CN108737016B

CN108737016B - Methods, devices, and computer-readable media for activation and deactivation of WCE mode

Info

Publication number: CN108737016B
Application number: CN201710250203.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 骆喆; 陶涛; 刘建国; 沈钢
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-04-17
Filing date: 2017-04-17
Publication date: 2021-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-17
Also published as: WO2018193303A2; WO2018193303A3; CN108737016A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for activation and deactivation of Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) modes. The method described herein includes receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device. The method also includes, in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode.

Description

Methods, devices, and computer-readable media for activation and deactivation of WCE mode

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to communications technology and, more particularly, relate to methods and apparatus for activation and deactivation of Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) modes.

Background

In the multefire (mf)1.1 standard, WCEs were first proposed as a new feature to support internet of things (IoT) services in unlicensed spectrum. Deep fading due to shadowing effects under IoT scenarios, coverage becomes an important performance indicator for system design.

Maximum Coupling Loss (MCL) is introduced to describe coverage performance as an index reflecting the maximum path loss supported. In MF 1.0, the MCL of the physical channel in the downlink is much lower than the MCL of the physical channel in the uplink, since the downlink transmission power is limited in the unlicensed spectrum and the terminal device is equipped with a receiver of low complexity. The WCE of MF 1.1 is therefore interested in improving the coverage performance of the downlink to a level of the coverage performance of the uplink.

Currently, the key technology of WCE is based on the use of replication (replication). Therefore, supporting greater coverage will reduce spectral efficiency. However, the locations of the terminal devices are randomly distributed, so not all terminal devices operating based on the MF 1.1 standard experience high shadow fading and require large coverage. In order to improve spectral efficiency, terminal devices with low path loss should not be served with additional copies.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a method and apparatus for activation and deactivation of WCE mode.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method implemented at a network device. The method includes receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device. The method also includes, in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method implemented at a terminal device. The method includes, in response to being in a non-Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state, transmitting information to a network device related to activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at a terminal device; and entering WCE mode or non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode. The method also includes autonomously activating the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in response to being in the RRC idle state.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method implemented at a network device. The method includes receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode from another network device that is a handover source for the terminal device. The method also includes sending an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in response to determining to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network device. The network device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the network device to perform actions. The actions include: receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device; in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode is sent to the terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a terminal device. The terminal device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the terminal device to perform actions. The actions include: in response to being in a non-Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state, transmitting information to a network device related to activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at a terminal device; and in response to receiving an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode, entering WCE mode or non-WCE mode for operation; and autonomously activating the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in response to being in the RRC idle state.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network device. The network device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the network device to perform actions. The actions include: receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode from another network device that is a handover source for the terminal device; and in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, sending an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the disclosure provide a computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the third aspect.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example wireless communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device suitable for use in implementing certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The term "network device" as used herein refers to a base station or other entity or node having a particular function in a communication network. A "base station" (BS) may represent a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, or a low power node such as a pico base station, a femto base station, or the like. In the context of the present disclosure, the terms "network device" and "base station" may be used interchangeably for purposes of discussion convenience, and may primarily be referred to as an eNB as an example of a network device.

The term "terminal equipment" or "user equipment" (UE) as used herein refers to any terminal equipment capable of wireless communication with a base station or with each other. As an example, the terminal device may include a Mobile Terminal (MT), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station (PSS), a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT), and the above-described devices in a vehicle. In the context of the present disclosure, the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" may be used interchangeably for purposes of discussion convenience.

The terms "include" and variations thereof as used herein are inclusive and open-ended, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "based on" is "based, at least in part, on". The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". Relevant definitions for other terms will be given in the following description.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example wireless communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The wireless communication system 100 includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120.

Communication between network device 110 and terminal device 120 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), and fifth generation (5G) cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, and/or any other protocol now known or later developed. Moreover, the communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technique including, but not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), and/or any other technique now known or later developed. It should be noted that although the embodiments of the present disclosure are mainly described using the LTE system as an example, this is merely exemplary, and the technical solution of the present disclosure can be fully applied to other suitable existing or future-developed systems.

It should be understood that the number of network devices and the number of terminal devices shown in fig. 1 are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. The wireless communication system 100 may include any suitable type and number of network devices, each network device may provide any suitable number of cells, and the wireless communication system 100 may also include any suitable number of terminal devices.

In the LTE standard, IoT-enabled technologies have been proposed including, for example, enhanced machine type communication (eMTC). For eMTC, the basic idea to implement coverage enhancement is to use replication. For example, multiple copies (or duplicates) of the same packet are repeatedly transmitted in multiple subframes. In the present disclosure, the term "replica" refers to a replica of the signal, e.g., including a complete replica, using different channel coding, etc. By transmitting multiple copies of the signal at multiple transmit occasions, the transmit energy of the signal can be increased, thereby increasing the probability that the receiver will correctly detect the signal and enhancing coverage.

In eMTC, the number of copies is a variable determined by the network device. The network device never explicitly indicates "no copy" to the terminal device, i.e. the copy mode of the terminal device is deactivated. In other words, the copy mode will always accompany eMTC. Thus, eMTC does not consider activation and deactivation of the copy mode. Therefore, the mechanism of eMTC is not applicable to WCE of MF 1.1.

Furthermore, for MF 1.1, since the uplink channel is not enhanced, a network device operating based on MF 1.1 cannot activate or deactivate WCE mode by detecting coverage enhancement level based on the number of replicas for the physical random access channel as in eMTC.

To at least partially address the above and other potential drawbacks and problems in the conventional approaches, embodiments of the present disclosure propose that, in a case where a network device is capable of acquiring information from a terminal device regarding activation of a WCE mode or a non-WCE mode, the network device determines to activate or deactivate the WCE mode at the terminal device according to the information acquired from the terminal device; and in case the network device cannot obtain this information from the terminal device, autonomously activating by the terminal device the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device. Thereby, unnecessary activation of WCE mode at the terminal device can be avoided, improving spectral efficiency.

In the present disclosure, "activating WCE mode at the terminal device" and "deactivating non-WCE mode at the terminal device" may be used interchangeably, while "activating non-WCE mode at the terminal device" and "deactivating WCE mode at the terminal device" may be used interchangeably. Hereinafter, a method for activating the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method 200 for activating WCE mode or non-WCE mode at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The actions involved in method 200 are described below in conjunction with fig. 1. For ease of discussion, the description of the method 200 will be made in conjunction with the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 as shown in fig. 1. In fig. 2, for example, the respective actions on the left side are performed by the terminal device 120, and the respective actions on the right side are performed by the network device 110. It should be understood that method 200 may also include additional acts not shown and/or may omit acts shown, as the scope of the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

As shown in fig. 2, at block 201, terminal device 120 determines whether it is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state. If the terminal device 120 determines that it is not in the RRC idle state, i.e. the terminal device 120 is in a non-RRC idle state, the terminal device 120 sends information to the network device 110 regarding the activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120, in block 202. Accordingly, at block 203, the network device 110 receives information from the terminal device 120 regarding the activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120.

In some embodiments, the information related to the activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120 comprises at least one of: acknowledgement information (e.g., ACK or NACK) related to downlink transmissions, Channel State Information (CSI) feedback between terminal device 120 and network device 110, and assistance information related to activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at terminal device 120.

In some embodiments, the assistance information related to the activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120 comprises at least one of: a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the non-WCE mode, a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and a request flag indicating a urgency with which the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode.

In embodiments where the assistance information comprises a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter a WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter a non-WCE mode, RSRP and RSRQ, the assistance information may have the following structure, for example:

in the above example structure, the suggested mode represents a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode and a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the non-WCE mode.

In an embodiment where the assistance information includes at least a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the non-WCE mode, and a request flag indicating an urgency that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode, the assistance information may have the following structure, for example:

in the above example structure, the polleestmode indicates a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode and a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the non-WCE mode, and the requestFlag indicates a request flag of urgency for which the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode. When requestFlag is set to True, it indicates a high urgency that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode; and when requestFlag is set to False, it indicates a low urgency that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode.

In some embodiments, terminal device 120 sends assistance information to network device 110 via at least one of: higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), radio resources allocated for uplink scheduling requests, random access requests, physical random access channel resources, and uplink transmissions in response to random access responses.

At block 204, the network device 110 determines whether to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120 based on the information received from the terminal device 120.

For example, network device 110 may determine to activate the WCE mode at terminal device 120 when network device 110 determines that the channel condition between network device 110 and terminal device 120 is poor based on the CSI feedback received from terminal device 120. And when network device 110 determines based on the CSI feedback that the channel conditions between network device 110 and terminal device 120 are good and terminal device 120 is currently in WCE mode, network device 110 may determine to activate the non-WCE mode at terminal device 120. When network device 110 determines, based on the CSI feedback, that the channel condition between network device 110 and terminal device 120 is good and terminal device 120 is currently in the non-WCE mode, network device 110 may determine not to change the current operating mode of terminal device 120, i.e., neither the WCE mode nor the non-WCE mode at terminal device 120 is activated. It should be appreciated that network device 110 may determine whether to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at terminal device 120 according to any suitable criteria, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

If the network device 110 determines at block 204 to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120, the method 200 proceeds to block 205 where the network device 110 sends an instruction to the terminal device 120 to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode. Accordingly, at block 206, the terminal device 120 receives an instruction from the network device 110 to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode, and then enters the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation.

In embodiments where the terminal device 120 enters the WCE mode for operation, the terminal device 120 will monitor signals designed for WCE mode (referred to as "WCE signals" for short) and ignore signals designed for non-WCE mode (referred to as "non-WCE signals" for short). Examples of signals designed for WCE mode may include, but are not limited to, coverage enhanced synchronization signals, coverage enhanced broadcast signals, coverage enhanced control signals, and coverage enhanced data signals. In addition, the terminal device 120 needs to acquire the coverage enhancement level (e.g., number of replicas) before receiving or decoding the WCE signals.

For example, the coverage enhancement level may be a predefined value. For another example, terminal device 120 may be obtained from network device 110 via RRC signaling or a dynamic indicator in Downlink Control Information (DCI). For another example, the terminal device 120 may obtain the downlink signal by performing blind solution on the downlink signal. It should be understood that no coverage enhancement (e.g., no duplication) may also be an option for the level of coverage enhancement. After obtaining the coverage enhancement level, the terminal device 120 can receive or decode WCE signals based on the coverage enhancement level.

In embodiments where the terminal device 120 enters a non-WCE mode of operation, the terminal device 120 will monitor for non-WCE signals and ignore WCE signals. When no terminal device is operating in the WCE mode, the network device 110 may suspend transmission of WCE signals to increase spectral efficiency.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may operate in both the WCE mode and the non-WCE mode simultaneously, i.e., the terminal device 120 monitors both WCE signals and non-WCE signals. In such embodiments, the WCE reference signal based CSI measurements should be aligned with the non-WCE reference signal based CSI measurements.

With continued reference to fig. 2. If the network device 110 determines at block 204 that neither the WCE mode nor the non-WCE mode is activated at the terminal device 120, the method 200 proceeds to block 207 where the network device 110 performs any suitable operation. In this case, the terminal device 120 will maintain its current operating mode (WCE mode or non-WCE mode). If the terminal device 120 still desires to change the current operating mode, the terminal device 120 may retransmit information to the network device 110 regarding the activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120.

In some embodiments, the network device 110 sending an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode to the terminal device 120 includes: first control information to activate the WCE mode is transmitted to the terminal device 120 or second control information to activate the non-WCE mode is transmitted to the terminal device 120.

If the assistance information sent by the terminal device 120 to the network device 110 includes at least a request flag (e.g., requestFlag) indicating how urgent the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode and the request flag indicates a high urgency that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode, it indicates that the terminal device 120 in the non-WCE mode has failed to receive the reference signal of the non-WCE mode, and thus desires to enter the WCE mode operation urgently. In such embodiments, the network device 110 preferably sends the first control information to activate the WCE mode to the terminal device 120 in the WCE mode to ensure that the terminal device 120 can receive the first control information to enter the WCE mode operation. Accordingly, the terminal device 120 receives the first control information in the WCE mode, i.e., monitors the first control information designed for the WCE mode.

In some embodiments, network device 110 sends the first control information or the second control information to terminal device 120 via at least one of: DCI, higher layer signaling, and channel resources for physical random access response.

It is to be appreciated that examples of non-RRC idle states can include, but are not limited to, an RRC connection hold state, an RRC connection setup state, and an RRC connection reconfiguration state. Hereinafter, the method according to the present disclosure will be described in connection with the above example of the non-RRC idle state.

RRC connection hold State

In the RRC connection hold state, network device 110 receives acknowledgement information (e.g., ACK or NACK) and CSI feedback related to downlink transmissions from terminal device 120.

Terminal device 120 receives the reference signal from network device 110 and performs measurements on the reference signal. Examples of reference signals may include, but are not limited to, (MF-) primary synchronization signals ((MF-) PSS), (MF-) secondary synchronization signals ((MF-) SSS), Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) signals, cell-specific reference signals (CRS), Demodulation Reference Signals (DRS).

If the terminal device 120 desires to enter WCE mode or non-WCE mode operation, the terminal device 120 may send assistance information to the network device 110 related to the activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120. The assistance information may for example comprise at least one of: a first indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device 120 desires to enter a non-WCE mode, RSRP, RSRQ, and a request flag indicating how urgent the terminal device 120 desires to enter the WCE mode.

After transmitting the assistance information, the terminal device 120 may monitor for an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in the current operating mode (WCE mode or non-WCE mode). Upon receiving the instruction, the terminal device 120 enters the activated mode for operation.

RRC connection setup state

In the RRC connection setup state, the terminal device 120 may determine that it is desirable to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode based on the reference signals received from the network device 110. Specifically, the terminal device 120 may attempt to receive reference signals designed for WCE mode and reference signals designed for non-WCE mode, respectively, and then select a more appropriate one therefrom. For example, if the terminal device 120 cannot correctly receive reference signals designed for non-WCE mode but can only receive reference signals designed for WCE mode, the terminal device 120 may determine that it is desirable to activate WCE mode.

The terminal device 120 may implicitly or explicitly send a first indication of an desire to enter WCE mode or a second indication of a desire to enter non-WCE mode to the network device 110.

In some embodiments, the first indication of the desire to enter the WCE mode or the second indication of the desire to enter the non-WCE mode may be carried by a random access request on a short physical random access channel (sprrach) or an enhanced physical random access channel (ePRACH). As one example, the first indication or the second indication may be carried by a preamble based on a ZC sequence. For example, if the terminal device 120 selects the roots 1-10 of the ZC sequence, this indicates that the terminal device 120 desires to enter a non-WCE mode. If the terminal device 120 selects the root 11-20 of the ZC sequence, it indicates that the terminal device 120 desires to enter WCE mode.

In some embodiments, the first indication of the desire to enter the WCE mode or the second indication of the desire to enter the non-WCE mode may be carried by a resource allocation of a physical random access channel (e.g., a sprrach or an ePRACH). For example, if terminal device 120 selects subframes #2-4, this indicates that terminal device 120 desires to enter non-WCE mode. If terminal device 120 selects subframes 7-9, this indicates that terminal device 120 desires to enter WCE mode.

In other embodiments, the first indication of an expected entry into a WCE mode or the second indication of an expected entry into a non-WCE mode may be carried by an uplink transmission in response to a random access response. For example, the network device 110 sends a "random access response grant" for the same resource allocation in both the WCE mode and the non-WCE mode. After the terminal device 120 receives the "random access response grant" in the mode of expected entry, the terminal device 120 may implicitly or explicitly send the first indication of expected entry into the WCE mode or the second indication of expected entry into the non-WCE mode in message 3(Msg3) on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). For example, in an explicit mode, the terminal device 120 may send the first indication or the second indication as information of message 3. In an implicit manner, the terminal device 120 may scramble the message 3 with the first indication or the second indication.

Upon receiving the first indication or the second indication from the terminal device 120, the network device 110 may determine whether to activate an operation mode that the terminal device 120 desires to enter, i.e., activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode, based on the first indication or the second indication. If the network device 110 determines to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode, the network device 110 can implicitly or explicitly send an instruction to the terminal device 120 to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode.

For example, network device 110 may explicitly send an instruction via DCI or RRC signaling to activate a mode (WCE mode or non-WCE mode) that terminal device 120 desires to enter in a mode that terminal device 120 desires to enter, and terminal device 120 monitors DCI or RRC signaling in the mode that terminal device 120 desires to enter.

As another example, the network device 110 may send a "random access response grant" to the terminal device 120 in determining the active WCE mode or the non-WCE mode. The terminal device 120 monitors DCI or RRC signaling in both WCE mode and non-WCE mode simultaneously and acquires the actual operation mode from the transmission of the "random access response grant".

RRC connection reconfiguration state

In the RRC connection reconfiguration state, the terminal device 120 may send information related to the activation of the WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120 to the network device 110 as a handover source, e.g., via RRC signaling. The information may include, for example, CSI feedback and a first indication that WCE mode is desired to be entered or a second indication that non-WCE mode is desired to be entered. Then, the network device 110 as the handover source may employ, for example, a structure in which the information received from the terminal device 120 is forwarded to another network device as the handover target via the S1/X2 interface.

In the above structure, "targetphyscellld" represents the identity of the target cell. Accordingly, the other network device that is the handover target receives information related to the activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode from the network device 110 that is the handover source.

Subsequently, the other network device that is the handover target determines whether to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device 120 based on the received information. If another network device targeted for handoff determines to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at end device 120, the other network device may send an instruction to network device 110 to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at end device 120, for example, via the S1/X2 interface. In turn, network device 110 forwards the instruction to terminal device 120. Alternatively, another network device that is a handover target may directly transmit the instruction to the terminal device 120.

In response to receiving the instruction, when the terminal device 120 receives a downlink transmission from another network device that is a handover target, the terminal device 120 may operate in an activated mode.

Returning to fig. 2. If terminal device 120 determines at block 201 that it is in an RRC idle state, method 200 proceeds to block 208. At block 208, the terminal device 120 autonomously activates the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may determine to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode based on the reference signal received from the network device 110. The network device 110 may transmit paging information to the terminal device 120 in both the WCE mode and the non-WCE mode. Examples of paging information include, but are not limited to, broadcast information and a trigger command to cause terminal device 120 to transition from an RRC idle state to an RRC connected state. The terminal device 120 may receive paging information in either one of the WCE mode and the non-WCE mode. If terminal device 120 receives paging information including a trigger command, terminal device 120 begins to resume RRC connection with network device 110.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may determine to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode based on the reference signal received from the network device 110. For example, the terminal device 120 may determine to activate the WCE mode. In such an example, network device 110 may first send paging information, e.g., including a trigger command, to terminal device 120 in the non-WCE mode. At this time, the terminal device 120 cannot receive the paging information in the WCE mode, and therefore does not send a random access request to the network device 110 to recover the RRC connection with the network device 110. Since the network device 110 does not receive the random access request from the terminal device 120, the network device 110 will retransmit the paging information to the terminal device 120 in the WCE mode. In this case, terminal device 120 will receive the paging information in WCE mode and then send a random access request to network device 110 to resume RRC connection with network device 110.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 120 may remain in the WCE mode or non-WCE mode while entering the RRC connected state prior to the RRC idle state. In such an embodiment, network device 110 will send paging information to terminal device 120 in the operating mode when terminal device 120 enters the RRC connected state prior to the RRC idle state. If terminal device 120 receives paging information including a trigger command, terminal device 120 sends a random access request to network device 110 to resume an RRC connection with network device 110. If the terminal device 120 in the non-WCE mode has failed to receive the reference signal in the non-WCE mode, the terminal device 120 re-establishes a connection with the network device 110.

In some embodiments, in the RRC idle state, the terminal device 120 may operate the WCE mode as a default mode. In other words, if the terminal device 120 operates in the non-WCE mode in the RRC connected state prior to entering the RRC idle state, the terminal device 120 will activate the WCE mode after entering the RRC idle state. If the terminal device 120 operates in the WCE mode in the RRC connected state prior to entering the RRC idle state, the terminal device 120 will remain in the WCE mode after entering the RRC idle state. In such an embodiment, network device 110 would send paging information to terminal device 120 in the WCE mode, and terminal device 120 monitors for paging information in the WCE mode. If the network device 110 suspends transmission of WCE signals, the terminal device 120 will not be able to receive reference signals designed for WCE mode. In this case, if the terminal device 120 can receive a reference signal designed for the non-WCE mode, the terminal device 120 activates the non-WCE mode and then operates in the non-WCE mode. If the terminal device 120 cannot receive the reference signal designed for the non-WCE mode, the terminal device 120 re-establishes a connection with the network device 110.

The communication method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail above in conjunction with fig. 2. An apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below in conjunction with fig. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 300 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated that apparatus 300 may be implemented on the side of network device 110 shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 3, the apparatus 300 (e.g., the network device 110) includes a first information receiving unit 310 and a first activating unit 320. The first information reception 310 is configured to receive information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device. The first activation unit 320 is configured to send an instruction to the terminal device to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information.

In some embodiments, receiving information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises receiving at least one of the following from the terminal device: acknowledgement information related to downlink transmissions, Channel State Information (CSI) feedback between the terminal device and the network device, and assistance information related to activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device.

In some embodiments, receiving the assistance information comprises receiving at least one of: the method includes the steps of a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and a request flag indicating urgency of the terminal device desiring to enter the WCE mode.

In some embodiments, receiving the assistance information comprises receiving the assistance information via at least one of: higher layer signaling, radio resources allocated for uplink scheduling requests, random access requests, physical random access channel resources, and uplink transmissions in response to random access responses.

In some embodiments, sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode includes: sending first control information for activating the WCE mode to the terminal equipment; or sending second control information for activating the non-WCE mode to the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, sending the first control information to the terminal device comprises: in response to receiving the request flag, first control information is transmitted to the terminal device in the WCE mode.

In some embodiments, sending the first control information or the second control information to the terminal device comprises sending the first control information or the second control information via at least one of: downlink Control Information (DCI), higher layer signaling, and channel resources for physical random access response.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 300 further comprises a forwarding unit. The forwarding unit is configured to forward the received information to another network device that is a handover target of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode includes sending an instruction to the terminal device in response to receiving the instruction from another network device.

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 400 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that the apparatus 400 may be implemented on the side of the terminal device 120 shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 4, the apparatus 400 (e.g., the terminal device 120) includes an information transmitting unit 410, an instruction receiving unit 420, and an autonomous activating unit 430. The information transmitting unit 410 is configured to transmit, to the network device, information related to activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device in response to being in a non-Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state. The instruction receiving unit 420 is configured to enter the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode. The autonomous activation unit 430 is configured to autonomously activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in response to being in the RRC idle state.

In some embodiments, transmitting information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode includes transmitting at least one of: acknowledgement information related to downlink transmissions, Channel State Information (CSI) feedback between the terminal device and the network device, and assistance information related to activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device.

In some embodiments, transmitting the assistance information comprises transmitting at least one of: the method includes the steps of a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode, a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and a request flag indicating urgency of the terminal device desiring to enter the WCE mode.

In some embodiments, sending the assistance information comprises sending the assistance information via at least one of: higher layer signaling, radio resources allocated for uplink scheduling requests, random access requests, physical random access channel resources, and uplink transmissions in response to random access responses.

In some embodiments, entering into WCE mode or non-WCE mode for operation includes: entering the WCE mode for operation in response to receiving first control information from the network device to activate the WCE mode; and entering a non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving second control information from the network device to activate the non-WCE mode.

In some embodiments, entering into WCE mode or non-WCE mode for operation includes: first control information is received from a network device in the WCE mode in response to sending a request flag to the network device.

In some embodiments, receiving the first control information or the second control information comprises receiving the first control information or the second control information via at least one of: downlink Control Information (DCI), higher layer signaling, and channel resources for physical random access response.

In some embodiments, entering into WCE mode or non-WCE mode for operation includes: and entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode from another network device as a handover target.

In some embodiments, autonomously activating WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device comprises one of: autonomously activating a WCE mode or a non-WCE mode according to a reference signal received from a network device; keeping the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in the RRC connection state before entering the RRC idle state; and activating the WCE mode with the WCE mode as a default mode.

Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 500 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that the apparatus 500 may be implemented on a network device (not shown in fig. 1) side that is a handover target of the terminal device 120 of fig. 1. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 includes a second information receiving unit 510 and a second activating unit 520. The second information reception 510 is configured to receive information from a terminal device regarding activation of a Wideband Coverage Enhancement (WCE) mode or a non-WCE mode from another network device that is a handover source of the terminal device. The second activation unit 520 is configured to send an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode in response to determining to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information.

In some embodiments, sending an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode includes: an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode is sent to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, sending an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode includes: an instruction to activate WCE mode or non-WCE mode is sent to the terminal device via another network device.

It should be understood that each of the units recited in the

apparatus

300, 400, and 500 respectively corresponds to each of the acts in the method 200 described with reference to fig. 2. Accordingly, the operations and features described above in connection with fig. 2 are equally applicable to the

apparatuses

300, 400, and 500 and the units included therein, and have the same effects, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

Note that the units included in the

apparatuses

300, 400, and 500 may be implemented using various means, 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. In addition to, or in the alternative to, machine-executable instructions, some or all of the elements in

apparatus

300, 400, and 500 may be implemented at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. By way of example, and not limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standards (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and so forth.

The elements shown in fig. 3-5 may be implemented partially or wholly as hardware modules, software modules, firmware modules, or any combination thereof. In particular, in some embodiments, the procedures, methods, or processes described above may be implemented by hardware in a network device or a terminal device. For example, a network device or a terminal device may implement the method 200 with its transmitter, receiver, transceiver, and/or processor or controller.

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a device 600 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 600 may be used to implement a network device or a terminal device.

As shown, the device 600 includes a controller 610. The controller 610 controls the operation and functions of the device 600. For example, in some embodiments, controller 610 may perform various operations by way of instructions 630 stored in memory 620 coupled thereto. The memory 620 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory unit is shown in FIG. 6, there may be multiple physically distinct memory units within device 600.

The controller 610 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microcontrollers, digital signal controllers (DSPs), and controller-based multi-core controller architectures. The device 600 may also include a plurality of controllers 610. The controller 610 is coupled to a transceiver 640, which transceiver 640 may enable the reception and transmission of information by way of one or more antennas 650 and/or other components. Note that in the context of this disclosure, transceiver 640 may be a device capable of performing the functions of transmitting and receiving data simultaneously; or may be a device having only a function of transmitting or receiving data.

When device 600 is acting as a network device, controller 610 and transceiver 640 may operate in conjunction to implement the operations on the network device 110 side of method 200 described above with reference to fig. 2. When the device 600 is acting as a terminal device, the controller 610 and the transceiver 640 may operate in conjunction to implement the operations on the terminal device 120 side in the method 200 described above with reference to fig. 2. For example, in some embodiments, all actions described above relating to data/information transceiving may be performed by transceiver 640, while other actions may be performed by controller 610. All of the features described above with reference to fig. 1-5 apply to the apparatus 600 and are not described in detail herein.

In general, the various example embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Certain 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. While aspects of embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated or 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.

By way of example, embodiments of the disclosure may be described in the context of machine-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 divided between program modules as described. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Computer program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages. These computer 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 computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, cause the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-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 machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-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 thereof. More detailed examples of a machine-readable storage medium 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 storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

Additionally, 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 or parallel processing may be beneficial. Likewise, while the above discussion contains certain specific implementation details, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but rather as describing particular embodiments that may be directed to particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification 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 subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not 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 implemented at a network device, comprising:

receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a wideband coverage enhanced WCE mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device, wherein the terminal device transmits the information regarding activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device to the network device while in a non-radio resource control, RRC, idle state; and

in response to determining to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode, and

wherein in the WCE mode the terminal device monitors signals for the WCE mode and ignores signals for the non-WCE mode, and in the non-WCE mode the terminal device monitors signals for the non-WCE mode and ignores signals for the WCE mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

receiving, from the terminal device, at least one of:

acknowledgement information associated with the downlink transmission may be transmitted,

channel State Information (CSI) feedback between the terminal device and the network device, an

Assistance information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the assistance information comprises receiving at least one of:

a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode,

a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode,

a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP),

reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), an

A request flag indicating a urgency with which the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the assistance information comprises:

receiving the assistance information via at least one of:

the signaling of the higher layer is carried out,

for the radio resource allocated by the uplink scheduling request,

a request for a random access is made,

physical random access channel resources, and

an uplink transmission in response to the random access response.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

sending first control information for activating the WCE mode to the terminal equipment; or

And sending second control information for activating the non-WCE mode to the terminal equipment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending the first control information to the terminal device comprises:

in response to receiving the request flag, transmitting the first control information to the terminal device in the WCE mode.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein sending the first control information or the second control information to the terminal device comprises:

transmitting the first control information or the second control information via at least one of:

downlink Control Information (DCI),

higher layer signaling, and

channel resources of the physical random access response.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and forwarding the received information to another network device which is a switching target of the terminal device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein sending an instruction to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

in response to receiving the instruction from the other network device, sending the instruction to the terminal device.

10. A method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

in response to being in the non-radio resource control RRC idle state,

transmitting information related to activation of a wideband coverage enhanced WCE mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device to a network device; and

in response to receiving an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode, entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation, wherein the terminal device sends the instruction in response to determining to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the information; and

autonomously activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in response to being in an RRC idle state, and

11. The method of claim 10, wherein sending the information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

transmitting at least one of:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein sending the assistance information comprises sending at least one of:

a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode,

a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode,

a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP),

reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), an

13. The method of claim 12, wherein sending the assistance information comprises:

transmitting the assistance information via at least one of:

the signaling of the higher layer is carried out,

for the radio resource allocated by the uplink scheduling request,

a request for a random access is made,

physical random access channel resources, and

an uplink transmission in response to the random access response.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

entering the WCE mode for operation in response to receiving first control information from the network device to activate the WCE mode; and

entering the non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving second control information from the network device to activate the non-WCE mode.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

receiving the first control information from the network device in the WCE mode in response to sending the request flag to the network device.

16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein receiving the first control information or the second control information comprises:

receiving the first control information or the second control information via at least one of:

downlink Control Information (DCI),

higher layer signaling, and

channel resources of the physical random access response.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation in response to receiving the instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode from another network device targeted for handoff.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein autonomously activating WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device comprises one of:

autonomously activating the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode based on reference signals received from the network device;

keeping the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode in the RRC connection state before the RRC idle state; and

activating the WCE mode with the WCE mode as a default mode.

19. A method implemented at a network device, comprising:

receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a wideband coverage enhanced WCE mode or a non-WCE mode from another network device that is a handover source of the terminal device, wherein the terminal device transmits the information while in a non-radio resource control, RRC, idle state; and

in response to determining to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode at the terminal device based on the received information, sending an instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode, and

20. The method of claim 19, wherein sending instructions to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

sending the instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode to the terminal device.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein sending instructions to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

sending the instruction to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode to the terminal device via the other network device.

22. A network device, comprising:

a controller; and

a memory coupled to the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the network device to perform acts comprising:

receiving information from a terminal device regarding activation of a wideband coverage enhanced WCE mode or a non-WCE mode at the terminal device, wherein the terminal device transmits the information regarding activation of WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device to the network device while in a non-radio resource control, RRC, idle state;

23. The network device of claim 22, wherein receiving the information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

receiving, from the terminal device, at least one of:

24. The network device of claim 23, wherein receiving the assistance information comprises receiving at least one of:

a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode,

a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode,

a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP),

reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), an

25. The network device of claim 24, wherein receiving the assistance information comprises:

receiving the assistance information via at least one of:

the signaling of the higher layer is carried out,

for the radio resource allocated by the uplink scheduling request,

a request for a random access is made,

physical random access channel resources, and

an uplink transmission in response to the random access response.

26. The network device of claim 25, wherein sending instructions to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

27. The network device of claim 26, wherein sending the first control information to the terminal device comprises:

28. The network device of claim 26 or 27, wherein sending the first control information or the second control information to the terminal device comprises:

downlink Control Information (DCI),

higher layer signaling, and

channel resources of the physical random access response.

29. The network device of claim 22, wherein the actions further comprise:

30. The network device of claim 29, wherein sending instructions to the terminal device to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

31. A terminal device, comprising:

a controller; and

a memory coupled to the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the terminal device to perform acts comprising:

in response to being in the non-radio resource control RRC idle state,

32. The terminal device of claim 31, wherein sending the information related to activation of the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

transmitting at least one of:

33. The terminal device of claim 32, wherein sending the assistance information comprises sending at least one of:

a first indication that the terminal device desires to enter the WCE mode,

a second indication that the terminal device desires to enter the non-WCE mode,

a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP),

reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), an

34. The terminal device of claim 33, wherein sending the assistance information comprises:

transmitting the assistance information via at least one of:

the signaling of the higher layer is carried out,

for the radio resource allocated by the uplink scheduling request,

a request for a random access is made,

physical random access channel resources, and

an uplink transmission in response to the random access response.

35. The terminal device of claim 34, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

36. The terminal device of claim 35, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

37. The terminal device of claim 35 or 36, wherein receiving the first control information or the second control information comprises:

downlink Control Information (DCI),

higher layer signaling, and

channel resources of the physical random access response.

38. The terminal device of claim 31, wherein entering the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode for operation comprises:

39. The terminal device of claim 31, wherein autonomously activating WCE mode or non-WCE mode at the terminal device comprises one of:

activating the WCE mode with the WCE mode as a default mode.

40. A network device, comprising:

a controller; and

41. The network device of claim 40, wherein sending instructions to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

42. The network device of claim 40, wherein sending instructions to activate the WCE mode or the non-WCE mode comprises:

43. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method of any of claims 1-9.

44. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method of any of claims 10 to 18.

45. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method of any of claims 19 to 21.