EP3281352A1

EP3281352A1 - Devices and methods for network assisted mimo receiver antenna port switching

Info

Publication number: EP3281352A1
Application number: EP16777075.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Daejung YOON; Yang Tang; Andrey Chervyakov; Jose A. CESARES CANO
Original assignee: Intel IP Corp
Current assignee: Intel IP Corp
Priority date: 2015-04-09
Filing date: 2016-03-31
Publication date: 2018-02-14
Also published as: WO2016164246A1; EP3281352A4

Abstract

Embodiments are related to systems, methods, and computer-readable media to configure a User Equipment (UE) device for full receive antenna port operating mode or partial receive antenna port operating mode. In one embodiment a UE comprises control circuitry configured to manage receipt of a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB). The command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports. It also instructs the UE to adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all of the antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

Description

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR NETWORK ASSISTED MIMO RECEIVER ANTENNA PORT SWITCHING

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/145,153, filed on April 9, 2015, and entitled "NETWORK ASSISTED MIMO RECEIVER ANTENNA PORT SWITCHING METHOD", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNIC AL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to systems, methods, and component devices for wireless communications, and particularly to the integration of long term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced, and other similar wireless communication systems.

BACKGROUND

[ΘΘ03] LTE and LTE-advanced are standards for wireless communication of high-speed data for user equipment (UE) such as mobile telephones. Radio access technology (RAT) systems such as Global Systems for Mobile communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System. (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g. LTE Release 12 SP-67 , March 13, 2015) have introduced various UE performance thresholds into system standards. In some communication systems, for each standard, a UE meets certain performance criteria, which now often include Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems specifically with two receive antenna ports (2-RX-AP). As technologies have evolved, mobile wireless devices are starting to be implemented with four receive antenna ports (4-RX-AP) capability. This gives significant benefits regarding MIMO detection performance but also uses significantly more power to operate the additional antenna ports and the heavier baseband signal processing load. During high data rate, heavy network traffic conditions, the additional power consumption is justified to achieve a higher downlink capacity. However, during periods of inactivity, the power is wasted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network system including an evolved node B (eNB) and user equipment (UE) connected via an air interface according to some embodiments described herein.

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates an evolved Node B (eNB) cell showing two antenna port UEs and four antenna port UEs with their respective coverage range in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates UE baseline reception with four receive antenna ports (4-RX-AP) over the physical network layer in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0007] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of UE reception with arbitrary switching of receive antenna ports (RX-AP) during a light traffic, low activity period in accordance to some of embodiments described herein.

[0008] FIG. 5 illustrates a radio resource control signaling timeline for receive antenna port (RX-AP) configuration between a UE and an eNB in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0009] FIG. 6 shows the physical downlink shared and control channel

(PDSCH and PDCCH) reception with RX-AP network initiated switching from an eNB in accordance with some embodiments described herein .

[0010] FIG. 7 illustrates PDCCH and PDSCH reception with RX-AP network initiated switching from an eNB where PDSCH is received via 4-RX-AP and PDCCH is received via 2-RX-AP in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0011] FIG. 8 illustrates the operational flow of network-initiated RX-AP switching in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0012] FIG. 9 illustrates the operational flow of UE-mitiated RX-AP switching in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

[0013] FIG. 10 is a drawing of a wireless mobile device in accordance w ith some embodiments described herein. [0014] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system machine which may be used in association with various embodiments described herein,

[0015] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating some of the internal functional blocks inside an example UE in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Embodiments pertain to systems, methods, and component devices for network assisted antenna port switching. While certain example embodiments are described below, it will be apparent that additional embodiments and variations are possible within the scope of the described embodiments. Each of the following non-lirniting examples can stand on its own, or can be combined in any permutation or combination with any one or more of the other examples provided below or throughout the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network system 100 including an evolved node B (eNB) 150 and user equipment (UE) 101 connected via an air interface 190, according to some embodiments described herein. UE 101 and eNB 150 communicate using a system that supports carrier aggregation, such that air interface 190 supports multiple frequency carriers, shown as component carrier 180 and component carrier 185. Although two component carriers 180, 185 are illustrated, various embodiments may include any number of one or more component carriers 180, 185.

[0018] The UE 101 includes control circuitry 105 coupled with transmit Circuitry 110 and receive circuitry 115. The transmit circuitry 110 and receive circuitry- 1 15 may each be coupled with one or more antennas. The control circuitry 105 may be adapted to perform operations associated with wireless communications using carrier aggregation. The transmit circuitry 110 and receive circuitry 115 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively. The control circuitry 105 may be adapted or configured to perform various operations such as those described elsewhere in this disclosure related to a UE 101. The transmit circuitry 110 may transmit a plurality of multiplexed uplink physical channels. The plurality of uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) along with carrier aggregation. The transmit circuitry 110 may be configured to receive block data from the control circuitry 105 for transmission across the air interface 190. Similarly, the receive circuitry 115 may receive a plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels from the air interface 190 and relay the physical channels to the control circuitry 105. The uplink and downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to FDM. The transmit circuitry 110 and the receive circuitry 115 may transmit and receive both control data and content data (e.g., messages, images, video, et cetera) structured within data blocks that are carried by the physical channels.

[0019] FIG. 1 also illustrates the eNB 150, in accordance with various embodiments. The eNB 150 circuitry may include control circuitry 155 coupled with transmit circuitry 160 and receive circuitry 165. The transmit circuitry 160 and receive circuitry 165 may each be coupled with one or more antennas that may be used to enable communications via the air interface 190.

[0020] The control circuitry 155 may be adapted to perform operations for managing channels and component carriers 180, 185 used with various UEs. The transmit circuitry 160 and receive circuitry 165 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, to any UE 101 connected to eNB 150. The transmit circuitry 160 may transmit downlink physical channels comprised of a plurality of downlink subframes. The receive circuitry 165 may receive a plurality of uplink physical channels from various UEs including UE 101. The plurality of uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to FDM in addition to the use of carrier aggregation.

[0021] As mentioned above, the communications across air interface 190 may use carrier aggregation, where multiple different component carriers 180, 1 85 can be aggregated to carry information between UE 101 and eNB 150. Such component carriers 180, 185 may have different bandwidths, and may be used for uplink communications from UE 101 to eNB 150, downlink communications from eNB 150 to UE 101, or both. Such component carriers 180, 185 may cover similar areas, or may cover different but overlapping sectors. The radio resource control (RRC) connection is handled by only one of the component carrier cells, which may be referred to as the primary component carrier, with the other component earners referred to as secondary component carriers. In some embodiments, the primary component carrier may be operating in a licensed band to provide efficient and conflict-free communications. This primary channel may be used for scheduling other channels including unlicensed channels as described below, in other embodiments, the primary channel may operate in an unlicensed band.

[0022] In various communication systems, including some implementations of FIG. 1, resources in time and frequency domains are dynamically shared among multiple UEs, such as UE 101, served by the same eNB, such as eNB 150. The resource sharing method may be based on the orthogonal allocation of time-frequency resources to different UEs. Orthogonal resource allocation is beneficial in that it avoids interference between intra-cell transmissions. To achieve orthogonal resource allocation, a scheduler in circuitry of eNB 150 assigns appropriate time -frequency resources to different UEs. In some systems, one operation of such a scheduler is dynamic scheduling, wherein an eNB 150 transmits scheduling information every millisecond (ms) and the scheduling information is valid only for the specific single subframe. Another possible scheduling operation is semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) where semi-static scheduling information is signaled in advance to reduce the control overhead and the scheduling configuration is valid for more than one subframe (e.g., more than one millisecond). Dynamic scheduling provides benefits for scheduling services with bursty traffic and dynamic size (e.g., transmission control protocol (TCP) traffic) while SPS is more efficient for scheduling sendees such as voice over internet protocol with periodic traffic and semi-static data sizes.

[0023] Uplink scheduling information, including which UEs are scheduled for communication, and the corresponding modulation and coding scheme as well as the resource assigned for a transmission, in some LTE systems is contained in Downlink Control Information (DC1) in formats 0 or 4. In other words, the uplink transmissions of UE 101 in various LTE systems may be controlled by the eNB 150 using DCI format 0/4 communications. Some such LTE systems operate where uplink scheduling information transmitted in one subframe (e.g., subframe n) indicates the scheduling of an allocation for an uplink transmission from UE 101 to eNB 150 in a subframe that is a fixed delay later (e.g., subframe n+4). In various other embodiments, other fixed delays or a dynamic adjustable delay may be used.

[0024] In some embodiments of LTE or similar systems, unlicensed spectrum may be used primarily for offloading from licensed earners. In such systems, unlicensed spectrum may be used for transmission of large packets of data. In such embodiments, a UE such as UE 101 is expected to request uplink transmissions over multiple subframes of standard LTE operation. A fixed request and response, particularly in the context of shared bandwidth requiring coexistence operations, is inefficient, particularly when there is no associated downlink data that may be transmitted on the channel. Separate scheduling requests may thus result in excessive control overhead and negative impacts on other systems attempting to share the unlicensed spectrum. In various embodiments described herein, downlink control overhead is reduced and coexistence is improved by scheduling multiple subframes using one request (e.g., one DCI or one subframe including multiple DCIs) to schedule multiple uplink subframes.

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates an evolved Node B (eNB) cell showing two antenna port UEs and four antenna port UEs with their respective coverage range in accordance with some embodiments described herein. This includes enhanced cell coverage with two antenna port UEs 250 and four antenna port UEs 260 with their respective coverage range in accordance with some embodiments described herein. The base station or enhanced Node B (eNB) 270 also accommodates communication with vintage UEs only equipped with two RX antennas. The range circle 230 indicates the maximum range for reliable communication with dual receive antenna-port (2-RX-AP) UEs 250 and the range circle 220 indicates the maximum range for reliable communication for four receive antenna-ports (4-RX-AP) UEs 260. Since, for the foreseeable future, practical network cell coverage will have to be planned to accommodate the vintage 2-RX-AP UEs 250, the cells and adjacent cells will be designed for the smaller maximum range circle 230. Consequently, the enhanced receiver capability of a 4-RX-UE 260 will often not be needed. In tins circumstance, it may be beneficial in some embodiments to turn off the receiver circuits for some of the antenna ports to conserve power. Then during high data rate conditions with heavy traffic, the antennas can be turned on to utilize their full receive capability.

[0026] Some embodiments described herein rely on network signaling between the eNB 270 and UE 260 where the eNB 270 anticipates penods of low network traffic and signals to the UE 260 to switch into 2-RX-AP operating mode. This allows mobile wireless devices operating with an increased number of RX- APs to achieve enhanced cell coverage and downlink capacity while curtailing the added power consumption of the receiver signal processing circuitry.

[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates UE baseline reception with four receive antenna ports (4-RX-AP) over the physical network layer in accordance with some embodiments described herein. The reception is shown for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) Resource Elements 320 and 325 along with the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) Resource Elements 310. The PDCCH is used for allocating resources and an associated Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS). PDSCH is used for the actual data payload among other things transferred from the physical layer to the top of the stack. The PDSCH resource elements containing data are designated with reference number 320 and empty or unloaded PDSCH resource elements are designated with reference number 325. The sub-frame number 380 is shown along the horizontal axis and the number of operating receive antenna ports (RX-AP) 370 is shown along the vertical axis. A period of low activity 360 exists from sub-frame number N to sub-frame number K during which most of the PDSCH resource elements 320, 325 are empty. During this period of low activity 360, all 4-RX-APs are actively monitoring the control channels with full power consumption. The power consumption during this period of low activity 360 with 4-RX-APs monitoring the control channels is: is the power consumption while receiving control channel information, is the power consumption while receiving shared channel information, is the number of sub-frames the receiver is idle, and

is the number of sub-frames when the receiving data on the shared data channel. [0028] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of UE reception with arbitrary switching of receive antenna ports (RX-AP) during the light traffic low activity period 460 in accordance to some of embodiments described herein. Here, the UE switches two APs off certain elements of the UE circuitry and operates in 2-RX-AP mode during die low activity period 460. As with FIG. 3, the sub-frame number 480 is shown along the horizontal axis and the number of active RX-AP 's 470 s shown on the vertical axis. The PDCCH and the loaded PDSCH received with 4-RX-AP are designated as 410 and 420 respectively. PDCCH, loaded PDSCH and unloaded PDSCH while being received with 2-RX-AP are designated as 415, 430 and 425, respectively. In some embodiments, the power consumption needed during the period of low activity is:

● is the power consumption while receiving control channel information with two active RX-APs,

● is the power consumption while receiving shared channel information with two active RX-APs,

● is the number of sub-frames the receiver is idle, and

● is the number of sub-frames when the receiving data on the shared data channel.

[0028] In FIG. 4, the UE solely determines the conditions under which RX- APs are to be turned off without signaling to the eNB. The eNB has no information as to how many antenna ports a UE is actively operating. However, the standards do require that the UE meet the same performance thresholds as when actively operating all RX-APs. Further, in some embodiments the UE continues to monitor channel conditions when operating with only partial RX- APs active to ensure that the fuli-RX-AP performance criteria continue to be satisfied.

[0029] During normal operation, the UE periodically collects channel status information (CSI) and transmits the information back to the eNB. The eNB uses this information when allocating resources among the various UEs that are requesting service. The three main values used for this purpose are the Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), the Pre-coding Matrix Indicator (PMI) and the Rank Indicator (RI). These values are transmitted on the physical uplink shared channel PUSCH to the eNB. However, if the UE transmits data when the RX-AP is switching, the channel data will be inconsistent. Inconsistent channel quality indications will then cause complications with Radio Resource management (RRM) when allocating resource blocks based on that channel status

information. However, if the eN B has information regarding the recei ve antenna port switching, then it may account for these inconsistencies.

[003Θ] By using the method of switching from 4-RX-APs to 2-RX-APs during idle periods, the power reduction is expected to be greater than 30%.

Switching off a receive antenna port may include turning off its associated low noise amplifier (UNA), mixer, active filters, analog to digital convert (A/D), its digital fast Fourier transform (FFT) processor and a portion of the digital circuitry in the MIMO detector operating on the antenna port input. In some embodiments, these elements may be referred to as portions of a MIMO receiver. The radio frequency (RF) analog components are usually biased with a constant supply current. The supply current can be switched on or off to temporarily deactivate the component. Digital circuits that are built in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology can be switched off by turning off the clock that drives the digital circuit. This is because CMOS exhibits no power consumption when static and only consumes power when dynamically switching. Power supply switches could also be used to deactivate digital circuitry. In the embodiments presented below, some or all of these components could be switched on or off depending on the speed and practicality of doing so.

[0031] Since the standard performance thresholds will not usually be satisfied with only partial RX-APs operating and because of the complications associated with allocating resource elements in the eNB, the method of arbitrary UE switching is not practical. In the embodiments below , a signaling scheme is proposed between a UE and an eNB to coordinate RX-AP switching. [0032] In one embodiment, a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling method is used to indicate full or reduced receiver performance. The RRC control variable may be called:

fConfig_maxRXAP performance]--- {enable} or {disable} The setting dictates the performance threshold that the UE is targeted to satisfy with either a partial number of RX-APs or with fuii-RX-AP operation. There can be a plurality of RX-AP configurations which the UE can switch to. In some embodiments, the UE selects one that meets the performance threshold as specified by the [Config_maxRXAPperformance ] setting. The eNB can use the data transmission queue or transmission buffer status serving a particular UE to anticipate an upcoming period of heavy traffic or light traffic . The eNB can also determine if the UE will be expected to frequently switch RX-APs on or off across sub-frames. This embodiment is called network initiated RX-AP switching.

[0033] FIG. 5 illustrates a radio resource control signaling timeline for receive antenna port (RX-AP) configuration between a UE and an eNB in accordance with some embodiments described herein. Suppose the eNB expects heavy traffic to a serving UE and consequently sets the RRC

[Config_maxRXAP performance] = enable. This triggers a message sent from the eNB Radio Resource Control (RRC) signal 510 from layer 3, through to the physical layer 1, and to the UE over PDSCH, indicating to the UE to change the RX-AP configuration. The UE sends an acknowledgement 520 within 4 milliseconds (ms) or, for the carrier aggregation case, 5 ms. The UE has a 15 ms (carrier aggregation case 20 ms) time limit 540 from receiving the eNB initial RRC signal 510 to reconfigure the RX-AP accordingly. Once the RX-APs have been reconfigured, the UE sends back an RRC message indicating the RX-AP switch is complete at the time of RRC complete 530. Then the UE checks RRM, RLM and CSI to ensure performance thresholds are still satisfied. Subsequently, if the eNB expects low traffic, the eNB sets the [Config_maxRXAPperformance] = disable allowing the UE to reduce the number of operating RX-APs and save power. This is also accomplished with signaling operations as described in FIG. 5.

[0029] FIG. 6 shows the physical downlink shared and control channel (PDSCH and PDCCH) reception with RX-AP network initiated switching from an eNB in accordance with some embodiments described herein. As with FIG. 4, the sub-frame number 680 is shown along the horizontal axis and the number of active RX-APs 670 is shown on the vertical axis. PDCCH and loaded PDSCH while operating with 4-RX-AP are designated as 610 and 620 respectively. PDCCH, loaded PDSCH, and unloaded PDSCH while operating with 2-RX-AP are designated as 615, 630 and 635, respectively. The max RX-AP performance command is configured as:

[0030] [Config_maxRXAPperformance ] ------ enable indicating that a UE satisfies maximum RX-AP UE performance thresholds.

[0031] [Config maxRXAPperformance ] = disable indicating that a UE satisfies a reduced RX-AP UE performance threshold.

[0032] Initially, the UE is in 4-RX-AP mode with

[Config maxRXAPperformance] = enable. Then, when the eNB determines that a period of low activity is approaching, the eNB sets

[Config maxRXAPperformance] ------ disable and performs the signaling sequence between the eNB and UE as described in FIG. 5. The UE switches some of the RX-APs off (in an operation 640) and verifies channel quality information to ensure performance thresholds are met. The PDCCH 615, PDSCH 630 and 635 are received with 2-RX-AP operation. When the eNB determines that a period of high activity is approaching, the eNB resets Config maxRXAPperformance = enable and sends a message to the UE on PDSCH 650, The UE reverts back to full RX-AP operation and reception continues as before.

[0033] In another embodiment the UE can have separate thresholds for PDSCH and the control channels ctrlCH (control channels such as Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Hybnd-ARQ Channel (PHICH) and PDCCH). In some embodiments, there are additional settings for

[Config maxRXAPperformance ].

* [Config_maxRXAP performance] = PDSCH [enable, ctrlCH [enable - UE satisfies maximum RX-AP UE performance thresholds for both shared channel and control channels.

* [Config_maxRXAP performance] = PDSCH -disable, ctrlCH enable - UE satisfies maximum RX-AP UE performance thresholds for the control channel but a reduced performance threshold for the shared channel.

* [Config_maxRXAP performance) ' PDSCH [enable, ctrlCH [disable - UE satisfies maximum RX-AP UE performance thresholds the shared channel but a reduced performance threshold for the control channel. ● [Con fig maxRXAPperformance PDSCH disable, ctrlCH disable - UE satisfies reduced performance thresholds for both the shared channel and the control channel.

[0034] FIG. 7 illustrates PDCCH and PDSCH reception with RX-AP network initiated switching from an eNB where PDSCH is received via 4-RX-AP and PDCCH is received via 2-RX-AP in accordance with some embodiments described herein. As with FIG. 4, the sub-frame number 780 is shown along the horizontal axis and the number of active RX-APs 770 is shown on the vertical axis. PDCCH, loaded PDSCH and unloaded PDSCH while operating with 4-RX- APs are designated as 710, 720 and 725 respectively. PDCCH while operating with 2-RX-AP is designated as 715.

[0021] Initially, the UE is in 4-RX-AP mode with

[Config_maxRXAP performance] - PDSCH enable, ctrlCH enable. Then, when the eNB determines that a period of low activity is approaching, the eNB sets [Config_maxRXAPperformance] = PDSCH enable, ctrlCH disable and performs the signaling sequence between the eNB and UE as described in FIG. 5. The UE switches some of the RX-APs off in an operation 740 and verifies channel quality information to insure performance thresholds are met. The PDCCH is received with 2-RX-AP operation while the PDSCH is received with 4-RX-AP operation. When the eNB determines that a period of high activity is approaching, the eNB sets [Config maxRXAPperformance] ------ PDSCH enable, ctrlCH enable. The UE reverts back to full RX-AP in an operation 750 and reception continues as before.

[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates the operational flow of network-initiated RX-AP switching in accordance with some embodiments described herein. In operation 810, upon initial connection with an eNB, a UE provides the eNB with the maximum number of operable RX-APs. In operation 820, the eNB monitors the transmission data buffer of the U E to determine upcoming periods of high traffic and low traffic. Then the eNB makes a decision and sends a message to the UE from layer 3, RRC signaling. Hie information may be a predetermined performance threshold during partial RX-AP operation (Npart) versus full RX- AP operation (Nmax). Npart can be defined individually for the shared channel and the control channel where the control channels may be comprised of the PDCCH, the PBCH, and the PHICH. Alternatively, the exact number of RX-APs operating can be indicated by the variable Nperf. Nperf can also be defined individually for the shared channel and the control channels. In operation 830, the eNB notifies the UE of the current [Config_maxRXAP performance] setting and the UE sends acknowledgement. During operation 840, the UE reconfigures the RX-APs and sends a message to the eNB confirming the switch.

[0023] In the previous embodiments, the eNB monitors the transmit data buffer for a given UE and determines what RX-AP performance mode the UE should operate in. However, there is some information local to the UE which can also be helpful in the detennination of RX-AP mode, such as the actual power consumption of the UE, the battery- life remaining, or upcoming user data needs that have not yet been reported to the eNB. It may be beneficial in this case to allow the UE to initiate and control the reduced RX-AP operating mode. The next embodiments will be referred to as UE initiated RX-AP switching. [0024] FIG. 9 illustrates the operational flow of UE initiated RX-AP switching in accordance with some embodiments described herein. During operation 910, the UE monitors its own network traffic conditions, remaining batteiy life, power consumption or any other relevant criteria to determine the best RX-AP mode of operation. When the UE determines that targets or thresholds are met for an RX-AP switch (in terms of power consumption versus performance) the UE sends a request in an operation 920 to the eNB via the MAC layer (lay er 2) or the RRC (layer 3). The request can be for the use of full RX-AP, pallia! RX-AP or a specific number (Nperf) of RX-APs. The UE request can also specifically request separate RX-AP modes for the PDSCH and the control channels. Upon receipt of the UE request, the eNB can respond in an operation 930 with allowance by signaling back via RRC signaling or MAC layer signaling. The eNB can allow for partial RX-AP operation based on a performance threshold or it can allow a specific number of RX-APs to operate. In this case, the UE can reconfigure the RX-AP operating mode and verify that performance criteria are met in an operation 940. In the case of a denial, the eNB can send back a negative response in operation 930 via RRC signaling or MAC layer signaling. The absence of a response can also be interpreted by the UE as a denial. Here, the UE will simply continue operating without switching the RX- AP configuration. The process can be used for switching on RX-APs or switching off RX-APs.

[0025] In another embodiment, previous embodiments can be combined to implement eNB/UE initiated RX-AP switching. In this embodiment, either side can initiate switching to balance performance thresholds against power consumption. The signaling operations would follow the operational flow of FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 depending on which element initiated the signaling.

[0026] As discussed above, various embodiments switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports. In some embodiments, a UE initiates a communication with an eNB to begin this process, while in other embodiments, the eNB initiates the switching process. In certain embodiments, an eNB may indicate a specific number of ports to use. In other embodiments, an eNB indicates a switch may be performed, and the UE determines the number of ports to use. In some embodiments, this

recommendation by the eNB may include a recommended number of ports, or may simply recommend the use of a switch between full and partial port operating modes. In other embodiments, the eNB does not send a

recommendation, but instead sends a command, and the UE follows the instruction to switch to a certain operation or a specific number of antenna ports as dictated by the message from the eNB. In still further embodiments, such recommendations or commands from an eNB may be associated with certain operating modes with different numbers of antennas, such that a UE may have multiple partial operating modes using different numbers of antenna ports in addition to a full operating mode. EXAMPLES

[0027] In various embodiments, methods, apparatus, non-transitory media, computer program products, or other implementations may be presented as example embodiments in accordance with the descriptions provided above. Certain embodiments may include UE such as phones, tablets, mobile computers, or other such devices. Some embodiments may be integrated circuit components of such devices, such as circuits implementing media access control (MAC) and/or LI processing on an integrated circuitry. In some embodiments, functionality may be on a single chip or multiple chips in an apparatus. Some such embodiments may further include transmit and receive circuitry on integrated or separate circuits, with antennas that are similarly integrated or separate structures of a device. Any such components or circuit elements may similarly apply to evolved node B embodiments described herein.

[0028] Example 1 is an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: memory; and control circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to: decode a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal indicates for the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver antenna ports; initiate communication of an acknowledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the network command signal; and manage power adjustment for at least a portion of a MIMO receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on the MIMO receiver antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the MIMO receiver antenna ports.

[0029] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes wherein a switch between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode is based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal.

[0030] In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 optionally includes wherein the eNB network command signal is based on network traffic conditions.

[0031] In Example 4, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 2-3 optionally include wherein the performance threshold for control channels is different than the performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels comprise one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0032] In Example 5, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-4 optionally include wherein the network command signal indicates a number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data. [0033] In Example 6, the subject matter of Example 5 optionally includes wherein the exact number of antenna ports that are configured to acti v ely receive data for control channels is different than the exact number of antenna ports for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels comprise one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0034] In Example 7, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-6 optionally include further comprising the MIMO receiver, wherein the MIMO receiver comprises the control circuitry and the plurality of MIMO receiver antenna ports.

[0035] In Example 8, the subject matter of Example 7 optionally includes wherein the MIMO receiver further comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA), a mixer, one or more active filters, an analog to digital converter (A/D), and digital fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing circuitry.

[0036] In Example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-8 optionally include where the network command signal is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0037] In Example 10, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-9 optionally include where the network command signal is received via medium access control (MAC) signaling.

[0038] In Example 11 , the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-

10 optionally include further comprising: radio frequency (RF) circuitry coupled to the control circuitry; and a plurality of antennas associated with the plurality of antenna ports; and baseband circuitry coupled to the Rf circuitry-, wherein the baseband circuitry comprises a portion of the control circuitry.

[0039] In Example 12, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 10-

11 optionally include further comprising a touchscreen interface coupled to the control circuitry.

[0040] Example 13 is an apparatus for an evolved Node B (eNB) comprising: memory; and control circuitry configured to: analyze a downlink traffic load for a User Equipment (UE); identify one or more performance targets for the UE; determine an operating mode associated with the one or more performance thresholds; generate a command signal wherein the command signal instincts the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partiai port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and initiate communication of the command signal to the UE.

[0041] In Example 14, the subject matter of Example 13 optionally includes wherein the command signal comprises the one or more performance thresholds; and wherein the UE selects a number of ports for the partial port operating mode based on the one or more performance thresholds.

[0042] In Example 15, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 13- 14 optionally include wherein the command signal indicates an exact number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0043] Example 16 is a non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a User Equipment (UE) device to: manage receipt of a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partiai port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; send an acknowledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the network command signal; and adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple -Input Multiple-Output (M1MO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all of the antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0044] In Example 17, the subject matter of Example 16 optionally includes which further configures the UE to: switch between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal.

[ΘΘ45] In Example 18, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 16- 17 optionally include which further configures the UE to: use a first performance threshold for control channels and a second performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid- ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0046] Example 19 is an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) device, the apparatus comprising: memory; and control circuitry configured to: encode a message signal for transmission to an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the message signal is a request to allow the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in tlie full port operating mode, tlie MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all receive ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0047] In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 optionally includes wherein the message signal is based on a battery condition or power consumption of the UE device.

[0048] In Example 21, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 19- 20 optionally include wherein an allowance for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

[0049] In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes further comprising: receiving an allowance communication from the eNB in response to the message signal, wherein the allowance communication for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

[0050] In Example 23, the subject matter of Example 22 optionally includes wherein the performance requirement for control channels is different than the performance requirement for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel

(PDCCH).

[0051] In Example 24, the subject matter of Example 23 optionally includes wherein the control message indicates a request for an exact number of antenna ports that are to be configured for active data reception. [0052] Example 25 is an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) device comprising: means for managing receipt of a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal indicates for the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; communication means for communication of an acknow ledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the network command signal: and power adjustment means for adjusting power for at least a portion of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all of the antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0053] In Example 26, the subject matter of Example 25 optionally includes further comprising means for switching between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode is based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal ,

[0054] In Example 27, the subject matter of Example 26 optionally includes wherein the performance threshold for control channels is different than the performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel

(PDCCH).

[0055] In Example 28, the subject matter of Example undefined optionally includes further comprising means for receiving MIMO communications.

[ΘΘ56] Example 29 is an apparatus for an evolved Node B (eNB) comprising: means for analyzing a downlink traffic load for a User Equipment (UE); means for identifying one or more performance targets for the UE; means for determining an operating mode associated with the one or more performance thresholds; means for generating a command signal, wherein the command signal instincts the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and means for

communicating the command signal to the UE. [0057] In Example 30, the subject matter of Example 29 optionally includes wherein the command signal comprises the one or more performance thresholds; and wherein the UE selects a number of ports for the partial port operating mode based on the one or more performance thresholds.

[ΘΘ58] In Example 31, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 29- 30 optionally include further comprising means for indicating an exact number of antenna ports to be configured to actively receive data, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0059] Example 32 is a method performed at a user equipment (UE) for netw ork assisted power management, the method comprising: receiving a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; communicating an acknowledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the netw ork command signal; and adjusting power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output

(MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all of the antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0060J In Example 33, the subject matter of Example 32 optionally includes further comprising: switching between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal.

[0061] In Example 34, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 32- 33 optionally include further comprising: using a first performance threshold for control channels and a second performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0062] Example 35 is an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) device comprising: means for communicating a message signal to an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the message signal is a request to allow the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and means for adjusting power for at least a part of a Multiple- Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode, the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all receive ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0063] In Example 36, the subject matter of Example 35 optionally includes further comprising: means for generating the message signal is based on a battery condition or power consumption of the UE device.

[0064] In Example 37, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 35- 36 optionally include further comprising: means for allowance for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

[0065] In Example 38, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 35- 37 optionally include further comprising: means for using an exact number of antenna ports in response to the control message indicating a request for the exact number of antenna ports that are to be configured for active data reception.

[0066] Example 39 is a computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an eNB, cause the eNB to: analyze a downlink traffic load for a User Equipment (UE); identify one or more performance targets for the UE; determine an operating mode associated with the one or more performance thresholds; generate a command signal, wherein the command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and initiate communication of the command signal to the UE.

[0067] In Example 40, the subject matter of Example 39 optionally includes wherein the command signal comprises the one or more performance tliresholds; and wherein the UE selects a number of ports for the partial port operating mode based on the one or more performance thresholds.

[0068] In Example 41, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 39- 40 optionally include wherein the command signal indicates an exact number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. [0069] Example 42 is a computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a User Equipment (UE), cause the UE to: transmit a message signal to an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the message signal is a request to allow the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports: and adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode, the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all receive ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0070] In Example 43, the subject matter of Example 42 optionally includes wherein the message signal is based on a batter}' condition or power consumption of the UE device.

[0071] In Example 44, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 42- 43 optionally include further comprising; receiving an allowance communication from the eNB in response to the message signal, wherein the allowance communication for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

[0072] In Example 45, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 42- 44 optionally include further comprising: receiving the performance requirement from the eNB in a control message, wherein the performance requirement is based at least in part on network traffic conditions measured by the eNB.

[0073] In Example 46, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 42-

45 optionally include wherein the performance requirement for control channels is different than the performance requirement for a Physical Downlink Shared

Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0074] In Example 47, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 42-

46 optionally include wherein the control message indicates a request for an exact number of antenna ports that are to be configured for active data reception. [0075] Example 48 is a computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an eNB, cause the eNB to: analyze a downlink traffic load for a User Equipment (UE); identify one or more performance targets for the UE; determine an operating mode associated with the one or more performance thresholds; generate a command signal, wherein the command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and initiate communication of the command signal to the UE.

[0076] In Example 49, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 39- 48 optionally include wherein the command signal comprises the one or more performance thresholds; and wherein the UE selects a number of ports for the partial port operating mode based on the one or more performance thresholds.

[0077] In Example 50, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 39- 49 optionally include wherein the command signal indicates an exact number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0078] Example 51 is a method for power management in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting a message signal to an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the message signal is a request to allow the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and adjusting power for at least a part of a Multiple- Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode, the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all receive ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

[0079] In Example 52, the subject matter of Example 51 optionally includes wherein the message signal is based on a battery condition or power consumption of the UE device.

[0080] In Example 53, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 51- 52 optionally include further comprising: receiving an allowance communication from the eNB in response to the message signal, wherein the allowance communication for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement. [0081] In Example 54, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 51 -

53 optionally include further comprising: receiving the performance requirement from the eNB in a control message, wherein the performance requirement is based at least in part on network traffic conditions measured by the eNB.

[0082] In Example 55, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 51 -

54 optionally include wherem the performance requirement for control channels is different than the performance requirement for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0083] In Example 56, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 51 -

55 optionally include wherem the control message indicates a request for an exact number of antenna ports that are to be configured for active data reception.

[0084] Example 57 is a method of UE power saving when UE receiver switches ON and OFF part of or all of MIMO receiver antenna ports for power saving based on network assistance.

[0085] In Example 58, the subject matter of Example 57 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein switching RX APs implies that an MIMO receiver with max RX APs changes to a MIMO receiver with less number of max RX AP.

[0086] In Example 59, the subject matter of Example 58 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein an eNB RRC signaling assists UE's RX AP switching behaviors by indicating performance requirements corresponding to the number of RX APs that the UE must satisfies.

[0087] In Example 60, the subject matter of Example 59 optionally includesany other Claim herein, wherein an eNB makes RRC signal by monitoring data traffic status, so that a network applies different performance requirements to an UE depending data traffic.

[0088] In Example 61, the subject matter of Example 60 optionally includes any other Claim herein, wherein an eNB makes RRC signaling to require RX AP performance requirements differently for PDSCH and PDCCH respectively. [0089] In Example 62, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 60-

61 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein an UE satisfies performance requirements with a partial number of RX APs for power saving when eNB allows AP switching by RRC signal ,

[0090] In Example 63, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 60-

62 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein an UE satisfies performance requirements with max number of RX APs only when eNB RR.C signal indicates full performance of max number RX APs, so that a network can use the RRC signal to maintain cell coverage.

[0091] In Example 64, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 60-

63 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein RRC signaling includes the exact number of RX APs to be used at an UE side.

[0092] In Example 65, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 60-

64 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein RRC signaling indicates an UE to switch to pre-determined RX AP status.

[0093] In Example 66, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 57-

65 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein an UE sends to the eNB a request to use reduced number of RX APs for power saving purpose 67, Claim 11 may include a method of Claim 66 or some other Claim herein, wherein the request is send via RRC or MAC signaling.

[0094] In Example 67, the subject matter of Example 66 optionally includes any other Claim herein, wherein an UE makes the request of reduce RX APs to different number of RX APs per PDSCH and control channels respectively.

[0095] In Example 68, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 66- 67 optionally including any other Claim herein, wherein the eNB makes a decision on whether to allow UE to use reduced number of RX APs upon reception of the request from the UE with using reduced number of RX APs 70. Claim 14 may include a method of Claim 69 or some other Claim herein, wherein the eNB informs UE on its decision (makes response) 71. Claim 15 may include a method of Claim 70 or some other Claim herein, wherein the response is send via RRC or MAC signaling. [0096] In Example 69, the subject matter of Example undefined optionally includes any other Claim herein, wherein an eNB response includes different RX AP perfonnance requirements for PDSCH and control channels.

[0097] In Example 70, the subject matter of Example undefined optionally includes any other Claim herein, wherein an UE upon the reception of the eNB response which allows it to use reduced number of RX APs, reconfigures its RX chains in order to switch off certain number RX APs in a way to fulfill the requirements.

[0098] In Example 71, the subject matter of Example undefined optionally includes any other Claim herein, wherein an UE upon the reception of the eNB response which does not allow it to use reduced number of RX APs, does not apply any changes to its RX APs.

[0099 J Example 72 is a method of user equipment (UE) power saving comprising: receiving, by the UE, an indication of network assistance; and switching, by the UE, ON or OFF one or more multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver antenna ports (RX APs) for power saving based on the indication.

[00100] In Example 73, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 71-

72 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein switching RX APs implies that an MIMO receiver with max RX APs changes to a MIMO receiver with a less number of max RX AP.

[00101 ] In Example 74, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 71-

73 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the indication of network assistance is a radio resource control (RRC) signal received from an evolved NodeB (eNB) that is to assist the UE's RX AP switching behaviors by indicating performance requirements corresponding to the number of RX APs that the UE must satisfy.

[00102] In Example 75, the subject matter of Example 74 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal is based on monitoring by the eNB of data traffic status, so that different perfonnance requirements may be applied to the UE depending on the monitored data traffic.

[00103] In Example 76, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 74- 75 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal is to indicate different RX AP performance requirements for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[00104] In Example 77, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 74-

76 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the UE satisfies performance requirements with a partial number of RX APs for power saving based on an indication in an RRC signal that the eNB allows AP switching.

[00105] In Example 78, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 74-

77 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the UE satisfies performance requirements with max number of RX APs when the RRC signal indicates full performance of max number RX APs, so that a network can use the RRC signal to maintain cell coverage.

[00106] In Example 79, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 74-

78 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal includes an indication of the number of RX APs to be used at an UE side.

[00107] In Example 80, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 74-

79 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal includes an indication that the UE is to switch to a pre-determined RX AP status.

[00108] In Example 81, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 72-

80 optionally include or some other Claim herein, further comprising transmitting, by the UE to the eNB, a request to use a reduced number of RX APs for power saving purpose.

[00109] In Example 82, the subject matter of Example undefined optionally includes or some other Claim herein, further comprising transmitting, by the UE, the request via radio resource control (RRC) and/or medium access control (MAC) signaling,

[00110] In Example 83, the subject matter of Example 82 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein the request is a request to reduce RX APs to a different number of RX APs per physical downlink shared channel

(PDSCH) and control channels, respectively.

[00111] In Example 84, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 82- 83 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the eNB is to maiie a decision based on the request related to whether to allow the UE to use the reduced number of RX APs. [00112] In Example 85, the subject matter of Example 84 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, further comprising receiving, by the UE, a response related to the decision.

[00113] In Example 86, the subject matter of Example 85 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein the response is received via RRC or MAC signaling.

[00114] In Example 87, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 85-

86 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the response includes different RX AP performance requirements for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and control channels.

[00115] In Example 88, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 85-

87 optionally include or some other Claim herein, further comprising reconfiguring, by the UE upon the reception of the eNB response which allows the U E to use reduced number of RX APs, its RX chains in order to switch off certain number RJC APs in a way to fulfill the requirements.

[00116] In Example 89, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 85-

88 optionally include or some other Claim herein, further comprising not applying, by the UE upon the reception of the eNB response which does not allow the UE to use reduced number of RX APs, any changes to its RX APs.

[00117] Example 90 is a user equipment (UE) comprising: receive circuitry to receive an indication of network assistance; and control circuitry coupled with the receive Circuitry, the control circuitry to switch ON or OFF one or more multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver antenna ports (RX APs) of the UE for power saving based on the indication.

[00118] In Example 91, the subject matter of Example 90 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein switching RX APs implies that an MIMO receiver with max RX APs changes to a MIMO receiver with a less number of max RX AP.

[00119] In Example 92, the subject matter of Example 91 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein the indication of network assistance is a radio resource control (RRC) signal received from an evolved NodeB (eNB) that is to assist the UE's RX AP switching behaviors by indicating performance requirements corresponding to the number of RX APs that the UE must satisfy. [00120] In Example 93, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 91-

92 optionally includes some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal is based on monitoring by the eNB of data traffi c status, so that different performance requirements may be applied to the UE depending on the monitored data traffic.

[00121] In Example 94, the subject matter of any one or more ofExampies 91-

93 optionally include or some other Claim, herein, wherein the RRC signal is to indicate different RX AP performance requirements for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[00122] In Example 95, the subject matter of any one or more ofExampies 91-

94 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the UE satisfies performance requirements with a partial number of RX APs for power saving based on an indication in an RRC signal that the eNB allows AP switching.

[00123] In Example 96, the subject matter of any one or more ofExampies 91- 95 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the UE satisfies performance requirements with max number of RX APs when the RRC signal indicates full performance of max number RX APs, so that a network can use the RRC signal to maintain cell coverage.

[00124] In Example 97, the subject matter of any one or more ofExampies 91- 96 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal includes an indication of the number of RX APs to be used at an UE side.

[00125] In Example 98, the subject matter of any one or more ofExampies 91-

97 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the RRC signal includes an indication that the UE is to switch to a pre-determined RX AP status.

[00126] In Example 99, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 91-

98 optionally include or some other Claim herein, further comprising transmit circuitry coupled with the control circuitry, the transmit circuitry to transmit, to the eNB, a request to use a reduced number of RX APs for power saving purpose.

[00127] In Example 100, the subject matter of Example 99 optionally includes or some other Claim herein, wherein the transmit circuitiy is further to transmit the request via radio resource control (RRC) and/or medium access control (MAC) signaling. [00128] In Example 101 , the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 99-100 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the request is a request to reduce RX APs to a different number of RX APs per physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and control channels, respectively,

[00129] Example 102 is the UE of some other claim herein, wherein the receive circuitry is further to recei ve a response related to the decision.

[00130] Example 103 is the UE of some other Claim, herein, wherein the receive circuitry is further to receive a response related to the decision.

[00131] Example 104 is UE of some otlier Claim herein, wherein the response is received via RRC or MAC signaling.

[00132] In Example 105, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 103-104 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the response includes different RX AP performance requirements for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and control channels.

[00133] In Example 106, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 103-105 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the control circuitry is further to reconfigure, upon the reception of the eNB response which allows the UE to use reduced number of RX APs, its RX chains in order to switch off certain number RX APs in a way to fulfill the requirements.

[00134] In Example 107, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples103-106 optionally include or some other Claim herein, wherein the control circuitry is further to not apply, by the UE upon the reception of the eNB response which does not allow the UE to use reduced number of RX APs, any changes to its RX APs.

[00135] Example 108 is The apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any otlier method or process described herein.

[00136] Example 109 is the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related any other method or process described herein.

[00137] Example 110 is an apparatus comprising control circuitry, transmit circuitry-, and/or receive circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any other method or process described herein. [00138] Example 11 1 is a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[00139] Example 112 is a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[00140] Example 113 is a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[00141] Further, in addition to the specific combinations of examples described above, any of the examples detailing further implementations of an element of an apparatus or medium may be applied to any other corresponding apparatus or medium, or may be implemented in conjunction with another apparatus or medium . Thus, each example above may be combined with each other example in various ways both as implementations in a system and as combinations of elements to generate an embodiment from the combination of each example or group of examples. For example, any embodiment above describing a transmitting device will have an embodiment that receives the transmission, even if such an embodiment is not specifically detailed. Similarly, methods, apparatus examples, and computer readable medium examples may each have a corresponding example of the other type even if such examples for every embodiment are not specifically detailed.

[00142] FIG. 10 is a drawing of a wireless mobile device (UE) 1000 in accordance with some embodiments described herein. The UE 1000 may be an implementation of the UE 101, the eNB 150, or any device described herein. The UE 1000 can include one or more antennas 1008 configured to communicate with a transmission station, such as a base station (BS), an eNB 150, or another type of wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point. The UE 1000 can be configured to communicate using at least one wireless communication standard including 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The UE 1000 can communicate using separate antennas 1008 for each wireless communication standard or shared antennas 1008 for multiple wireless communication standards. The UE 1000 can communicate in a wireless local area network (WEAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), and/or a wireless wide area network (WWAN). [00143] FIG. 10 also shows a microphone 1020 and one or more speakers 1012 that can be used for audio input and output to and from the UE 1000. A display screen 1004 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, or another type of display screen such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display. The display screen 1004 can be configured as a touch screen. The touch screen can use capacitive, resistive, or another type of touch screen technology. An application processor 1014 and a graphics processor 1018 can be coupled to an internal memory 1016 to provide processing and display capabilities. A nonvolatile memory port 1010 can also be used to provide data I/O options to a user. The non-volatile memory port 1010 can also be used to expand the memory capabilities of the UE 1000. A keyboard 1006 can be integrated with the UE 1000 or wireiessly connected to the UE 1000 to provide additional user input. A virtual keyboard can also be provided using the touch screen. A camera 1022 located on the front (display screen 1004) side or the rear side of the UE 1000 can also be integrated into the housing 1002 of the UE 1000.

[00144] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system machine which may be used in association with various embodiments described herein . For example, it could be used to implement the eNB 150, the UE 101 , or any other device described herein. In various alternative embodiments, the machine 1100 operates as a standalone device or can be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 1100 can operate in the capacity of either a server or a client machine in server-client network environments, or it can act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environments. The machine 1100 can be a personal computer (PC) that may or may not be portable (e.g., a notebook or a netbook), a tablet, a set-top box (STB), a gaming console, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone or smartphone, a web appliance, a network router, switch, or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine 1100 is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. [00145] The example computer system machine 1100 includes a processor 1102 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 1104, and a static memory 1106, which communicate with each other via an interconnect 1108 (e.g., a link, a bus, etc.). The computer system machine 1100 can further include a video display unit or display- device 1110, an alphanumeric input device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard 906), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 1114 (e.g., a mouse). In one embodiment, the video display device 1110, input device 1112, and UI navigation device 1114 are a touch screen display. The computer system machine 1100 can additionally include a mass storage device 1116 (e.g., a drive unit), a signal generation device 11 18 (e.g., a speaker), an output controller 1132, a power management controller 1134, a network interface device 1120 (which can include or operably communicate with one or more antennas 1130, transceivers, or other wireless communications hardware), and one or more sensors 1 128, such as a GPS sensor, compass, location sensor, accelerometer, or other sensor.

[00146] The storage device 1116 includes a machine-readable medium 1122 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions 1124 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1124 can also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1104, static memory- 1106, and/or processor 1102 during execution thereof by the computer system machine 1100, with the main memory 1 104, the static memory 1106, and the processor 1 102 also constituting machine -readable media 1122.

[00147] While the machine-readable medium 1122 is illustrated, in an example embodiment, to be a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" can include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more instractions 1124. The term, "machine-readable medium" shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions 1124 for execution by the machine 1100 and that cause the machine 1100 to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such instructions 1124. [00148] The instructions 1124 can further be transmitted or received over a communications network 1126 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 1120 utilizing any one of a number of well -known transfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)), The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions 1124 for execution by the machine 1100, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

[00149] Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i .e., instructions 1124) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, non-transitory computer readable storage media, or any other machine-readable storage medium 1122 wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine 1100, such as a computer, the machine 1100 becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor 1102, a storage medium readable by the processor 1102 (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device 1 112, and at least one output device. The volatile and non-volatile memoiy and/or storage elements may be a random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash drive, optical drive, magnetic hard drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. The base station and mobile station may also include a transceiver module, a counter module, a processing module, and/or a clock module or timer module. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application program interface (API), reusable controls and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

[00150] Various embodiments may use 3GPP LTE/LTE-A, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and Bluetooth communication standards. Various alternative embodiments may use a variety of other WWAN, WLAN, and WPAN protocols and standards in connection with the techniques described herein. These standards include, but are not limited to, other standards from 3 GPP (e.g., HSPA+, UMTS), IEEE 802.16 (e.g., 802.16p), or Bluetooth (e.g., Bluetooth 9.0, or like standards defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group) standards families. Other applicable network configurations can be included within the scope of the presently described communications network 1126. It will be understood that communications on such communications network 1126 can be facilitated using any number of networks, using any combination of wired or wireless transmission mediums.

[00151] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating some of the internal functional blocks inside an example UE 1200 in accordance with some embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the UE 1200 may include application circuitry 1202, baseband circuitry 1204, RF circuitry 1206, front end module (FEM) circuitry 1208, and one or more antennas 1210, coupled together at least as shown. In some embodiments, the UE 1200 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or I/O interface.

[00152] The application circuitry 1202 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 1202 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors) may include any combination of general -purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[00153] The baseband circuitry 1204 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1204 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1206 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1206. Baseband circuitry 1204 may interface with the application circuitry 1202 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 1204a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 1204b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1204c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 1204d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 1204 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 1204a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1206. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation,

encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1204 may include fast-fourier transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation

mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1204 may include convolution, tail -biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or low density parity check (LDPC)

encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[00154] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an EUTRAN protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or RRC elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 1204e of the baseband circuitry 1204 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may include one or more audio digital signal processors) (DSP) 1204f. The audio DSP(s) 1204f may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry 1204 may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1204 and the application circuitry 1202 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on chip (SOC) device.

[00155] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1204 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other WMAN, WLAN, or WPAN. Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[00156] RF circuitry 12,06 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate the communication with the wireless network, RF circuitry 1206 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1208 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1204. RF circuitry 1206 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry to up- convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1204 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitiy 1208 for transmission.

[ΘΘ157] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1206 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1206 may include mixer circuitry 1206a, amplifier circuitry 1206b, and filter circuitry 1206c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1206 may include filter circuitry 1206c and mixer circuitry 1206a. RF circuitry 1206 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from, the FEM circuitry 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1206d. The amplifier circuitry 1206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals, and the filter circuitry 1206c may be a low -pass filter (LPF) or bandpass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down- converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitiy 1204 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1206a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00158] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitiy 1206d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1208. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitiy 1204 and may be filtered by filter circuitiy 1206c. The filter circuitiy 1206c may include a LPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00159] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the recei v e signal path and the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down conversion and/or up conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitiy 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path may^¬ be arranged for direct down conversion and/or direct up conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[00160] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitiy 1206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 1204 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1206. [00161] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate circuitry including one or more integrated circuits may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, [00162] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1206d may be a fractional-N syntliesizer or a fractional N/N+ l syntliesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency di vider.

[00163] The synthesizer circuitry 1206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1206a of the RF circuitry 1206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the syntliesizer circuitry 1206d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[00164] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1204 or the application circuitry 1202 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the application circuitry 1202.

[00165] Synthesizer circuitry 1206d of the RF circuitry 1206 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable delay elements; a phase detector; a charge pump; and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[00166] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1206d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitiy 1206 may include a polar converter.

[00167] FEM circuitiy 1208 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1210, amplify the received signals, and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 1206 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1210.

[00168] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry- 1208 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1208 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitiy 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify- input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1206), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1210).

[00169] In some embodiments, the UE 1200 comprises a plurality of power saving mechanisms, if the UE 1200 is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected to the eNB because it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the UE 1200 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

[00170] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the UE 1200 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, and the like. The UE 1200 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The UE 1200 cannot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the device transitions back to an RRC Connected state.

[00171] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during tins time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

[00172] The embodiments described above can be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Various methods or techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, can take the form of program code (i .e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as flash memory, hard drives, portable storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), RAM,

semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM, Electrically Erasable

Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, and any other machine-readable storage medium or storage device wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer or networking device, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques.

[00173] It should be understood that the functional units or capabilities described in this specification may have been referred to or labeled as components or modules in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a component or module can be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A component or module can also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, or the like. Components or modules can also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified component or module of executable code can, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which can, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Ne vertheless, the executables of an identified component or module need not be physically located together, but can comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the component or module and achieve the stated purpose for the component or module.

[00174] indeed, a component or module of executable code can be a single instruction, or many instructions, and can even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data can be identified and illustrated herein within components or modules, and can be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data can be collected as a single data set, or can be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and can exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The components or modules can be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for a User Equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising; memory; and

control circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to:

decode a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal indicates for the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver antenna ports;

initiate communication of an acknowledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the network command signal; and

manage power adjustment for at least a portion of a MIMO receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on the MIMO receiver antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the MIMO receiver antenna ports.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a switch between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode is based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the eN B network command signal is based on network traffic conditions.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the performance threshold for control channels is different than the performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels comprise one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the network command signal indicates a number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the exact number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data for control channels is different than the exact number of antenna ports for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels comprise one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PH1CH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the MIMO receiver, wherein the MIMO recei ver comprises the control circuitry and the plurality of MIMO receiver antenna ports.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the MIMO receiver further comprises a Sow noise amplifier (LNA), a mixer, one or more active filters, an analog to digital converter (A/D), and digital fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing circuitry.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 where the network command signal is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 where the network command signal is received via medium access control (MAC) signaling.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

radio frequency (RF) circuitry coupled to the control circuitry; and a plurality of antennas associated with the plurality of antenna ports; and baseband circuitry coupled to the Rf circuitry, wherein the baseband circuitry comprises a portion of the control circuitry.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a touchscreen interface coupled to the control circuitry.

13. An apparatus for an evolved Node B (eNB) comprising:

memory; and

control circuitry configured to:

analyze a downlink traffic load for a User Equipment (UE): identify one or more performance targets for the UE; determine an operating mode associated with the one or more performance thresholds;

generate a command signal, wherein the command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and

initiate communication of the command signal to the UE.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the command signal comprises the one or more performance thresholds; and

wherein the UE selects a number of ports for the partial port operating mode based on the one or more performance thresholds.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the command signal indicates an exact number of antenna ports that are configured to actively receive data, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

16. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a User Equipment (UE) device to:

manage receipt of a network command signal from an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the network command signal instructs the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports;

send an acknowledgement to the eNB upon receipt of the network command signal; and adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all of the antenna ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

17. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 16 which further configures the UE to:

switch between the full port operating mode and the partial port operating mode based on a performance threshold indicated by the network command signal.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 16 which further configures the UE to:

use a first performance threshold for control channels and a second performance threshold for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channei

(PDCCH).

19. An apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) device, the apparatus comprising:

memory; and

control circuitry configured to:

encode a message signal for transmission to an evolved Node B (eNB) wherein the message signal is a request to allow the UE to switch between a full port operating mode and a partial port operating mode for a plurality of antenna ports; and

adjust power for at least a part of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver such that in the full port operating mode, the MIMO receiver is configured to actively receive on all receive ports and in the partial port operating mode the MIMO receiver is configured to receive on a portion of the antenna ports.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the message signal is based on a battery condition or power consumption of the UE device.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein an allowance for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 further comprising:

receiving an allowance communication from the eNB in response to the message signal, wherein the allowance communication for a switch between full port mode and partial port mode is based on a performance requirement.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the performance requirement for control channels is different than the performance requirement for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) wherein the control channels are comprised of one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Hybrid- ARQ (automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the control message indicates a request for an exact number of antenna ports that are to be configured for active data reception.