EP4643577A1 - Radio resource management relaxation with paging time window limitation - Google Patents

Abstract

A method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes determining that one or more criteria associated with radio resource management (RRM) relaxation are satisfied. The method includes determining that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle length exceeds a first predetermined value. The method includes determining that a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value. The method includes applying one or more RRM settings in response to the determinations. The method also includes performing the RRM based on the applied one or more RRM settings. Also provided are one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Description

RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RELAXATION WITH PAGING TIME WINDOW LIMITATION

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims priority of US Provisional Application No. 63/443,476, filed on February 6, 2023, entitled “RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RELAXATION WITH PAGING TIME WINDOW LIMITATION”, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication networks provide integrated communication platforms and telecommunication services to wireless user devices. Example telecommunication services include telephony, data (e.g., voice, audio, and/or video data), messaging, and/or other services. The wireless communication networks have wireless access nodes that exchange wireless signals with the wireless user devices using wireless network protocols, such as protocols described in various telecommunication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Example wireless communication networks include time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR). The wireless communication networks facilitate mobile broadband service using technologies such as OFDM, multiple input multiple output (MIMO), advanced channel coding, massive MIMO, beamforming, and/or other features.

[0003] A wireless user device, such as a user equipment (UE), may communicate with one or more wireless access nodes, such as base stations, in a wireless communication network. The base stations may configure and manage one or more cells covering a geographical area. The UE within the coverage of a cell may access a wireless communication network via the cell. When the UE is in a location simultaneously covered by multiple cells, the UE may perform radio resource management (RRM) with the base stations to determine the radio resources most suitable for a connection. RRM may involve, e.g., measurement of signal quality between the UE and the base stations. SUMMARY

[0004] In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a method to be performed by a UE is disclosed. The method includes determining that one or more criteria associated with RRM relaxation are satisfied. The method includes determining that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle length exceeds a first predetermined value. The method includes determining that a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value. The method includes implementing one or more RRM settings in response to the determinations.

[0005] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs to perform the actions of methods defined by instructions encoded on computer readable storage devices. These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features.

[0006] In some implementations, the method further includes performing the RRM with one or more base stations.

[0007] In some implementations, the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE mode or an RRC INACTIVE mode.

[0008] In some implementations, the UE is a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE.

[0009] In some implementations, the first predetermined value equals 10.24 seconds.

[0010] In some implementations, the second predetermined value equals 1.28 seconds.

[0011] In some implementations, the DRX cycle length equals 1.28 seconds or 2.56 seconds.

[0012] In some implementations, the one or more RRM settings include at least one of: a measurement interval scaling factor; a beam sweeping factor; or an evaluation filtering sample number.

[0013] In some implementations, applying the one or more RRM settings includes: determining a value N of the beam sweeping factor according to the one or more criteria; determining a value m of the evaluation filtering sample number according to the one or more criteria; and calculating a value K of the measurement interval scaling factor as an integer part of

PTw cap^ _{w ere} P _cap represents an upper bound of a paging time window (PTW) length. [0014] In some implementations, applying the one or more RRM settings includes: determining a value K of the measurement interval scaling factor according to the one or more criteria; determining a value m of the evaluation filtering sample number according to the one or more criteria; and calculating a value N of the beam sweeping factor as an integer part of where PTW cap represents an upper bound of a PTW length.

[0015] In some implementations, applying the one or more RRM settings includes: determining a value ml according to the one or more criteria; and determining a value m2 of the evaluation filtering sample number, where m2 is less than ml.

[0016] In some implementations, the value m2 equals one. The UE makes one measurement evaluation in a PTW. The UE performs RRM based on the one measurement evaluation.

[0017] In some implementations, the UE further makes one or more measurement evaluations in one or more neighboring PTWs. The UE performs the RRM further based on the one or more measurement evaluations.

[0018] In some implementations, the UE makes a mobility decision based on the RRM.

[0019] In some implementations, applying the one or more RRM settings includes: switching off the RRM relaxation.

[0020] In some implementations, applying the one or more RRM settings includes: determining a time difference between (i) a DRX sample of a current PTW and (ii) a DRX sample of a next PTW; determining that the time difference is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold; and perform filtering using at least (iii) the DRX sample of the current PTW and (iv) the DRX sample of the next PTW.

[0021] In some implementations, the method further includes at least one of: accessing a memory that stores the predetermined threshold, or receiving, from a base station, a signal that indicates the predetermined threshold.

[0022] In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, one or more processors have circuitry that executes instructions. The instructions cause a UE to perform the method described above.

[0023] In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores program instructions. The instructions, when executed, cause a UE to perform the method described above. [0024] The details of one or more implementations of these systems and methods are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of these systems and methods will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network, according to some implementations.

[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates an example timing diagram with RRM relaxation, according to some implementations.

[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates a table 300 with two example RRM scenarios applicable to some implementations.

[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method, according to some implementations.

[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates an example UE, according to some implementations.

[0030] FIG. 6 illustrates an example access node, according to some implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In current systems, a UE may support DRX when performing measurements for RRM. When operating in DRX, the UE is configured with a series of DRX cycles during a period of time. Each DRX cycle provides an occasion, also referred to as an On duration, in which the UE can perform measurements with a base station. Each DRX cycle also provides a period, also referred to as an Off duration, in which the UE does not perform measurements. The UE may disable some wireless communication functions during the Off duration to save power.

[0032] A UE may additionally support eDRX to further save power. An eDRX cycle extends over a period of time that includes multiple DRX cycles. Each eDRX cycle provides a duration, often referred to as a PTW, in which the UE can receive incoming data traffic (e.g., paging) from a base station. The UE can perform measurements during the DRX occasions within a PTW. Each eDRX cycle also provides a duration, also referred to as a deep sleep period, in which the UE does not receive incoming data traffic and does not perform measurements. Compared to the power saving in an Off duration within a PTW, the UE may disable more wireless communication functions during the deep sleep period to further save power. The power saving from eDRX may cause an increase in data latency. Accordingly, eDRX features are often implemented in RedCap UEs that do not require high data transmission speed.

[0033] In some scenarios, the UE may be in an RRC IDLE mode or an RRC INACTIVE mode while performing measurements in eDRX cycles. These eDRX cycles are referred to as idle eDRX cycles if the UE is in the RRC IDLE mode. These eDRX cycles are referred to as inactive eDRX cycles if the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE mode. The UE may support other eDRX cycles depending on the mode of the UE.

[0034] A UE can perform RRM by making measurements at one or more DRX occasions to determine the signal quality of a cell. The measurement result at each DRX occasion can be referred to as a sample. The measurements can be intra-frequency (e.g., within the same frequency range) or inter-frequency (e.g., across different frequency ranges). The UE can process the samples with filtering by, e.g., determining an average value of the signal quality. The UE can further evaluate the cell by, e.g., determining the signal strength and interference level at certain frequency ranges. The UE can then make a mobility decision with respect to, e.g., cell reselection, based on the evaluation result. For a RedCap UE operating in eDRX, the UE may relax one or more RRM settings to save power. For example, compared with RRM without relaxation, the UE with RRM relaxation may reduce the number of total measurements, increase the time gap between two consecutive measurements, and/or reduce the number of samples used in cell evaluation. Sometimes, the UE supports RRM relaxation upon satisfying one or more criteria. Each of these criteria is referred to as a stationary criterion.

[0035] When a UE supporting eDRX satisfies the criteria for RRM relaxation, the UE may configure RRM relaxation based on eDRX-related parameters, such as the length of each PTW, the length of each eDRX cycle, and the length of each DRX cycle. In current technologies, a UE can determine the eDRX-related parameters according to a set of rules, such as those set forth by a standards setting organization (e.g., 3GPP). According to a first example rule, the maximum PTW length is 40.96s when the length of an idle eDRX cycle is greater than 10.24s. According to a second example rule, when the length of an idle eDRX cycle is greater than 10.24s, the minimum PTW length is 1.28s and the PTW length is a multiple of 1.28s. Similar rules have been proposed based on the length of inactive eDRX cycles or other types of eDRX cycles. Under these rules, the UE does not adopt PTW in an eDRX cycle that has a length equal to or less than 10.24s.

[0036] With the increasing demand for power saving in UEs, it may be desirable for UEs to support RRM relaxation in scenarios where the lengths of the eDRX cycle and the PTW exceed their respective maximum values set forth in the rules (e.g., 10.24s and 40.96s, respectively, in the first example rule). However, because the above rules do not contemplate RRM relaxation in these scenarios, the UEs may be unable to properly configure RRM relaxation and may unnecessarily consume power during RRM. In light of this challenge, implementations of this disclosure provide techniques for UEs to determine RRM relaxation settings even when the eDRX cycle and the PTW are longer than the values specified in current rules. Among other benefits, these disclosed techniques improve power savings in UEs.

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100, according to some implementations. The wireless network 100 includes a UE 102 and a base station 104 connected via one or more channels 106A, 106B across an air interface 108. The UE 102 and base station 104 communicate using a system that supports controls for managing the access of the UE 102 to a network via the base station 104.

[0038] In some implementations, the wireless network 100 may be a Non- Standalone (NS A) network that incorporates LTE and 5G NR communication standards as defined by the 3GPP technical specifications. For example, the wireless network 100 may be a E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access)-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) network, or a NR- EUTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) network. However, the wireless network 100 may also be a Standalone (SA) network that incorporates only 5G NR. Furthermore, other types of communication standards are possible, including future 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 technology (e.g., IEEE 802.11a; IEEE 802.11b; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE 802.11-2007; IEEE 802.11n; IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.1 lac; or other present or future developed IEEE 802.11 technologies), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like. While aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 5G NR, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to other systems, such as 3G, 4G, and/or systems subsequent to 5G (e.g., 6G).

[0039] In the wireless network 100, the UE 102 and any other UE in the system may be, for example, laptop computers, smartphones, tablet computers, machine-type devices such as smart meters or specialized devices for healthcare, intelligent transportation systems, or any other wireless devices with or without a user interface. In network 100, the base station 104 provides the UE 102 network connectivity to a broader network (not shown). This UE 102 connectivity is provided via the air interface 108 in a base station service area provided by the base station 104. In some implementations, such a broader network may be a wide area network operated by a cellular network provider, or may be the Internet. Each base station service area associated with the base station 104 is supported by antennas integrated with the base station 104. The service areas are divided into a number of sectors associated with certain antennas. Such sectors may be physically associated with fixed antennas or may be assigned to a physical area with tunable antennas or antenna settings adjustable in a beamforming process used to direct a signal to a particular sector.

[0040] The UE 102 includes control circuitry 110 coupled with transmit circuitry 112 and receive circuitry 114. The transmit circuitry 112 and receive circuitry 114 may each be coupled with one or more antennas. The control circuitry 110 may include various combinations of application-specific circuitry and baseband circuitry. The transmit circuitry 112 and receive circuitry 114 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, and may include radio frequency (RF) circuitry or front-end module (FEM) circuitry.

[0041] In various implementations, aspects of the transmit circuitry 112, receive circuitry 114, and control circuitry 110 may be integrated in various ways to implement the operations described herein. The control circuitry 110 may be adapted or configured to perform various operations such as those described elsewhere in this disclosure related to a UE. For instance, the control circuitry 110 can configure the UE 102 with one or more settings for RRM. The control circuitry 110 can also control the transmit circuitry 112 and the receive circuitry 114 to perform measurements with a base station. Further, the control circuitry 110 can make mobility decisions, such as cell reselection, based on the measurement results.

[0042] The transmit circuitry 112 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 112 may be configured to receive block data from the control circuitry 110 for transmission across the air interface 108.

[0043] The receive circuitry 114 may receive a plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels from the air interface 108 and relay the physical channels to the control circuitry 110. The plurality of downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM along with carrier aggregation. The transmit circuitry 112 and the receive circuitry 114 may transmit and receive both control data and content data (e.g., messages, images, video, etc.) structured within data blocks that are carried by the physical channels.

[0044] FIG. 1 also illustrates the base station 104. In implementations, the base station 104 may be an NG radio access network (RAN) or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, a non-terrestrial cell, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to the base station 104 that operates in an NR or 5G wireless network 100, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the like may refer to a base station 104 that operates in an LTE or 4G wireless network 100. The UE 102 utilizes connections (or channels) 106A, 106B, each of which includes a physical communications interface or layer.

[0045] The base station 104 circuitry may include control circuitry 116 coupled with transmit circuitry 118 and receive circuitry 120. The transmit circuitry 118 and receive circuitry 120 may each be coupled with one or more antennas that may be used to enable communications via the air interface 108. The transmit circuitry 118 and receive circuitry 120 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, to any UE connected to the base station 104. The transmit circuitry 118 may transmit downlink physical channels includes of a plurality of downlink subframes. The receive circuitry 120 may receive a plurality of uplink physical channels from various UEs, including the UE 102. [0046] In FIG. 1, the one or more channels 106 A, 106B are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, an Advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) protocol, a LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U), a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, an NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) protocol, and/or any of the other communications protocols discussed herein. In implementations, the UE 102 may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface. The ProSe interface may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an example timing diagram 200 with RRM relaxation, according to some implementations. Timing diagram 200 can be implemented by a UE, such as UE 102 of FIG. 1. Timing diagram 200 shows two successive eDRX cycles 210 and 220. As shown in FIG. 2, each of eDRX cycles 210 and 220 has multiple DRX occasions. As also shown in FIG. 2, eDRX cycle 210 has PTW 211 followed by deep sleep period 212. Similarly, eDRX cycle 220 has PTW 221 followed by a deep sleep period (not shown in FIG. 2). The UE may perform RRM in more eDRX cycles beyond eDRX cycles 210 and 220.

[0048] During a PTW of an eDRX cycle, the UE may perform actual measurements at some or all DRX occasions. The result of each measurement can be referred to as a sample. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the UE performs M=2 measurements at DRX occasions 231 and 232 while skipping the other DRX occasions in PTW 211. The UE can filter the two measurements to conduct an evaluation of, e.g., the quality of a cell. DRX occasions 231 and 232 are spaced apart in time by K (K=6) DRX cycles. Similarly, the UE can perform two measurements while skipping the other DRX occasions in PTW 221. Because a greater value of K suggests a longer time gap between two consecutive measurements in a PTW, K can indicate the level of RRM relaxation and is often called measurement relaxation factor or measurement interval scaling factor. The UE can change the value of K to apply different RRM settings. When K=l, the UE performs measurements in all DRX occasions in a PTW. In such a case, there is no RRM relaxation.

[0049] As previously described, the UE does not perform actual measurements at any of the DRX occasions during deep sleep period 212. Thus, after the measurement of DRX occasion 232, the UE can save power until the next DRX occasion with actual measurement, DRX occasion 241 in PTW 221 of the next eDRX cycle 220. The UE can determine the time difference D between (i) DRX occasion 232, which is the last DRX occasion with actual measurement in PTW 211, and (ii) DRX occasion 241, which is the first DRX occasion with actual measurement in the next PTW 221. Typically, the greater the value of D, the more power the UE can save. However, the UE may restrict the value of D to be less than or equal to a threshold so that the measurement results at DRX occasions 232 and 241 can be meaningfully correlated and processed (e.g., filtered). PTWs in successive eDRX cycles are referred to as neighboring PTWs. For example, PTWs 211 and 221 are neighboring PTWs to each other.

[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates a table 300 with two example RRM scenarios applicable to some implementations. The settings given in table 300 assume that a UE (e.g., UE 102) performs intra-frequency measurements with one or more cells (e.g., the UE does not change frequency when communicating with different cells) in a given frequency range (e.g., frequency range 2). However, the settings can be similarly applicable to inter-frequency measurements (e.g., the UE operates at different frequencies when communicating with different cells) in the same given frequency range or in a different frequency range.

[0051] The left three columns of table 300 provide example values of eDRX-related parameters, namely, the length of an idle eDRX cycle, the length of a DRX cycle, and the length of a PTW. The fourth column provides example values of a scaling factor Nl, such as a beam sweeping factor, that may be used in RRM settings. The right three columns provide example calculations of RRM relaxation parameters based on the eDRX-related parameters, the scaling factor Nl, and a measurement relaxation factor K3 (which equals 6 according to Note 7). Specifically, the fifth column from the left provides example calculations of the time period for one round of detection in RRM; the sixth column from the left provides example calculations of the time period for one round of measurement in RRM; and the seventh column from the left provides example calculations of the time period for one round of evaluation in RRM. Different values of these RRM relaxation parameters can lead to different levels of RRM relaxation and different power saving performances. The concepts of detection, measurement, and evaluation in RRM are commonly known in the art and thus are not elaborated in detail in this specification. [0052] As indicated in the first column of table 300, the RRM relaxation settings in table 300 are applicable when the idle eDRX cycle is longer than 20.48s, which is longer than 10.24s. Meanwhile, as indicated in the second and the third columns, in some implementations, the length of PTW can be 61 ,44s or greater when (a) the DRX cycle length is 1 ,28s. Similarly, the length of PTW can be 92.16s or greater when (b) the DRX cycle length is 2.56s. Because 61 ,44s and 92.16s are both greater than 40.96s, a UE with the DRX cycle length equal to 1 ,28s or 2.56s may face a scenario not contemplated by the first example rule. Therefore, in cases (a) and (b) and other similar cases, the UE may need to adjust the calculations provided in the right three columns to determine RRM settings. In other words, when the UE is configured with a DRX cycle length equal to 1.28s or 2.56s and the PTW is respectively 61.44s or 92.16s or greater, the UE may need to determine one or more RRM settings that deviate from the RRM relaxation parameters provided in table 300.

[0053] The RRM settings can include a value K of a measurement interval scaling factor, a value N of a beam sweeping factor, and a value m of an evaluation filtering sample number. The value K of the measurement interval scaling factor can be similar to the number K in FIG.

2, which indicates the number of DRX cycles between two consecutive measurements within the same PTW. In the cases provided by table 300, K=K3=6 according to Note 7.

[0054] The value N of the beam sweeping factor can be similar to the scaling factor N1 in FIG.

3. A smaller N can suggest that the UE uses local beams (e.g., receiving beams generated at the UE side of the communication) that are more coarse (e.g., with larger angle coverage but smaller gain) for measurement. Alternatively or additionally, a smaller N can suggest that the UE may need to switch from the power saving mode between DRX occasions to complete beam sweeping. For cases (a) and (b), table 300 provides that N1 can be 4 and 3, respectively.

[0055] The value m of the evaluation filtering sample number can indicate the number of measurements in each PTW that the UE uses for an evaluation. For example, in timing diagram 200, because PTW 211 and PTW 221 (and other PTWs not shown) each have two DRX occasions with actual measurement, the evaluation filtering sample number m=M=2.

[0056] In some implementations, to determine RRM settings in cases (a) and (b) and other similar cases, the UE is configured to adjust one or more of the value K of the measurement interval scaling factor, the value N of the beam sweeping factor, or the value m of the evaluation filtering sample number. That is, instead of implementing RRM settings according to timing diagram 200 and table 300 (e.g., K=K3=6, N=N1=4 or 3, and m=M=2), the UE implements RRM settings with a different value of K, N, or m. The UE’s use of the different value(s) ensures that the measurements performed according to cases (a) and (b) fit within the PTW length, even if the PTW does not conform to the first example rule (or other similar rules). For example, in some implementations, with DRX cycle length=1.28s, PTW can be 40.96s. In such implementations, when the evaluation filtering sample number m=M=2 and Nl is 4, the measurement relaxation factor/measurement interval scaling factor K is computed to be K=K3=4.

[0057] In some implementations, the UE implements an RRM setting with the value K different from K3. For example, the UE can determine the value K as an integer part of PTW cap

. Here, PTW cap represents an upper bound of the PTW length. The UE can obtain the value of PTW cap by accessing a stored value in its own memory or by receiving a configuration signal from a base station. The values N and m in the calculation can be similar to those specified in timing diagram 200 and table 300, or can be different from those values. The value K thus determined may be less than K3, which suggests that the number of DRX cycles between two measurements in a PTW is less than K3. This can further suggest a reduced level of RRM relaxation (e.g., more frequent measurements and less power saving). As another example, the UE can apply an RRM setting with K=l. Such a setting indicates that measurements are performed at each DRX occasion within a PTW. This further indicates that the UE performs RRM without relaxation (e.g., the UE switches off RRM relaxation).

[0058] In some implementations, the UE is configured to apply an RRM setting with the value N different from Nl. For example, the UE can determine the value N as an integer part of PTw_cap j_[_ere PTW _cap _aiso represents an upper bound of the PTW length. The values K and m in the calculation can be similar to those specified in timing diagram 200 and table 300, or can be different from those values. The value N thus determined may be less than Nl. As described previously, a reduced value of N can suggest that the UE uses more rough local beams for measurement or switches from the power saving mode between DRX occasions for beam sweeping. This can further suggest a reduced level of RRM relaxation (e.g., more effort on performing measurement or less time in the power saving mode).

[0059] In some implementations, the UE is configured to apply an RRM setting with the value m different from M. For example, the UE can reduce the value m from, e.g., M=2 to a smaller value, e.g., m=l. By reducing m, the UE can perform evaluations using fewer samples in a PTW. In particular, when m has a value of 1, the UE makes only a single measurement (“one- shot measurement”) for evaluation in each PTW.

[0060] The UE can perform RRM and make a mobility decision based on the one-shot measurement result of a single PTW without filtering. For example, the UE can use the one- shot measurement result to evaluate the signal quality of a cell, such as a candidate handover target cell. The UE can decide to establish connection with the cell if, e.g., the signal quality of the cell is above a certain level. Additionally, the UE can make one or more one-shot measurements in one or more neighboring PTWs. The UE can perform RRM and make a mobility decision based on a combination of all one-shot measurements. For example, the UE can use the one-shot measurement results of L (L>2) neighboring PTWs to make the mobility decision about a cell. The UE can decide to establish connection with the cell if, e.g., all of the L measurement results indicate that the signal quality of the cell is above the certain level.

[0061] In some implementations, the UE implements RRM settings based on the time difference between two closest measurements in two successive PTWs (e.g., a current PTW and a next PTW). In the example of timing diagram 200, the UE can apply RRM settings based on the value of D between DRX occasion 232 of PTW 211 and DRX occasion 241 of PTW 221. The time difference can be measured in absolute time (e.g., number of seconds), number of DRX cycles, or number of other time units. If the time difference is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the UE can perform RRM by combining measurement results from successive PTWs (e.g., results measured at DRX occasions 232 and 241) and filtering the combined measurement results. This mechanism can be referred to as cross-PTW filtering. With cross-PTW filtering, the UE can save power from relaxed RRM measurements. On the other hand, if the time difference is longer than the predetermined threshold, the UE can choose not to apply cross-PTW filtering. This can reduce the risk that the filtered samples are unreliable due to a too large time difference. The UE can obtain the value of the predetermined threshold from its own memory or by receiving a configuration signal from a base station.

[0062] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400, according to some implementations. For clarity of presentation, the description that follows generally describes method 400 in the context of the other figures in this description. For example, method 400 can be performed by UE 102 of FIG. 1. It will be understood that method 400 can be performed, for example, by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or a combination of systems, environments, software, and hardware, as appropriate. In some implementations, various steps of method 400 can be run in parallel, in combination, in loops, or in any order.

[0063] At 402, method 400 involves determining that one or more criteria associated with RRM relaxation are satisfied. Each of the criteria can a stationary criterion for RRM relaxation, as previously described.

[0064] At 404, method 400 involves determining that an eDRX cycle length exceeds a first predetermined value. The eDRX cycle can be an idle eDRX cycle, an inactive eDRX cycle, or other eDRX cycles. The first predetermined value can be 10.24s as set forth in the first example rule previously described.

[0065] At 406, method 400 involves determining that a DRX cycle length is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value. For example, the second predetermined value can be 1.28s, and the DRX cycle length can be 1.28s or 2.56s, as provided in table 300 of FIG. 3.

[0066] At 408, method 400 involves applying one or more RRM settings in response to the determinations at 402-406. Applying the one or more RRM settings can include determining the value of one or more of the measurement interval scaling factor (K), the beam sweeping factor (N), or the evaluation filtering sample number (m). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more RRM settings can include applying cross-PTW filtering if the time difference between two closest measurements in two successive PTWs is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

[0067] At 410, method 400 involves performing the RRM based on the applied one or more RRM settings.

[0068] With the features described above, implementations of this disclosure can allow UEs, especially RedCap UEs, to support RRX relaxation in a large number of scenarios, including scenarios beyond the restrictions proposed by some market participants. Implementations of this disclosure also offer flexibility for the UE to apply appropriate RRM settings to balance the power-saving performance and RRM accuracy or reliability.

[0069] FIG. 5 illustrates a UE 500, according to some implementations. The UE 500 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with UE 102 of FIG. 1.

[0070] The UE 500 may be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, mobile phones, computers, tablets, industrial wireless sensors (for example, microphones, pressure sensors, thermometers, motion sensors, accelerometers, inventory sensors, electric voltage/current meters, etc.), video devices (for example, cameras, video cameras, etc.), wearable devices (for example, a smart watch), relaxed-IoT devices.

[0071] The UE 500 may include processors 502, RF interface circuitry 504, memory/storage 506, user interface 508, sensors 510, driver circuitry 512, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 514, antenna structure 516, and battery 518. The components of the UE 500 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. The block diagram of FIG. 5 is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 500. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangement of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0072] The components of the UE 500 may be coupled with various other components over one or more interconnects 520, which may represent any type of interface, input/output, bus (local, system, or expansion), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc. that allows various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with one another.

[0073] The processors 502 may include processor circuitry such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BB) 522A, central processor unit circuitry (CPU) 522B, and graphics processor unit circuitry (GPU) 522C. The processors 502 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory/storage 506 to cause the UE 500 to perform operations as described herein.

[0074] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuitry 522A may access a communication protocol stack 524 in the memory/storage 506 to communicate over a 3GPP compatible network. In general, the baseband processor circuitry 522 A may access the communication protocol stack to: perform user plane functions at a physical (PHY) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and PDU layer; and perform control plane functions at a PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and a non-access stratum layer. In some implementations, the PHY layer operations may additionally/altematively be performed by the components of the RF interface circuitry 504. The baseband processor circuitry 522A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in 3 GPP-compatible networks. In some implementations, the waveforms for NR may be based cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) “CP-OFDM” in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM “DFT-S-OFDM” in the uplink.

[0075] The memory/storage 506 may include one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media that includes instructions (for example, communication protocol stack 524) that may be executed by one or more of the processors 502 to cause the UE 500 to perform various operations described herein. The memory/storage 506 include any type of volatile or nonvolatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 500. In some implementations, some of the memory/storage 506 may be located on the processors 502 themselves (for example, LI and L2 cache), while other memory/storage 506 is external to the processors 502 but accessible thereto via a memory interface. The memory/storage 506 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0076] The RF interface circuitry 504 may include transceiver circuitry and radio frequency front module (RFEM) that allows the UE 500 to communicate with other devices over a radio access network. The RF interface circuitry 504 may include various elements arranged in transmit or receive paths. These elements may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0077] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive a radiated signal from an air interface via antenna structure 516 and proceed to filter and amplify (with a low-noise amplifier) the signal. The signal may be provided to a receiver of the transceiver that downconverts the RF signal into a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of the processors 502.

[0078] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier prior to the signal being radiated across the air interface via the antenna 516. In various implementations, the RF interface circuitry 504 may be configured to transmit/receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technologies. [0079] The antenna 516 may include antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and to convert received radio waves into electrical signals. The antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. The antenna 516 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to enable beamforming and multiple input, multiple output communications. The antenna 516 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. The antenna 516 may have one or more panels designed for specific frequency bands including bands in FR1 or FR2.

[0080] The user interface 508 includes various input/output (VO) devices designed to enable user interaction with the UE 500. The user interface 508 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or more physical or virtual buttons (for example, a reset button), a physical keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset, or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for showing information or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or other like information. Output device circuitry may include any number or combinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one or more simple visual outputs/indicators (for example, binary status indicators such as light emitting diodes “LEDs” and multi -character visual outputs), or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (for example, liquid crystal displays “LCDs,” LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation of the UE 500.

[0081] The sensors 510 may include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information (sensor data) about the detected events to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, inter alia, inertia measurement units including accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems or nanoelectromechanical systems including 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, or magnetometers; level sensors; temperature sensors (for example, thermistors); pressure sensors; image capture devices (for example, cameras or lensless apertures); light detection and ranging sensors; proximity sensors (for example, infrared radiation detector and the like); depth sensors; ambient light sensors; ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc. [0082] The driver circuitry 512 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control particular devices that are embedded in the UE 500, attached to the UE 500, or otherwise communicatively coupled with the UE 500. The driver circuitry 512 may include individual drivers allowing other components to interact with or control various input/output (EO) devices that may be present within, or connected to, the UE 500. For example, driver circuitry 512 may include a display driver to control and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver to control and allow access to a touchscreen interface, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 528 and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 528, drivers to obtain actuator positions of electro-mechanic components or control and allow access to the electro-mechanic components, a camera driver to control and allow access to an embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allow access to one or more audio devices.

[0083] The PMIC 514 may manage power provided to various components of the UE 500. In particular, with respect to the processors 502, the PMIC 514 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.

[0084] In some implementations, the PMIC 514 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the UE 500. A battery 518 may power the UE 500, although in some examples the UE 500 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and may have a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 518 may be a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 518 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0085] FIG. 6 illustrates an access node 600 (e.g., a base station or gNB), according to some implementations. The access node 600 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with base station 104. The access node 600 may include processors 602, RF interface circuitry 604, core network (CN) interface circuitry 606, memory/ storage circuitry 608, and antenna structure 610.

[0086] The components of the access node 600 may be coupled with various other components over one or more interconnects 612. The processors 602, RF interface circuitry 604, memory/storage circuitry 608 (including communication protocol stack 614), antenna structure 610, and interconnects 612 may be similar to like-named elements shown and described with respect to FIG. 5. For example, the processors 602 may include processor circuitry such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BB) 616A, CPU 616B, and GPU 616C.

[0087] The CN interface circuitry 606 may provide connectivity to a core network, for example, a 5th Generation Core network (5GC) using a 5GC -compatible network interface protocol such as carrier Ethernet protocols, or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to/from the access node 600 via a fiber optic or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 606 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 606 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0088] As used herein, the terms “access node,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment that provides the radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity between a network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred to as BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and so forth, and can include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the like may refer to an access node 600 that operates in an NR or 5G system (for example, a gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may refer to an access node 600 that operates in an LTE or 4G system (e.g., an eNB). According to various implementations, the access node 600 may be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0089] In some implementations, all or parts of the access node 600 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In V2X scenarios, the access node 600 may be or act as a “Road Side Unit.” The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. [0090] Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that is configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretation for that component.

[0091] For one or more implementations, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[0092] Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of implementations to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various implementations.

[0093] Although the implementations above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

[0094] It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method to be performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining that one or more criteria associated with radio resource management

(RRM) relaxation are satisfied; determining that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle length exceeds a first predetermined value; determining that a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value; in response, applying one or more RRM settings; and performing the RRM based on the applied one or more RRM settings.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is in an RRC INACTIVE mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined value equals 10.24 seconds.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second predetermined value equals 1.28 seconds.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the DRX cycle length equals 1.28 seconds or 2.56 seconds.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more RRM settings comprise at least one of: a measurement interval scaling factor; a beam sweeping factor; or an evaluation filtering sample number.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein applying the one or more RRM settings comprises: determining a value N of the beam sweeping factor according to the one or more criteria; determining a value m of the evaluation filtering sample number according to the one or more criteria; and calculating a value K of the measurement interval scaling factor as an integer part of

PTW_cap Nxm ’ where PTW cap represents an upper bound of a paging time window (PTW) length.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein applying the one or more RRM settings comprises: determining a value K of the measurement interval scaling factor according to the one or more criteria; determining a value m of the evaluation filtering sample number according to the one or more criteria; and calculating a value N of the beam sweeping factor as an integer part of

PTW_cap Kxm ’ where PTW cap represents an upper bound of a paging time window (PTW) length.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein applying the one or more RRM settings comprises: determining a value ml according to the one or more criteria; and determining a value m2 of the evaluation filtering sample number, wherein m2 is less than ml.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the value m2 equals one, wherein the UE makes one measurement evaluation in a paging time window (PTW), and wherein the UE performs RRM based on the one measurement evaluation.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the UE further makes one or more measurement evaluations in one or more neighboring PTWs, and wherein the UE performs the RRM further based on the one or more measurement evaluations.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the UE makes a mobility decision based on the RRM.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the one or more RRM settings comprises: switching off the RRM relaxation.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the one or more RRM settings comprises: determining a time difference between (i) a DRX sample of a current paging time window (PTW) and (ii) a DRX sample of a next PTW; determining that the time difference is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold; and perform filtering using at least (iii) the DRX sample of the current PTW and (iv) the DRX sample of the next PTW.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising at least one of: accessing a memory that stores the predetermined threshold, or receiving, from a base station, a signal that indicates the predetermined threshold.

18. One or more processors comprising circuitry that executes instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) to perform the method of any of claims 1-17.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the method of any of claims 1- 17.