WO2022236769A1

WO2022236769A1 - Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for paging and receiving a paging message

Info

Publication number: WO2022236769A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/093575
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yonggang Wang
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2021-05-13
Filing date: 2021-05-13
Publication date: 2022-11-17
Also published as: CN117413583A

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for paging. An example method may include determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle. Related apparatuses and computer readable media are also disclosed.

Description

METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR PAGING AND RECEIVING A PAGING MESSAGE

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments relate to methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for paging and receiving a paging message.

BACKGROUND

A user equipment (UE) in radio resource control (RRC) idle state or RRC inactive state is required to monitor for paging from network during a corresponding paging occasion (PO) in a paging frame (PF) per discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. A PF may include a plurality of POs and a PO may include a set of consecutive occasions for monitoring paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying paging downlink control information (DCI) . The paging PDCCH is transmitted via a beam with directionality.

SUMMARY

A brief summary of exemplary embodiments is provided below to provide basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. It should be noted that this summary is not intended to identify key features of essential elements or define scopes of the embodiments, and its sole purpose is to introduce some concepts in a simplified form as a preamble for a more detailed description provided below.

In a first aspect, disclosed is a method. The method may include determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame may be determined by the identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set.

In some embodiments, the at least one paging frame may include a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In some embodiments, the method may further include monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the method may further include, among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.

In some embodiments, the at least one beam set each may correspond to a different one of the at least one paging frame.

In a second aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may include determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, and based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set, and transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In a third aspect, disclosed is an apparatus. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform, among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.

In a fourth aspect, disclosed is an apparatus. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, and based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set, and transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In a fifth aspect, disclosed is an apparatus. The apparatus may include means for determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, means for selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and means for, based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for, among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.

In a sixth aspect, disclosed is an apparatus. The apparatus may include means for determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, and means for, based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set, and transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In a seventh aspect, a computer readable medium is disclosed. The computer readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the computer readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to further perform determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.

In some embodiments, the computer readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to further perform receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

In some embodiments, the computer readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to further perform monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.

In some embodiments, the computer readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to further perform, among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.

In an eighth aspect, a computer readable medium is disclosed. The computer readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, and based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.

In some embodiments, the computer readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to further perform determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set, and transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.

Other features and advantages of the example embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of example embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary sequence chart of paging and receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary correspondence between beam sets and PFs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A shows an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B shows an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A shows UE records in paging messages of an example paging scheme.

FIG. 4B shows UE records in paging messages of an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart illustrating an example method for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart illustrating an example method for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, same or similar reference numbers indicate same or similar elements. A repetitive description on the same elements would be omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Herein below, some example embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known circuits, techniques and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the described concepts and features.

In order to ensure that the UE in RRC idle or RRC inactive state can accurately receive a paging message when the UE wakes up, the network may page the UE on all transmitted beams, which requires huge overhead of frequency and time resources allocated for the paging. In order to increase paging capacity, more time-frequency resources may be allocated for the paging, for example, more POs in a PF may be set; however, radio resources efficiency of the paging is not improved. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the paging capacity can be improved without increasing resources for the paging.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary sequence chart of paging and receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to the FIG. 1, a UE 110 may be the UE in RRC idle or RRC inactive state, and a network apparatus 120 may be an apparatus in a base station (BS) in radio access network (RAN) . The UE 110 is located in a cell the network apparatus 120 covers.

In an operation 125, the network apparatus 120 may determine a number of at least one beam set and/or an allocation of at least one beam to the at least one beam set. The at least one beam corresponds to at least one direction, respectively, and may be used for carrying at least one paging message.

The at least one beam in a cell may be allocated to the at least one beam set, and Table 1 below shows examples of the number of the at least one beam set and the allocation of the at least one beam determined by the network apparatus 120.

Table 1: Allocation of beams in a cell to beam sets

As is shown in the Table 1, the network apparatus 120 may determine for example four beam sets with

indexes

0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and allocate a plurality of beams in the cell to the four beam sets. For example, in a case where there are four beams in the cell, the network apparatus 120 may allocate beam No. 0, beam No. 1, beam No. 2, and beam No. 3 to beam set 0, beam set 1, beam set 2, and beam set 3, respectively. For example, in a case where there are eight beams in the cell, the network apparatus 120 may sequentially allocate two beams to the respective beam sets. For example, in a case where there are 64 beams in the cell, the network apparatus 120 may sequentially allocate 16 beams to the respective beam sets.

The Table 1 shows four examples of the number of the beam sets and the allocation of the beams to the beam sets, and it may be appreciated that the network apparatus 120 may determine other numbers of the beam sets and other allocations of the beams to the beam sets, and the number of beams allocated to the different beam sets may be different. The beam set may correspond to the PF whose duration may be e.g. 10 milliseconds, and thus the number of the at least one beam set may be determined by taking into account e.g. a duration of a paging procedure.

The number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set may be transmitted from the network apparatus 120 to the UE 110 via e.g. cell configuration information 130.

During a paging DRX cycle, the network apparatus 120 may page the UE 110 on at least one PF, and the at least one PF may include a plurality of consecutive PFs starting from a starting PF.In an operation 135, the UE 110 may determine the staring PF of the at least one PF. And in an operation 140, the network apparatus 120 may determine the staring PF with respect to the UE 110.

The at least one beam set each may correspond to a different one of the at least one PF. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary correspondence between beam sets and PFs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to the FIG. 2, the at least one PF includes for example four consecutive PFs, a PF 210, a PF 230, a PF 250, and a PF270, in which the starting PF is e.g. the PF 210. The network apparatus 120 may page the UE 110 on a PO 220 of the PF 210, a PO 240 of the PF 230, a PO 260 of the PF 250, and a PO 280 of the PF 270.

The at least one beam set may be scattered in the respective POs in the consecutive PFs from the starting PF 210, and the same paging message for the UE 110 may be transmitted once on one beam set in its respective POs. For example, a PDCCH for paging the UE 110 via a beam of the beam set 0 may be transmitted in the PO 220, the PDCCH for paging the UE 110 via a beam of the beam set 1 may be transmitted in the PO 240, the PDCCH for paging the UE 110 via a beam of the beam set 2 may be transmitted in the PO 260, and the PDCCH for paging the UE 110 via a beam of the beam set 3 may be transmitted in the PO 280. Thus, the at least one beam set may correspond to the at least one PF, respectively.

Referring back to the FIG. 1, in an operation 145, the UE 110 may determine a sequence of the at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of the UE 110, and in an operation 150, the network apparatus 120 may determine the sequence of the at least one beam set based at least in part on the identifier of the UE 110. The operation for determining the sequence of the at least one beam set performed by the UE 110 and the network apparatus 120 may be identical.

The sequence of the at least one beam set via which the UE 110 will be paged may be for example the beam set 0, the beam set 1, the beam set 2, and the beam set 3 in the respective PFs as is shown in the FIG. 2. In a case where an index of a first beam set is determined, the indexes of the following beam sets may be determined sequentially. For example, in a case where the index of the first beam set used for paging the UE 110 is determined as 2, the sequence may be the beam set 2, the beam set 3, the beam set 0, and the beam set 1 in the respective PFs.

The index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with the starting PF of the at least one PF may be determined by an identifier of the UE modulo the number of the at least one beam set. For example, the first beam set may be determined by the following formula (1) :

i_bs = UE_ID mod N_beamset (1)

wherein the i_bs is the index of the first beam set, the UE_ID is the identifier of the UE 110, and the N_beamset is the number of the at least one beam set.

The UE_ID may be calculated based on for example 5G -serving -temporary sobile subscriber identity (5G-S-TMSI) or inactive -radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) .

For example, the UE_ID may be calculated by the following formula (2) :

UE_ID = 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024 (2)

FIG. 3A shows an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assuming there are four beams in the cell, the N_beamset is four, and the UE_ID is 515, the first beam set may be determined by 515 mod 4, i.e. i_bs = 3. Referring to the FIG. 3A, the network apparatus 120 and the UE 110 may determine that the paging will be performed via the four beam sets in the following sequence, which is the beam set 3 on the PO 220 in the starting PF 210, the beam set 0 on the PO 240 in the PF 230, the beam set 1 on the PO 260 in the PF 250, and the beam set 2 on the PO 280 in the PF 270.

FIG. 3B shows an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Assuming there are eight beams in the cell, the N_beamset is four, and the UE_ID is 769, the first beam set may be determined by 769 mod 4, i.e. i_bs = 1. Referring to the FIG. 3B, the network apparatus 120 and the UE 110 may determine that the paging for the UE 110 will be performed via the four beam sets in the following sequence, which is the beam set 1 on the PO 220 in the starting PF 210, the beam set 2 on the PO 240 in the PF 230, the beam set 3 on the PO 260 in the PF 250, and the beam set 0 on the PO 280 in the PF 270.

Referring back to the FIG. 1, in an operation 155, the UE 110 may select a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of the paging message during the DRX cycle of the UE 110. For example, the UE 110 may perform beam measurement to select an optimal beam for receiving the paging message from the network apparatus 120. For example, among the at least one beam, the beam on which the UE 110 may receive more energy than on other beams may be selected as the optimal beam to receive the paging message. The beam measurement may be performed based on measuring for example synchronization signal (SS) , synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB) , etc.

In an operation 160, the UE 110 may, based on the determined sequence, determine, among the at least one paging frame, a PF corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the DRX cycle.

For example, assuming that in the example shown in the FIG. 3A the selected beam is the beam No. 1, referring to the Table 1, the beam No. 1 is included in the beam set 1. Based on the sequence shown in the FIG. 3A, among the PF 210, the PF 230, the PF 250, and the PF 270, the UE 110 may determine the PF 250, which corresponds to the beam set 1.

For example, assuming that in the example shown in the FIG. 3B the selected beam is the beam No. 3, referring to the Table 1, the beam No. 3 is included in the beam set 1. Based on the sequence shown in the FIG. 3B, among the PF 210, the PF 230, the PF 250, and the PF 270, the UE 110 may determine the PF 210, which corresponds to the beam set 1.

Based on the determined sequence, the network apparatus 120 may transmit to the UE 110 at least one paging message 165 via the at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one PF corresponding to the at least one beam set during the DRX cycle of the UE 110.

In the example shown in the FIG. 3A, the network apparatus 120 may transmit to the UE 110 the paging message 165 via the four beam sets based on the determined sequence, which is the beam set 3 on the PF 210, the beam set 0 on the PF 230, the beam set 1 on the PF 250, and the beam set 2 on the PF 270.

In the example shown in the FIG. 3B, the network apparatus 120 may transmit to the UE 110 the paging message 165 via the four beam sets based on the determined sequence, which is the beam set 1 on the PF 210, the beam set 2 on the PF 230, the beam set 3 on the PF 250, and the beam set 0 on the PF 270.

On the UE side, in an operation 170, the UE 110 may monitor the PDCCH occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined PF during the DRX cycle. In the example shown in the FIG. 3A, the UE 110 may monitor the PDCCH occasion for paging corresponding to the beam 1 of the beam set 1 on the determined PF 250 during the DRX cycle. In the example shown in the FIG. 3B, the UE 110 may monitor the PDCCH occasion for paging corresponding to the beam 3 of the beam set 1 on the determined PF 210 during the DRX cycle.

Among the at least one PF, the UE 110 may ignore monitoring at least one PF other than the determined PF. In the example shown in the FIG. 3A, the UE 110 may ignore monitoring the PF 210, the PF 230, and the PF 270. In the example shown in the FIG. 3B, the UE 110 may ignore monitoring the PF 230, the PF 250, and the PF 270.

In other words, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, during the DRX cycle, the UE 110 may monitor the PDCCH occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam and in other period the UE 110 may go to a light sleep mode, and thus resources for monitoring the PDCCH occasion for paging may be saved on the UE side.

On the network side, paging overhead may be saved according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. In a case where paging PDCCH of all beam directions are confined in one subframe, whose duration may be e.g. 1 millisecond, even if the UE starts a random access (RA) procedure immediately after decoding the paging message successfully, the network side would have repeated the transmission of the paging message when receiving a message 3 (Msg3) or message A (MsgA) from the UE and knowing that the UE has been successfully paged. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, since the at least one beam set corresponds to the at least one PF, the duration of repetition of the PDCCH occasion for paging may be prolonged to for example multiple frames, and thus the network side may have enough time to terminate the transmission of the subsequent paging message of other beams when receiving the Msg3 or MsgA from the paged UE. For example, in the example shown in the FIG. 2, if the UE 110 successfully decodes the paging message 165 transmitted via the beam set 1 on the PF 230 and starts the RA procedure, the network apparatus 120 may receive the Msg3 or the MsgA from the UE 110 before repeating to transmit the paging message 165 via the beam set 2 on the PF 250, and thus the transmission of the paging message 165 may be terminated and the resources for transmitting the paging message 165 on the subsequent PF 250 and PF 270 may be saved.

In the example shown in the FIG. 2, the paging procedure for the UE 110 may be completed within four frames, whose duration may be e.g. 40 milliseconds. In a case where the UE 110 is a machine type communication (MTC) device whose DRX cycle may be up to e.g. 10.24 seconds and which may be highly tolerant to downlink traffic delays, the extra duration of the prolonged multiple frames which may be in e.g. tens millisecond level may be negligible.

Moreover, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the sequence of the at least one beam set is determined, and thus the paging sequence may not always from the beam set 0 in the at least one PF. In the example shown in the FIG. 3A, the paging for the UE 110 may be from the beam set 3, and in the example shown in the FIG. 3B, the paging for the UE 110 may be from the beam set 1. Thus not only the paging overhead may be saved on the latter beam sets, but also possible congestion of paging may be prevented on the former beams.

The UE 110 may receive the paging message 165 via the first beam set or via the last beam set in the DRX cycle. From a statistic point of view, to let a UE receive a paging message successfully, approximately half of the paging messages need to be transmitted. In other words, half of paging overhead may be saved approximately according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A shows UE records in paging messages of an example paging scheme. FIG. 4B shows UE records in paging messages of an example paging scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example paging schemes in the FIG. 4A and the FIG. 4B, it is assumed that the paging message on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) contains up to e.g. 32 records of the UEs, and the paging message is full load, that is, the 32 UEs should be paged in this DRX cycle.

In the example paging scheme shown in the FIG. 4A, the 32 UEs are paged via the beam set 0, the beam set 1, the beam set 2, and the beam set 3 on the PO in the PF simultaneously, and thus 128 records are used in this paging scheme.

In the example paging scheme shown in the FIG. 4B, on the PO 220 in the PF 210, the 32 UEs are evenly divided into four sets and paged via four beam sets. Where, eight UEs may be paged via the beam set 0, eight UEs may be paged via the beam set 1, eight UEs may be paged via the beam set 2, and eight UEs may be paged via the beam set 3. With some of the UEs being successfully paged in the PF 210, on the PO 240 in the PF 230, seven UEs may be paged via the beam set 0, five UEs may be paged via the beam set 1, seven UEs may be paged via the beam set 2, and five UEs may be paged via the beam set 3. Then, on the PO 240 in the PF 230, four UEs may be paged via the beam set 0, four UEs may be paged via the beam set 1, four UEs may be paged via the beam set 2, and four UEs may be paged via the beam set 3. Then, on the PO 280 in the PF 270, three UEs may be paged via the beam set 0, one UE may be paged via the beam set 1, three UEs may be paged via the beam set 2, and one UE may be paged via the beam set 3. Thus in the example paging scheme shown in the FIG. 4B, 80 records are used in this paging scheme, and 48 records could be saved, that is, 37.5%paging overhead could be saved compared to the example paging scheme shown in the FIG. 4A

The paging capacity may be improved according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The paging capacity improvement may be simulated based on the following assumptions.

● The paging parameter nB is set to T, i.e. one subframe per frame is used for paging;

● The arrival of the paging message from the network satisfies Poisson distribution;

● When the paging message from the network arrives, if there is no free record it is noted as blocking.

In a case where the Monte Carlo method is applied, simulation results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: User arrival rate at different blocking probability

The user arrival rate may represent the number of the UEs can be paged per second. In the paging scheme 1, the network pages the UEs via all beam directions in the corresponding PO, and in the paging scheme 2, the network pages the UEs according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. From the Table 2 it may be concluded that in a case a telecommunication system design requires almost no blocking (<0.1%) , the paging capacity of the paging scheme 2 would increase 83%compared to that of the paging scheme 1.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart illustrating an example method 500 for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example method 500 may be performed for example at a UE such as the UE 110.

Referring to the FIG. 5, the example method 500 may include an operation 510 of determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, an operation 520 of selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment, and an operation 530 of, based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.

Details of the operation 510 may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 145, the FIG. 2, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Details of the operation 520 may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 155, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Details of the operation 530 may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 160, the Table 1, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame may be determined by an identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 145, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the at least one paging frame may include a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the FIG. 2, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 500 may further include an operation of determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 135, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 500 may further include an operation of receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the cell configuration information 130 and the Table 1, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 500 may further include an operation of monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 170, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 500 may further include an operation of among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the at least one beam set each may correspond to a different one of the at least one paging frame. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the FIG. 2, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart illustrating an example method 600 for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example method 600 may be performed for example at a network apparatus in the RAN such as the network apparatus 120.

Referring to the FIG. 6, the example method 600 may include an operation 610 of determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame, and an operation 620 of, based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.

Details of the operation 610 may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 150, the FIG. 2, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Details of the operation 620 may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the paging message 165, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame may be determined by an identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 150, the FIG. 3A and the FIG. 3B, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 600 may further include an operation of determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 140, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In an embodiment, the example method 600 may further include an operation of determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set, and an operation of transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set. The more details may refer to the above descriptions with respect to at least the operation 125, the cell configuration information 130 and the Table 1, and repetitive descriptions thereof are omitted here.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus, for example, may be at least part of the UE 110 in the above examples.

As shown in the FIG. 7, the example apparatus 700 may include at least one processor 710 and at least one memory 720 that may include computer program code 730. The at least one memory 720 and the computer program code 730 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 710, cause the apparatus 700 at least to perform the example method 500 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 710 in the example apparatus 700 may include, but not limited to, at least one hardware processor, including at least one microprocessor such as a central processing unit (CPU) , a portion of at least one hardware processor, and any other suitable dedicated processor such as those developed based on for example Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) . Further, the at least one processor 710 may also include at least one other circuitry or element not shown in FIG. 7.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 720 in the example apparatus 700 may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as a volatile memory and/or a non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include, but not limited to, for example, a random-access memory (RAM) , a cache, and so on. The non-volatile memory may include, but not limited to, for example, a read only memory (ROM) , a hard disk, a flash memory, and so on. Further, the at least memory 720 may include, but are not limited to, an electric, a magnetic, an optical, an electromagnetic, an infrared, or a semiconductor system, apparatus, or device or any combination of the above.

Further, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 700 may also include at least one other circuitry, element, and interface, for example at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and the like.

In various example embodiments, the circuitries, parts, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 700, including the at least one processor 710 and the at least one memory 720, may be coupled together via any suitable connections including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wiring and/or wireless lines, in any suitable ways, for example electrically, magnetically, optically, electromagnetically, and the like.

It is appreciated that the structure of the apparatus on the side of the UE 110 is not limited to the above example apparatus 700.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus, for example, may be at least part of the network apparatus 120 in the above examples.

As shown in the FIG. 8, the example apparatus 800 may include at least one processor 810 and at least one memory 820 that may include computer program code 830. The at least one memory 820 and the computer program code 830 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 810, cause the apparatus 800 at least to perform at least one of the example method 600 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 810 in the example apparatus 800 may include, but not limited to, at least one hardware processor, including at least one microprocessor such as a central processing unit (CPU) , a portion of at least one hardware processor, and any other suitable dedicated processor such as those developed based on for example Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) . Further, the at least one processor 810 may also include at least one other circuitry or element not shown in FIG. 8.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 820 in the example apparatus 800 may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as a volatile memory and/or a non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include, but not limited to, for example, a random-access memory (RAM) , a cache, and so on. The non-volatile memory may include, but not limited to, for example, a read only memory (ROM) , a hard disk, a flash memory, and so on. Further, the at least memory 820 may include, but are not limited to, an electric, a magnetic, an optical, an electromagnetic, an infrared, or a semiconductor system, apparatus, or device or any combination of the above.

Further, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 800 may also include at least one other circuitry, element, and interface, for example at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and the like.

In various example embodiments, the circuitries, parts, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 800, including the at least one processor 810 and the at least one memory 820, may be coupled together via any suitable connections including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wiring and/or wireless lines, in any suitable ways, for example electrically, magnetically, optically, electromagnetically, and the like.

It is appreciated that the structure of the apparatus on the side of the network apparatus 120 is not limited to the above example apparatus 800.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus, for example, may be at least part of the UE 110 in the above examples.

As shown in FIG. 9, the example apparatus 900 may include means 910 for performing the operation 510 of the example method 500, means 920 for performing the operation 520 of the example method 500, and means 930 for performing the operation 530 of the example method 500. In one or more another example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and the like may also be included in the example apparatus 900.

In some example embodiments, examples of means in the example apparatus 900 may include circuitries. For example, an example of means 910 may include a circuitry configured to perform the operation 510 of the example method 500, an example of means 920 may include a circuitry configured to perform the operation 520 of the example method 500, and an example of means 930 may include a circuitry configured to perform the operation 530 of the example method 500. In some example embodiments, examples of means may also include software modules and any other suitable function entities.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for paging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus, for example, may be at least part of the network apparatus 120 in the above examples.

As shown in the FIG. 10, the example apparatus 1000 may include means 1010 for performing the operation 610 of the example method 600, and means 1020 for performing the operation 620 of the example method 600. In one or more another example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and the like may also be included in the example apparatus 1000.

In some example embodiments, examples of means in the example apparatus 1000 may include circuitries. For example, an example of means 1010 may include a circuitry configured to perform the operation 610 of the example method 600, and an example of means 1020 may include a circuitry configured to perform the operation 620 of the example method 600. In some example embodiments, examples of means may also include software modules and any other suitable function entities.

The term “circuitry” throughout this disclosure may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) ; (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) ; and (c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to one or all uses of this term in this disclosure, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this disclosure, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

Another example embodiment may relate to computer program codes or instructions which may cause an apparatus to perform at least respective methods described above. Another example embodiment may be related to a computer readable medium having such computer program codes or instructions stored thereon. In some embodiments, such a computer readable medium may include at least one storage medium in various forms such as a volatile memory and/or a non-volatile memory. The volatile memory may include, but not limited to, for example, a RAM, a cache, and so on. The non-volatile memory may include, but not limited to, a ROM, a hard disk, a flash memory, and so on. The non-volatile memory may also include, but are not limited to, an electric, a magnetic, an optical, an electromagnetic, an infrared, or a semiconductor system, apparatus, or device or any combination of the above.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise, ” “comprising, ” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to. ” The word “coupled” , as generally used herein, refers to two or more elements that may be either directly connected, or connected by way of one or more intermediate elements. Likewise, the word “connected” , as generally used herein, refers to two or more elements that may be either directly connected, or connected by way of one or more intermediate elements. Additionally, the words “herein, ” “above, ” “below, ” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context permits, words in the description using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.

Moreover, conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can, ” “could, ” “might, ” “may, ” “e.g., ” “for example, ” “such as” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

As used herein, the term "determine/determining" (and grammatical variants thereof) can include, not least: calculating, computing, processing, deriving, measuring, investigating, looking up (for example, looking up in a table, a database or another data structure) , ascertaining and the like. Also, "determining" can include receiving (for example, receiving information) , accessing (for example, accessing data in a memory) , obtaining and the like. Also, "determine/determining" can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

While some embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the apparatus, methods, and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, while blocks are presented in a given arrangement, alternative embodiments may perform similar functionalities with different components and/or circuit topologies, and some blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. At least one of these blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. The order of these blocks may also be changed. Any suitable combination of the elements and acts of the some embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.

Claims

A method comprising:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame;

selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment; and

based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.
The method of claim 1, wherein an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame is determined by the identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set.
The method of claims 2, wherein the at least one paging frame comprises a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame.
The method of claim 2 or 3, further comprising:

determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.
The method of any of claims 2 to 4, further comprising:

receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.
The method of any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.
The method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.
The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one beam set each corresponds to a different one of the at least one paging frame.
A method comprising:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame; and

based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set, during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.
The method of claim 9, wherein an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame is determined by the identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set.
The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one paging frame comprises a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame.
The method of claim 10 or 11, further comprising:

determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.
The method of any of claims 9 to 12, further comprising:

determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set; and

transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.
The method of any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the at least one beam set each corresponds to a different one of the at least one paging frame.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame;

selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment; and

based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame is determined by the identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set.
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one paging frame comprises a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame.
The apparatus of claim 16 or 17, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.
The apparatus of any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

receiving the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.
The apparatus of any of claims 15 to 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

monitoring a physical downlink control channel occasion for paging corresponding to the selected beam on the determined paging frame during the discontinuous reception cycle.
The apparatus of any of claims 15 to 20, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

among the at least one paging frame, ignoring monitoring at least one paging frame other than the determined paging frame.
The apparatus of any of claims 15 to 21, wherein the at least one beam set each corresponds to a different one of the at least one paging frame.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame; and

based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set, during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein an index of a first beam set of the at least one beam set in the sequence associated with a starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame is determined by the identifier of the user equipment modulo a number of the at least one beam set.
The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the at least one paging frame comprises a plurality of consecutive paging frames starting from the starting paging frame.
The apparatus of claim 24 or 25, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

determining the starting paging frame of the at least one paging frame.
The apparatus of any of claims 23 to 26, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

determining the number of the at least one beam set and/or an allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set; and

transmitting the number of the at least one beam set and/or the allocation of the at least one beam to the at least one beam set.
The apparatus of any of claims 23 to 27, wherein the at least one beam set each corresponds to a different one of the at least one paging frame.
An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame;

means for selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment; and

means for, based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.
An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame; and

means for, based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set, during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.
A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame;

selecting a beam from the at least one beam set for reception of a paging message during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment; and

based on the determined sequence, determining, among the at least one paging frame, a paging frame corresponding to a beam set comprising the selected beam, during the discontinuous reception cycle.
A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform:

determining a sequence of at least one beam set based at least in part on an identifier of a user equipment, the at least one beam set corresponding to at least one paging frame; and

based on the determined sequence, transmitting to the user equipment at least one paging message via at least one beam of the at least one beam set on the at least one paging frame corresponding to the at least one beam set, during a discontinuous reception cycle of the user equipment.