, the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1 and the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-2 may have some relationship, e.g., a relationship of N:1, meaning that terminal device 120-2 has N DRX cycles for monitoring for paging messages within one DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may also determine the length of the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-2 based on the length of the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-1. For example, the length of the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-2 may be equal to the length of the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-1.

In some embodiments, if WUS operation is enabled in a cell and both terminal device 120-1 and terminal device 120-2 support WUS, the time interval for DRX for terminal device 120-1 may be referred to as a DRX cycle. The DRX cycle may include a paging occasion. Meanwhile, the terminal device 120-1 may also receive WUS configuration from the network device. The WUS configuration may include a wake-up opportunity indicating a time period (subframe) for terminal device 120-1 during which terminal device 120-1 may begin receiving wake-up signals. The wake-up signal may wake up end device 120-1 from an idle state. The paging occasion may indicate a time period for terminal device 120-1 during which terminal device 120-1 may begin receiving paging messages.

Further, if both terminal device 120-1 and terminal device 120-2 support WUS, there is a gap between the wake-up occasion and the paging occasion. The requirements for minimum gaps may be preconfigured based on the WUS configuration of terminal device 120-1.

In this case, terminal device 120-1 may determine at least one of: the length of the DRX cycle and the starting position of the paging occasion.

In this case, terminal device 120-1 may also receive the starting position of the paging frame. The paging occasions may be included in a paging frame.

Similarly, based on the received DRX configuration of terminal device 120-1, terminal device 120-1 determines a DRX configuration of terminal device 120-2 located outside of coverage area 125 of network device 110. The DRX configuration of terminal device 120-2 may indicate at least a DRX cycle for terminal device 120-2 including a paging occasion.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 determines the WUS configuration of terminal device 120-2 based on the minimum gap requirement of terminal device 120-2. The WUS configuration of terminal device 120-2 may indicate at least a wake up opportunity.

In general, the DRX configuration for terminal device 120-2 may depend on the DRX configuration for terminal device 120-1, the WUS configuration and capabilities of terminal device 120-2.

In some embodiments, the WUS configuration of terminal device 120-2 may be configured by network device 110 and forwarded from terminal device 120-1 to terminal device 120-2.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may transmit WUS for terminal device 120-2 on a sidelink between terminal device 120-1 and terminal device 120-2. Accordingly, the end device 120-2 may monitor the WUS at wake-up occasions on the sidelines.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine the offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to terminal device 120-2. Terminal device 120-1 can determine a starting position of a paging occasion in the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-2 based on the determined offset and the starting position of the paging occasion in the DRX cycle for terminal device 120-1.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an offset between the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1 and the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-2.

As shown in fig. 4, terminal device 120-1 may be configured with a wake-up occasion 410 and the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-1 may include a gap 411 and a paging occasion 412, while the DRX cycle of terminal device 120-2 may include a wake-up occasion 420, a gap 421 and a paging occasion 422. Terminal device 120-1 may determine offset 430 and determine a starting position of paging occasion 422 based on offset 430 and the starting position of paging occasion 412.

In some embodiments, the length of gap 421 of terminal device 120-2 may be different than the length of gap 411 of terminal device 411.

In some embodiments, the offset 430 may be greater in the case of WUS support than in the case of WUS support, such as offset 330.

In some embodiments, the offset 430 may be configured depending on the WUS configuration of the terminal device 120-2 and whether WUS operation is used.

In some embodiments, the offset 430 may be implicitly obtained from a value that is configured without regard to WUS configuration details, such as WUS transmission time and gaps for terminal device 120-2. As mentioned above, the configuration associated with discontinuous reception may be an eDRX configuration. Where the configuration is an eDRX configuration, the eDRX cycle includes a Paging Time Window (PTW) including one or more DRX cycles. It should be appreciated that the device configured with the eDRX configuration may be terminal device 120-1 or other terminal devices within coverage (not shown in fig. 1). Assuming that terminal device 120-1 may also support eDRX, terminal device 120-1 may determine the paging message in one of the DRX cycles within the PTW.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine a start time point and an end time point of the PTW of terminal device 120-1 as part of the eDRX configuration.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine the eDRX configuration for terminal device 120-2 based on the eDRX configuration for terminal device 120-1 using the same eDRX cycle. The eDRX configuration of terminal device 120-2 may indicate at least the PTW of terminal device 120-2.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine the offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to terminal device 120-2. Terminal device 120-1 may determine the start time point of the PTW for terminal device 120-2 based on the start time point of the PTW for terminal device 120-1 and the offset.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an offset between eDRX of terminal device 120-1 and eDRX of terminal device 120-2.

As shown in fig. 5, eDRX 510 of terminal device 120-1 may include PTW 540, and eDRX 520 of terminal device 120-2 may include PTW 550. Terminal device 120-1 may determine offset 530 as described above and determine a start time point of PTW 550 based on the start time point of PTW 540 and offset 530.

In some embodiments,

PTWs

540 and 550 may overlap to allow terminal device 120-2 to be paged directly by network device 110 when it is paging terminal device 120-1 and to allow terminal device 120-1 to page terminal device 120-2 during the PTW of terminal device 120-1.

Terminal device 120-1 then sends 215 the DRX and eDRX configuration for terminal device 120-2 to terminal device 120-2.

Terminal device 120-2 may determine a time period for receiving the paging message based on the received eDRX and DRX configuration.

Once the DRX and eDRX configuration is completed at terminal device 120-2, terminal device 120-2 may send 220 a message to terminal device 120-1 to indicate that the DRX and eDRX configuration is successful. Terminal device 120-1 may forward 225 the message to network device 110. Thus, the DRX and eDRX configurations of terminal device 120-2 may be transparent to network device 110.

In some embodiments, when paging transmissions are allowed, network device 110 may determine which in-coverage terminal devices are allowed to send pages for out-of-coverage terminal devices based on radio quality thresholds. For example, a terminal device having a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) value less than a radio quality threshold, meaning that the terminal device may be located at the edge of a cell, may be selected as an in-coverage terminal device that is allowed to send pages for out-of-coverage terminal devices.

In some embodiments, network device 110 may also configure resources for sending paging messages from a specified resource pool. The out-of-coverage terminal device may monitor the configured resources at all times. Alternatively, the out-of-coverage terminal devices may also monitor the configured resources when other signals, e.g., discovery/broadcast/data from the in-coverage terminal devices, may be received.

In this way, by optimizing the paging time for out-of-coverage terminal devices, the power consumption of in-coverage terminal devices is reduced. At the same time, the present disclosure also enables WUS operation to be used for out-of-coverage terminal devices with WUS configuration that is optimized to save power for in-coverage terminal devices.

Further details of example embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to fig. 6-7.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 600 for discontinuous reception configuration of a terminal device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented at terminal device 120-1 as shown in fig. 1-2. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described with reference to fig. 1-2.

As shown in fig. 6, at 610, terminal device 120-1 determines a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from network device 110. The first configuration indicates at least a first time interval for the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time to instruct the terminal device 120-1 to start receiving paging messages, the terminal device 120-1 may receive at least one of: a first length of a first DRX cycle; a first starting position of a first paging frame in a first DRX cycle; and a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first paging frame.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle of a first paging occasion including a time period for which the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, terminal device 120-1 may receive at least one of: a first length of a first DRX cycle and a first starting position of a first paging occasion.

In some embodiments, the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception, eDRX, configuration, the first time interval includes a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, and the terminal device 120-1 may receive at least one of: a first start point in time of a first PTW; and a first end time point of the first PTW.

At 620, the terminal device 120-1 determines a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by another terminal device 120-2110 based on the first configuration. The second configuration indicates at least a second time interval for the other terminal device 120-2. The second time interval is offset from the first time interval.

In some embodiments, the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion indicating a period of time for the terminal device 120-1 to start receiving paging messages, the terminal device 120-1 may obtain a first starting position of the first paging frame and a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first DRX cycle, determine an offset based on a time requirement for forwarding a paging message to another terminal device 120-2, and determine a second starting position of a second paging frame in the second DRX cycle and a second starting position of a second paging occasion in the second DRX cycle based on the first starting position of the first paging frame, the first starting position and offset of the first paging occasion, and the second starting position of the second paging occasion in the second DRX cycle.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle of a first paging occasion including a time period indicating that the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, terminal device 120-1 may obtain a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first DRX cycle, determine an offset based on a time requirement for forwarding a paging message to another terminal device, and determine a second starting position of a second paging occasion in a second DRX cycle based on the first starting position of the first paging occasion and the offset.

In some embodiments, the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception, eDRX, configuration, the first time interval includes a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to start receiving paging messages, the terminal device 120-1 may obtain a first starting point in time of the first PTW; the offset is determined based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to the other terminal device, and a second start time point of the second PTW is determined based on the first start time point and the offset value.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine a first length of time for processing a paging message from the network device to another terminal device by the terminal device, a second length of time for generating the paging message for the other terminal device, and a third length of time for transmitting a wake-up signal, a gap before the paging message. Terminal device 120-1 may also determine the offset based on at least one of the first length of time and the second length of time.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may determine a first length of time for processing a paging message by the terminal device from the network device to another terminal device, a second length of time for generating the paging message for the other terminal device, and a third length of time for transmitting the wake-up signal, a gap before the paging message following the third length of time. Terminal device 120-1 may also determine the offset based on at least one of the first length of time, the second length of time, and the third length.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120-1 may obtain a first length of the first DRX cycle and determine a second length of the second DRX cycle based on the first length.

At 630, terminal device 120-1 sends the second DRX configuration to another terminal device 120-2.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 700 for configuration associated with discontinuous reception by a terminal device, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 700 may be implemented at terminal device 120-2 as shown in fig. 1-2. For discussion purposes, the method 700 will be described with reference to fig. 1-2.

In some embodiments, the example method 700 may be used for an out-of-coverage terminal device DRX or eDRX configuration in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, at 710, terminal device 120-2 receives a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device 120-1. The second configuration is determined based on the first configuration associated with discontinuous reception by the other terminal device 120-1. The first configuration indicates at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicates at least a second time interval for the terminal device. The second time interval is offset from the first time interval.

At 720, terminal device 120-2 determines a time period for the terminal device to receive the paging message based on the second configuration.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., implemented at terminal device 120-1) capable of performing method 600 may include means for performing various steps of method 600. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining, at the terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the first configuration received from the network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for discontinuous reception by the terminal device; means for determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by another terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and means for transmitting a second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, the means for determining the first configuration may comprise means for determining at least one of: a first length of a first DRX cycle; a first starting position of a first paging frame in a first DRX cycle; and a first starting position of a first paging occasion in the first paging frame.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for the terminal device to receive a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration, and the first time interval is in a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging occasion indicating a time period for the terminal device to start receiving paging messages, the means for determining the first configuration may comprise means for determining at least one of: a first length of a first DRX cycle and a first starting position of a first paging occasion.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception, eDRX, configuration, the first time interval includes a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, the means for determining the first configuration may include means for determining at least one of: a first start point in time of a first PTW; and a first end time point of the first PTW.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, the means for determining the second configuration comprises: means for obtaining a first starting location of a first paging frame and a first starting location of a first paging occasion in a first DRX cycle; means for determining an offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to the other terminal device; and means for determining a second starting position of a second paging frame in a second DRX cycle and a second starting position of a second paging occasion in the second DRX cycle based on the first starting position of the first paging frame, the first starting position of the first paging occasion, and the offset.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration is a first discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, the means for determining the second DRX configuration comprises: means for obtaining a first starting location of a first paging occasion in a first DRX cycle; means for determining an offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to the other terminal device; and means for determining a second starting position for a second paging occasion in a second DRX cycle based on the first starting position for the first paging occasion and the offset.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception, eDRX, configuration, the first time interval includes a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, the means for determining the second DRX configuration includes: means for obtaining a first start point in time for a first PTW; means for determining an offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to the other terminal device; and means for determining a second start time point for the second PTW based on the first start time point and the offset value.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining the offset based on the time requirement comprises: means for determining a first length of time for processing a paging message by a terminal device from a network device to another terminal device; means for determining a second length of time for generating a paging message for another terminal device; and means for determining an offset based on at least one of the first length of time and the second length of time.

An exemplary embodiment, a means for determining an offset based on a time requirement includes: means for determining a first length of time for processing a paging message by a terminal device from a network device to another terminal device; means for determining a second length of time for generating a paging message for another terminal device; means for determining a third length of time for transmitting a wake-up signal, followed by a gap before a paging message; and means for determining an offset based on at least one of the first length of time, the second length of time, and the third length.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include: the apparatus includes means for obtaining a first length of a first DRX cycle and means for determining a second length of a second DRX cycle based on the first length.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 700 (e.g., implemented at terminal device 120-2) may include means for performing various steps of method 700. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: the apparatus generally includes means for receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration determined based on a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval first time interval having an offset, and means for determining a time period for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages based on the second configuration associated with discontinuous reception.

Fig. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 800 may be provided to implement terminal devices 120-1 and 120-2 as shown in fig. 1. As shown, device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to processors 810, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX)840 coupled to processors 810.

TX/RX 840 is used for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

The processor 810 may be of any type suitable for use in a local technology network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are subordinate in time to a clock that synchronizes the host processor.

The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM)824, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM)822 and other volatile memory that will not persist for the duration of the power loss.

The computer programs 830 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 may be stored in the ROM 824. Processor 810 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 830 into RAM 822.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by way of program 830 to enable device 800 to perform any of the processes of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to fig. 2-7. For reference, embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of hardware and software.

In some embodiments, program 830 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 800 (e.g., in memory 820) or in other storage accessible to device 800. Device 800 can load program 830 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 822 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard disk, a CD, a DVD, etc. Fig. 9 shows an example of a computer readable medium 900 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has a program 830 stored thereon.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. For example, in some embodiments, various examples of the disclosure (e.g., a method, apparatus, or device) may be partially or fully implemented on a computer-readable medium. While various aspects of the embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The elements included in the apparatus and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, such as machine executable instructions stored on a storage medium. Some or all of the elements in an apparatus and/or device may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components in addition to or in place of machine-executable instructions. By way of example, and not limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that may be used include Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), system on a chip (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and the like.

By way of example, embodiments of the disclosure may be described in the context of computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions of program modules may be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a computer readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media would include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains several specific example embodiment details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, at a terminal device, the first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the configuration received from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the discontinuous reception by the terminal device;

determining a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by another terminal device based on the first configuration, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and

sending the second configuration associated with discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle, the first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device begins receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the first configuration comprises determining at least one of:

a first length of the first DRX cycle;

a first starting position of the first paging frame in the first DRX period; and

a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first paging frame.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration, and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle, the first DRX cycle comprising a first paging occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the first configuration comprises determining at least one of:

a first length of the first DRX cycle; and

a first starting position of the first paging occasion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration, wherein the first time interval comprises a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the first configuration comprises determining at least one of:

a first start time point of the first PTW; and

a first end point in time of the first PTW.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device begins receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the second configuration comprises:

acquiring a first starting position of the first paging frame and a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first DRX period;

determining the offset based on a time requirement for forwarding the paging message to the other terminal device; and

determining a second starting position of the second paging frame in a second DRX cycle and a second starting position of a second paging occasion in the second DRX cycle based on the first starting position of the first paging frame, the first starting position of the first paging occasion, and the offset.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle, the first DRX cycle comprising a first paging occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the second configuration comprises:

obtaining a first starting position of the first paging occasion in the first DRX period;

determining a second starting location for a second paging occasion in a second DRX cycle based on the first starting location for the first paging occasion and the offset.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration, wherein the first time interval comprises a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, and wherein determining the second configuration comprises:

obtaining a first starting time point of the first PTW;

determining a second start time point of a second PTW based on the first start time point of the first PTW and the offset.

8. The method of claim 5 or 7, wherein determining the offset based on a time requirement comprises:

determining a first length of time for processing the paging message from the network device to the other terminal device by the terminal device;

determining a second length of time for generating a paging message for the other terminal device; and

determining the offset based on one of the first length of time and the second length of time.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the offset based on the time requirement comprises:

determining a second length of time for generating a paging message for the other terminal device;

determining a third length of time for transmitting the wake-up signal, a gap before the paging message following the third length of time; and

determining the offset based on at least one of:

the first length of time is a length of time,

the second length of time, and

the third length of time.

10. The method of claim 5 or 6, further comprising:

acquiring a first length of the first DRX cycle; and

determining a second length of the second DRX cycle based on the first length.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration determined based on a first configuration associated with the discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and

determining a time period for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages based on the second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

determining the first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the configuration received from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the discontinuous reception by the terminal device;

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device begins receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the first configuration by determining at least one of:

a first length of the first DRX cycle;

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the terminal device is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration, and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the first configuration by determining at least one of:

a first length of the first DRX cycle; and

a first starting position of the first paging occasion.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration, wherein the first time interval comprises a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the first configuration by determining at least one of:

a first start time point of the first PTW; and

a first end point in time of the first PTW.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle comprising a first paging frame having a first paging occasion with a period of time indicating that the terminal device begins receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the second configuration by:

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the terminal device is configured with a first wake-up occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device receives a wake-up signal, the first configuration is a first Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration and the first time interval is a first DRX cycle, the first DRX cycle comprising a first paging occasion indicating a time period for which the terminal device starts receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the second configuration by:

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first configuration is a first extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration, wherein the first time interval comprises a first Paging Time Window (PTW) indicating a period of time for a terminal device to begin receiving paging messages, and wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the second configuration by:

obtaining a first starting time point of the first PTW;

determining a second start time point of a second PTW based on the first start time point of the first PTW and the offset value.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 or 18, wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the offset based on the time requirement by:

determining a first length of time for processing the paging message from the network device to the other terminal device by the terminal device; and

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus is caused to determine the offset based on the time requirement by:

determining the offset based on at least one of:

the first length of time is a length of time,

the second length of time, and

the third length of time.

21. An apparatus according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

acquiring a first length of the first DRX cycle; and

determining a second length of a second DRX cycle based on the first length.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

23. An apparatus for discontinuous reception, comprising:

means for determining, at a terminal device, a first configuration associated with discontinuous reception based on a parameter related to the configuration received from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the discontinuous reception by the terminal device;

means for determining, based on the first configuration, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception by another terminal device, the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the discontinuous reception by the other terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and

means for sending the second configuration associated with discontinuous reception to the other terminal device.

24. An apparatus for discontinuous reception:

means for receiving, at a terminal device outside of a coverage of a network device, a second configuration associated with discontinuous reception from another terminal device in the coverage of the network device, the second configuration determined based on a first configuration associated with the discontinuous reception of the other terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least a first time interval for the other terminal device and the second configuration indicating at least a second time interval for the terminal device, the second time interval having an offset from the first time interval; and

means for determining a time period for the terminal device to begin receiving paging messages based on the second configuration associated with the discontinuous reception.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method of any one of claims 1-10.

26. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 11.