CN113767673A

CN113767673A - Timer control in discontinuous reception

Info

Publication number: CN113767673A
Application number: CN201980095912.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴春丽; S·图尔蒂南; J-P·科斯基南; B·塞比雷
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: 2019-04-30
Filing date: 2019-04-30
Publication date: 2021-12-07
Also published as: WO2020220322A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to timer control in discontinuous reception. A method includes, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, receiving a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time; in response to the skip indication, determining whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the first device based on a predetermined criterion; and in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended, suspending the timer for the period of time.

Description

Timer control in discontinuous reception

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for timer control in discontinuous reception.

Background

Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is a method for reducing battery consumption by allowing a communication device to discontinuously receive information from another communication device. For example, when DRX is configured, a User Equipment (UE) discontinuously monitors a downlink channel from a network device to reduce battery consumption. Otherwise, the UE may continuously monitor the downlink channel. Where DRX is configured, one or more timers may be configured to indicate when a device is in an active state for reception and/or when the device is in a sleep state where monitoring or reception is not performed.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for timer control in discontinuous reception.

In a first aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time; in response to the skip indication, determining whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the first device based on a predetermined criterion; and in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended, suspending the timer for the period of time.

In a second aspect, an apparatus 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 are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, at the apparatus configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a further apparatus, the skip indication indicating to the apparatus to skip monitoring of control information from the further apparatus for a period of time; in response to the skip indication, determining whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the device based on a predetermined criterion; and in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended, suspending the timer for the period of time.

In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time; means for determining, based on a predetermined criterion, whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the first device in response to the skip indication; and means for suspending the timer for the time period in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to the first aspect described above.

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 communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

figure 2 illustrates a signaling diagram of a process for timer control in DRX according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 3A illustrates a DRX cycle and DRX timer configured for a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 3B illustrates a DRX cycle and DRX timer upon receiving a skip indication, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method implemented at a device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described merely for purposes of illustration and to assist those of ordinary skill in the art in understanding and enabling the present disclosure, and are not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various other ways 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.

References in the present disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. 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. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes" and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

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

(a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only), and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and

(ii) any portion of a hardware processor having software (including a digital signal processor), software and memory that work in conjunction to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and

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

The definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another 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. The term circuitry also encompasses (e.g., and if applicable to a particular claim element) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit of a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that follows any suitable communication criteria, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), New Radio (NR), and so forth. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol now known or later developed. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will of course also be future types of communication techniques and systems that may be used to embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-described systems.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g., a NodeB (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Head (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, low power node (such as femto, pico), etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The end devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable end devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture end devices (such as digital cameras), gaming end devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless end devices, wireless terminals, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop installation devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless client devices (CPEs), internet of things (loT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in industrial and/or automated processing chain environments), Consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

While the functions described herein may be performed in various example embodiments in fixed and/or wireless network nodes, in other example embodiments, the functions may be implemented in a user equipment device, such as a cell phone or tablet or laptop or desktop or a mobile IoT device or a fixed IoT device. The user equipment device may for example be equipped with corresponding capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or radio network node(s), as the case may be. The user equipment device may be user equipment and/or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functions include a bootstrapping server function and/or a home subscriber server, which may be implemented in a user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to execute from the perspective of these functions/nodes.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The network 100 includes a first device 110 and a second device 120 that may communicate with each other. In this example, the first device 110 is shown as a terminal device and the second device 120 is shown as a network device serving the terminal device. Thus, the service area of the second device 120 is referred to as a cell 102. It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices is for illustration purposes only and does not represent any limitation. System 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it is understood that one or more terminal devices may be located in the cell 102 and served by the second device 120.

Communications in communication system 100 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), etc. cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, etc., and/or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. Further, the communication may use any suitable wireless communication technology, 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 Multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and/or any other technique now known or later developed.

In the communication network 100, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may communicate data and control information with each other. In the case where the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, a link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is referred to as a Downlink (DL), and a link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is referred to as an Uplink (UL).

To save power, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may be configured with discontinuous communication. The discontinuous communication may include Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and/or Discontinuous Transmission (DTX). One or both of the first device 110 and the second device 120 may be configured with DRX and/or DTX. For example, the first device 110 discontinuously monitors information/data (e.g., downlink information/data) transmitted from the second device 120 when DRX is configured. When DTX is configured, the first device 110 transmits information/data (e.g., uplink information/data) discontinuously to the second device 120. Similarly, the second device 120 may also be configured with DRX or DTX.

When DRX is configured to receive data, a device, such as the first device 110, may first wake up to monitor for control information indicating whether the device is scheduled to receive data and how the data is received. The DRX cycle specifies the following periodic repetitions: on-duration followed by a possible period of inactivity. The DRX cycle includes an on duration and an off duration (off-duration). The on duration is an active time of the UE monitoring control information within the DRX cycle. The control information may include information transmitted in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

The DRX cycle is configured to: in the case where there is a data transmission scheduled, the device is periodically kept awake during the active time indicated by a timer called the onDuration timer. The active time may be extended by the occurrence of an event, which may start other timers, such as an inactivity (inactivity) timer, a retransmission timer, a contention resolution timer, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) Round Trip Time (RTT) timer. The active time of the device in the DRX cycle may include an on duration in which the control information is periodically monitored and a duration in which the control information is monitored due to an event occurrence.

To support further power savings, in some example embodiments, a DRX-configured device may skip monitoring of control information for a period of time. Skipping monitoring of control information is particularly beneficial in cases where scheduling gaps are caused by beam scanning or other scheduling decisions at the transmitter side. The DRX timing mechanism may be adjusted to support skipping monitoring of the control information. For example, the network device may want multiple terminal devices to schedule in different beams, but the scheduling cannot be done simultaneously. The network device may instruct one or more terminal devices to temporarily skip monitoring of the control information and enter a sleep state because the terminal devices cannot be scheduled until multiple time slots.

However, the period for skipping the monitoring of the control information may last beyond the active time of DRX. If the timer set for DRX continues to run while the control information is not monitored during the period for skipping, the device configured with DRX may not wake up to monitor the control information after the period for skipping. Since the control information is generally used to schedule the device, the device has no opportunity to be scheduled after the time period for skipping.

It has been proposed to stop the onDuration timer and the inactivity timer upon receiving an indication to skip monitoring of the control information and to restart the timers after a time period for skipping. However, the stopping and restarting of the timer may unnecessarily extend the active time of a DRX-configured device, especially if such skipping is performed near the end of the active time.

According to some example embodiments, an improved solution for timer control in DRX is provided. In one example embodiment, if one device receives a skip indication from a second device to skip monitoring of control information for a certain period of time, a timer set for DRX may be suspended. The device may determine whether one or more timers for DRX that are currently running at the device can be suspended based on predetermined criteria. In this way, rather than simply having the timer continue to run, the suspension of the timer allows a smaller value to be configured for the timer without reducing the chance of communicating with the second device by skipping monitoring of the control information. Furthermore, the suspension of the timer in example embodiments of the present disclosure reduces the period of time that the device unnecessarily remains awake, as compared to stopping and restarting the timer.

Referring now to fig. 2, fig. 2 shows a signaling diagram 200 for timer control in DRX according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the signaling diagram 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1. The signaling diagram 200 may involve the first device 110 and the second device 120 as shown in fig. 1. It should be appreciated that although the signaling diagram 200 has been described in the communication system 100 of fig. 1, the process is equally applicable to other communication scenarios. It should also be understood that while DRX configured for the first device is discussed, a similar procedure may be applied to DRX configured for the second device (in which case the first device 110 may be in DTX mode).

In the signaling diagram 200, the first device 110 is configured with DRX. The first device 110 receives 205 a skip indication from the second device 120. The skip indication indicates to the first device 110 to skip monitoring of the control information from the second device 120 for a period of time.

In some example embodiments, when the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, the control information to be monitored may be included in the PDCCH. The PDCCH is a downlink control channel and is referred to as a scheduling channel in the sense that it carries scheduling information. Control information transmitted through the PDCCH is referred to as Downlink Control Information (DCI). By monitoring the control information, the first device 110 may determine when and/or how it is scheduled to receive data from the second device 120. The skip indication may be transmitted to the first device 110 in control information, such as in the PDCCH. The skip indication may be provided to the first device 110 as a skip command.

The skip indication may be received during active time when the first device 110 is monitoring control information from the second device 120. As described above, the active time of the device may include an on-duration in which the control information is periodically monitored and a duration in which the control information is monitored due to the occurrence of an event in the DRX cycle. Whether the device is active in DRX is indicated by one or more timers running at the first device 110. To skip monitoring of the control information, one or more timers for DRX may be appropriately controlled by the first device 110.

To better understand DRX, before discussing how to control the timer for DRX, the DRX cycle and timer are first introduced with reference to fig. 3A. As shown, the DRX cycle specifies the following periodic repetitions: the on duration, followed by a possible extended period of time. The DRX cycle includes an on duration and an off duration. The on duration is an active time during which the first device 110 is active to monitor control information within the DRX cycle. The off duration is a duration in which the first device 110 is in a sleep state and does not monitor the control information. The DRX cycle may be of multiple types. In some examples, the DRX cycle may be a long DRX cycle or a short DRX cycle. A long DRX cycle with a long period of time may minimize battery consumption of the UE. The short DRX cycle with a short period can minimize data transmission delay.

The active time of the device in the DRX cycle may include an on duration in which the control information is periodically monitored and a duration in which the control information is monitored due to an event occurrence. The active time may be defined by one or more timers set for DRX. As shown in fig. 3A, the onDuration timer 310 is running during the DRX cycle 301. The active time 302 is defined as the duration in which the onDuration timer 310 is running. The onDuration timer 310 may be set to a predetermined timer value, and in some examples, the number of consecutive subframe(s) for control information may be specified at the beginning of the DRX cycle. The subframe for control information (e.g., for PDCCH) refers to a subframe in which control information is monitored. Multiple onDuration timers with the same timer value can be started at the beginning of the DRX cycle. For example, another onDuration timer 320 is started at the next DRX cycle 303.

In addition to the onDuration timer 320, one or more additional timers may be set for DRX depending on certain events that occur. In some example embodiments, the active time in the DRX cycle may be extended due to the additional timer. In the example of fig. 3A, the length of the active time 304 in the DRX cycle 303 is extended compared to the active time 302. This is because the inactivity timer 322 is started when the first device 110 receives and successfully decodes the control information while the onDuration timer 320 is running.

The inactivity timer 322 keeps the first device 110 monitoring control information (e.g., PDCCH). The inactivity timer 322 indicates a duration after which the first device 110 may enter the off duration of the DRX cycle 303 if no activity is detected on the channel. If the inactivity timer 322 is running, the first device 110 may continuously monitor for control information. The inactivity timer 322 begins when an initial grant (e.g., an initial UL grant) for transmission to the second device 120 or a grant (e.g., a DL assignment) for reception from the second device 120 is received in the control information. The inactivity timer 322 may be set to a predetermined timer value and may, for example, specify the number of consecutive subframe(s) for control information after successful decoding of previous control information indicating an initial UL or DL data transmission by the device. As shown in fig. 3A, the active time 304 in the DRX cycle is extended due to the inactivity timer 322.

In addition to or instead of the inactivity timer, the first device 110 may operate some other timer in DRX, such as a HARQ RTT timer, a retransmission timer, a contention resolution timer, and the like. The retransmission timer defines a duration in which the first device 110 monitors the control information while expecting a retransmission from the second device 120. The HARQ RTT timer defines a minimum duration in which the first device 110 expects HARQ retransmissions. The HARQ RTT timer may specify a minimum number of subframes(s) before the UE expects a DL HARQ retransmission. The retransmission timer can specify: the maximum number of consecutive control information subframe(s) once the first device 110 expects a retransmission. After the initial transmission from the second device 120, the first device 110 starts a HARQ RTT timer. When the first device 110 cannot correctly decode the initial DL transmission, the first device 110 transmits a NACK to the second device 120. After transmission of the HARQ feedback to the second device 120, a HARQ RTT timer is started, and when the timer expires, a retransmission timer is started. While the retransmission timer is running, the first device 110 may monitor the control information for retransmissions from the second device 120. The contention resolution timer may be started during a Random Access (RA) procedure of the first device 110, which may specify the number of consecutive subframe(s) during which the first device 110 may monitor for control information after the Msg3 is transmitted during the RA procedure.

Some examples of DRX cycles and DRX timers are discussed above. In some example embodiments, the skip indication may be transmitted from the second device 120 when the first device 110 and the second device 120 are in a connected state, for example, when the first device 110 is in an RRC connected state (which may also be referred to as an RRC connected mode) with the second device. In some other embodiments, the first device 110 may be in an RRC idle state (which may also be referred to as an RRC idle mode).

Referring again to fig. 2, if one or more timers set for DRX are running when the skip indication is received, the first device 110 determines 210 whether to pause the one or more timers. Such determination is based on predetermined criteria. The first device 110 may check each of the running timer(s) to determine if the timer can be suspended. The predetermined criteria may depend on information related to one or more running timers for DRX, information related to a time period indicated by the skip indication for skipping monitoring of the control information, a control indication from the second device 120, and/or other related information.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria may be based on a type of one or more timers that are running at the first device 110. Among all timers started for DRX, the first device 110 may determine to suspend a timer preset for monitoring control information. Such timers may include a start duration timer, an inactivity timer, a retransmission timer, or a contention resolution timer. In such a case, the first device 110 may pause the running timer if the type of the running timer when the skip indication is received is any one of an on-duration timer, an inactivity timer, a retransmission timer, or a contention resolution timer.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine that the timer is prevented from being suspended if the running timer is not a timer of such a type, for example, if the running timer is a HARQ RTT timer (preset for transmissions from the first device 110 to the second device 120 or from the second device 120 to the first device 110). Therefore, even if the skip indication is received, the timer is not suspended because the timer is not set to monitor the control information.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive a type indication of which type of timer is allowed to be suspended, among all types of timers provided for monitoring control information. The type indication may be received from the second device 120 and indicate at least one type of timer that is allowed to be paused and/or indicate at least one type of timer that is not allowed to be paused. If the first device 110 determines that the type of timer being run is one of the at least one type indicated by the type indication, the first device 110 may determine that the timer is to be suspended. In some example embodiments, the type indication may be transmitted from the second device 120 via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In other example embodiments, the type indication may be transmitted from the second device 120 in the PDCCH, e.g., may be transmitted with a skip indication.

In some example embodiments, all running timers may be considered together. In an example embodiment, if the first device 110 determines that the type of the running timer is the onDuration timer and no further timer is running to monitor the control information, the running onDuration timer may not be paused. In other words, if only the onDuration timer is running, the skip indication may be used to confirm that the first device may not be scheduled within the skip period. In this way, instead of pausing the running onDuration timer, the first device 110 can stop the running onDuration timer or allow the running onDuration timer to continue running. In this way, the first device 110 may go to sleep or go to a sleep state directly after the onDuration timer runs out (i.e., expires), which may further reduce power consumption. In such a case, the skip indication is used as a further control indication to indicate that the first device 110 is to sleep.

Alternatively or additionally, whether the running timer may be paused may depend on the length of the time period indicated by the skip indication. For example, after receiving the skip indication, if the first device 110 determines that the length of the time period is large, e.g., greater than a length threshold, this is simply that the skip period may last longer than the active time in the current DRX cycle. In such a case, the first device 110 may determine to pause the timer. In this way, after the time period for skipping, the timer may be resumed, and the first device 110 may continue to monitor for control information to wait for scheduled opportunities. In some example embodiments, the length threshold may be set to a further time period that the timer remains to run when the skip indication is received, i.e. a time period as follows: after this time period, the timer may expire if the timer continues to run during the skipped time period. If there are multiple timers running, the length threshold may be set to the active time period (which is determined by all running timers). The first device 110 may determine to pause the timer if the period indicated by the skip indication exceeds the remaining run period (or continues to exceed the active period). Otherwise, the timer may not be suspended because it may not expire after skipping monitoring.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive a pause indication from the second device 120 indicating whether one or more timers may be paused for the time period for skipping. Such a suspension indication may be transmitted from the second device 120 in association with a skip indication, e.g., in a PDCCH transmitted from the second device 120. In this way, for each skip indication, the second device 120 is allowed to decide whether the first device 110 should pause the timer set for DRX or not. In response to the pause indication indicating that the timer is allowed to be paused for the time period, the first device 110 may determine to pause the timer. Otherwise, the first device 110 may not pause the timer, e.g., may stop the timer or keep the timer running.

Some criteria for the first device 110 to determine whether to pause one or more running timers when a skip indication is received have been described in the example embodiments above. It should be appreciated that other criteria may be applied by the first device 110 to determine the suspension of one or more running timers.

If the first device 110 determines to pause at least one of the running timers, the first device 110 pauses 215 the at least one timer for a time period indicated by the skip indication for skipping the monitoring of the control information. In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may skip monitoring of the control information in response to the skip indication when the timer(s) are suspended. The first device 110 may start a skip timer set to a timer value indicating the time period. The first device 110 may not monitor for control information from the second device until the skip timer expires.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may resume 220 the suspended timer(s) after the time period for skipping. At this point, the first device 110 may resume monitoring for control information from the second device 120 until the timer(s) expire.

To better understand timer control in DRX, fig. 3B illustrates a DRX cycle and a DRX timer upon receiving a skip indication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 3B, the first device 110 receives a skip indication from the second device 120 when the onDuration timer 310 is running in the DRX cycle 301. In response to the skip indication and the running onDuration timer, the first device 110 determines that the onDuration timer 310 needs to be paused for the time period 332 indicated by the skip indication. After the time period 332, the first device 110 may resume the onDuration timer 310. The onDuration timer 310 may remain running for the remaining period of time indicated by its remaining timer value. As such, the active time 302 is maintained for the first device 110 during this DRX cycle 301, although monitoring of the control information is skipped during the period 332.

Fig. 3B also shows that the first device 110 receives a further skip indication from the second device 120 when both the onDuration timer 320 and the inactivity timer 322 are running in the DRX cycle 302. When monitoring of the control information is skipped in response to the skip indication, the first device 110 may pause both the onDuration timer 320 and the inactivity timer 322. After a period of time 334 indicated by the further skip indication, the first device 110 may resume the onDuration timer 320 and the inactivity timer 322 and also maintain the active time 304 for the first device 110 in this DRX cycle 302.

It should be understood that the example of fig. 3B is provided for illustrative purposes only. In some other example embodiments, only one of the onDuration timer and the inactivity timer is suspended when the skip indication is received. In some other example embodiments, other or different types of timers may be running when the skip indication is received, and the first device may also determine whether to pause these timers according to some example embodiments described herein.

It should also be understood that although some types of timers are provided above as examples, the timer control described in example embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to other timers that are not directly related to DRX, such as BWP (bandwidth part) inactivity timers (i.e., BWP-inactivity timer), SCell (secondary cell) deactivation timers (i.e., sCellDeactivationTimer), TAT (time alignment timer) (i.e., timeAlignmentTimer), beam failure detection or recovery timers (i.e., beamfailure detectiontimer or beamfailure recoveryrey), and the like. The scope of the example embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the method 400 will be described with reference to fig. 1 from the perspective of the first device 110. It is understood that the method 400 may also be implemented at the second device 120 in fig. 1.

At block 410, the first device 110 configured with discontinuous reception receives a skip indication from the second device 120 indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time. At block 420, in response to the skip indication, the first device 110 determines whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the first device based on a predetermined criterion. In block 430, in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended, the first device 110 suspends the timer for the period of time.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criterion is based on at least one of: a type of timer, a length of the time period, or a pause indication as to whether the timer is allowed to be paused during the time period, the pause indication being received from the second device.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: determining whether a type of the timer is a timer preset for monitoring the control information, the timer preset for monitoring the control information including at least one of: a start duration timer, an inactivity timer, a retransmission timer, or a contention resolution timer; and determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to determining that the type of timer is a timer set for monitoring control information.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: in response to determining that the type of timer is a hybrid automatic repeat request round trip time timer, determining that the timer is prevented from pausing.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: receiving, from the second device, at least one type indication indicating a type of the timer that is allowed to be suspended; and determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the type of the timer being one of the at least one type indicated by the type indication.

In some example embodiments, receiving the type indication comprises: the type indication is received via radio resource control signaling.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some preferred embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: determining that the type of the timer is an on-duration timer; and in response to there being no further timers running for monitoring control information, determining that the timers are prevented from pausing.

In some example embodiments, the method 400 further includes stopping the timer or allowing the timer to continue to run in response to determining that the timer is prevented from being suspended.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criterion is based on a length of the time period. In some example embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: in response to the length of the time period exceeding a length threshold, determining that the timer is to be suspended.

In some example embodiments, the length threshold is set to an additional time period that the timer remains to run when the indication is skipped from being received.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a pause indication. In some example embodiments, determining whether to pause the timer comprises: in response to the pause indication indicating that the timer is allowed to pause within the time period, determining that the timer is to be paused.

In some example embodiments, the pause indication is received in association with the skip indication.

In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises resuming the timer after the timer is suspended for a first period of time.

In some example embodiments, the first device is a terminal device and the second device is a network device.

In some example embodiments, the control information is included in a physical downlink control channel.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., first device 110 or second device 120) capable of performing any of method 400 may include means for performing the respective steps of method 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in circuitry or a software component.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time; means for determining, based on a predetermined criterion, whether to pause a timer for discontinuous reception running at the first device in response to the skip indication; and means for suspending the timer for the time period in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for determining whether a type of the timer is a timer preset for monitoring control information, the timer preset for monitoring control information including at least one of: a start duration timer, an inactivity timer, a retransmission timer, or a contention resolution timer; and means for determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to determining that the type of timer is a timer set for monitoring control information.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for determining that the timer is prevented from pausing in response to determining that the type of the timer is a hybrid automatic repeat request round trip time timer.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for receiving a type indication from the second device indicating at least one type of timer allowed to be suspended; and means for determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the type of the timer being one of the at least one type indicated by the type indication.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving the type indication comprises: means for receiving a type indication via radio resource control signaling.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criteria is based on a type of timer. In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for determining that the type of timer is an on-duration timer; and means for determining that the timer is prevented from pausing in response to there being no further timers running for monitoring the control information.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for stopping the timer or allowing the timer to continue running in response to determining that the timer is prevented from pausing.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criterion is based on a length of the time period. In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the length of the time period exceeding a length threshold.

In some example embodiments, the predetermined criterion is based on a pause indication, and the means for determining whether to pause the timer comprises: means for determining that the timer is to be paused in response to the pause indication indicating that the timer is allowed to pause within the time period.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for resuming the timer after the timer is suspended for a first period of time.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus also includes means for performing other steps in some example embodiments of the method 400. In some example embodiments, the component comprises 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 execution of the apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 500 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as first device 110, first device 111, or second device 120 shown in fig. 1. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processors 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processors 510.

The communication module 540 is used for bidirectional communication. The communication module 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

Processor 510 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and may include one or more of the following, as non-limiting examples: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

Memory 520 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)524, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM)522 and other volatile memory that does not persist for the duration of the power down.

The computer programs 530 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The program 530 may be stored in the ROM 524. Processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading programs 530 into RAM 522.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented by the program 530 such that the device 500 may perform any of the processes of the disclosure as discussed with reference to fig. 2-4. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or other storage device accessible to the device 500. Device 500 may load program 530 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 522 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. 7 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 600 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has a program 530 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. 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 block diagrams, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program components, that execute in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the method 400 described above with reference to fig. 4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data types, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program components as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed apparatus, program elements may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for performing the 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 or controller 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 performed. 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 the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier for enabling a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of a carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer 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 a computer-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 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 several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, 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:

receiving, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time;

in response to the skip indication, determining whether to suspend a timer for the discontinuous reception running at the first device based on a predetermined criterion; and

suspending the timer for the period of time in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on at least one of:

the type of the timer is such that,

the length of said time period, or

A pause indication as to whether the timer is allowed to be paused during the time period, the pause indication received from the second device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein determining whether to pause the timer comprises:

determining whether the type of the timer is a timer preset for monitoring the control information, the timer preset for monitoring the control information including at least one of: a start duration timer, an inactivity timer, a retransmission timer, or a contention resolution timer; and

determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to determining that the type of the timer is a timer set to monitor the control information.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein determining whether to pause the timer comprises:

determining that the timer is prevented from being suspended in response to determining that the type of the timer is a hybrid automatic repeat request round trip time timer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein determining whether to pause the timer comprises:

receiving, from the second device, at least one type indication indicating at least one type of timer that is allowed to be suspended; and

determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the type of the timer being one of the at least one type indicated by the type indication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the type indication comprises:

receiving the type indication via radio resource control signaling.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein determining whether to pause the timer comprises:

determining that the type of the timer is an on-duration timer; and

determining that the timer is prevented from being suspended in response to there being no additional timers running for monitoring the control information.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in response to determining that the timer is prevented from being suspended, stopping the timer or allowing the timer to continue running.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criterion is based on a length of the time period, and wherein determining whether to pause the timer comprises:

determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the length of the time period exceeding a length threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the length threshold is set to an additional time period remaining to be run by the timer upon receipt of the skip indication.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the suspension indication, and wherein determining whether to suspend the timer comprises:

determining that the timer is to be suspended in response to the suspension indication indicating that the timer is allowed to be suspended for the period of time.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the pause indication is received in association with the skip indication.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

resuming the timer after the timer is suspended for the first period of time.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a terminal device and the second device is a network device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the control information is included in a physical downlink control channel.

16. 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 to:

receiving, at the device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a further device, the skip indication indicating to the device to skip monitoring of control information from the further device for a period of time;

in response to the skip indication, determining whether to pause a timer for the discontinuous reception running at the device based on a predetermined criterion; and

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on at least one of:

the type of the timer is such that,

the length of said time period, or

A pause indication as to whether the timer is allowed to be paused during the time period, the pause indication being received from the further device.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criterion is based on the type of the timer, and the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receiving, from the further device, at least one type indication indicating at least one type of timer allowed to be suspended; and

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receiving the type indication via radio resource control signaling.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criteria is based on the type of the timer, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

determining that the type of the timer is an on-duration timer; and

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criterion is based on a length of the time period, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the length threshold is set to an additional time period remaining to run by the timer upon receipt of the skip indication.

26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined criterion is based on the suspension indication, and the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to:

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the pause indication is received in association with the skip indication.

28. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

resuming the timer after the timer is suspended for the first period of time.

29. The device of claim 16, wherein the device is a terminal device and the further device is a network device.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the control information is included in a physical downlink control channel.

31. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving, at a first device configured with discontinuous reception, a skip indication from a second device, the skip indication indicating to the first device to skip monitoring of control information from the second device for a period of time;

means for determining, based on a predetermined criterion, whether to suspend a timer for the discontinuous reception that is running at the first device in response to the skip indication; and

means for suspending the timer for the period of time in response to determining that the timer is to be suspended.

32. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.