TWI666953B - Method for reducing power consumption of mobile station, and mobile station, base station, access point using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, and a mobile station, a base station, and an access point using the method. An embodiment of the method applicable to a mobile station according to the present disclosure includes: in response to receiving a control instruction via a first radio access technology, awakening a communication module applying a second radio access technology according to the control instruction. Then, in response to receiving the instruction frame via the second radio access technology, the communication module is controlled to enter a sleep state.

Description

Method for saving power consumption of mobile station, mobile station, base station and access point

The disclosure relates to a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, a mobile station, a base station and an access point.

Based on different application requirements, various wireless communication standards have been developed in the field of wireless communication. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the mainstream technology of fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications. It has the advantages of large transmission coverage, high mobility, and high reliability. On the other hand, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) can operate in unlicensed spectrum without paying the license fee of the frequency band, so it can effectively reduce deployment and expansion costs, and also make WLAN a very popular communication network road.

In order to meet the user's demand for capacity expansion of the communication system, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced the standard of Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Dual Connectivity (DC) technologies. Carrier aggregation and dual-connection technology can send and receive data through multiple carriers simultaneously, so that the communication system can achieve higher transmission bandwidth. Under the downlink long-term evolution-wireless local area network aggregation (Downlink LTE-WLAN Aggregation, DL LWA) architecture, user equipment (UE) can use the LTE network and the WLAN network to receive downlink data at the same time. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an LWA network architecture. Taking Figure 1 as an example, after the LWA technology is enabled to transmit data, the Evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) can offload downlink data from the core network to the WLAN through the backhaul network. Access point. According to this, while the user equipment UE receives a part of the transmission data from the eNB through the licensed spectrum (Licensed Spectrum), it can also receive the shunted part of the transmission data from the WLAN access point through the unlicensed spectrum.

Generally speaking, in order to support the LWA network architecture, the user equipment must separately install two communication chips that support the LTE protocol and the WLAN (eg, IEEE 802.11 series) protocol. It is easy to increase the power consumption of user equipment by running two communication chips at the same time. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a set of energy saving methods that can be applied to user equipment using LWA technology.

This disclosure provides a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, a mobile station, a base station, and an access point implementation example, which can save the power consumption of a mobile station using LWA technology. Provide possible solutions.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to a mobile station. The method includes: in response to receiving a control instruction via a first radio access technology, and awakening an application for a second radio access according to the control instruction; A communication module of technology; and in response to receiving an instruction frame through the second radio access technology, controlling the communication module to enter a sleep state.

An embodiment of the disclosure provides a mobile station, which includes a first communication module and a second communication module. The first communication module applies a first radio access technology and the second communication module applies a second radio access technology. In response to the first communication module receiving the control instruction, the first communication module wakes up the second communication module according to the control instruction, and in response to the second communication module receiving the instruction frame, the second communication module enters the sleep state.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to a base station applying a first radio access technology. The method includes: transmitting a control instruction to the mobile station to wake up the application of the mobile station according to the control instruction. A communication module of the second radio access technology; and in response to receiving an instruction message from an access point to which the second radio access technology is applied, confirming that the communication module of the mobile station enters a sleep state.

An embodiment of the disclosure provides a base station to which the first radio access technology is applied, including a transceiver and a controller. The transceiver has a first radio access technology and is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The controller is coupled to the transceiver, and transmits a control instruction to the mobile station to wake up the communication module of the mobile station using the second radio access technology according to the control instruction. The controller responds to the communication module through the transceiver. An instruction message is received from an access point to which the second radio access technology is applied, and it is confirmed that the communication module of the mobile station enters a sleep state.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to an access point using a second radio access technology. The method includes: in response to determining that a transmission buffer corresponding to the mobile station is vacant, transmitting Instructing the frame to the mobile station to control the mobile station's communication module using the second radio access technology to enter the dormant state; and sending an instruction message to the base station applying the first radio access technology to notify the base station of the mobile station's The communication module goes to sleep.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present disclosure more comprehensible, some embodiments are exemplified below and described in detail with the accompanying drawings as follows.

200‧‧‧ Mobile

210‧‧‧Long-term evolution technology communication module

211, 231, 301, 401‧‧‧ Transceivers

213, 233, 303, 403‧‧‧ controller

230‧‧‧Wireless LAN Communication Module

701, 703, 705, 707, 709, 711, 713, 715, 717, 719, 901, 903, 905, 909, 909, 911, 913, 915, 917, 919

UE‧‧‧User Equipment

eNB‧‧‧Evolved Node B

S501, S503, S507, S509, S600, S601, S603, S605, S607, S609, S801, S802, S803, S805, S807, S809, S811

T‧‧‧Transmission delay time

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an LWA network architecture.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile station according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an access point according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a signal flowchart of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a signal flow chart illustrating a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a timing sequence of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to the embodiment of FIG. 6. schematic diagram.

FIG. 8 is a signal flowchart of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a timing diagram of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to the embodiment of FIG. 8.

In this disclosure, 3GPP-like keywords or phrases are only used as an example to present the concept of the invention according to this disclosure; however, the same concepts presented in this disclosure can be applied by those with ordinary knowledge in this field Any other systems, such as IEEE802.11, IEEE802.16, WiMAX, sensor networks, and similar systems, are not limited in this disclosure.

In the present disclosure, the term “Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)” is used to indicate a control area or a downlink control channel indicating downlink (DL) / uplink (Uplink) resource assignment and allocation. The same concepts in this disclosure can also be applied to DL-MAP, UL-MAP, MBS-MAP and other similar downlink control channels through simple analogy, etc., which are not limited in this disclosure.

In this disclosure, the terms “Base Station” (BS) and “Access Point” used may be, for example, evolved Node B, advanced base station (ABS), base Transceiver system (base transceiver system (BTS), home base station, repeater, diffuser, repeater, Intermediate nodes, intermediaries and / or satellite-based communication base stations, remote radio heads (RRHs), and other similar devices are not limited in this disclosure.

In this disclosure, the term "mobile station" may be, for example, User Equipment (UE), advanced mobile station (AMS), server, client, desktop computer, laptop Computers, network computers, workstations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet personal computers (PCs), scanners, telephone devices, pagers, cameras, televisions, handheld video game devices, music Devices, wireless sensors, smartphones, and other similar devices. In some possible applications, the user equipment may also be a fixed computer device operating in a mobile environment such as a bus, train, airplane, boat, automobile, and the like, which is not limited in this disclosure.

In the field of wireless communication, UEs with LWA functions are gradually becoming popular. Although using the LWA function can increase the download speed of the UE by increasing the bandwidth, it requires the UE to run more communication chips, antennas and other components, resulting in increased power consumption of the UE. At present, UEs with the LWA function mainly reduce the power consumption of the LTE communication module in the UE through a discontinuous reception (DRX) power saving mechanism. The DRX mechanism allows the UE to periodically monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) when there is no data transmission requirement, so that the UE's LTE communication module can turn off the radio frequency (RF) communication module between the two monitoring intervals. To achieve the effect of power saving. When using DRX technology, the RF communication module will enter the sleep state periodically according to the DRX cycle. In order to further reduce the power consumption of the UE, this disclosure Lu proposes a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, a mobile station, a base station and an access point. By sending commands from the base station and the access point to control the WLAN communication module of the mobile station to be turned on or off, the WLAN communication module of the mobile station can enter the sleep mode without data transmission, thereby saving the power of the mobile station Consume.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile station 200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The mobile station 200 supports the function of the LWA, and can use the component carrier of the LTE network and the component carrier of the WLAN network to transmit and receive data at the same time. The mobile station 200 includes an LTE communication module 210 and a WLAN communication module 230. The LTE communication module 210 may include a transceiver 211 and a controller 213, for example, an LTE radio access technology (for example, 3GPP LTE, LTE-A series) applicable to authorized spectrum is applied. The transceiver 211 may include an antenna supporting LTE frequency band. The transceiver 211 may transmit and receive data through a component carrier of the LTE network. The WLAN communication module 230 may include a transceiver 231 and a controller 233. For example, the WLAN communication module 230 is applicable to WLAN radio storage of unlicensed spectrum such as industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) wireless frequency bands or other free spectrums. Technology (for example: IEEE 802.11 series) and so on. The transceiver 231 may include an antenna supporting a WLAN frequency band, and the transceiver 231 may transmit and receive transmission data through a component carrier of a WLAN network. The transceiver 211 and the transceiver 231 may perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, frequency mixing, frequency up or down conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. For example, the transceiver 211 and the transceiver 231 may include an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) / digital-to-analog converter (DAC) ), Filters, etc. Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is configured to The analog signal format is converted to the digital signal format during the signal processing, and the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is converted from the digital signal format to the analog signal format during the downlink signal processing.

The controller 213 and the controller 233 may be coupled to the memory according to circumstances, so as to access code, device configuration, codebook, buffered or permanent data. The functions of the controller 213 and the controller 233 can be achieved by using, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), etc. Programmable units to implement.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station 300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The base station 300 applies, for example, an LTE radio access technology (for example, 3GPP LTE, LTE-A series) and the like applicable to the licensed spectrum, and includes a transceiver 301 and a controller 303. The transceiver 301 has LTE radio access technology, and the transceiver 301 is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through a component carrier of an LTE network. The controller 303 is coupled to the transceiver 301 and can transmit or receive control signals or data through the transceiver 301. The transceiver 301 wirelessly transmits downlink signals and receives uplink signals. The transceiver 301 may also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, mixing, up- or down-conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. The controller 303 may also be implemented by hardware or software, and the function of each element of the base station 300 is similar to that of the mobile station 200, and thus the detailed description of each element will not be repeated.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an access point 400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The access point 400 uses, for example, industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) wireless frequencies. The WLAN radio access technology (such as the IEEE 802.11 series) of unlicensed spectrum such as band or other free spectrum includes a transceiver 401 and a controller 403. The transceiver 401 has WLAN radio access technology. The transceiver 401 is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through a component carrier of a WLAN network. The controller 403 is coupled to the transceiver 401 and can transmit or receive control signals or data through the transceiver 401. The transceiver 403 may also perform operations such as low-noise amplification, impedance matching, mixing, up- or down-conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. The controller 403 may also be implemented by hardware or software, and the function of each element of the base station 300 is similar to that of the mobile station 200, and thus the detailed description of each element will not be repeated.

In order to save the power consumption of mobile stations when applying the downlink long-term evolution-wireless area network aggregation (DL LWA) technology, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a network side (for example, the base station 300 side A method for controlling a WLAN communication module of a user equipment (such as the mobile station 200 of the present disclosure) at the access point 400. When the user equipment uses the DL LWA technology, the user equipment is notified by the control command issued by the network end whether the user equipment transmission data must be transmitted through the WLAN carrier, and the user equipment can activate or deactivate the WLAN communication module according to the control instruction. Reduce unnecessary power consumption.

5 is a signal diagram illustrating a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This signal flow is applicable to the mobile station 200, the base station 300, and the access point 400 included in the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the base station 300 can know that the mobile station 200 supports the function of the LWA technology through a message transmitted by the mobile station 200, and thus can implement the method for saving power consumption of the mobile station proposed in this disclosure. The message may be e.g. The preamble sent by the mobile station 200 is not limited in this disclosure. From the viewpoint of the mobile station 200, after the mobile station 200 receives a control command through the LTE network, in response to receiving the control command through the LTE network, the mobile station 200 can wake up the application of the WLAN in the mobile station 200 according to the control command. WLAN communication module 230 with access technology. Then, after the mobile station 200 receives an instruction frame via the WLAN network, in response to receiving the instruction frame via the WLAN network, the mobile station 200 may control the WLAN communication module 230 to enter a sleep state. From the perspective of the base station 300, the base station 300 can send a control command to the mobile station 200 via the controller 303 to wake up the WLAN communication module 230 using the WLAN access technology in the mobile station 200 according to the control command. The controller 303 receives the instruction message from the access point 400 applying the WLAN access technology through the transceiver 301, and confirms that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state. From the perspective of the access point 400, in response to determining that the transmission buffer corresponding to the mobile station 200 is vacant, the access point 400 may transmit an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 through the controller 403 to control The WLAN communication module 230 using the WLAN access technology of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state. Then, the controller 403 may transmit an instruction message to the base station 300 applying the LTE access technology through the transceiver 401 to notify the base station 300 that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state.

In detail, in step S501, the base station 300 transmits a control command to the LTE communication module 210 in the mobile station 200 through the component carrier in the authorized spectrum of the LTE access technology. The control command may be, for example, a control element (CE) or a control element (CE) in a multimedia access control (MAC) frame. It is a radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) message transmission. For example, the MAC CE may be, for example, the MAC Control Element carried in 3GPP TS 36.321 6.1.3, and the RRC message may be configured in the RRC Connection-Reconfiguration carried in 3GPP TS 36.331, for example. After the LTE communication module 210 receives the control signal, in step S503, the LTE communication module 210 issues a wake-up instruction, and then wakes up the WLAN communication module 230, so that the WLAN communication module 230 starts to communicate with the access point 400. WLAN data transmission. The base station 300 can offload downlink data from the core network to the access point 400, and the access point 400 temporarily stores the offloaded data in a buffer and transmits it to the mobile station 200.

When the access point 400 determines that its transmission buffer is empty, it indicates that the data that must be transmitted to the mobile station 200 via the access point 400 has been transmitted. In response to determining that the transmission buffer is empty, in step S507, the controller 403 of the access point 400 may transmit an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 to control the WLAN communication of the mobile station 200 using the WLAN access technology. The module 230 enters a sleep state. After the access point 400 transmits the instruction frame, the access point 400 may selectively execute step S509. In step S509, the controller 401 of the access point 400 may transmit an instruction message to the base station 300 applying the LTE access technology through the transceiver 403 to notify the base station 300 that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state.

FIG. 6 illustrates a signal flow chart of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. This signal flow is applicable to the mobile station 200, the base station 300, and the access point 400 included in the present disclosure. In step S600, the controller 303 of the base station 300 transmits the PDCCH in the authorized spectrum of the LTE access technology through the transceiver 301. Send a control message to notify the mobile station 200 to obtain a control instruction from a corresponding resource block according to the control message. The control message may include a Downlink Control Information (DCI). After the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 receives the control message via the PDCCH in the authorized spectrum, the LTE communication module 210 obtains the resource block (RB) position corresponding to the control instruction from the control message. In step S601, the LTE communication module 210 may obtain a control instruction according to a control message (for example, through an RB position in the control message). The control instruction may be configured in a MAC CE, which may be, for example, a MAC CE carried in 3GPP TS 36.321 6.1.3.

In step S603, the LTE communication module 210 issues a wake-up instruction, and then wakes up the WLAN communication module 230, so that the WLAN communication module 230 starts WLAN data transmission with the access point 400. The base station 300 can offload downlink data from the core network to the access point 400. The access point 400 temporarily stores the shunted data in a transmission buffer and sends the shunted data to the mobile station 200. When the access point 400 determines that the transmission buffer is empty, the data that the representative must transmit to the mobile station 200 through the access point 400 has been transmitted. In response to determining that the transmission buffer is empty, in step S607, the controller 403 of the access point 400 transmits an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 to control the WLAN communication mode of the mobile station 200 using the WLAN access technology. The group 230 enters the sleep state. The above instruction frame is, for example, a frame in which the flag 'more data' is marked as 0 in the frame control field. After the access point 400 transmits the instruction frame, the access point 400 may selectively execute step S609. In step S609, the controller 403 of the access point 400 can transmit an instruction through the transceiver 401. A message is sent to the base station 300 applying the LTE access technology to notify the base station 300 that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state. In this embodiment, by performing step S609, when the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 has not entered the sleep state, the base station 300 may be configured to stop sending the MAC CE. In this way, it is possible to prevent the base station 300 from sending unnecessary control signals MAC CE in order to wake up the mobile station 200 that has not yet entered the sleep state.

In another embodiment of the embodiment of FIG. 6, the WLAN communication module 230 and the access point 400 of the mobile station 200 may be similar to the unscheduled automatic power save delivery (U-APSD). The technology performs the transition from the dormant state to the active state. Specifically, after the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to wake up the WLAN communication module 230 in step S603, the WLAN communication module 230 enters an active state. Next, in step S605, the WLAN communication module 230 transmits a trigger frame to the access point 400 through the WLAN access technology, so as to trigger the access point 400 to start WLAN data transmission with the WLAN communication module 230. When the access point 400 determines that its internal transmission buffer is empty, in step S607, the controller 403 of the access point 400 transmits an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 to control the application WLAN of the mobile station 200. The WLAN communication module 230 of the access technology enters a sleep state.

In another embodiment of the embodiment of FIG. 6, a solution suitable for a non-ideal backhaul network is further proposed. When the base station 300 and the access point 400 are connected in a non-ideal backhaul (Non-Ideal Backhaul) network, there is a transmission delay between the base station 300 and the access point 400. Transmission delay will make base station 300 without The WLAN transmission data to be shunted to the access point 400 is transmitted to the access point 400 in a timely manner. Therefore, after the base station 300 sends a control instruction to the mobile station 200, the access point 400 may not be ready to communicate with the WLAN communication module. The group 230 performs data transmission. However, at this time, if the LTE communication module 210 has been woken up into the WLAN communication module 230 according to the control instruction, the WLAN communication module 230 cannot receive the WLAN transmission data transmitted by the access point 400 in the initial period after activation, which in turn causes Waste of power from mobile 200.

In order to solve the transmission delay problem of the non-ideal backhaul network, in this embodiment, after the base station 300 sends a control message to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200, the base station 300 may be based on The transmission delay between the access point 400 and the access point 400 is delayed by a transmission delay time T. The length of the transmission delay time T can be set according to the transmission delay between the base station 300 and the access point 400. . In other words, assuming that the subframe with the control message is transmitted by the base station 300 at the time point T1, the base station 300 may configure the control instruction in the subframe transmitted at the time point T2, where the time point T2 is equal to the time point T1 plus the transmission delay time T (T2 = T1 + T). By delaying the transmission of control commands from the base station 300, the LTE communication module 210 can wait for the access point 400 to be ready for WLAN data transmission before waking up the WLAN communication module 230 from the sleep state, thereby reducing the mobile station 200. Power consumption. On the other hand, if the base station 300 and the access point 400 adopt an ideal backhaul network connection method, since the transmission delay between the base station 300 and the access point 400 can be ignored, the base station 300 does not It is necessary to delay the transmission time of the transmission control command. E.g. base The station 300 can send control messages and control instructions in the same sub-frame.

FIG. 7 illustrates a timing diagram of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to the embodiment of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 may show two situations that may occur when the embodiment of FIG. 6 is implemented. When the mobile station 200 uses the LWA technology to receive data from both the LTE network and the WLAN network, the end time of the WLAN data transmission may be earlier or later than the end time of the LTE data transmission. Figure 7 will explain the above different cases.

Referring to FIG. 7, a case in which the end time of the WLAN transmission is earlier than the end time of the LTE transmission is described by taking a period between the time point 701 and the time point 709 as an example. When the base station 300 decides to use the LWA technology and starts transmitting a DL Transmission Burst to the mobile station 200, at time point 701, the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 starts to use the LTE access technology in the licensed spectrum. The component carrier performs LTE data transmission with the base station 300. In addition, since the base station 300 intends to transmit data to the mobile station 200 using the LWA technology, the base station 300 transmits the control command to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 through the MAC CE through the LTE access technology. On the other hand, after the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 receives the control command, the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to the WLAN communication module 230 directly or indirectly through other control units in the mobile station 200 to wake up the WLAN. Communication module 230.

After the WLAN communication module 230 is awakened at time point 703, the WLAN communication module 230 starts to perform WLAN data transmission with the access point 400 through the component carrier in the unlicensed spectrum of the WLAN access technology. At time 705, uninstall The shunt data to the access point 400 has been transmitted, and the WLAN communication module 230 completes the WLAN data transmission with the access point 400. As shown in step S607 in FIG. 6, when the WLAN data transmission ends, the access point 400 sends an instruction frame to control the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 to enter the sleep state. Then, at time 707, the LTE communication module 210 completes LTE data transmission with the base station 300. In the case where the LTE communication module 210 does not receive the DRX command sent by the base station 300 actively, the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 will not enter the DRX sleep state at the end of the data transmission, but will stop according to the DRX parameter stop Use the timer (Inactivity Timer) to decide whether to enter the DRX sleep state. When the mobile station 200 finds that there is no data to be received by monitoring the PDCCH, the deactivation timer will start counting. When the deactivation timer expires, the LTE communication module 210 enters the DRX sleep state. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the mobile station 200 finds that there is no data to be received at the time point 707, and the deactivation timer is started to start counting. When the time point 709 is reached, the deactivation timer expires, so the LTE communication module 210 enters the DRX sleep state.

Please refer to FIG. 7 again, and use the period from time point 711 to time point 719 as an example to continue to explain the application case where the end time of WLAN transmission is later than the end time of LTE transmission. At time 711, the DRX sleep time is over, and the LTE communication module 210 enters an active state to monitor the PDCCH and determine whether there is a need for data transmission. When the base station 300 starts transmitting a downlink transmission burst (DL transmission Burst) to the mobile station 200 at the time point 713, the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 can start to communicate with the base station through the component carrier in the authorized spectrum of the LTE access technology. The station 300 performs LTE data transmission. In addition, the base station 300 can access the technology through LTE. The control command is transmitted to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 via the MAC CE. On the other hand, after the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 receives the control command, the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to the WLAN communication module 230 to wake up the WLAN communication module 230.

After the WLAN communication module 230 is awakened, at time 715, the WLAN communication module 230 may start WLAN data transmission with the access point 400 through the component carrier in the unlicensed spectrum of the WLAN access technology. At time 717, the LTE communication module 210 completes LTE data transmission with the base station 300. The base station 300 may send a DRX command to the LTE communication module 210 when the LTE data transmission is completed, so as to control the LTE communication module 210 to enter the sleep mode according to the DRX command. Then, the WLAN communication module 230 continues to transmit WLAN data with the access point 400 until the time point 719. At time 719, as shown in step S607 of FIG. 6, the access point 400 sends an instruction frame to control the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 to enter the sleep state when the WLAN data transmission ends.

It is worth mentioning that based on the implementation of step S609 in FIG. 6, the base station 300 can confirm whether the mobile station 200 enters the sleep mode. In other words, if the base station 300 has not received the sleep instruction message after sending the control instruction, the base station 300 considers that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 is still operating in an active state. If the base station 300 receives the sleep instruction message after sending the control instruction, the base station 300 considers that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 is switched to the sleep state. Based on this, in the case where the end time of the WLAN transmission is later than the end time of the LTE transmission (the period between the time point 711 and the time point 719), the base station 300 may not receive the access point 400 because The dormancy indication message sent confirms that the WLAN communication module 230 is still operating in an active state, and sends a DRX command to the LTE communication module 210 in response to the LTE data transmission being completed at time 715. Therefore, the LTE communication module 210 does not need to wait for the WLAN communication module 230 to complete the WLAN data transmission before entering the DRX sleep state, which can further enhance the power saving efficiency of the DRX power saving mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a signal flow chart illustrating a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. This signal flow is applicable to the mobile station 200, the base station 300, and the access point 400 included in the present disclosure. In step S801, the controller 303 of the base station 300 transmits a control command to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 301 to control the mobile station 200 to enter a configuration period, wherein the control command can be configured on the RRC connection and reset (for example: 3GPP TS RRC connection reset in 36.331). After the mobile station 200 receives the control command, the LTE communication module 210 enters a configuration period. If the LTE communication module 210 receives a control message such as DCI within this configuration period, the LTE communication module 210 will issue a wake-up instruction to wake up the WLAN communication module 230. In detail, in step S802, the base station 300 transmits a control message via the controller 303 via the PDCCH in the authorized spectrum of the LTE access technology during the configuration period to wake up the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200.

Then, in step S803, in response to the LTE communication module 210 receiving the control message during the configuration period, the LTE communication module 210 will issue a wake-up instruction, and then wake up the WLAN communication module 230, so that the WLAN communication module 230 starts to perform access WLAN data transmission between points 400. The base station 300 can offload downlink data from the core network to the access point 400, and the access point 400 will offload the data The data is temporarily stored in the transmission buffer and the data in the transmission buffer is transmitted to the mobile station 200. When the access point 400 determines that the transmission buffer is empty, it means that the data transmitted to the mobile station 200 through the access point 400 have been transmitted. In response to determining that the transmission buffer is empty, in step S807, the controller 403 of the access point 400 transmits an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 to control the WLAN communication mode of the mobile station 200 using the WLAN access technology. The group 230 enters the sleep state. After the access point 400 transmits the instruction frame, the access point 400 may selectively execute step S809. In step S809, the controller 403 of the access point 400 transmits an instruction message to the base station 300 applying the LTE access technology through the transceiver 401 to notify the base station 300 that the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 enters a sleep state. Next, in step S811, the base station 300 transmits another RRC message to terminate the configuration period of the LTE communication module 210. Taking the control message as the DCI as an example, even after the LTE communication module 210 has received the DCI from the base station 300 and is associated with itself, it will not issue a wake-up instruction to wake up the WLAN communication module 230.

The embodiment in FIG. 8 mainly configures the mobile station 200 by the base station 300 through the RRC message, and controls the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 to enter the configuration period, so that the LTE communication module 210 can receive DCI from the base station 300 during the configuration period. And the WLAN communication module 230 is woken up. However, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station 300 may also set the mobile station 200 to a semi-persistence scheduling (SPS) configuration through an RRC message. Under the SPS configuration, the mobile station 200 may periodically activate the WLAN communication module 230 according to the RRC message, until the SPS configuration ends or the base station 300 sends an RRC message during the suspension period.

It is worth mentioning that the mobile station 200, the base station 300, and the access point 400 may coexist with LTE-specific bearers and LWA bearers simultaneously. For example, if the mobile station 200 and the base station 300 only need to receive transmission data through the LTE-specific bearer, the mobile station 200 only needs to activate the LTE communication module 210. Conversely, if the mobile station 200 and the base station 300 need to receive transmission data through the LTE dedicated bearer and the LWA bearer at the same time, the mobile station 200 needs to activate the LTE communication module 210 and the WLAN communication module 230 at the same time. Based on the above, if the mobile station 200 can know the types of bearers that the base station 300 may use when transmitting data, the mobile station 200 can determine whether the WLAN communication module 230 needs to be woken up. Therefore, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the DCI may include a bit for indicating whether the mobile station 200 uses the WLAN communication module 230 for WLAN data transmission, thereby enabling the LTE communication module 210 to judge based on the bit. Whether to wake up the WLAN communication module 230.

In another embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the mobile station 200 and the access point 400 can perform data transmission through U-APSD technology. Specifically, after the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to wake up the WLAN communication module 230, the WLAN communication module 230 enters an active state. Next, in step S805, the WLAN communication module 230 sends a trigger frame to the access point 400 through the WLAN access technology, so as to trigger the access point 400 to start WLAN data transmission with the WLAN communication module 230. When the access point 400 determines that its internal transmission buffer is empty, in step S807, the controller 403 of the access point 400 transmits an instruction frame to the mobile station 200 through the transceiver 401 to control the application WLAN of the mobile station 200. The WLAN communication module 230 of the access technology enters a sleep state.

In another embodiment of the embodiment of FIG. 8, a solution suitable for a non-ideal backhaul network is further proposed. In this embodiment, the base station 300 sends a control message to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200. In response to receiving the control message by the LTE communication module 210, the LTE communication module 210 delays a transmission delay time T and issues a wake-up instruction, wherein the length of the transmission delay time T can be based on the transmission delay between the base station 300 and the access point 400. To set, for example, the base station 300 may transmit parameters related to the transmission delay based on the transmission delay between the base station 300 and the access point 400 through, for example, an RRC message in the RRC reset, so that the mobile station 200 may use the parameters according to the parameters. Sets the transmission delay time T of the delayed transmission wakeup indication. By delaying the transmission of the wake-up indication by the delay time T, the LTE communication module 210 can wait for the access point 400 to prepare for WLAN data transmission before awakening the WLAN communication module 230 from the sleep state, thereby reducing the WLAN communication module. 230 power consumption.

FIG. 9 illustrates a timing diagram of a method for saving power consumption of a mobile station according to the embodiment of FIG. 8. FIG. 9 shows two situations that can occur when the embodiment of FIG. 8 is performed. When the mobile station 200 uses the LWA technology to receive data from both the LTE network and the WLAN network, the end time of the WLAN data transmission may be earlier or later than the end time of the LTE data transmission. Figure 9 will explain the above different cases.

A case where the end time of the WLAN transmission is earlier than the end time of the LTE transmission will be described by taking a period between the time point 901 and the time point 909 as an example. When the base station 300 decides to use the LWA technology and starts transmitting a downlink transmission burst (DL Transmission Burst) to the mobile station 200, the base station 300 may use LTE in advance The access technology transmits control commands to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 via an RRC message, so that the LTE communication module 210 enters a configuration period. At time point 901, the base station 300 transmits the control message to the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 through the RRC message through the component carrier in the licensed spectrum of the LTE access technology. On the other hand, after the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 receives the control message during the configuration period, the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to the WLAN communication module 230 directly or indirectly through other control units in the mobile station 200. To wake up the WLAN communication module 230.

After the WLAN communication module 230 is awakened at the time point 903, the WLAN communication module 230 starts to perform WLAN data transmission with the access point 400 through the component carrier in the unlicensed spectrum of the WLAN access technology. At time 905, the offload data downloaded to the access point 400 has been transmitted, and the WLAN communication module 230 completes the WLAN data transmission with the access point 400. As shown in step S807 in FIG. 8, when the WLAN data transmission ends, the access point 400 sends an instruction frame to control the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 to enter the sleep state. At time 707, the LTE communication module 210 completes LTE data transmission with the base station 300. In the case where the LTE communication module 210 does not receive the DRX command sent by the base station 300 actively, the LTE communication module 210 of the mobile station 200 will not enter the DRX sleep state at the end of the data transmission, but will stop according to the DRX parameter stop. A timer (Inactivity Timer) is used to determine the time point when the LTE communication module 210 is turned off. When the mobile station 200 detects that there is no data to be received by monitoring the PDCCH, the deactivation timer will start counting. When the deactivation timer expires, the LTE communication module 210 enters the DRX off time. Hibernation.

It is worth noting that the base station 300 in this embodiment wakes up the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 through, for example, DCI. When the end time of the WLAN transmission is earlier than the end time of the LTE transmission, the LTE communication module 210 may still receive DCI from the base station 300 after the WLAN communication module 230 completes the WLAN data transmission, so that the LTE communication mode The group 210 continuously sends a wake-up instruction to the WLAN communication module 230, which causes the WLAN communication module 230 to continuously switch between the active state and the sleep state. In order to avoid the above problems, in the embodiments of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the WLAN communication module 230 needs to be established after receiving the instruction frame from the access point 400 and the LTE communication module 210 has completed the LTE data transmission. To enter sleep mode. As shown in FIG. 9, at time 905, the WLAN communication module 230 has completed the WLAN data transmission with the access point 400, but still waits until the LTE communication module 210 completes the LTE data transmission, and the WLAN communication module 230 Only entered the dormant state at 909 o'clock.

Please refer to FIG. 9 again, and take the period from time point 911 to time point 919 as an example to continue to explain the application case where the end time of WLAN transmission is later than the end time of LTE transmission. At the time point 911, the DRX sleep time ends, and the LTE communication module 210 enters an active state to monitor the PDCCH and determine whether there is a data transmission requirement. When the base station 300 starts to transmit a downlink transmission burst (DL transmission Burst) to the mobile station 200 at the time point 913, the base station 300 transmits the control information (DCI) to the LTE communication module of the mobile station 200 via the LTE access technology through the LTE access technology. 210. On the other hand, the LTE communication module 210 in the mobile station 200 After sending a message (DCI), the LTE communication module 210 sends a wake-up instruction to the WLAN communication module 230 to wake up the WLAN communication module 230.

After the WLAN communication module 230 is awakened, at time 915, the WLAN communication module 230 starts to perform WLAN data transmission with the access point 400 through the component carrier in the unlicensed spectrum of the WLAN access technology. At time 917, the LTE communication module 210 completes LTE data transmission with the base station 300. The base station 300 may send a DRX command to the LTE communication module 210 when the LTE data transmission is completed, so as to control the LTE communication module 210 to enter the sleep mode according to the DRX command. Then, the WLAN communication module 230 continues to perform WLAN data transmission with the access point 400 until time 919. At time 919, as shown in step S807 of FIG. 8, the access point 400 sends an instruction frame to control the WLAN communication module 230 of the mobile station 200 to enter the sleep state when the WLAN data transmission ends.

In summary, the base station of the present disclosure can wake up the WLAN communication module of the mobile station through RRC message or MAC CE, and the access point of the present disclosure can control the WLAN communication module of the mobile station by sending an instruction frame. Hibernation. Through the operation of the network terminal such as the base station and the access point, when the mobile station disclosed in this disclosure uses the LWA technology, the WLAN communication module will only be activated when there is a WLAN transmission requirement, and the WLAN communication mode will be closed when there is no WLAN transmission requirement. Group to save power consumption of the mobile station. In addition, the base station or mobile station disclosed in this disclosure can delay the activation of the WLAN communication module of the mobile station based on the transmission delay time between the base station and the access point, thereby the mobile station can prepare the access point to start via WLAN The WLAN communication module is activated only when transmitting data, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption. Furthermore, this disclosure The base station can transmit the bits related to the LWA function through DCI, which helps the mobile station to determine whether to enable the LWA function.

Although the present disclosure has been disclosed as above by way of example, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field should make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The scope of protection of this disclosure shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

Claims (36)

A method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to a mobile station, includes: receiving a control message from a base station through a control channel in a licensed spectrum through a first radio access technology; and according to the control message from a corresponding A resource block acquires a control instruction, and when the base station and an access point adopt a non-ideal backhaul network connection method, the time for receiving the control message differs from the time for receiving the control instruction by a first transmission. A delay time, wherein the first transmission delay time corresponds to a second transmission delay time between the base station and the access point; and in response to receiving the control instruction from the resource block via the first radio access technology, And issuing a wake-up instruction according to the control instruction to wake-up a communication module applying a second radio access technology; and in response to receiving an instruction frame from the access point via the second radio access technology, controlling the communication The module enters a sleep state. The method of claim 1, wherein the control instruction is transmitted through a component carrier in a licensed spectrum of one of the first radio access technologies, and a first data transmission is authorized through the first radio access technology. A component carrier in the frequency spectrum is performed with a base station, and a second data transmission is performed with an access point through a component carrier in an unauthorized frequency spectrum of the second radio access technology. The method according to item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein after the communication module is awakened and operated in an active state, a trigger frame is transmitted to the access point through the second radio access technology to trigger the The access point initiates the second data transmission with the communication module. The method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), and the control message includes a downlink link Control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI). The method of claim 1, further comprising: entering a configuration period in response to receiving the control instruction; and controlling the control in the licensed spectrum via the first radio access technology during the configuration period. The channel receives the control message; and in response to receiving the control message during the configuration period, issuing the wake-up instruction to wake up the communication module. The method as described in claim 5 in which when the base station and the access point adopt the non-ideal backhaul network connection method, in response to the mobile station receiving the control message, a third transmission delay time is delayed The wake-up instruction is issued. The method according to item 5 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a radio resource control message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection-Reconfiguration, and the control message Include the following Downlink Control Information (DCI). The method according to item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein the downlink control message includes a bit for indicating whether the mobile station uses the communication module for the second data transmission. The method according to item 7 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: after entering the configuration period, ending the configuration period in response to receiving another radio resource control message. The method according to item 5 of the scope of patent application, wherein only when another communication module to which the first radio access technology is applied sleeps, the communication module is controlled to enter the sleep state in response to receiving the instruction frame. . The method according to item 1 of the patent application scope, further comprising: entering a configuration period in response to receiving the control instruction; and periodically awakening the application of the second radio access during the configuration period in accordance with the control instruction. The communication module of technology. A mobile station includes: a first communication module applying a first radio access technology; and a second communication module applying a second radio access technology; wherein the first communication module passes a first The radio access technology receives a control message from a base station via a control channel in an authorized spectrum; the first communication module obtains a control instruction from a corresponding resource block according to the control message, and when the base station and When an access point adopts a non-ideal backhaul network connection, the time when the first communication module receives the control message is different from the time when the control instruction is received by a first transmission delay time, wherein the first transmission delay The time corresponds to a second transmission delay time between the base station and the access point; in response to the first communication module receiving the control instruction from the resource block, the first communication module issues according to the control instruction A wake-up instruction to wake up the second communication module, and in response to the second communication module receiving an instruction frame from the access point, the second communication module enters a sleep state The mobile station as described in claim 12, wherein the control instruction is transmitted through a component carrier in a licensed spectrum of one of the first radio access technologies, and a first data transmission is transmitted through the first radio access technology. The component carrier in the licensed spectrum is performed with a base station, and a second data transmission is performed with an access point through a component carrier in an unlicensed spectrum of the second radio access technology. The mobile station according to item 13 of the scope of patent application, wherein after the second communication module is awakened and operated in an active state, the second communication module transmits a trigger frame through the second radio access technology To the access point to trigger the access point to start the second data transmission with the second communication module. The mobile station according to item 13 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE), and the control message includes the following chain Downlink Control Information (DCI). The mobile station according to item 13 of the patent application scope, further comprising: in response to the first communication module receiving the control instruction, the first communication module enters a configuration period; the first communication module is in the Receiving the control message via the control channel in the licensed spectrum of the first radio access technology during the configuration period; and in response to the first communication module receiving the control message during the configuration period, the first communication module sends the The wake-up instruction wakes up the second communication module. The mobile station according to item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein when the base station and the access point adopt the non-ideal backhaul network connection method, in response to the first communication module receiving the control message, the first The communication module delays the third transmission delay time and issues the wake-up instruction. The mobile station according to item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a radio resource control message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection-Reconfiguration, and the control The message includes the following Downlink Control Information (DCI). The mobile station as described in claim 18, wherein the downlink control message includes a bit for indicating whether the mobile station uses the second communication module for the second data transmission. A method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to a base station applying a first radio access technology, includes: sending a control message via a control channel in a licensed spectrum of one of the first radio access technologies to notify A mobile station obtains a control instruction from a corresponding resource block according to the control message; and transmits a control instruction to the mobile station through the resource block corresponding to the control message to wake up the application of the mobile station according to the control instruction. A communication module of two radio access technologies, wherein when the base station and an access point adopt a non-ideal backhaul network connection method, the time for sending the control message is different from the time for sending the control command A transmission delay time, wherein the first transmission delay time corresponds to a second transmission delay time between the base station and the access point; and in response to receiving from a access point to which the second radio access technology is applied An instruction message confirms that the communication module of the mobile station enters a sleep state. The method according to item 20 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a multimedia access control control element, and the control message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI). The method of claim 20, further comprising: transmitting the control instruction to the mobile station to control the mobile station to enter a configuration period; and during the configuration period via the first radio access technology, the The control channel in the authorized spectrum transmits the control message to wake up the communication module of the mobile station. The method according to item 22 of the scope of patent application, wherein when the base station and the access point adopt the non-ideal backhaul network connection method, the base station is based on the first base station and the access point. Two transmission delays, transmitting a delay information to the mobile station through the control command, thereby delaying the time to wake up the communication module. The method as described in claim 22, wherein the control instruction is configured in a radio resource control message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection-reconfiguration, and the control message is Include the following Downlink Control Information (DCI). The method according to item 24 of the patent application scope further comprises: after the mobile station enters the configuration period, transmitting another radio resource control message to terminate the configuration period. The method of claim 24, wherein the downlink control message includes a bit for indicating whether the mobile station uses the communication module for a data transmission. A base station applying a first radio access technology includes: a transceiver having the first radio access technology configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a controller coupled to the transceiver The controller is configured to: send a control message via a control channel in a licensed spectrum of one of the first radio access technologies to notify a mobile station to obtain a control instruction from a corresponding resource block according to the control message; A control instruction is transmitted to a mobile station through the resource block corresponding to the control message to wake up a communication module of the mobile station applying a second radio access technology according to the control instruction, wherein when the base station and a mobile station When the access point adopts a non-ideal backhaul network connection method, the time for sending the control message is different from the time for sending the control command by a first transmission delay time, where the first transmission delay time corresponds to the base station and A second transmission delay time between the access points; wherein the controller is responsive to Take point receiving an indication message, and confirm that the mobile station of the communication module enters a dormant state. The base station according to item 27 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a multimedia access control control element, and the control message includes a Downlink Control Information (DCI). The base station according to item 27 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: the controller transmitting the control instruction to the mobile station to control the mobile station to enter a configuration period; and the controller passes the first A control channel in the licensed spectrum of a radio access technology transmits the control message to wake up the communication module of the mobile station. The base station according to item 29 of the scope of patent application, wherein when the base station and the access point adopt the non-ideal backhaul network connection method, the base station is based on the base station and the access point. The second transmission delay is to transmit a delay information to the mobile station through the control command, thereby delaying the time to wake up the communication module. The base station according to item 29 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control instruction is configured in a radio resource control message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection-Reconfiguration, and the control The message includes the following Downlink Control Information (DCI). The base station according to item 31 of the scope of patent application, wherein after the mobile station enters the configuration period, the controller transmits another radio resource control message to terminate the configuration period. A method for saving power consumption of a mobile station, which is applicable to an access point using a second radio access technology, includes: in response to determining that a transmission buffer corresponding to a mobile station is vacant, transmitting an instruction frame to the A mobile station to control a communication module of the mobile station applying the second radio access technology to a sleep state; and transmitting an instruction message to a base station applying a first radio access technology to notify the base station The communication module of the mobile station enters the dormant state. The method according to item 33 of the patent application scope further comprises: receiving a trigger frame from the mobile station to start a data transmission between the access point and the communication module. An access point to which a second radio access technology is applied, including: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a controller in response to determining that a transmission buffer corresponding to a mobile station is vacant , The controller transmits an instruction frame to the mobile station through the transceiver to control a communication module of the mobile station applying the second radio access technology to a sleep state, and the controller passes the transceiver through the transceiver Sending an instruction message to a base station applying a first radio access technology to notify the base station that the communication module of the mobile station enters the dormant state. The access point as described in claim 35, wherein before the controller sends an instruction frame to the mobile station through the transceiver, the controller receives a trigger frame from the mobile station through the transceiver. To start a data transmission between the access point and the communication module.