CN115702593A - Early paging indication method based on downlink control information and user equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of introducing a Downlink Control Information (DCI) -based early paging indicator (PEI) in a 5G/NR network to enhance power consumption is proposed. Specifically, when a User Equipment (UE) is in an idle mode, a Base Station (BS) sends a PEI message including PEI to the UE. The UE may then receive a PEI message in idle mode and determine from PEI whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) in the PO. In some embodiments, the format of the message including the PEI may include a DCI format.

Description

Early paging indication method based on downlink control information and user equipment

Cross-referencing

The present invention claims priority as follows: U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/049,189, filed on 8/7/2020, entitled "DCI-based packaging Early Indicator in NR Idle Mode," which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to early paging indication (PEI) based on Downlink Control Information (DCI) in a 5G New Radio (NR).

Background

Third generation partnership project (3 GPP) and 5G NR mobile telecommunication systems provide high data rate, low latency, improved system performance. In 3GPP NR, a 5G terrestrial NR access network includes a plurality of Base Stations (BSs), such as Next Generation Node-BS (gnbs), that communicate with mobile stations, called User Equipments (UEs), that communicate with each other. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) has been selected for the NR Downlink (DL) radio Access scheme due to robustness against multipath fading, higher spectral efficiency and bandwidth scalability. Multiple access in the downlink may be achieved by allocating different subbands of the system bandwidth (i.e., groups of subcarriers denoted as Resource Blocks (RBs)) to individual users based on their existing channel conditions. In LTE and NR networks, a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is used for Downlink scheduling. A Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is used for Downlink data. Similarly, a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is used to carry Uplink Control information. A Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is used for Uplink data. In addition, a physical random-access channel (PRACH) is used for a non-contention based Random Access Channel (RACH).

One important use of broadcast information in any cellular system is to establish a channel for communication between the UE and the gNB. This is commonly referred to as paging. Paging is a process used by the wireless network to find out the UE location before the actual connection is established. Paging is used to alert the UE to enter a session (call). In most cases, the paging procedure occurs when the UE is in Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle mode. This means that the UE must monitor whether the network sends any paging messages to it and must expend some energy/power to run this "monitoring" process. During the idle mode, the UE enters and maintains a sleep mode or a power saving mode defined in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle. The UE periodically wakes up and monitors the PDCCH to check for the presence of a paging message. If the PDCCH indicates that the paging message is transmitted in the subframe, the UE demodulates the paging channel to see whether the paging message is directed to it.

In NR, paging reception consumes less than 2.5% of the total power. However, due to a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmission scheme in the NR, LOOP (LOOP) operations (including Automatic Gain Control (AGC), frequency Tracking LOOP (FTL), and Time Tracking LOOP (TTL)) and Measurements (MEAS) can be performed only in some cases. Therefore, the interval between the SSB for LOOP/MEAS and the Paging Occasion (PO) is longer, and the UE can enter the light sleep mode in the interval. If there is an indication before paging and the UE monitors the PO only when paging is indicated, the UE can save not only power consumption for paging reception but also power consumption for light sleep between the last SSB and PO interval. Therefore, PEI can be introduced before paging to achieve more UE power savings through indication before paging. However, the specific details of PEI have not been discussed, and there are still some problems to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

A method of introducing DCI-based PEI in a 5G/NR network to enhance power consumption is proposed. Specifically, when the UE is in the idle mode, the BS sends a PEI message including PEI to the UE. Then, the UE may receive the PEI message in the idle mode and determine whether to monitor a PDCCH scrambled with a Paging-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI) in the PO according to the PEI. In one embodiment, the format of the PEI message including PEI may include a DCI format.

In one embodiment, the UE receives a PEI message from the BS when the UE is in idle mode. The PEI message comprises PEI. The format of the PEI message includes a DCI format. And the UE determines whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled by the P-RNTI in the PO according to the PEI.

In another embodiment, the BS sends a PEI message to the UE when the UE is in idle mode. The PEI message includes PEI so that the UE can determine whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI in the PO based on PEI. The format of the PEI message includes a DCI format.

Other embodiments and advantages are described in the detailed description that follows. The summary is not intended to define the invention. The invention is defined by the claims.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts, illustrate embodiments of the present invention.

Figure 1 depicts a page reception process using PEI in a 5G NR network in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a simplified block diagram depicting a UE and a BS according to various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4A depicts one embodiment of a format for a PEI message comprising PEI, in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 4B depicts an embodiment of a format of a PEI message including PEI, in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 5A depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI, in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 5B depicts an embodiment of a format of a PEI message including PEI, in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for power consumption enhancement with DCI-based PEI in a 5G/NR network from the perspective of a UE in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for power consumption enhancement with DCI-based PEI in a 5G/NR network from a network perspective in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 depicts a page reception process 100 in a 5G NR network using PEI in accordance with the novel aspects. In 3GPP NR, a 5G NR access network includes a plurality of BSs, e.g., next generation node BS (gnbs), that communicate with a plurality of mobile stations, called UEs, that communicate with mobile stations. OFDMA has been chosen for the NR DL radio access scheme due to robustness to multipath fading, higher spectral efficiency and bandwidth scalability. In LTE and NR networks, the PDCCH is used for downlink scheduling. The PDSCH is used for downlink data. Similarly, PUCCH is used to carry uplink control information. PUSCH is used for uplink data. Furthermore, PRACH is used for non-contention based RACH.

One important use of broadcast information in any cellular system is to establish a channel for communication between the UE and the gNB. This is commonly referred to as paging. Paging is a process used by the wireless network to find out the UE location before the actual connection is established. Paging is used to alert the UE to enter a session (call). In most cases, the paging procedure occurs while the UE is in RRC idle mode. This means that the UE must monitor whether the network sends any paging messages to it and must spend some energy/power running this "monitoring" process. During the idle mode, the UE enters and maintains a sleep mode or a power saving mode defined in the DRX cycle. The UE periodically wakes up and monitors the PDCCH to check for the presence of a paging message. If the PDCCH indicates that the paging message is transmitted in the subframe, the UE demodulates the paging channel to see whether the paging message is directed to it.

In NR, paging reception consumes less than 2.5% of the total power. However, due to the SSB transmission scheme in NR, loop operations (including AGC, FTL, and TTL) and MEAS can only be performed in some cases. Therefore, the interval between SSB and PO for LOOP/MEAS is longer, and the UE may enter a light sleep mode in the interval. If there is an indication before paging and the UE monitors the PO only when paging is indicated, the UE can save not only power consumption for paging reception but also power consumption for light sleep between the last SSB and PO interval. Note that in the light sleep mode, the UE does not turn off its receiver completely, so power consumption is higher than in the deep sleep mode, but lower than in the normal mode. The light sleep mode requires less transition power to switch to or from the normal mode than the deep sleep mode.

According to one novel aspect, a pre-page indication, such as PEI, is introduced to provide power savings for page reception. In the example of fig. 1, fig. 110 depicts a page receive process using PEI. Note that a group of UEs may be associated with the same PO. During the paging reception process 110 using PEI, the UE wakes up periodically and checks PEI first (111), and if no UE in the UE group is paged, the UE stops and goes to deep sleep. Otherwise, the UE performs paging PDCCH decoding (112) and paging PDSCH decoding (113). If the UE itself is not paged, the UE stops and goes to sleep. Otherwise, the UE performs connection establishment (114).

In the paging reception process 110 using PEI, the UE may skip PO monitoring if PEI indicates no/no paging in step 111. The UE's primary receiver is turned on in each paging cycle for LOOP, MEAS and PEI reception. If the PEI indicates no paging, after performing the required measurements, the UE may turn off its master receiver and go to deep sleep until the next PEI. Note that when the serving cell is below a certain threshold, the UE needs to perform intra-frequency or inter-frequency measurements. Typically, when the UE wakes up for page monitoring (i.e., every paging cycle), the UE performs the required measurements, and then the UE will remain in deep sleep until the next PEI. Since PEI is transmitted and located near SSB bursts, not only PO monitoring power savings can be achieved when no UE in the UE group is paged, but also power savings for light sleep and state transitions (e.g., power mode transitions from normal to light sleep mode or from light sleep mode to normal) between the last SSB/PEI and PO monitoring interval.

According to another novel aspect, the physical layer design of PEI may be DCI based. Specifically, PEI is included in the PEI message, and a format of the PEI message includes one of the DCI formats. The BS sends a PEI message to the UE. After receiving the PEI message, the UE determines whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI in the PO according to the PEI included in the PEI message.

Fig. 2 depicts a simplified block diagram of wireless devices 201 and 211 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For the wireless device 201 (e.g., BS), the antenna 207 transmits and receives radio signals. The RF transceiver module 206 is coupled to the antenna, receives RF signals from the antenna, converts them to baseband signals, and sends them to the processor 203. The RF transceiver 206 also converts baseband signals received from the processor 203, converts them into RF signals, and transmits to the antenna 207. The processor 203 processes the received baseband signals and invokes different functional blocks and circuits to perform functions in the wireless device 201. The memory 202 stores program instructions and data 210 to control the operation of the device 201.

Similarly, for wireless device 211 (e.g., a UE), antenna 217 sends and receives radio signals. The RF transceiver module 216 is coupled to the antenna, receives RF signals from the antenna, converts them to baseband signals, and transmits them to the processor 213. The RF transceiver 216 also converts baseband signals received from the processor 213, converts them into RF signals, and transmits to the antenna 217. Processor 213 processes the received baseband signals and invokes different functional blocks and circuits to perform functions in wireless device 211. Memory 212 stores program instructions and data 220 to control the operation of wireless device 211.

The wireless devices 201 and 211 also include a number of functional modules and circuits that are implemented and configured to perform embodiments of the present invention. In the example of fig. 2, wireless device 201 is a base station that includes a set of control function modules and circuitry 230. The paging and PEI management circuitry 232 performs paging and PEI management (e.g., management of PEI and PEI associated pages). The configuration and control circuitry 231 provides different parameters to configure and control the UE. Wireless device 211 is a UE that includes a set of control function modules and circuitry 240. The paging and PEI processing circuitry 242 performs paging and PEI processing (e.g., processing PEI and determining from PEI whether to monitor PDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI in the PO). The configuration and control circuit 241 processes configuration and control parameters from the network.

Note that the wireless device may be either a transmitting device or a receiving device. The various functional blocks and circuits may be implemented and configured by hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The functional blocks and circuits, when executed by the processors 203 and 213 (e.g., by executing the program codes 210 and 220), allow the BS 201 and the UE211 to perform embodiments of the present invention.

In one novel aspect, BS 201 determines PEI. The UE211 in idle mode determines whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI in the PO using PEI. The BS 201 sends a PEI message including PEI to the UE 211. The format of the PEI message includes a DCI format. The UE211 receives a message including PEI from the BS 201. The UE211 determines whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI in the PO according to the PEI.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the format of the PEI message 300 includes DCI format 1_0. Thus, the PEI message 300 may comprise: a short message indicator field 301, a short message field 302, a frequency domain Resource alignment field 303, a time domain Resource alignment field 304, a Virtual Resource Block (VRB) to Physical Resource Block (PRB) mapping field 305, a modulation and coding scheme field 306, a Transport Block (TB) scaling field 307, and a reserved bits field 308.

In one embodiment, at least one of the fields 301 to 308 may be reused/reused as PEI, i.e. at least one of the fields 301 to 308 may be configured as PEI. Furthermore, in relation to the short message indicator field 301, at least one unused bit field of the short message indicator field 301 may be reused/reused as PEI, i.e. said at least one unused bit field of the short message indicator field 301 may be configured as PEI. Regarding the short message field 302, one bit of the short message field 302 is used as a System Information (SI) update, one bit of the short message field 302 is used as an Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS)/Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) notification, and at least one unused bit of the short message field 302 may be reused/reused as PEI, i.e., a field of the at least one unused bit of the field 302 may be configured as PEI in addition to a bit used as an SI update and a bit used as an ETWS/CMAS notification.

In one embodiment, when Reference Signal (RS) information is supported and multiple RS sets are broadcast to UEs in idle mode, at least one of fields 301 to 308 may be configured as an indicator indicating RS set availability. Further, with respect to the short message indicator field 301, at least one unused bit field of the short message indicator field 301 may be reused/reused as an indicator to indicate availability of the set of RSs, i.e., the at least one unused bit field of the short message indicator field 301 may be configured as an indicator to indicate availability of the set of RSs. With respect to the short message field 302, at least one unused bit field of the short message field 302 may be reused/reused as an indicator to indicate availability of the set of RSs, i.e., at least one unused bit field of the field 302 may be configured as an indicator to indicate availability of the set of RSs.

In this embodiment of PEI message 300, PEI message 300 may include a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field (not shown in FIG. 3) scrambled by the P-RNTI.

FIG. 4A depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI, in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the format of the PEI message 400a includes DCI format 2_6. Thus, the PEI message 400a includes: at least one bit 401a of PEI configured for one or more UEs in idle mode, and a plurality of fields 402a of a wake-up signal (WUS) and an SCell sleep indication (SDI) of the one or more UEs in connected mode.

For example, the X bits 401a may be configured as PEI, X may be configured by system information, or may be calculated according to the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the corresponding PEI.

FIG. 4B depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the format of the PEI message 400b includes DCI format 2_6. Thus, when RS information is supported and multiple sets of RSs are broadcast to UEs in idle mode, the PEI message 400b includes: at least one bit 401b configured as PEI of one or more UEs in idle mode, at least one bit 402b indicating RS set availability, and a plurality of fields 403b for WUS and SDI of one or more UEs in connected mode.

For example, the X bits 401b may be configured as PEI, X may be configured by system information, or may be calculated according to the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the respective PEI. Y bit 402b may be used to indicate availability of a set of RSs, and Y is

Bits, where N is the number of RS sets.

In these embodiments of the PEI messages 400a and 400b, the size of the PEI message 400a or 400b may be configured by system information or calculated from the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the PEI included in the PEI message 400a or 400 b. The PEI messages 400a and 400B may include a CRC field (not shown in figures 4A and 4B) scrambled by the P-RNTI or a dedicated new RNTI (e.g., reserved RNTIs 65520-65533), respectively.

FIG. 5A depicts one embodiment of a format for a PEI message comprising PEI, in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention. Specifically, the format of the PEI message 500a includes the new DCI format. Based on the new DCI format, the PEI message 500a includes: SI update bit 501a, ETWS/CMAS signaled bit 502a, and at least one bit configured as PEI 503a.

For example, the X bits 503a may be configured as PEI, and X may be configured by system information, or may be calculated according to the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the corresponding PEI.

FIG. 5B depicts an embodiment of a format for a PEI message that includes PEI in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the format of the PEI message 500b includes the new DCI format. Based on the new DCI format, when RS information is supported and multiple RS sets are broadcast to the UE in idle mode, the PEI message 500a includes: SI update bit 501b, ETWS/CMAS signaled bit 502b, at least one bit indicating RS set availability 503b, and at least one bit configured as PEI 504b.

For example, the X bits 504b may be configured as PEI, X may be configured by system information, or may be calculated from the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the respective PEI. Y bit 503b may be used to indicate availability of a set of RSs, and Y is

Bits, where N is the number of RS sets.

In these embodiments of the PEI messages 500a and 500b, the size of the PEI message 500a or 500b may be configured by system information or calculated from the number of POs and/or subgroups indicated by the PEI included in the PEI message 500a or 500 b. PEI messages 500a and 500B may include a CRC field scrambled by the P-RNTI (not shown in figures 5A and 5B) or a dedicated new RNTI (e.g., reserved RNTIs 65520-65533), respectively.

In one embodiment, based on the DCI based PEI described above, the PEI may be notified through a PEI message having a DCI format and transmitted in a given Search Space (SS). In one embodiment, a given SS for PEI may comprise a paging SS. When the identity of the paging SS (e.g., searchspace id) is "0", the UE monitors the SS according to 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.213. When the identity of the paging SS (e.g., searchspace id) is not "0", the UE monitors the SS according to 3gpp TS 38.213. In one embodiment, a given SS for PEI may comprise a dedicated SS. When the identity of the dedicated SS (e.g., searchSpaceId) is "0", the UE monitors the SS according to 3gpp ts38.213. When the identity of the paging SS (e.g., searchspace id) is not "0", the UE monitors the SS according to 3gpp TS 38.213. Further, the design of the dedicated SS may follow the rules of the common search space set type 0A (i.e., type 0A PDCCH), type 1 (i.e., type 1 PDCCH), or type 2 (i.e., type 2 PDCCH).

In one embodiment, based on the SS configuration of the given SS described above for sending PEI, the CORESET indicated in the SS configuration (i.e., the CORESE corresponding to the given SS) is used.

In one embodiment, according to multi-beam operation, the UE may assume that the same PEI message including PEI is repeated in all transmission beams, and therefore, the beam selected for receiving the PEI message including PEI depends on the UE implementation. The timing of PEI is a set of S consecutive PDCCH monitoring timings, where S is the number of actually transmitted SSBs determined according to the parameters of SSB PositionInBurst in system information block 1 (SIB 1).

In other words, the BS may transmit a PEI message including PEI through all transmission beams associated with the UE. The UE then assumes that the same PEI message including PEI is repeated in all transmission beams and selects at least one of the multiple transmission beams for receiving the PEI message.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method for power consumption enhancement with DCI-based PEI in a 5G/NR network from the UE perspective in accordance with a novel aspect of the present invention. In step 601, the UE receives a PEI message while in idle mode in the wireless communication network. The PEI message includes PEI, and a format of the PEI message includes DCI format. In step 602, the UE determines whether to monitor the PDCCH scrambled with the P-RNTI in the PO according to the PEI.

In one embodiment, the DCI format of the PEI message includes DCI format 1_0. Thus, the PEI message includes a short message indicator field, a short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a VRB to PRB mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a TB scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

In one embodiment, at least one of the at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, the at least one unused bit of the short message field, the frequency domain resource alignment field, the time domain resource alignment field, the VRB to PRB mapping field, the modulation and coding scheme field, the TB scaling field, and the reserved bits field is configured as PEI.

In one embodiment, when supporting RS information and broadcasting multiple sets of RSs to a UE in idle mode, at least one unused bit of a short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of a short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a VRB-to-PRB mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a TB scaling field, and a reserved bits field is configured to indicate availability of a set of RSs.

In one embodiment, the DCI format of the PEI message includes DCI format 2_6. In one embodiment, the PEI message includes at least one bit configured as PEI for one or more UEs and a plurality of fields for WUS and SDI for the one or more UEs. In one embodiment, when supporting RS information and broadcasting a plurality of RS sets to a UE in idle mode, the PEI message may include at least one bit configured as PEI for one or more UEs, at least one bit indicating availability of the RS sets, and a plurality of fields for WUS and SDI of the one or more UEs.

In one embodiment, the DCI format comprises a new DCI format. In one embodiment, the PEI message may include bits for SI update, ETWS/CMAS Notification, and at least one bit configured as PEI. In one embodiment, the PEI message may include a bit for SI update, a bit for ETWS/CMAS notification, at least one bit indicating availability of a set of RSs, and at least one bit configured as PEI.

Fig. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for power consumption enhancement with DCI-based PEI in a 5G/NR network from a network perspective in accordance with the novel aspects of the present invention. In step 701, the BS determines PEI. PEI is used for a UE in idle mode to determine whether to monitor PDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI in PO. In step 702, the BS transmits a PEI message including PEI to the UE. The format of the PEI message includes a DCI format.

In one embodiment, the DCI format of the PEI message includes DCI format 1_0. Thus, the PEI message includes a short message indicator field, a short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a VRB to PRB mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a TB scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

In one embodiment, at least one of the at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, the at least one unused bit of the short message field, the frequency domain resource alignment field, the time domain resource alignment field, the VRB to PRB mapping field, the modulation and coding scheme field, the TB scaling field, and the reserved bits field is configured as PEI.

In one embodiment, when supporting RS information and broadcasting multiple sets of RSs to a UE in idle mode, at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of the short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a VRB to PRB mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a TB scaling field, and a reserved bits field are configured to indicate availability of the sets of RSs.

In one embodiment, the DCI format of the PEI message includes DCI format 2_6. In one embodiment, the PEI message includes at least one bit configured as PEI for one or more UEs, and a plurality of fields for WUS and SDI for the one or more UEs. In one embodiment, when supporting RS information and broadcasting a plurality of RS sets to a UE in idle mode, the message may include at least one bit configured as PEI of one or more UEs, at least one bit indicating availability of the RS sets, and a plurality of fields of WUS and SDI of the one or more UEs.

In one embodiment, the DCI format comprises a new DCI format. In one embodiment, the PEI message may include bits for SI update, ETWS/CMAS Notification, and at least one bit configured as PEI. In one embodiment, the message may include a bit of SI update, a bit of ETWS/CMAS notification, at least one bit indicating availability of a set of RSs, and at least one bit configured as PEI.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with certain specific embodiments for instructional purposes, the present invention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, various modifications, adaptations, and combinations of the various features of the described embodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Claims (20)

1. A method, comprising:

a user equipment in a wireless communication network receives a paging early indication message comprising a paging early indication in idle mode, wherein a format of the paging early indication message comprises a downlink control information format; and is

The UE determines whether to monitor a physical downlink control channel scrambled with a paging radio network temporary identifier in a paging occasion according to the paging early indication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises downlink control information format 1_0, downlink control information format 2_6, or a new downlink control information format.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises the downlink control information format 1_0, one field of the paging early indication message is configured as the paging early indication, and the field of the paging early indication message is selected from at least one of: at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of the short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a virtual resource block to physical resource block mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a transport block scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink control information format comprises the downlink control information format 1_0, one field of the paging early indication message is configured as an indicator indicating availability of a reference signal set, and the field of the paging early indication message is selected from at least one of: at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of the short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a virtual resource block to physical resource block mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a transport block scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises the downlink control information format 2 _6or the new downlink control information format, at least one bit of the paging early indication message configured as the paging early indication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the paging early indication message further comprises a bit of a system information update and a bit of an earthquake and tsunami warning system or a commercial mobile warning system notification.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the paging early indication message further comprises at least one bit indicating availability of a set of reference information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is received based on a search space and a set of control resources corresponding to the search space, and the search space comprises a paging search space or a dedicated search space.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is received via at least one of a plurality of transmission beams when the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is sent via each of the plurality of transmission beams.

10. A user equipment, comprising:

a receiver which receives a paging early indication message including a paging early indication in an idle mode, wherein a format of the paging early indication message includes a downlink control information format; and

paging and early paging indicator processing circuitry to determine whether to monitor a physical downlink control channel scrambled with a paging radio network temporary identifier in a paging occasion based on the paging early indication.

11. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises downlink control information format 1_0, downlink control information format 2_6, or a new downlink control information format.

12. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises the downlink control information format 1_0, one field of the paging early indication message is configured as the paging early indication, and the field of the paging early indication message is selected from at least one of: at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of the short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a virtual resource block to physical resource block mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a transport block scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

13. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the downlink control information format comprises the downlink control information format 1_0, one field of the paging early indication message is configured as an indicator indicating availability of a reference signal set, and the field of the paging early indication message is selected from at least one of: at least one unused bit of the short message indicator field, at least one unused bit of the short message field, a frequency domain resource alignment field, a time domain resource alignment field, a virtual resource block to physical resource block mapping field, a modulation and coding scheme field, a transport block scaling field, and a reserved bits field.

14. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises the downlink control information format 2_6 or the new downlink control information format, at least one bit of the paging early indication message configured as the paging early indication.

15. The user equipment of claim 14, wherein the paging early indication message further comprises a bit of a system information update and a bit of an earthquake and tsunami warning system or a commercial mobile warning system notification.

16. The user equipment of claim 14, wherein the paging early indication message further comprises at least one bit indicating availability of a set of reference information.

17. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is received based on a search space and a set of control resources corresponding to the search space, and the search space comprises a paging search space or a dedicated search space.

18. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is received via at least one of a plurality of transmission beams when the paging early indication message comprising the paging early indication is sent via each of the plurality of transmission beams.

19. A method, comprising:

a base station determines a paging early indication, wherein the paging early indication is used for a user equipment in an idle mode to determine whether to monitor a physical downlink control channel scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier in a paging occasion; and is

The base station transmits a paging early indication message including a paging early indication to the user equipment, a format of the message including a downlink control information format.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the downlink control information format of the paging early indication message comprises downlink control information format 1_0, downlink control information format 2_6, or a new downlink control information format.

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